Introduction:

Doing an MBA is one of the highest, if not the first, priority in the career plans of almost every college student today. Though management education has been available in the country since the 60's, the rush towards acquiring it has been unprecendented during recent times. No other field, even the traditional medical and engineering courses, have enjoyed such popularity.

Why has an MBA become so sacrosanct? There are several factors: One is the increasing acceptibility of an MBA as the basic entry level criteria for corporate managerial jobs. Another is the saturation of job opportunities in the government. Formal management education enables an individual to relate the future with the current assignment. Most multinational companies (MNCs) prefer hiring an MBA for the skill and training he/she has acquired during the course period.

The Admission Tests:

Admission to most of institutes is mainly based on the following criteria:

• Past Academic Record
• Performance in the admission test
• Performance in group discussion
• Performance during the personal interview

The Common Admission Test, commonly know as CAT, is a screening test adopted by the IIMs and many other institutes ( Goa Institute of Management, TM pai Institute of Management, etc.) also follow the results of the CAT. The XLRI test is entirely different and is probably the toughest of them all. Moreover, you have to be among the first 300 to really have a chance to get in it.

What does CAT actually test you on? Dr A Gangopadhyay, faculty member at IIM-Indore says exam evaluates your ability to conceptualise, assume, infer, develop action plan, analyse, think fast and take decisions out of the alternatives. And it test your emotional reislience, too. Whew! Wait, there is more. Dr Pritam Singh, Dean, IIM-Lucknow, says the institute also checks on wether a candidate is likely to emerge as a manager or a leader. "We avoid careerists. We look for leaders who can change things, add value, build team, empower, compete and achieve, And not merely achieve targets. The former is a manager and the latter is a business manager." The IIMs are, after all, creating leaders for tommorrow's corporate world. Says Singh: "We call grooming our students for the world. We call ourselves the International Institute of Management. About 70 of our students should be placed abroad this year."