Mystory@Pratik Merchant: How I prepared for my MBA journey

Mystory@Pratik Merchant

Being the youngest in the family can have its own advantages and disadvantages. Now thinking about it, I feel that this worked in my favour. I was always surrounded by cousins who were academically brilliant and then became successful professionals. Few of them did their MBA in the early 2000s, the time when I was dreaming about the career I should take up. The word MBA always fascinated me but over the course of my journey this took a backseat due to some choices.

I excelled in my school and following the herd mentality pursued Science. It was because of my love for computers and programming, I took up Computer Engineering. I landed a so-called dream job at Infosys in the campus placements but decided against joining it. It was a difficult decision to refuse and I began working as a software professional in the next two years.

At some point I felt as if I was using my potential to limited extent of my domain expertise. I was not contributing to the business and that was a turning point. I decided I wanted to do a management course.

Most of the exams had gone by that year but I appeared for CMAT and CET and faired decently but did not get a good college. I decided to prepare with my full heart into entrances for MBA, in the mean time I was working as well. It became difficult to manage work and studies. But I followed a rigorous schedule and kept myself updated with tricks through e-books and videos. Leaving a decent paying job is also not easy.

I was able to crack most of the exams like CAT, NMAT by GMAC, IIFT, and CET scoring good percentiles and managing to get shortlisted by B-Schools. The next stage was GDPI preparation which is completely a different ball-game. I had the habit of reading newspapers and following news through mobile apps which helped keep me updated and face the GD and interviews with confidence. I converted all my calls from IIFT, new IIMs, NMIMS, and later JBIMS etc. Selection of the right MBA college was the biggest dilemma I had ever faced in my life.

After comparisons and consultations, the best for me was JBIMS and there started my journey of awesomeness. The small red-brick building standing tall amongst the surrounding corporates and the old Victorian buildings. From Day 1, it was an experience of a lifetime with the induction, committee selection, indulging and thought provoking lectures and guest lectures, competitions, discussion with classmates, fun time with friends. It takes some time for you to adjust to the bustling life of a B-school but trust me, it’s totally worth it for the sheer experiences and knowledge. If you are bored, you can take a walk down the magical Marine Drive. For the foodies, there are a lot of options nearby.

Dream Dare Achieve!

About the Author:

I am Pratik Merchant – a first year management student from JBIMS. I am a Computer Science Engineering graduate. I also have work experience of almost 40 months in the IT sector. Dance, Bollywood movies and Cricket are a few things that interest me.