Where the Trail Begins: Studying Management in Maharashtra

1. How popular is Maharashtra Common Entrance Test vis-à-vis other management exams like CMAT, CAT, etc?

Mah-MBA/MMS-CET is more popular among aspirants in the rural and sub-urban parts of Maharashtra over Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education, CAT, MAT, CMAT, XAT.

2. There was speculation that the primary reason for bringing back paper-pencil based MAH CET was CMAT’s online test format. But MAH CET made a comeback in 2014 as a computer-based test. What do you think was the real reason for re-introducing the exam?

The primary reason for bringing back MAH CET was lack of awareness among students about the national-level CMAT exam. The rural and sub-urban parts students are aware of online exam system. Problem was awareness of new entrance test and its procedure.

3. How can students optimize their preparation for each section?

Verbal Ability & Reading comprehension

How well you can use the English language is tested in this section. Questions on error corrections are divided in 5 parts and one has to find out the particular part where error exists.  In this test, there will be passages with questions based on their contents to test your comprehension. Your English Language ability would be tested through questions on grammar, vocabulary, sentence completion, synonyms, antonyms, comprehension of passages, etc. Your English language ability would be tested through questions on (1) understanding of the contents of the passage and (2) choice of appropriate words, phrases, expressions and similar language skills.

Quantitative Aptitude

How fast and accurate you can work with numbers, do numerical calculations understand various arithmetic problems involving ratio and proportion, percentage, is ascertained in this test. This test also helps to measure your power of quantitative reasoning, interpretation of tables, common graphs and charts.

Logical and Abstract Reasoning

Another important part of the test is to weigh the logical and reasoning skills of a candidate. This test measures how quickly and accurately you can think. This test may have questions based on figures and diagrams and also questions on verbal reasoning.

4. Any books you would recommend for MBA aspirants?

a) MBA Entrance Examination: Popular Master Guide PB
by Hashem Abul, Gupta Anjani
Publisher: Ramesh Publishing House

b) Data Interpretation MBA Entrance
by Jaiswal
Publisher: G. K. Publications Pvt. Ltd

c) M.B.A. Entrance Guide
by Verma
Publisher: Asian Books

d) The Pearson Guide to MBA Entrance Examinations
by Edgar Thorpe, Showick Thorpe
Publisher: Pearson

e) The Pearson Guide to Quantitative Aptitude for MBA Entrance Examinations
by Dinesh Khattar
Publisher: Pearson

f) Verbal Ability Guide For MBA Entrance Exams
by Disha Experts
Publisher: Disha Publication

g) Guide to MBA Entrance Examinations
Publisher: G.k.publishers (p) Ltd.

h) Master Key To MBA Entrance Exam
by S. L. Gulati, Ravi Chopra
Publisher: Galgotia Publications Pvt. Ltd

5. If you were to handpick 3 best government management institutes in Maharashtra, which would they be?

a) Department of Management Science, SavitriBai Phule Pune University
b) Sydenham Institute of Management Studies & Research & Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE), Mumbai
c) Dhananjayrao Gadgil Institute of Cooperative Management, Nagpur

6. Mumbai & Pune are well established management education hubs in Maharashtra. Are you planning on developing other education regions as an upcoming education destination? If yes, which places?

Nagpur will be developed as an education destination.

7. What new things will we see in Maharashtra via-a-vis education, especially in management & engineering?

• CBCS
• Online exam
• New syllabus as per the requirement of industries

8. Your message to 2015 MAH CET takers?

You can plan the journey to the destination well if you know the start point. You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses for any test preparation, like you can be strong in Quantitative Aptitude & Logical / Abstract Reasoning, average in Reading Comprehension and totally clueless in Verbal Ability. This is important because then you will create your plan to turn your weaknesses into strengths and ignore certain weaknesses if they are not important from exam point of you and improve your strengths.

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Dr. Eknath Balu Khedkar is the Director at Dr. D. Y. Patil School of Management, Pune. He is an M.Com & a Ph.D (Business Administration) holder from the University of Pune, along with 26 years of rich experience in industry, teaching and research.