MBA admission 2014: GD-PI Recall - How I cracked MICA!

Ritwika Roy, PGDM(C), MICA

With target MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications) set in mind, 23-year old Ritwika first enrolled for CAT coaching classes. In her first attempt - CAT 2010 - she scored 80 percentile. “Thereafter, I decided to take a year’s break and build my profile,” says Ritwika.  She started working with YP Foundation as peer educator, creating awareness in villages on issues like health and sex education.

“It felt great. When I look back at it, I realised it really helped my personality,” says Ritwika. After a six-month stint at the NGO, she worked for Princeton Review as a quality auditor for four months.

For Ritwika, who has a BA English (Honours) degree from Gargi College, Delhi University, reading books was more than just a passion. “I really like reading and loved my course,” says Ritwika. Her nearest option was to pursue journalism or mass communication. “But I did not like the idea to make a career out of English honours. So I started considering about advertisement as a career,” she adds.

While researching on career options in advertising, Ritwika came across courses such as marketing and communication. “This is when I came to know about MICA. I realised I can be good at marketing too. And an MBA from MICA seemed like an attractive option from career perspective.”

She retook CAT 2011, scoring 87 percentile. “This time, I applied to lot more colleges, because I just wanted to get through. My dream was to get through MICA marketing or TISS HR,” says Ritwika. She appeared for MICAT in April 2011. On the basis of aggregate scores in CAT and MICAT, she got a call for Group Exercise and Personal Interview from MICA.

Preparation Strategy

“I took coaching classes for CAT, read online forums and took GD-PI guidance. But in an interview, they can ask you anything. Micans are known for creativity. So instead of producing manufactured answers, do your own soul searching. Keep reading news, marketing/advertising websites, know your CV and career goals well, and look for a direction in life. I also concentrated on marketing - reading Philips Kotler, catching up on latest trends and developments in marketing, FDI and Digitising. I even spoke to some industry professionals.”

Application Package

The application package consisted of the following:

• Statement of Purpose
• Three likes and dislikes
• Top three Achievement
• Academic background
• Professional background

Group Exercise

Time allotted: 10 minutes for preparation + 2 minutes for presentation
Team: 7 people

“We were asked to come up with ‘communication tools’ addressing two - five year olds on how to reduce the consumption of chocolates and candies. It was related to dental hygiene. We came up with a skit and a poster. Both these tools were very simple and to-the-point, keeping in mind the age of the target audience. I worked on the poster while others worked on the skit. At the end, we were applauded by the panellists for our interpretation of the task,” says Ritwika

Personal Interview

Immediately after the GE, Ritwika was called for the PI. There were three members in the interview panel. This is how it went:

Q: So you are an English graduate. What do you think about adaptation of books into movies/plays?

A: Masses say a movie is never able to justify the book. But it is actually the limitation of the medium. To reproduce an entire book within a certain time (two or three hours) is difficult. All intricacies of a book cannot be captured on screen. But then there are both good and bad adaptations. It is how a certain director handles a subject. Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are some good examples.

Q: You are an English Literature student and a fresher. Are you fit for MBA profile?

A: Being a recent graduate from humanities, I can give a fresh perspective to any discussion. My profile can add to the diversity and richness of class discussions which are mostly dominated by engineering grads. Sometimes job experience does not mean you are good at marketing. If people are coming from coding background, they are as new to marketing as I am.

Q: You have never lived in West Bengal. What do you think of the Bengali culture from an outsider’s perspective?

A: I have observed this about all communities in foreign land – they tend to form close bonds. In Bengalis too, there are so many things to connect on. Bengali clubs hold Pujas which is based on cultural familiarity and appreciating similar kind of music and food.

Q: Tell us about your NGO experience what did you do? How did it affect your personality?

A: (I told them about the work of a Peer Educator and how it helped my profile) 
The primary responsibility of a Peer Educator is to spread awareness with the target group. You face many challenges trying to teach students about sex education. Firstly they don’t listen to you as they are, after all, young kids- restless and distracted, secondly such a topic can be difficult to talk about. So at that point, you can do nothing but learn how to handle the pressure and keep going. These experiences taught me how to think on my feet. Such acts also call for leadership, as well as teamwork traits in an individual. 
Today, if young boys are educated about these sensitive issues, they’ll go on to become respectable adults. And indeed, in our pre and post evaluation reports, a change in the thinking pattern of boys was noticed. Having studied the discipline of feminism in class, this platform helped me spread awareness about some of the myths and taboos that are prevalent in a patriarchal society such as ours. 

Q: Which society will you join in MICA?

A:  (I already knew about every community and had interest in Jagriti (social service wing of MICA) Sankalp and the literary community)

The whole interview lasted for about 10-20minutes.

Verdict: SPOT OFFER! “I was told that I am the perfect fit for MICA,” recalls Ritwika.

Ritwika’s take on the PI

“The duration of my PI was about 15-20 minutes, which was pretty less when compared to other aspirants’ PI that lasted for almost an hour! Also, I got none of the general questions such as 'Why MICA?', 'Why PGDM(C)?' or ‘Likes/Dislikes’. The PI was like a conversation about my experiences and my take on some topics. I was asked to analyse the Bengali Culture from a migrant's perspective. Apart from being an English Honours grad from DU, I was a member of my College's Dramatics Society. May be that is why I was asked about my take on books being adapted into movies/plays. Finally, I was asked about my experience at the NGO.
“So that was that. Everything was done by 3 PM. Results came out very late. But the tense mood in the Audi was lightened up by some brilliant singers in the group who took to the stage and sang some of the classics by Kailash Kher and KK,” says Ritwika.

Ritwika’s Tips

“Make sure you maintain a good score in your CAT/XAT mocks, especially focussing on the VA section. The next step in the process is the MICAT. This is a paper that does not require much preparation as it tests your creative and reasoning abilities for the most part. As for the GE, show that you can work well in a group, not letting others participate or being too talkative does not help, quite the contrary, it may harm your chances. In the PI, you may be asked to justify the decisions you have made regarding your academics or your career. Depending on your interest, the panellists may ask questions about the Marketing and Advertising Industry. So it helps to be abreast with the latest developments in these fields. The PI in MICA does not attempt to ‘grill’ the candidate. They try to ensure that you are the right fit for MICA.

“Humanities students feel at home in MICA because Marketing and Communication studies borrow a lot from the fields of sociology, psychology and anthropology. Thus, MBA in Marketing is a good career option for students from the Arts background,” says Ritwika.

Currently, Ritwika is a second year student of Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Communications (PGDM-C) at MICA.