Sunday, March 04, 2007

Best Schools under MAT (Management Aptitude Test)

The Management Aptitude Test, generally referred to by its abbreviated name MAT has become one of the most popular MBA entrance tests in India. It has now been approved by the Government of India as a National Entrance Test and a wide number of AICTE approved institutions and some University departments now use the MAT as their entry level test. Conducted by the All India Management Association (AIMA), the MAT is held 4 times in a year.

B-schools affiliated to the MAT are by no means comparable to the ones under the Common Admission Test (CAT) or the XAT conducted by XLRI, but there are a few good ones which can be considered by those who have for some reason or the other not been able to make it to the top b-schools.

The MAT is an 800 marks test, similar to the GMAT, though the level of difficulty is lower than either GMAT or CAT.

This is a list of the top institutes under MAT. Not in any particular order though Amity & Alliance are the most preferred ones.

Alliance Business Academy, Bangalore
( from the Alliance website: Alliance is the first B-School in India to be accredited by the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE), USA, one of the 3 premier accrediting bodies for management education.)
Outlook C-Fore survey in 2006 ranked it at no. 9 amongst India’s top private b-schools. In another survey carried out by AIMA, Alliance was ranked as an A+ institute.

Amity Busines School, Noida
(Though it has been ranked as the no.1 private b-school, I am not too sure about that. There are too many b-school surveys happening in India, and the results of most of them are pretty suspect. I won’t be surprised if some of the b-schools they include amongst their top ten are sometimes paid for)
Amity also has a campus each in Delhi, Lucknow, Manesar, Gurgaon and Jaipur.

Indian Institute of Modern Management, Pune (IIMM)
( Though it also conducts another test called BAT (Balaji Admission Test) for the institutes in the Balaji Society, IIMM being one of them. It also accepts CAT, XAT and SNAP scores.)

Christ College Institute of Management, Bangalore
Ranked as an A grade institute by AIMA b-school survey. Christ College accepts the February MAT scores. Minimum requirement: 600

Jagan Institute of Management Studies, Delhi (JIMS)
A comparatively new institute, JIMS has been able to create a name for itself, at least in Delhi and its neighbourhood. Its BBA programme is widely rated as the best under the IP University.
Also accepts CAT scores. Ranked at B+ in the AIMA survey

Institute of Rural Management, Jaipur
Needs a MAT score of 600. You can also apply through ATMA. Ranked as an A grade institute in the AIMA survey.

School of Communication & Management Studies, Cochin (SCMS)
Ranked at A grade by the AIMA survey. Also ranked as A+ by Business India. CAT scores also accpeted

Caution: This is only an indicative list, and by no means an exhaustive one. Please corroborate this information with atleast one more source before taking any decision.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

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Friday, March 02, 2007

MICA (Mudra) Interview Questions

MICA or Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad, unlike most other schools you would have applied to, is not actually a b-school. The people behind MICA like referring to it as a C-School or a Communications School. It's a specialised b-school, with its area of competence being "marketing communications'. Even the degree you will be awarded at the end of your 2 yrs stint in Shela will not be an MBA or a PGDBM. You will hold in your hands a "Post Graduate Diploma in Communications Management".

Owing to its narrower scope, the MICA interview may include a few questions pertaining to the areas covered under "Marketing Communications". Of course, it's not necessary that you will be asked one such question - but if you include the entire pool of questions, there should be quite a few of them.

Let me enumerate a few to get you thinking along the right lines:

1. What is the difference between 'advertising' and 'p.r.'?

2. What is 'brand management'?

3. What is 'marketing'?

4. Do you know the difference between 'marketing' and 'sales'?

5. Do you think advertisements work? Why? Which one did you like? Do you think it worked? Why do you think so?

6. What's your favourite ad? Do you know who has created it? The agency? ( generally asked if you cite advertising as a career choice, which is true for quite a few people who apply to MICA)

7. What exactly is Maket Research? How is it done? Do you know what a sample is? Can you give the name of a famous market research agency? What's the full form of ORG-MARG?

8. Is there any difference between TV ads and Print ads? Are the products different? When should one go for a TV ad/Print ad/

9. What is your favourite brand? If you were the creative head, what kind of an ad would you have designed?

10. Tell us the name of India's top 10 ad agencies.

11. What is "Marketing Communications"?

12. Do you think you have the sensitivity required to work with highly creative people? Would you be able to handle such people? ( a strength/weakness question in a twisted format)

13. What is Media Planning/Account Management/Accout Planning?

14. Do celelbrity endorsements work? Tell us one.


This is definitely not an exhaustive list, but more so an indicative one..to give you an idea to get started. Take it further from here...all the very best.