MAT Preparation Tips: Section Wise Preparation Tips

Preparing for MAT exam requires consistency, focus, and hard work. The difficulty level of a MAT exam is lesser than CAT, but it can only be cracked with a high score if your strategies are smart. Like most the entrance exams, MAT is a test of speed and accuracy. Candidates need to solve 200 MCQs in 150 minutes. If the aspirant is aiming at Tier-I schools they need to score around 95 percentile, which is not very easy to achieve. Before you sit down to prepare, collect maximum information related to MAT. Understand the MAT pattern, MAT syllabus, and question paper, and make a study plan to target for each month and day.

Also Read:  How to Prepare For MAT?

Modes: CBT, PBT, IBT

Sections: Language Comprehension, Intelligence, and Critical Reasoning, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Indian and Global Environment

Time: 150 Minutes

Questions: 40 per Section

Marking: Negative 0.25 for 1 wrong answer

Type of Exam: MCQ

Here we will list down a few important tips, which you should bear in mind to be able to prepare for each section of the exam well. Since marks of every section are taken into calculation for overall percentile calculation, it is important to score well in each section.

Language Comprehension

This section aims at testing candidates’ verbal ability and English grammar. The section consists of 40 MCQs to be attempted in 25 to 30 minutes.

For this section work on the reading speed as this section consists of reading comprehension passages. Reading a passage takes time, but answers may be quite easy to find. So, read many books, newspapers, and magazines to improve reading speed. Go through a few sample questions to understand the time you take and to improve the working time on each of such questions.

The Grammar part includes questions on vocabulary, idioms, verbs, clauses, active and passive voice, punctuation, etc. Go back to your grammar books to recall the rules of usage and construction of sentences. Verbal Ability can be simply improved by practicing more and more sample papers once having covered all the topics of the syllabus.

Mathematical Skills

This section contains questions related to Quantitative Ability which are based on advanced level Mathematics. Being thorough with the concepts would help you get a high score in this section. With 40 questions to be attempted in 40 minutes, this section demands a lot of practical efforts to achieve speed with accuracy.

Practice a lot, to gain a good hold on fundamentals and theorems. Study each topic; prepare notes of formulae and theorems. Mental Maths must be strengthened to speed up calculations. Devote more time on topics like Vectors, Differential Equation, Trigonometry, Algebra, because they are difficult. All of this practice must be done at least three months prior to the exam. However, if you have been short of time and prepared less, then skip the questions that take longer to solve.

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

This section will have analytical questions like the interpretation of data, and statements. You need to take the test carefully, read the questions with concentration to arrive at conclusion. The tables and graphs sometimes throw tricky questions; therefore practicing a lot will help you arrive at accurate answers.  This question has 40 MCQs to be attempted in    35 minutes.

Cover the topics, Charts, Graphs, and Tables well. Questions may be confusing, so answer the questions in parts to analyze data. The questions that take more time to answer should be marked for later and attempt it after you have finished solving all other questions.

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning

Here questions related to logical reasoning skills are asked which would mostly include topics like Blood Relations, Matching Statements, Analogies, etc.  The section has 40 MCQs and the suggested time to solve this section should not be more than 35 minutes. Use shortcuts and other methods to quickly solve the section.

For Critical thinking, arrive at an answer only by analyzing the question, contradictory statements, and conclusion. Do not spend more than 1 minute on these questions. Practice these questions from sample questions.

Indian and Global Environment

This section requires least time to complete but is a very vague part of the syllabus. It includes Current Affairs and Events, Awards, festivals, who is who, Political events, Science, Technology, etc.  It contains 40MCQs that should be completed in 15 minutes.  Candidates need to thoroughly pursue current affairs and news to do well in this part. Read more books, magazines, blogs, news debates, Manorama Year Book and Competition Success Review, etc.

At last, it is important to state that exam takers must start to prepare as early as possible. It is good to begin as early as 6 months to be able to ace the topics with speed and accuracy.

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Top MBA College Accepting MAT Score

MAT Exam helps MBA Aspirants take admission in Top MBA Colleges in India. These Top MBA Colleges select students on the basis of their scores in MAT Exams, Group Discussion, and Personal Interviews are Also Important factors in College Selection. 

Note: MAT is conducted 4 times a year in February, May, September, and December. 

Also Read: How to Prepare for MAT Exam

As soon as results are declared aspirants start their search for the best-suited College. Ranking for MBA Colleges is important as there are many MBA Colleges and it's difficult for a student to select among those. There are a couple of things a student should keep in mind while selecting their MBA College like Course Fees, Eligibility Criteria, College Placements Records, etc.

Extra Resource For MAT Exams:

MAT Exam Date

MAT Syllabus

MAT Eligibility

TOP MBA COLLEGES ACCEPTING MAT SCORE AND EXPECTED CUT OFF

Here is the list of MBA Colleges accepting CMAT Scores with their Cutoffs and fees

MBA Colleges	Location	MAT Cut off
KIIT School of Management	Bhubaneswar	600
Jaipuria Institute of Management	Noida	600
ITM Business School	Navi Mumbai	600
Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences	Bangalore	600
VIT Business School	Vellore	600
Thiagarajar School of Management	Thirupparankundram	600
MS Ramaiah Institute of Management	Bangalore	500
Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management and Research	Harihar	600
Amity Business School	Noida	500
Taxila Business School	Jaipur	500

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List of Top MBA Colleges accepting CMAT scores

CMAT Exam helps you take admission in around 1500 MBA colleges in India. These B-Schools select students on the basis of their performance in the CMAT Exam, Group Discussion(GD), Personal Interview(PI). As soon as the result declared students start looking for their suitable MBA College. There are many Colleges accepting CMAT scores, some it's quite difficult for students to select the Top MBA Colleges. There are a couple of things a student should keep in mind while selecting their MBA College like Course Fees, Eligibility Criteria, Placement Records, etc.

Also Read:  Top 10 MBA College in India

Additional Resources For CMAT Exams

• CMAT Exam Date
• CMAT Exam Eligibility
• CMAT Syllabus
• CMAT Preparation
• CMAT Registration

TOP MBA COLLEGES ACCEPTING CMAT SCORE AND EXPECTED CUT OFF

Here is the list of MBA Colleges accepting CMAT Scores with their Cutoffs and fees

MBA Colleges	Course Fees	CMAT Cut off
Asia-Pacific Institute of Management	Rs 9.95 lakh	85%
XIME, Bangalore	Rs 10 lakh	75%
Christ University Institute of Management	Rs 6.8 lakh	70%
Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad (IMS Ghaziabad)	Rs 7.2 lakh	70%
D Y Patil University School of Management (DYPUSM)	Rs 7.8 lakh	70%
Jagannath International Management School (JIMS)	Rs 6.3 lakh	70%
Universal Business School	Rs 8.48 lakh	8.48%
National School of Business	Rs 4.00 lakh	70%
Alliance School of Business - Alliance University	Rs 15.00 lakh	75%
SRM Institute of Science and Technology	Rs 3.00 lakh	80%

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How an MBA degree can help Boost your startup

MBA Colleges in India have grown manifold in numbers and are still continuing to grow. A Best MBA course helps its students think out of the box, do things smartly, gain skills necessary to lead towards success, and lastly, they know how to measure success. MBA programs prepare industry leaders by providing crucial guidance and support. 

The directions and experiences from some highly motivated and intelligent people of the industry make high spirited professionals who can lead through the toughest of business situations. A class of MBA brings together like-minded people and founders who bring value to each other’s thinking processes. Education is important and vital as it facilitates informed choices with respect to new businesses. 

Many companies have faith in their MBA hires and they firmly believe that it has helped them to lead and grow their businesses through their ideas. MBA education cultivates abilities of financial projections and building compelling business plans.

Also Read: What is the difference between MAT and CAT exams?

Now that MBA students’ entrepreneurial pursuits are on the rise, we can see many startups have gained momentum and a great market share. Leading a startup business means having full control. Working with other entrepreneurs in a startup business can be more exciting than working for bigger corporates. 

The business world has seen innumerable examples of young founders and business leaders who have taken up a business from scratch to new heights. Working with startups MBAs have full control over a concept and a free hand to lead the team to greatness and utilize their education, gained from MBA Colleges.  There are many successful examples, where MBAs have commanded new businesses to new frontiers.

Examples:

·    Richa Kar, the founder, and CEO of Zivame completed MBA from Narsee Monji Institute of Management Studies after doing Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. Having worked for companies like SAP and Spencers, she decided to start Zivame. Zivame is India’s top lingerie brand.  Richa’s idea of being able to educate Indian women about intimate wear and the way she boldly carried the concept helped women break norms. 

Ta king it ahead she has invested in a community that influenced women in many ways. From Zivames’s online-offline stores to the new launches everything is driven by her ideas and she firmly rose above all.

·       Sanjeev Bhikchandani graduated in BA (Hon) in Economics and decided to work for 3 years before he enrolled into IIM-A. He is the founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Info Edge. Info edge owns Naukri.com, Jeevansathi.com, and 99acres.com.  

    Naukri.com is the biggest job portal in India. He founded Info edge after working for Horlicks. In 2008 he bagged Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and today he is among India’s richest 100 people as per business insider magazine.

·      Supam Maheshwari has done Mechanical Engineering from Delhi University and a Masters degree in Business Administration from IIMA. He first founded a startup Brainvisa Technologies, which is an online learning portal. He then founded FirstCry, a baby products brand in 2010. 

    FirstCry today stands as Asia’s largest online portal for kids, and moms. They started partnering with some enterprising professionals to open franchise stores. The franchises were given all the support and these stores are operationally very profitable.

How MBAs can help startup businesses

Let us have a look at how exactly the MBAs Can Help Entrepreneurs and new Business Owners

1.   MBAs know the Business Management Theories

Amongst so many benefits of MBA degrees, having theoretical intelligence and real-world connections makes the degree worth it.

The important concepts that steer businesses and the underlying planning process is what differentiates a winning strategy. Although it may be true that this cannot be taught in a graduate school but the MBA curriculums give them in-depth knowledge and activate logical stimulation which would not have been possible otherwise. 

Also Read:10 Business and Leadership Books that help MBA Students Succeed

The experienced lecturers and top leaders from various industries share some real-life examples and case studies giving some invaluable guidance and points to successful endeavors.

B-schools teach the science of how a company is run and expanded. It is advantageous to have learned some necessary lessons at business schools to transition an idea into a business. You learn not just the theories but pick up from others' successes and mistakes too. 

Learning subjects like human resource management, business law, etc. will let you fend off complex workplace issues. The lessons learned to make one familiar with the legal environments of business, which further lets them efficiently manage and make the best decisions.

2.   More Ways Of Running A Business

There are several ways and ideas of running a business. With an MBA degree, you can clearly envision what different alternatives you can opt for and analyze all the pros and cons of each option. The students are enlightened with numerous case studies to give insight into how the leaders of large companies think. You learn how to imitate the successes and avoid the mistakes of the losing companies.

Business degrees are a great incubator for upcoming entrepreneurs. The students do not just learn how to launch new ideas but they also understand how to manage businesses. The MBA programs have during the last few years focused more on mushrooming entrepreneurship. 

The teachers and mentors guide and help search for big ideas. The students gain practical experience in finding suitable collaborations to execute their visions.

With a fair knowledge of marketing strategy, understanding of customers and competitors, MBA students can price, promote their products and services up to the satisfaction of customers.

3   Extensive and Valuable Professional Network

Business schools are very competitive in nature. Your batch of MBAs will always have impressive backgrounds with good accomplishments. The relationships that are developed during this time will be very extensive and valuable professionally, as these students are here for a concrete goal. 

They are future leaders and experts. So you are at the center of a rich network that otherwise requires years to build and thrive through.

Secondly, the business school offers an atmosphere to build a good team. For successful business teamwork, relationships, and networks are inevitable. The classmates’, teachers’ advice and insights can weigh out complex business problems. 

There is a lifelong channel of talent connecting graduates with current MBA students. The experiences acquired from cross-campus initiatives and participation in real-world business through internships become a valuable asset.

4.       Attract External Funding

Investors and banks base their decision to support a business in view of a good business plan. An MBA student will have the expertise to develop and write a strong business plan that is compelling and convincing to the stakeholders. While sanctioning loans for business, banks also look at the experience and educational qualifications of the key parties involved in the business. 

The business degree assists you to subtract the wrong corners and attract potential investors. They can write a convincing business plan.

The success of a business depends upon how valuable is an idea or a product in the current market scenario. The MBAs know the ways to find an unmet market need and determine how viable the new concept can be. Some schools give their students the opportunity to submit their idea to investors during competitions.

Conclusion

The MBA degree program is a gateway to success. The students during the years of MBA, education learn how to improve business operations, providing insight and tools to make money in the long term.

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MBA Career Risks and Startups

Startups have emerged as the spirit of Indian ecosystem in last few years. We are constantly seeing a rise of unicorns and the scaled up levels of funding that are infused towards the support and growth of these unicorns. The investment trends also indicate the mood of the investors that went from grim to encouraging towards startups during recent times. India is a thriving market for startup companies and the scope is exponential. Startups have been reluctant in hiring MBAs till recent times but with the latest shifts they have embraced MBAs in larger numbers. Working for startups may have numerous perks, yet several career risks are involved. It is no secret that more startup companies fail to establish themselves in competitive world of business than the ones that succeed. But this surely would not mean that taking up a job here will not fetch you valuable experiences.

 

For these new ventures, scaling a business, needs people with excellent management skills and attributes. And for the MBA graduates working with them would mean the ability to see themselves making an impact immediately and growing alongside the firm. Most of the times, it is a win-win situation for both the parties.

 

Let us understand the tradeoffs of working in startups. For those who intend to join a starting stage business, here are a few things to expect:

 

Advantages of Joining a Startup for Career

An Exciting Designation

When working with top companies, there is a schedule for promotions generally followed by defined appraisal procedures. But the startups in the early stages do not have such set of rules; therefore this can fast forward your career even beyond your imaginations. While a blue chip company looks at your experience but as the time passes by it matters less and your performance takes a front seat for your path forward. In a startup you grow as the company grows and you receive responsibilities and promotions irrespective of time and policy boundations.  Although, these new ventures at this stage may not have structured processes, but the growth prospects can also turn out to be manifolds. Success depends much on your obsessiveness to prove.

 

An enriched resume

For a startup, an MBA graduate can make huge contributions. The new joiners need to work and achieve much more with having to undertake various roles and various opportunities. The job roles require everything to be done from new launches to gaining customer base and scrutinizing results etc. This produces some really good bullets to add to your Resume.  There are no job description limitations so you can move through many facets of business.

 

Diverse Thought Process

The blue chips and big corporates have stipulated path prescribed for doing things. This is based on what was being done from their past experiences.  Here you are required to design, build and create by making use of vivid skill sets instead of following protocols. This fosters novel and adaptive thinking and generates abilities to think beyond. There will be more room for innovation, interaction and this will steeply raise your learning curve. The problems are hence handled in a different manner and constant efforts to find solutions are always stirred.

 

Utilization of MBA Skillsets in Entirety

In a startup you see the rise of a company from the ground. You get to know business, company culture, values and are a part of everything. At least you can be a key employee, a spectator and learn more about the most important strategic decisions through the progression of company.

 

Working with a Passionate Team

Each step by a startup is directed towards finding solutions. Nothing is predefined and systems are still at a developing stage in these companies. It takes a team of highly self-driven, capable people to take the challenge of building new things from the scratch. To work in new ventures is one big challenge and a right team is most important of all the elements. This has to be a team that wants to construct a Google again. This is a small group of passionate people who work for company’s success.  You will experience quest and adventure, working with such an energetic lot. So what you put in will be clearly visible and valuable to the enterprise.

 

 

But this kind of life is not everyone’s cup of tea.  A number of new businesses that ventured in the beginning of this century now stand strong after a successful rise. But starting a new project is not all that rosy, like it looks. So many new businesses give up not before it is long. There is a lot of risk associated with working in such environments. Here is a little consideration on what could be the risks involved:

 

Disadvantages of Working with Startups

No Formal Training

This is not a schoolroom. You are hired with an expectation of reaching the running ground fast and you need to learn rapidly all on your own. There are going to be no training sessions and big orientation groups to get you started.

Perks

You are going to miss out on the perks like training in fancy venues, cafeteria, gyms, luxe office areas etc.

Unstructured Environment

Processes and systems would not be in place in these newly born companies. The ones that are actually critical to the functioning of company are the only processes in place. There are lesser employees, first-time leaders and no policy handbooks to refer. This leads to inefficiency, budget discrepancies, no timelines etc.

 

Responsibilities beyond the Job Descriptions

Even when your job descriptions does not state, you get drawn towards the burning issues of the company. Since there are lesser people to contribute, everyone is taken into the loop for finding faster resolutions. Also you need to carry on multiple tasks at the same time as there is lack of human and other resources.

 

Intense Work Environment

There is a lot of energy that goes into working in new ventures. A lot of quick moves that are required to be taken in short time span may trigger arguments and disagreements. People are highly focused because, to have the things done is not just a necessity but is a matter of survival too.

 

Fear of Failure

Despite of all, there is a panic about failure working with startups. But remember that many successful businesses were started with just an idea, and failure was just a path to success. It is not always bad to fail,so never loose enthusiasm.

 

Conclusion:

Working for start-ups is not a bad idea although it seems risky.  New businesses are more progressive in nature and make room for creativity and individualism. Those working in startups turn out to be very abled in their areas because they work on building something of value. More than a job, it is a mission and a path taken to do something one firmly believes in.

 

So how do you know if it is worth taking a risk? Since the career risks attached are bigger, take some time to figure out more about the company you are going to join.  Get ready with some appropriate questions to ask during your Interview. Gauge about company’s past records. Know more about the marketplace position of the company, find out more about the leadership team and their background. Thirdly, understand where is the company being funded from and what future plan is in place for company’s future funding requirements.

 

Do not forget to seek guidance from your mentors and experienced people around. Since everyone may not think in the same direction, do your research well. Read articles and latest developments about the company. Find out more about people who joined them recently and about their backgrounds. This may give you a fair idea about which path to choose when you want to decide.  It only requires a better approach and some calculations to arrive upon a verdict.