For our success stories segment, we interviewed Jaideep Mehendale who is a first year student at JBIMS. Jaideep converted JBIMS with a 99.99 percentile in MBA CET 2016. In this candid interview, Jaideep talks about his preparation journey, his background and interests, and gives a sneak peek of what life is like at JBIMS.
Jaideep, for the benefit of our readers, share your profile with us.
My name is Jaideep Mehendale. I am an Electronics & Telecommunication Engineer and studied at the University of Pune. After graduating in 2014, I worked for 17 months as a Junior Product Engineer in a core electronics engineering company. The profile required me to travel across India and travelling for work-related assignments was a great learning experience.
Tell us a little about your extra-curricular achievements and hobbies.
I have been into sports ever since I was in school. I have represented my engineering college in several tennis and chess competitions at the national level. I have also played competitive badminton at various levels. Apart from sports, I have also been actively involved in quizzing right from school and have a particular liking for sports quizzes!
When did you start your preparation?
I decided to go for MBA sometime during my final year of engineering because it is my firm belief that a ‘Technical + Management qualification’ is a killer combination and it opens up a multitude of options! I also wanted to gain work experience before I went for MBA so I started seriously preparing sometime around July 2015.
Did you have any advantage because of your engineering background?
Yes. Engineering background does give an advantage as engineers do not lose touch with Maths all through their 4 years of engineering (as it keeps cropping up in some subject or the other). So, I felt that I was better equipped to handle the sums that frequently appear in the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section.
How did you prepare for the test?
I prepared for about 6 months from July 2015 to about January 2016 (till the XAT 2016 exam). My schedule used to revolve around my office hours and my travel schedule. Monday to Friday I used to take sectional tests. The sequence used to be Quantitative, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. Saturdays and Sundays were meant for full length mock tests. The analysis of the mocks after the end of the test is extremely vital.
I also remember that while preparing for the MBA tests, I never let go of playing tennis and badminton on alternate days! That acted as a stress buster in the days of exam preparation.
What material did you use? What were your strengths and areas of improvements during preparation and mock phase?
Most of the material that I used was in the form of various test series that I enrolled for (TIME, IMS, CL, Learningroots). Analysis of mocks provides one with sufficient material and variety of sums.
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension was my area of strength. I was above average in Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. Due to my preparation for CAT and XAT, my fundamentals were pretty much in place by the time CET was around the corner. Hence, preparation for CET was mainly based on attempting mocks and analyzing where I was losing marks. What analysis does is that it helps in pin-pointing the exact area that you need to target for a substantial improvement in your score. Visual Reasoning was giving me a hard time and I struggled with this part right till the exam day. It was only after I got in contact with Learningroots that I could manage a decent performance in this section.
Can you share with us the tests that you took and your scores?
The tests that I took were: CAT: 99.2x, XAT: 99.4x, SNAP: 99.8x, CMAT: 99.2x, NMAT: 99.5x, and CET: 99.99
Tell us more about JBIMS.
JBIMS was established in 1965 in collaboration with Stanford University. Over time the college has grown in stature and has produced some of the finest leaders that India has witnessed. Due to this very fact, JBIMS is often dubbed as the ‘CEO Factory of India’. Located in Churchgate, the business hub of Mumbai, JBIMS has a distinct location advantage as well!
The two things that separate JBIMS are: the faculty and the alumni network.
The practical experiences that the professors share with us is unparalleled. JBIMS has been around for 51 years and a quick online search will reveal the alumni JBIMS has produced over the years, across sectors and across industries. The students often get a chance to interact with the alumni through guest lectures and interactive sessions. For me, getting to know about the industry from stalwarts is the most important aspect of the learning experience.
The admission for Full Time MMS course for the batch of 2016-18 was through CAP rounds conducted by DTE.
Any tips for aspirants?
I would suggest the aspirants to enroll for as many entrance tests as they can. This ensures that, in case of the performance not being up to the mark in a particular exam, there are always options to fall back on. Mocks are vital for preparation and their analysis is as important if not more important than taking the mocks! And last but not the least, have faith in your abilities; that is all that matters in the end.
And your future plans?
One day at a time! 🙂
It was great talking to you, Jaideep! We wish you all the best. Thanks!
End of interview.
