important for MBA students GK for MBA Entrance Exams – How Vital it is ?"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""":::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Preparations for MBA entrance examination need in-depth knowledge, analytical mind, sharp memory and above all, systematic planning and preparations. Needless to say that the candidates cannot and should not attempt the preparations overnight. Since the competition is taken by the best available talent from all disciplines, meticulous and long-run preparations are required to get admitted to the programme, It is therefore, essential that the candidates start preparing well in advance on all the above aspects, especially the General Awareness section as many major exams like IIFT, IRMA, SNAP, CMAT & XAT have GK as part of their entrance exam criteria. If one can get hold of previous year’s papers or at least the pattern, this would go a long way in guiding the candidates to prepare properly for this section of the test. Why GK is so important ? GK for MBA Entrance Exams is a vital component of MBA entrance tests like IIFT, TISS, IRMA & SNAP. With also the introduction of CMAT in February 2012, another examination started putting GK at the forefront. Now, with XAT also introducing GK as an entrance component in XAT 2013, GK as an area is all set to become an important component. Unpredictability: With areas like QA (Quantitative Aptitude) and VA (Verbal Aptitude), a pattern can be discerned. Even if Reading Comprehension passages force the students to think on the spot, they can still be practised. However, GK is completely out of the bounds. For an examination like CMAT, every test slot can have completely different GK questions in terms of patterns. So, one cannot predict what to expect. Vast Scope: The Scope of GK is really vast. Anything under, over, around and even inside the Sun can be asked in GK. There is no fixed syllabus and no clear level of expertise. In other words, nobody can claim proficiency in GK like one can in QA or VA. Maker or Breaker: Typically, the examinations having GK as a component also have negative marking. This increases the importance of GK even more. You may score very well in QA and VA, but can GK still let you down? Yes. So, knowing the exact answer is extremely important. The second stage in any MBA entrance test is Group Discussion and Personal Interview. GK is extremely important in Group Discussion. Even though some institutes have switched from GD to other criteria such as Written Ability Test, the importance of GK is there. How to build GK? First and foremost, one has to understand that GK cannot be built overnight so, regular reading of newspapers, making notes of the important points from the articles and devoting at least one hour everyday for this, is essential. Apart from newspapers, magazines can be referred to – for analysis of a news story. Newspapers typically move on from an issue quite early but magazines generally provide in-depth coverage. Identify your areas of interest, e.g. Sports and start working on that. If the area is your favourite, your efforts to build knowledge about that will be less and that saved time can be utilized for other areas. Having said that, I’d also say that no area in GK should be considered as a taboo. Making notes on the basis of the information is a must. We are more likely to remember the things which we have written down as it’s a conscious process as compared to just reading. Start the preparation early. In fact, from day one – as there is no limit for what can be asked in GK. Your examination is in February’ 13 and therefore, you start preparing for it from December’12 – is NOT an approach for GK. Whenever you read any topic – imagine these 6 questions: 5Ws and 1H: Who, when, where, why, what and How. As with other MBA entrance exam aspirants you must also be focusing mostly on Quantitative aptitude, Verbal Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. But General Awareness covering Business Awareness & Current Affairs can help you answer those crucial questions correctly and get you a higher percentile in crucial MBA Exams like XAT, SNAP & IIFT. For Example, if you are reading about the Euro Crisis – Try to find out answers to these questions: Who are the personalities when we mention Euro Crisis? When did the crisis start? Where is it happening? Why the situation culminated in a crisis? What exactly is Euro crisis and How the crisis has unfolded? The answers to these questions will clear your concept about the topic and making notes in the form of these answers will actually help you remember the topic well. Refer to the notes after a definite time period – say 15 days or a month – as it will help you staying in touch with all the content that you have created. The major reason for people getting bogged down in front of GK is its vastness but it can be overcome only with continuous and sustained efforts. When you look at any information, think about it in terms of all possible questions which can be asked on that particular information rather than just reading that information. We can remember better if we know something as an answer to something – e.g. ‘Former Telecom minister A. Raja from DMK was arrested in connection with the 2G scam’ is a fact. We can create following questions from it: a) a) Who was the minister that was arrested in connection with 2G scam? b) What was A.Raja’s portfolio when he was arrested? c) Regarding what A.Raja was arrested? d) Which political party did A.Raja belong to? When we prepare all these questions, the likelihood of remembering this fact and therefore the likelihood of answering the questions whichever way they get twisted, is definitely high. Last, but not the least: Refer to selective resources, online as well as offline – for reading and reference. More resources creates confusion and also unnecessary duplication of the information. To sum up: Yes, GK is a challenge but if prepared well and properly, it’s also an opportunity as in this area, all students are going to be at par. So, one has to take the initiative and start preparation. Stay tuned to MBAGYAN for more updates on CAT 2013 & Other MBA Exams. Excerpts of this article were taken for reference from CPLC website, UrPercentile & Other Mediums. Article Excerpts - CPLC & UrPercentile Websites – Cater to various national competitive examinations like MBA entrance examination including CAT, CET, XAT, NMAT, SNAP etc and International exams like GRE and GMAT.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 15:44:48 +0000
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