Right platform for special needs Portal helps Visually challenged students get writers

Right platform for special needs

Portal helps Visually challenged students get writers

Aravind Bhartiya has been concerned about the difficulty visually challenged students have in getting somebody to help them write their exams. Now, he has come up with a new portal that will help connect such differently-abled people with volunteers from their areas to assist them in their educational pursuits. “It is almost like trying to find a perfect life partner,” says Bhartiya, trustee and CEO of Retina India. “When I was studying chartered accountancy, I saw first-hand the problems such students face in getting a scribe for their exams. And the tight eligibility criteria makes it even harder to find some one within a short time. So, often, students end up with scribes who are not competent and are unable to keep up with them at the exams.” Now, the 41-year-old has launched www.seshpath.org, the first such portal where volunteers can register to help these visually challenged candidates and also other differently-abled students. Students seeking a scribe can also register at the portal. According to the rules, a scribe (the name for a volunteer who writes the exam for such students) cannot be older than the student. Also, the writer cannot be from the same stream of the student, but should have some knowledge about the subject. Such rules make it difficult for the students to find appropriate scribes, thus missing their exams or losing crucial marks. “Many blind students suffer because they do not find good writers or scribes. On the other hand, people wanting to volunteer do not know how to go about it. This will save time in finding the right scribe, by bringing the student and the scribe on the same platform, making it easy for them to connect,’’ says Bhartiya. Mumbai sheriff Indu Shahani was the first volunteer to register at the portal. Shahani, principal of HR College of Science and Commerce, has regularly drawn on students from her college to help the differently-abled.

Series of talks for students going abroad

ReachIvy, an education advisory for aspiring studyabroad students is hosting a Speaker Series to help you learn from the experience of others who have studied at foreign universities. On October 6, Vibha Kagzi, CEO, Reach Education Pvt Limited, who holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BSc from Carnegie Mellon University, will moderate a talk on the topic Life after University of Pennsylvania Registration is compulsory and can be done on www.reachivy.com/speakerseries.aspx.
Where: Indian Merchants’ Chamber, Churchgate

When: October 6 at 5 pm Call: 61155234
Fee: R100 per person

Classroom to boardroom To become more employable, management students should both harness technology efficiently and make a conscious effort to relate what they learn in the classroom to the real world, say experts

Classroom to boardroom

To become more employable, management students should both harness technology efficiently and make a conscious effort to relate what they learn in the classroom to the real world, say experts

According to an expert panel, Indian management graduates should be better-trained in soft skills, independent thinking and using technology to m anage tasks efficiently.

Panelists from left to right: Amitabh De, Rashmi Fauzdar, Ajit Ranade, Behroze Kamdin, Soumyo Dutta. They chalked out a seven-point plan to making more employable MBA graduates. This panel included Ajit Ranade, chief economist, Aditya Birla Group; Amitabh De, director in-charge, National Institute of Industrial Engineering; Rashmi Fauzdar, chief general manager, foreign exchange department, Reserve Bank of India; Soumyo Dutta, managing director, Citibank and Bahroze Kamdin, partner, Deloitte.

The panel chalked out a seven-point plan to improve the quality of Indian management education at a discussion held at the Thakur Institute of Management Studies and Research on Saturday, to create employable graduates.
Seven-point plan

1. Less teaching, more learning:

Citing a survey by IIM-Ahmedabad, De said, “80% of the actual learning happens outside the classroom. If students attend lectures six days a week, they do not get time to reflect upon what is taught. Instead, students should have the time to relate class theory and form their own ideas, opinions, research and have the time to think independently.”

2. Soft-skills:

Dutta, who actively recruits management graduates, said they need to have better communication skills and leadership qualities, and an understanding of management as a whole, not just a particular stream such as finance or human resources.

3. Mastering technology:

Managers need to stay abreast with the latest technological developments. Fauzdar says, “Managers are required to master tools to analyse data and represent it in the easiest form, and must know how to use technology efficiently.”

4. The right mindset:

According to Ranade, management graduates often limit their ambitions to achieving the highest profits or winning industry awards, which restricts their creativity and potential. “Keep your dreams meaningful and challenging, like eliminating poverty from the country, for instance,” he said.

5. Social responsibility:

Kamdin says that management graduates are getting a lot from the society and it should be their duty as responsible, educated citizens to give back.

6. Advanced teacher training:

According to De, NITIE received positive feedback from recruiters after they conducted an advanced teacher training programme, which included, teachers visiting various companies to understand the corporate requirements. He listed teacher training as a viable investment for management institutes.

7. Guest lectures from alumni:

Dutta says students can learn valuable lessons about corporate realities from established alumni members. The alumni could also form a support network and share their experiences on a regular basis.

Moving beyond ENGLISH As new markets emerge, business schools are realising the need to turn out multilingual graduates

Moving beyond ENGLISH

As new markets emerge, business schools are realising the need to turn out multilingual graduates

Participating in exchange programmes is an effective way for you to practise foreign language skills, which will contribute to your personal and professional development.

Although English remains the standard language of business, it is not the only one MBAs must master in an increasingly global business environment. This is evident from the changing mindset of business schools abroad, which have realised the importance of not only traditionally popular languages like French or Spanish but also new ones like Arabic, Hindi and Mandarin.
Experts from some of the top business schools around the world share their views.

Columbia Business School, USA

Jack McGourty, director of community and global entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School, says, “No matter what a student’s career path is, knowing more than one language will enhance a manager’s ability to navigate complex global business and cultural environments. Graduate business programmes should offer students alternative vehicles, integrated with curricular programmes, to increase their proficiency in languages of choice.” A case in point is the Columbia Business School’s Chazen Institute that offers courses in Arabic, business English, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada

Charmaine Courtis, executive director, student services and international relations, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada, says, “The international MBA (IMBA) programme at Schulich requires students to develop a second language and an expertise in the region of the world where that language is the business lingo. This is the only way to establish yourself in a global context.”

Cambridge Business School, UK

At Cambridge Judge Business School in the UK, one of the electives/projects in the MBA programme requires students to learn Mandarin. Dr Jochen Runde, director of the MBA, says “This is a beginners’ course that is offered at the end of the academic year. For most of the attending students, successful completion of the course is a requisite for completing their studies. The course focuses on three language skills: listening, speaking and reading. Due to the complex nature of the Chinese writing system (characters rather than an alphabet), writing is not one of the main aims of this course. We are offering this course as a summer activity option because of the evergrowing importance of China in the world economy. The aim is to give our non-Mandarin speaking students an opportunity to develop some of the language skills they will need to make them more effective in this arena.”

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Canada

According to Laura Wood, director of international programmes and services, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Canada, exchange programmes play an important part in learning different languages and cultures. “With a global student body from 32 countries speaking 37 languages, Rotman encourages all students to further internationalise their degree through exchange programmes, study tours, a module on doing business internationally and consulting projects or internships. Participation in these programmes provides students with the opportunity to practise foreign language skills, contributing to both their personal and professional development as well as the B-school’s linguistic and cultural diversity,” says Wood.

 

KPMG India

According to Narayanan Ramaswamy, partner of management consulting, KPMG India, students should not only address the issue of learning new languages. “It’s not about language alone. Understanding the culture and being culturally sensitive is as important as communication skills. A good manager is required to develop additional language skills. It is a major differentiator in a competitive global market. Knowledge of more languages is always welcome.”

Wanted: Task masters Experts say more business schools need to introduce courses on project management to train people to lead teams, manage time, stick to budgets and control quality—all at the same time

Wanted: Task masters

Experts say more business schools need to introduce courses on project management to train people to lead teams, manage time, stick to budgets and control quality—all at the same time

There is a critical gap between the supply and demand of qualified professionals to handle projects, according to Mangesh Korgaonker, director general, National Institute of Construction Management and Research (NICMAR). This can be attributed to a gap in B-school curricula addressing the subject of project management. While this is disturbing, it can be a significant opportunity for Bschools, say experts.
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Wikipedia describes project management as the discipline of planning, securing, managing and controlling resources to achieve specific goals. A project has a defined beginning and end, and is undertaken to meet unique goals to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with regular business operations, which are repetitive and permanent activities to produce products or services.
In practice, the management of these two systems is quite different, and requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all the project objectives while honouring constraints like scope, time, quality and budget. “The severity of the lack of project management expertise is now being felt at the highest level of governance in India. The ministry of statistics and programme implementation has felt a strong need to introduce a full-time MBA type programme in project management,” says Goutam Dutta, professor at the IIM Ahmedabad.
Karuna Jain, Indian Institute of TechnologyBombay, says, “In 2009, a world report ranked project management as the thirdmost desired skill required by business professionals, behind only leadership/ negotiation and business analysis. Yet, B-schools in India do not offer project management coursework. Schools without such a programme may miss out on a major opportunity to make their mark in a booming profession and to grow their student populations.”

For this reason, the Project Management Institute formed the PMI India academic advisory group to monitor the progress of these courses in B-schools.
SURFACE COURSES
Currently, all the IIMs offer some elective courses, which are either directly named ‘project management’ or have other, related titles. In general management-oriented MBA programmes, project management-related subjects are included, but only touch the surface of the subject.
Only specialist courses cover a wider gamut of project management subject content and emphasis, but these are not commonly found in MBA programmes. Similarly, almost all the courses covered in technical colleges, especially those covering construction, engineering and information technology include project management, within their ambit at an introductory level, usually in the form of a module, according to the PMI group.
“By offering project management coursework— both as a stand-alone major and leading to other disciplines—schools can meet the global need for programmes in this field of study, as well as attract more students to their institutions,” says Rammohan Rao, professor at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. “Around the world, select institutions are choosing to differentiate their project management education programmes by seeking global accreditation.”

Make your essays STAND OUT - MBA

Make your essays STAND OUT

Most MBA applicants assume the best way to get into competitive business schools is by showcasing all their work-related achievements. While this is true, it is what you have done beyond the workplace that often makes the difference between finding yourself on a flight to start your MBA abroad and finding yourself back at the office for another year.
Among the most important components of your application are the essays. This is where you can set yourself apart, show off all your strengths and successes (not just from the office) and give the admissions committee a sense of what kind of person you really are. Essays require a tremendous amount of time for brainstorming, drafting and polishing, so make sure you start early. You will have to reflect on your past and find interesting stories that showcase your skills and character, and that can be presented in an engaging narrative. Most application essays require prospective students to introspect about their achievements, personal values, challenges and goals. Solid answers to these questions, which are consistent with what your recommenders are saying, are your best bet for a successful application.
Because Indian culture can be very academic and achievement-focused, some applicants have trouble thinking of essay topics outside of work or college. Yet many applications specifically ask you to write about a personal experience. A personal experience essay is not one that explains that you live in a joint family and have a close relationship with your parents; that is your personal background. A personal experience essay focuses on a single event, such as taking care of a sick grandparent or moving to a new city where you did not have any friends, and then analyses what you learned from that experience. One applicant I met was so stuck finding a personal experience topic that we spent hours digging through his background and finally uncovered a compelling story about his determination to purchase his own home and the steps he took to make it happen. This story could be common, but he framed it as something that demonstrated discipline and focus. You really have to think outside the box to make yourself stand out in essays, and show that you engaged with something that makes you different from all the rest.

Admissions committees regularly report that all Indian applicants have the same look and feel, such as the engineer-turned-banker who wants to go into private equity after the MBA. While you can't change who you are educationally and professionally, make sure you are doing something outside the office that showcases other dimensions of your personality. Whether it is social service, sports or auto racing, do it! All work and no play makes you dull!
Finally leadership and passion are two things you need to demonstrate to business schools. If you are applying because you hate your job and you want a change, you will need to disguise that somehow in your application. Bschools do not want quitters and whiners; their objective is not to help you get out of a dead-end job. They are looking for trailblazers, students who will make encouraging and challenging peers for the rest of the class. And most important, they want alumni who can succeed and make them look good. Convince them that you are a winner who will add to their shine, not just benefit from it.
The author is a study abroad advisor and co-founder of The Red Pen

‘I PAY HALF IN CHINA OF WHAT I WOULD HAVE SPENT IN THE US’

‘I PAY HALF OF WHAT I WOULD HAVE SPENT IN THE US’

Icompleted my BTech and MTech from IIT Bombay in 2006 and was working in a multinational company. With five years of work experience, I felt an MBA degree will push me up the ladder. I looked up the 2010 Financial Times MBA school rankings and found the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai, ranked #17 in the world. Here is what I found during my research and experience in the country:
Language: The course is taught entirely in English. The school provides free classes to students who want to learn the local language.
Expenses: The MBA costs less than half of what I would have spent in the US. The tuition fee is $35,000 per year (about R19 lakh) and living expenses are R25,000 a month.
Placement: Last year, the average salary for international students from CEIBS was RMB600,000 per year ( R50 lakh).

Attitude towards Indians: Chinese people treat Indians with a lot of respect. India is a ‘land of mystery’ and everybody wants to know more about our culture.
Food: Yes, the Chinese eat a lot of non-vegetarian food. But vegetarian items are easily available, and so is Indian food
Overall experience: I feel India can learn a lot from China. The education system is very professional and the government is making a lot of effort to learn best practices from other universities.
I am looking forward to the upcoming placement season and will actively search for opportunities to work in China.

MONEY-METER

According to CUCAS (China’s University and College Admission System), a student’s annual bill would be in the range of $6,000 to $9,000 ( R3,23,000 to R4,86,000) depending on the university’s location, with the cost being ‘significantly less’ in a small town or a city in Western China

IS LANGUAGE AN ISSUE?

The official response suggests it isn’t. “More and more Chinese universities now offer courses in English, enabling students with no knowledge of Chinese language to study there,” says the China Scholarship Council website

Infer it right Inference-based questions need you to arrive at the most logical conclusion based on all the information at hand

Infer it right

Inference-based questions need you to arrive at the most logical conclusion based on all the information at hand

We have been discussing the Critical Reasoning section over the past few weeks. Here are the types of questions that are frequently tested in this section.
1. Must be True/ Inference based questions
2. Main point based questions
3. Assumption based questions
4. Strengthen the argument
5. Weaken the argument
6. Method of reasoning
7. Resolve the paradox / contradiction
8. Flaw in reasoning and
9. Mimic the reasoning
10.Evaluation of the argument
Inference based questions
Inference is the act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true. These questions are typically worded as follows:
“If the statements above are true, then which of the following must also be true?”
“Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?”

“Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information above?”
“Which of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?”
“The statements above, if true, best support which of the following conclusions?”
The general format of an argument in a critical reasoning question has a premise and a conclusion. It may or may not have reasoning depending on the length and complexity of the argument. Consider this example: A public meeting involving about more than 1,000 people is being planned at the beach this evening. No form of a shelter was planned, as it is a summer evening. But a cyclone was forecasted with just 5 hours to spare for the event. The sky is looking very cloudy and it has started to rain heavily.
Which of the following can be properly inferred from the passage?
A. The meeting will not happen at the originally planned location and time.
B. The meeting will happen today at a different venue.
C. The meeting will happen later at the same venue.
D. The meeting will happen later at a different venue.
B is a tempting option. However, B requires an additional assumption that there is something sacrosanct about the date and that it is not negotiable and that the meeting will happen today, come what may.
Option C is also tempting. However, C requires an additional assumption that there is something sacrosanct about the venue and that the meeting will happen only at that particular venue— whichever date it is.
If a particular answer requires additional assumptions to hold true, you definitely know that it cannot be the right inference.
In that sense, A would be the right option for this question. It has already started raining heavily. It is an openair venue without any shelter. A cyclone has also been forecasted. Given these situations, we can infer that the meeting will not happen at the originally planned location and time. Whether it is going to be held at the same place on some other day or if it is going to be held at the same time at some other place is beyond the scope of this question.
Our job is only to find the immediate possible conclusion given the premise and information.
Students often don’t pick that right answer because they think the choice is too obvious.
Their argument is that this answer is ‘almost mentioned’ in the question stem. Remember: an inference question is not a test of intelligence or of your domain knowledge on a topic. All they are trying to test is whether you are able to infer just a little more on the basis of information provided to you in the question stem.

Research opportunities are great at Wuhan, China

‘Research opportunities are great at Wuhan’

Iam from Alappuzha, Kerala, and currently studying medicine at Wuhan University, China, preparing to enter the fourth year. After completing the five-year course from China, we have to get an eligibility certificate from the Medical Council of India (MCI). We have to appear for an exam conducted by MCI and after clearing this exam, we will get the license to practise in any hospital in India.
I chose China for my MBBS because studying there is more profitable compared to India. Before leaving for China, I was wondering if the life, culture and expectations would be different for Indians. It was going to be a daunting task adjusting there, especially when it came to food, culture, weather and, of course, studying a tough course like medicine.
Language: Communicating with the local people was another challenge. I picked up the local language in the first few weeks. It always helps to know the language as it can break barriers and help you interact with more people.
Expenses: The course is cheaper than India at R2.5 lakh per year for tuition , accommodation fee and insurance, . The cost of living is not too high.
Placement: Placement prospects are bright but I want to return

to India. Attitude towards Indians: The Chinese are very fond of Indians. They like our dresses, dance forms and ornaments.
Food: We have an Indian canteen inside the campus. The Chinese food, too, is good.
Academic experience: The teaching medium is English. Besides Chinese professors who teach us in English, we have foreign teachers as well. The main campus of Wuhan University is famous for
cherry blossoms and it is full of tall trees, huge lawns, old and historical buildings. It offers educational and research facilities with enough scope for students to interact and exchange ideas. There are several extracurricular activities organised here, including a students’ association cultural fest.
Facilities: Bright students can get scholarships from the Chinese government. A very good opportunity for cultural exchange exists as students from different countries like Somalia, Tanzania, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia, Brazil, France,
Spain, study together.

ENTER THE DRAGON China, which aim to become Asia’s international education hub by 2020, is a real choice for Indian and other foreign students

ENTER THE DRAGON

China, which aim to become Asia’s international education hub by 2020, is a real choice for Indian and other foreign students

Ayoung Indian engineer decided to pursue his MBA in China. A number of his friends were surprised as that’s not a country many would think of as a B-school destination. But Ravi Mittal had his reasons (read his story: ‘I pay half of what I would have spent in the US.’). Like him, hundreds of thousands of Indian and other overseas students have opted for the Middle Kingdom that boasts of an economy in trillions of dollars.
According to the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, the numbers have jumped up in the past five years. The embassy and other official sources state that, in 2011, 2,92,611 international students, including 9,800 Indians went to China. The year before, 2,65,090 candidates from 194 countries and regions did so. The countries with the largest representation were Republic of Korea, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The Dragon craves more. Aiming to be the top choice of those looking to take up higher, secondary or even elementary education on this continent, the country has launched a 10-year plan to have Asia’s largest international student population— half a million, including 1,50,000 pursuing degrees— by the end of this decade.
“China’s Ministry of Education will make further efforts to optimise the environment for international students, improve management and upgrade education quality, by adhering to the National Outline for Medium and Long Term Educational Reform and Development as well as the Study in China Plan, aiming at attracting 5,00,000 international students by 2020 so as to make China Asia’s biggest host country for international students,” according to the China Scholarship Council website.

Different experts have publicly voiced scepticism over the ‘ambitious’ expansion plans. Sreemati Chakrbarti, a professor at Delhi University’s department of east Asian studies, who specialises in Chinese politics and education, counters, “For China, nothing seems too ambitious. Maybe they’ll lower the tuition, increase the number of courses taught in English, get foreign faculty.”
Authorities have already set the ball rolling to boost China’s education sector. According to one report, the country would expand the scholarship programme for overseas students, with “at least” 1.5 billion yuan ($238 million) worth of scholarships in 2012-13.
The financial aspect is one of the main factors that has driven students east-ward, as is the relatively less competitive entry to courses such as medicine and management, which are the favourites (more than 90%) of Indians studying in the People’s Republic, according to information provided by the embassy. “It’s quite easier for Indian students to register for the medicine major than in European or US universities.”
Also, some Chinese institutions are among the world’s top 200 universities. “The quality of education is fairly good,” says Chakrbarti. “10 to 15 Chinese universities are world-class.”
Other than entrance requirements, price and physical proximity to India, there are other critical reasons for learning in and about this globally-significant nation. A case in point is the US. It is creating the “next generation of experts on China” through its 1,00,000-strong initiative by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, under which 1,00,000 Americans are going to study there by 2014.

CAT 2006 (PERMUTATION-COMBINATION)

73. There are 6 tasks and 6 persons. Task 1 cannot be assigned either to person 1 or to person 2; task 2 must be assigned to either person 3 or person 4. Every person is to be assigned one task. In how many ways can the assignment be done?

public relations and media management courses

Courses at The Press Club

The Press Club, Mumbai, has announced new weekday, weekend and evening batches for its public relations and media management courses. In academic affiliation with PRIMEcorp99 (www.primecorp99.com), the course is three months long. For further details on visit www.primecorp99.com/certificate_CourseDetail.html or call 9820798276.

Donate books for charity

Gyaanexchange.com, an education-related online community, is starting a book donation drive called Gift of Gyaan, from today till October 10. You can donate books, which will then be donated to an NGO called Goonj (goonj.org). Three people who give the highest number of books as well as ten others, selected from a lucky draw, will get gift hampers. You can contribute by couriering books to Noesis Knowledge Solutions, 105 Regal Diamond Center, Opera House, Mumbai 400004 or by ordering via Flipkart with the Gyaanexchange.com address mentioned above. Call 9167606469 for details.

BRUSH UP ON SPEED-MATH techniques to tackle calculation-intensive sets in DI.

QUICK TIPS:

BRUSH UP ON SPEED-MATH techniques to tackle calculation-intensive sets in DI.
REVISE CONCEPTS RELATED to puzzles and decisionmaking with a focus on distribution-based puzzle questions for the analytical reasoning and decision making section.

FOR VERBAL SECTION, focus on figures of speech, as there have been questions on identifying the metaphor, personification, oxymoron, etc in XAT papers earlier. FOR GENERAL AWARENESS, learn about the developments in economic, business, politics and society by reading newspapers, magazines and journals regularly.
FOR ESSAY WRITING, practice writing essays on diverse topics. XAT 2012 required candidates to write an essay on—Poverty is a consequence of the government policies. Instead of trying to address the problem, the government should concentrate on the root causes of the problem.

CAT 2004 GEOMETRY

Directions for Questions 1 to 3: Answer the questions on the basis of the information given below:

In the adjoining figure, I and II are circles with centres P and Q respectively. The two circles touch each other and have a common tangent that touches them at points R and S respectively. This common tangent meets the line joining P and Q at O. The diameters of I and II are in the ratio 4:3. It is also known that the length of PO is 28 cm.

Practice is very important for Quant

STUDENT SPEAK

“Even though Quant was not my weak point, it definitely was a point of concern as you compete against engineers in this area. However, with practice and clarity of fundamentals, even for a non-engineer, Quant section shouldn’t be difficult. Since it’s the first section with which the examination starts, be calm and confident and try to solve maximum questions in the given time.

CHAITANYA GANDHI, CAT APPLICANT “Practice is very important for Quant. If you do not stay in touch with the subject in the last few days, chances are that you may forget. Assess your strong areas and weak areas and practise both, with more emphasis on the weak areas. Also, keep a track of time when you are solving the problems, especially geometry.”
 

  ASHUTOSH KHANDELWAL, CAT APPLICANT

Major changes in XAT format

The Xavier Aptitude Test 2013 conducted by XLRI, will see two major changes—the duration of the test has been extended to three hours instead of 2.20 hours and a general awareness section has been added.

New format

The exam will have two parts. The first part will have multiple-choice questions on three sections - data interpretation and quantitative ability; analytical reasoning and decision making; verbal ability and logical reasoning and the time allotted for this section is 2 hours and 20 minutes. The second part will have a general awareness section with 20 to 30 questions along with an essay writing question, and time allotted for this is 40 minutes. The rationale behind the change is to give students from diverse backgrounds a chance.

Timeline

XAT 2013 will be conducted on January 6, 2013 (Sunday) and the registration closes on November 30, 2012. The results will be declared on January 31, 2013. Approximately 1 lakh students are expected to take the entrance test and will be conducted in a single day.

How bank gives loan to MBA students?

“Many students from average MBA colleges and other private institutes need to pay R4 lakh to R8 lakh as tuition, but they may not get placed well and hence may be unable to repay loans. Thus banks are unwilling to sanction loans to this price-bracket. On the other hand, students who opt for specific industry programmes that cost less than R2 lakh, and pick up specialised skill sets and land jobs, are a safe lending option.”
Sonya Hooja, co-founder and director, Imarticus Learning, an industry specific education programme expert

“Though the rule of awarding loans only to meritorious students might be unfair to average students, one cannot solely blame the banks, because they have to minimise the risk of non-repayment. What is unfortunate is that India has one of the highest education loan interest rates in the world, and this is what should be altered.”

Akhil Daswani, partner, OnCourse Global, an education consulting firm

FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY

According to the data compiled by the Indian Banks’ Association from 26 public sector and 24 private sector banks: The number of Indian students who took education loans in 2011-12: 8.6 lakh
The number of Indian students who took education loans in 2010-11: 8.1 lakh
Increase: 7%

The total funds disbursed by banks in 2011-12: R8103.06 crore
The total funds disbursed by banks in 2010-11:
R11,200.53 crore
Decrease: 28% Decrease in the loan amount per student: 32% Thus, while the number of students who took loans went up by 50,000, the funds disbursed by banks towards student loans fell by more than R3000 crore in 2011-2012.

STUDENT SPEAK

“When I took a loan from Union Bank of India in 2010, they already had a grading system for courses and institutes on the basis of the institute’s ranking. IIMs and other premier institutes provide higher guarantee of jobs, so getting a loan was not a problem for me. Banks have a basic decree for student loans—higher the job guarantee, higher the loan amount sanctioned.”

 

  Sulabh Jain, took loan for MBA in IIM-Ahmedabad in 2010, now working with Boston Consultancy Group

MEET THE EXPERT

Tara Kennedy is a director of the Research Base, an organisation specialising in business research and evaluations. An experienced project and programme manager, Kennedy has led organisations including the City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development. She has delivered education projects in Australia, the UK, India and Africa. She specialises in programme evaluations and education research, particularly into skills development and vocational education.

BACKGROUND

NASSCOM reported earlier this year that almost 50% of engineering graduates are not fit for employment; it said that the problem is ‘quantity over quality’. The figure for unemployability in the IT sector is reported to be near 70%.

Provide what employers need In this column, we invite experts to describe what they think is the most pressing issue in higher education in India PROBLEM: Unemployable graduates. PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY Responsibility to create employable graduates is not just on the institutions and employers, but also on students to find the best career fit. India is renowned as one of the biggest resource pools of graduates in the world. What, then, is the impact of recent reports indicating that a majority of India’s tertiary graduates in key sectors are considered to be ‘unemployable’? NASSCOM reported earlier this year that almost 50% of engineering graduates are not fit for employment; it said that the problem is ‘quantity over quality’. The figure for unemployability in the IT sector, long considered one of the jewels in India’s skills crown, is reported to be near 70%. Businesses, according to the Wall Street Journal, report that graduate applicants are hampered by ‘overbearing bureaucracy’ and a failure of education providers to focus on workplace skills such as creativity and independent thinking. SOLUTION: Provide what employers need. In countries such as New Zealand and the Netherlands, it is commonplace for employers and education providers to work together to ensure that graduate skills meet demand. Tertiary institutions can work with employers in the relevant sectors to ensure that their graduates possess not only the academic knowledge to succeed, but also the workplace skills to put it into practice. Sector Skills Councils, currently being introduced in key sectors in India, are a vital means of linking education providers with industry; they can also advise on sectors likely to be in demand in the future. Quality of qualifications and degrees is also of the highest importance; with so many private and smaller institutions, it is often the only way of judging competence. The upcoming Qualifications Framework, which will include tertiary qualifications, and the ongoing work of the University Grants Commission, will help to address the problem of comparability and benchmarking. The responsibility is not just on institutions and employers, however. The onus is also on young people to ensure that the career they wish to follow is the best fit for them, and is likely to yield success. By seeking careers guidance from schools and relevant businesses, and investigating sectors with future demand, young people can ensure that they are not left in the unemployable pile after university, and can contribute to India’s future prosperity.

Provide what employers need

In this column, we invite experts to describe what they think is the most pressing issue in higher education in India

PROBLEM: Unemployable graduates.
PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY Responsibility to create employable graduates is not just on the institutions and employers, but also on students to find the best career fit. India is renowned as one of the biggest resource pools of graduates in the world. What, then, is the impact of recent reports indicating that a majority of India’s tertiary graduates in key sectors are considered to be ‘unemployable’?

NASSCOM reported earlier this year that almost 50% of engineering graduates are not fit for employment; it said that the problem is ‘quantity over quality’. The figure for unemployability in the IT sector, long considered one of the jewels in India’s skills crown, is reported to be near 70%. Businesses, according to the Wall Street Journal, report that graduate applicants are hampered by ‘overbearing bureaucracy’ and a failure of education providers to focus on workplace skills such as creativity and independent thinking.
SOLUTION: Provide what employers need.
In countries such as New Zealand and the Netherlands, it is commonplace for employers and education providers to work together to ensure that graduate skills meet demand. Tertiary institutions can work with employers in the relevant sectors to ensure that their graduates possess not only the academic knowledge to succeed, but also the workplace skills to put it into practice. Sector Skills Councils, currently being introduced in key sectors in India, are a vital means of linking education providers with industry; they can also advise on sectors likely to be in demand in the future. Quality of qualifications and degrees is also of the highest importance; with so many private and smaller institutions, it is often the only way of judging competence. The upcoming Qualifications Framework, which will include tertiary qualifications, and the ongoing work of the University Grants Commission, will help to address the problem of comparability and benchmarking. The responsibility is not just on institutions and employers, however. The onus is also on young people to ensure that the career they wish to follow is the best fit for them, and is likely to yield success. By seeking careers guidance from schools and relevant businesses, and investigating sectors with future demand, young people can ensure that they are not left in the unemployable pile after university, and can contribute to India’s future prosperity.

MONEY ON MERIT Students with admission to prestigious institutes will get loans more easily than others, while those with a strong academic record will enjoy lower rates of interest

MONEY ON MERIT

Students with admission to prestigious institutes will get loans more easily than others, while those with a strong academic record will enjoy lower rates of interest

Your grades and the rating of the college you get in to will determine whether or not your education loan will be sanctioned, according to the Indian Banks’ Association’s (IBA) Educational Loan Scheme 2012. Meritorious students will be given loans at lower rates — and merit will be established by a cumulative grading of colleges and courses. This grading will be determined by banks in association with academic experts, and some banks already follow this process.
Perhaps this is why the IBA’s latest survey revealed that although the number of Indian students who took education loans went up by 50,000, the total funds disbursed by banks fell by 28% in 2011-12. The loan amount thus decreased by 32% per student in the past year.

THE ASSOCIATION’S LATEST GUIDELINES:
The various banks under the IBA will soon prepare and publish a list of eligible courses that they will sanction student loans for.
Students with good academic records will get loans easily, and at lower rates.
The grade of an institution will depend on its track record in terms of the percentage of students it places and the average salaries of graduating classes.

To facilitate easier repayment of loans, banks will charge lower rates for loans up to R4 lakh and continue giving concessions given to female students. Banks can offer different interest rates to different students based on rating of courses or institutions, or individual student records.
The loan repayment period has been increased from five years to 10 years for loans up to R7.5 lakh and seven years to 15 years for above.
For institutions in India, banks can sanction up to R10 lakh and for colleges abroad, the limit is R20 lakh.

A QUESTION OF SECURITY
For loans up to R4 lakh: No security is required and parents are to be joint borrowers
For loans between R4 to R7.5 lakh: Parents will need to provide collateral security
For loans above R7.5 lakh: Parents will be joint borrowers and will also have to provide banks with tangible collateral security of a suitable value.

MU revives ‘earn & learn’ scheme Six years on, varsity issues fresh circular to help needy students

MU revives ‘earn & learn’ scheme

Six years on, varsity issues fresh circular to help needy students

The University of Mumbai has finally woken up to the cause of needy students. After DNA carried a report on how the ‘earn and learn’ scheme meant for needy post-graduate students has been lying on papers for the past six years, the varsity issued a fresh circular to all post-graduate departments on Tuesday in order to revive the scheme. The circular, sent on behalf of the director of Students’ Welfare, states: Under the vice chancellor’s earn and learn scheme, each department shall identify the list of activities that will be serviced through this scheme. The students can work in the library or lab. Departments have to identify requirements, so students can be given work, with two students per department. Under this scheme, students can work for up to 20 hours a week and 500 hours in an academic year. They will be paid Rs25 per hour. This way, students can earn up to Rs2,000 a month. The payment will be made to them twice a year. DNA recently reported how Rs5 lakh allocated for the scheme has been lying unused for years because department officials are “unaware” of its existence (Mumbai University’s ‘earn & learn’ still on paper, August 22, 2012; Even MU doesn’t know it has ‘earn and learn’ scheme, December 29, 2011). However, there is a downside to the scheme being re-launched after all this while. The scheme has the same rate card as it did six years ago, when the scheme was originally launched. The students, who were looking forward to its launch are now devastated. “In a city like Mumbai, Rs25 is a meagre sum. I would be able to earn only Rs2,000, while my monthly expense comes to around Rs3,000, including hostel fees and money spent on food,” said a student of the physics department.Senate member Sanjay Vairal supported the students and said, “The amount is too low, considering inflation.” Meanwhile, many colleges in Mumbai have their own earn and learn scheme to support students. In Thakur College at Kandivali, five undergraduate students work on a part-time basis for three hours a day, five days of a week, either in the office or the library. “They receive Rs3,000 a month, which translates to Rs50 per hour,” claimed Chaitali Chakravarti, the principal of the college. None of the students could be contacted. JM Patel College at Goregaon, too, supports a few students. Principal Debajit Sarkar said, “We give them work in the library or the computers section, and they are paid on the amount of work done. Depending on that, they earn anywhere between Rs30 to Rs40 an hour.” However, a top MU official said, “This scheme is introduced to help students fund their education. It is not equivalent to a part-time job.”

Anthropologists study human evolution, in sub-fields of culture, linguistics, archaeology and biology

UNLOCK MANKIND’S MYSTERIES

Anthropologists study human evolution, in sub-fields of culture, linguistics, archaeology and biology

From page 11 DEFINITION
Simply put, anthropology is the study of man and his sociological history. The subject traces the development of humans—right from our ancestors who lived a few million years ago to the present.
SCOPE / FIELDS:
Anthropology can be broken into specialised fields of research, including:
1. Physical Anthropology: The study of humans as physical organisms, dealing with the emergence of humans and the subsequent biological variations.
2. Cultural Anthropology: The understanding of thought process and behaviour pattern of a particular society by studying its language, religious beliefs, food preferences, taboos etc.
3. Archaeology: This reconstructs the daily life and customs of peoples who lived in the past through excavation. For all those past societies before written records existed, archaeologists serve as historians. 4. Linguistic Anthropology: Anthropological linguists are primarily interested in the emergence of language and its divergence over time.
5. Ethnology: Ethnologists seek to understand how and why people and cultures today differ from those in the past, in both thought and action.
6. Applied Anthropology It deals with trying to improve people’s lives through projects tailormade to suit their cultural and sociological needs.
ACADEMIC PATH
Counsellor Jayanti Ghose says, “Anthropology is available at both the bachelor’s level or at the master’s level in a limited number of universities. An undergraduate degree in the biological sciences or the social sciences would be equally useful as a base for higher studies in anthropology. Specialisations at the master’s degree level could be in biological/physical anthropology or social/cultural anthropology. There is huge scope for medical anthropology, ecological or environmental anthropology, forensic anthropology, and so on for PhD programmes.”

SKILLS AND TRAITS:
Anthropologists need to cultivate the three Ps: Patience, Perseverance and a Philanthropic bent of mind
Besides these, one needs to have a love for academics and history.
Anthropology isn’t a field for the fickle or the restless. It requires years of dedication and relentless research on every subject, and a lot of patience.
CLOCKWORK:
Although anthropological research can span months, years and even decades, it comes with the thrill of new discoveries and insights into the development of the world as we know it today.
PAYOFFS:
In the initial years, the remuneration may not be too much, but once you accumulate enough research and field experience, the sky is the limit. Freshers are usually absorbed by NGOs or their professors for research for a salary of approximately R8,000 to
R12,000 per month. As one spends longer on a project or with an NGO, the designation improves and so does the pay. The real payoff comes from corporate houses that hire anthropologists for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community projects. Teaching in colleges and companies overseas are other lucrative options.
EXPERT SPEAK
“Anthropology isn’t a field for the fickle or the restless. It requires years of dedication and relentless research on every subject,” says Dr Pragyan Paramita Patnaik, Mumbai-based anthropologist who works on a projectwise basis for corporate houses and NGOs.

Seven students are closer to realising their dreams, such as taking a painting holiday in Spain and publishing a comic strip internationally, through an inter Bschool competition

WHEN DREAMS take flight

Seven students are closer to realising their dreams, such as taking a painting holiday in Spain and publishing a comic strip internationally, through an inter Bschool competition

Nikhil Mundhra, first year MBA student at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi, has always wanted to travel to Gandhi memorials in South Africa, and write a book about them, and about his Gandhi-centric stamp collection. He submitted this dream as an entry to Godrej’s Loud competition, and now, may be able to see it come to light.
PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK Last week, 15 finalists presented their aspirations, some adventurous, some serene and some socially inclined, to a jury comprising of Nisaba Godrej, president, human capital and innovation at Godrej Industries Limited and Associated Companies (GILAC), Vivek Gambhir, chief strategy officer and Sumit Mitra, executive vice president, human resources, among others, at the Godrej head office in Vikhroli.
The seven winners were awarded a cash prize of R1.5 lakh each and a pre-placement offer in Gurukul 2013, the summer internship programme at GILAC.
“Through my dream of collecting Gandhi stamps by travelling to Gandhi memorials in South America, I intend to popularise philately,” says Mundhra. “I also aim to become an author in the future and Godrej Loud lended me a stepping stone.”
One of the winners, Aneev Davis, a first year student of International Institute of Foreign Trade, dreamed of creating a comic strip for a leading national or international publication. “I made a flash animation featuring the characters of my comic, and it was appreciated by the judges. My win has motivated me to fulfill my long cherished dream of doing something different from the humdrum,” he said.

Godrej Loud, launched in July, was designed as a campus project which asked students from prominent institutions to share their dreams on Facebook.
These colleges included Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), Management Development Institute (MDI), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), International Institute of foreign trade (IIFT), National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), IIM Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
There were a total of 422 entries, with dreams ranging from directing a short film on a day in the life of an auto rickshaw driver to a painting holiday in Spain.
“Godrej Loud aims to identify the most passionate and creative individuals who would form the next generation of Godrej employees,” says Nisaba Godrej. “For the students, it is an exciting and enlightening experience and for Godrej it is a great way of creating a talent pool of potential employees.
“We plan to return next year in an even bigger way,” said Mitra.

WINNING VISIONS

ANEEV DAVIS
Create a comic strip that will be featured regularly in a leading national/international publication

ALI AKBER KAPADIA
Eliminate the water problem from Rui, Ujjain

AMANPREET KALRA
A painting holiday in Spain

NIKHIL MUNDRA
Travel to Gandhi memorials in South Africa and write a book on his experiences, and collect Gandhi stamps

RUPESH CHAUHAN
Enrol for flying lessons and get a student pilot license

BRIJRAJ DESAI
Study the ‘dangi’ way of life and hold an exhibition

SHAILESH KUMAR NIRALA

Set up an information centre at Dhuska, Uttar Pradesh

Twinning programme with Syracuse

Sona College of Technology, Salem, Tamil Nadu, has partnered with Syracuse University, New York, USA to jointly offer a two-year MS programme in computer engineering. The programme has been approved by the AICTE and students will study the first year at Sona College of Technology and the second at Syracuse University, which will eventually confer the MS degree.

The eligibility criteria for admission into the programme for the first year at Sona College of Technology is: A BE/BTech degree in CSE/IT/EEE/ECE or equivalent engineering degree with a minimum CGPA of 7.0 on a 10-point scale or aggregate marks of 65% (from a recognised university).

I am studying in Class 12 and want to do hotel management but the main problem is that I am a vegetarian and can’t cook non-veg, so what should I do?

QUERY CORNER

I am studying in Class 12 and want to do hotel management but the main problem is that I am a vegetarian and can’t cook non-veg, so what should I do?
Well, that's a tricky issue. Most colleges and universities are very sensitive to cultural preferences and practices, however your choice of study may have requirements they cannot overlook.
Also, you say hotel management, but it looks like you want to be in food & beverage. Correct? Maybe you can explore a different area of the hospitality industry, like housekeeping. Or if your interest is in food, then perhaps studying to become a pastry chef will help you avoid non-vegetarian foods.

I would advise you to directly contact the program in which you are interested and pose this question. You will get a straight answer quickly.

Hello. This is Ashna Setia. I want to study abroad and get a degree in interior designing. What is the procedure and which are the best colleges for interiors n designing?
There is a wide range of opportunities to study interior design abroad. There are four-year bachelor's degree programmes as well as shorter certificate program courses. Also, "abroad" is a very wide geography. Depending on which you choose, your requirements will differ—for example, if you apply to The University of Ohio's excellent program in interior design, you will have to take the SAT exam. If you are interested in the US, I suggest doing some simple Google searches to find out which are the best interior design programmes, or visit the American Centre at Marine Lines to browse their course catalogs or meet with a counsellor. Likewise if you are interested in going to Hong Kong, Dubai, Australia, Europe, etc. Look for resources online then follow up with the colleges themselves or the education centre of the country.
If you still have trouble, consider hiring a counsellor to help you decide.

Three steps to an MBA abroad

Admissions at toptier business schools abroad are incredibly competitive and moreover, the application process is arduous and timeconsuming. Worse is news from a recent report that because of large applicant pools from India and China, the acceptance rate from these countries can be less than half-that of the published, general pool acceptance rate (eg published acceptance rate is 10%, but Indian and Chinese is 2%). So if you are thinking about pursuing an MBA abroad, make sure it is an endeavour where you want to invest significant time and resources over a three-to-six month period. If you do, then read on for some tips…
First things first: If you are applying to MBA programmes now you should have taken your GMAT exam. The test, administered by the Graduate Management Admissions Council, is required by most global MBA programs. You can get more information and register for a test date at www.mba.com. The test is administered on-demand and you get your results immediately.
Second, you should request letters of recommendation from your supervisors and senior colleagues right away. The importance of choosing the right recommenders for business school applications cannot be overstated. MBA admissions committee put a lot of weight in these assessments so a lukewarm endorsement of your candidacy can sink you before you are even in the water. Similarly, a recommendation from someone who barely knows you is a kiss of death. So while you may be tempted to ask your Uncle’s friend who is the head of the RBI to write a letter because he is a big shot, chances are he has never worked with you on a project and cannot speak to your loyalty, leadership and analytical skills.

Find recommenders who have worked with you closely, understand your goals and are willing to craft an endorsement that is consistent with your self-presentation in essays. And if possible, seek recommenders who are alumni of the MBA programme you want to attend.
Third, as you start learning about different MBA programmes, leverage any contacts you have with alumni or administration and attend the information sessions near you. Build a relationship with people you meet and remember to thank them! I regularly send clients to my contacts that give alumni perspectives or industry advice and I am surprised at how many lack the common courtesy to simply follow up with a ‘thank you for your time’ email. Besides good manners, if the person you met has any influence, you don’t want to be remembered as the ungrateful candidate.
Go deep in your research preparation so you can say something unique about the university, the faculty or the courses. If you conclude your essay with “I want to attend ABC University’s MBA programme because of its world-class facilities, award winning faculty research and its challenging course on business negotiation”, you could be describing any of the top-50 MBA programmes in the world.
Read published faculty research, talk to current students to find out about the most rewarding projects or sign up for campus newsfeeds or online courses to demonstrate your interest and awareness of the programme’s one-of-a-kind features in your essays.

GOLDEN WORDS

Despite the specific areas described, verbal should be studied as a unified subject.
In grammar, discover the common area of errors, notice your mistakes and learn from them.
To better your comprehension skills, break long and complex sentences into simpler constituent idea units.

To learn a new word, along with the meaning, notice its spelling, pronunciation and the context it appears in.
Memorise as many words as possible, from root lists, word lists, flashcards and books to improve your vocabulary.
Don’t keep practising the questions you easily crack; it will only be a waste of time.
Consider difficult words and passages as challenges to conquer, not merely from exam point of view, but also to improve your communication skills.

DIRECTIONS FOR QUESTIONS 1 TO 4: ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ON THE BASIS OF THE INFORMATION GIVEN BELOW. (CAT 2004)

At that time the White House was as serene as a resort hotel out of season. The corridors were (1). In the various offices (2) grey men in waistcoats talked to one another in low-pitched voices. The only colour, or choler, curiously enough, was provided by President Eisenhower himself. Apparently, his (3) was easily set off; he scowled when he (4) the corridors. This kind of question is called Cloze, where you are given a paragraph and blanks. For each blank, there are four options and you have to select the appropriate option by looking at the entire paragraph. The options are chosen in such a way that the entire paragraph will become cohesive.

PARAGRAPH COMPLETION (CAT 2005)
Federer’s fifth grand slam win prompted a reporter to ask whether he was the best ever. Federer is certainly not lacking in confidence, but he wasn’t about to proclaim himself the best ever. “The best player of this generation, yes”, he said, “But nowhere close to ever. Just look at the records that some guys have. I’m a minnow”. 1. His win against Agassi, a genius from the previous generation, contradicts that. 2. Sampras, the king of an earlier generation, was a humble player too. 3. He is more than a minnow to his contemporaries. 4. The difference between ‘the best of this generation’ and ‘the best ever’ is a matter of perception.

Solution:
Here, you have to look at the entire paragraph and choose that sentence that will complete the paragraph meaningfully and will bring the discussion on that particular point to an end. Three of the other options do not complete the paragraph meaningfully. Something or the other has to be said after these statements. Option 1, brings about a meaningful conclusion to the paragraph. It will be helpful to know that the word ‘minnow’ means small fish in a big pond.

 
 Answer: Option 1

Should I be giving the GMAT exam and working simultaneously?

I just completed my BCom (H) from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, Delhi. I am planning to take the GMAT and pursue a master’s degree. I wish to study for threefour months and then take it so that I have a shot at an excellent college. I am thinking of joining an NGO after that and learning a foreign language. Do you think it’s a good idea or should I just start looking for work and study for GMAT along with it? Since I have an entire year, I want to make the best possible use of it. Also, could you advise me on the master’s courses I could take up if I don’t want to get into finance? Although you have not mentioned it, as you are planning to take the GMAT, I assume you are looking for an MBA course abroad. Most wellrecognised MBA courses abroad look for applicants with a strong academic record in a reputable academic institution. You must also have a minimum of two years’ full-time work experience in management or related functions. Only work experience after graduation is considered. While each university or institute may have its own specific requirement, generally most of them require Your academic profile which includes your results of school, and four years of under-graduate study A personal statement
—Divya A TOEFL score Letters of recommendation GMAT scores So, if you are planning to do an MBA overseas, I suggest you defer the GMAT and start by getting some good business or management experience. It is a good idea to join an NGO and do community work. Learning a foreign language is always an advantage. You can also do the GMAT now, after threefour months of study, as the score is valid for five years.
The MBA does not only lead into a career in finance, as one can choose the field of specialisation based on your personal career goals and on the kind of person you are, your abilities and your area of interest.

Finance is a good field for those with strong analytical and reasoning ability while for marketing, you need to possess excellent communication and persuasive abilities, imagination and initiative as well as good quantitative skill.
Marketing plays a key role in industries such as fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), advertising and market research, sales and distribution, and product or brand management.
Human resource management is an organisational function which deals with functions such as recruitment, training, placement, promotion, transfer, industrial disputes, labour discipline and grievances, employee morale and organisational development. You need to be good with people, have an understanding of human psychology, be able to get on with all types of people regardless of their age, class, social or educational background, and have some organising and administrative skills. So, depending on the kind of skills you have and the work you can visualise yourself doing, you can make your choice.

Numeric arguments often appear in verbal critical reasoning questions. Here’s a sample of the types you can expect

• Article courtesy Naveenan Ramachandran is the director of Taurus Education running 4GMAT in Mumbai.

Logic in numbers

Numeric arguments often appear in verbal critical reasoning questions. Here’s a sample of the types you can expect

Although critical reasoning questions are part of the verbal section of the GMAT, there is a surprisingly large portion of numbers involved in these questions! Let’s consider three arguments and reason which sounds more persuasive.

ARGUMENT 1: India is a highly populated country. It has to take more measures, than any other country, to make sure that the population does not skyrocket. ARGUMENT 2: India has more than 1 billion people. It has to take more measures, than any other country, to make sure that the population does not skyrocket. ARGUMENT 3: India has more than 1 billion people while the entire world has about 7 billion people. One in every 7 people in this world is an Indian. So, India has to take more measures, than any other country, to make sure that the population does not skyrocket.
Argument 1 is very plain and not too persuasive. It does not provide any evidence as to why India has to take measures to contain its population.
Argument 2 is better. It does indicate that India has more than 1 billion people – however, it does not give a perspective of whether it is a big enough for India to be ‘more’ concerned than other countries.
Argument 3 packs a lot of punch in the point that it is trying to make. It provides information about the population of India. It also provides information about the overall population of the world. It provides a comparison in the form of a ratio. This forms a conclusive argument that India really has a concern on its hands.
A lot of CR questions are based on ratios, percentages, proportions, counts, sums, quantities and aggregates. Perhaps such questions help the GMAT software to analyse your reasoning ability as well as your quantitative skills. Today, we are going to make two simple points:

A. No assumption can be made about absolute numbers on the basis of ratios
B. No assumption can be made about ratios on the basis of absolute numbers
Consider this simple premise: ‘The ratio of profit to the revenue has increased in 2012 when compared to the same in 2011.’ Does this mean that profit has increased in 2012? Not necessarily.
Any one of the following situations could have led to the improvement in the ratio of profit to the revenue:
1. The revenue could have remained the same while the profit in 2012 was GREATER than the profit in 2011. Revenue could have been R1,000 in both the years while profit could have been R100 in 2011 and R110 in 2012. OR 2. The profit could have remained the same while the revenue in 2012 was LESSER than the revenue in 2011. Profit could have been R100 in both the years while revenue could have been R1,000 in 2011 and R900 in 2012. OR 3. The revenue could have grown at a particular rate while the profit could have grown at a FASTER rate than the revenue did. Revenue could have grown from R1,000 in 2011 to R1,100 in 2012 whereas profit could have grown from R100 in 2011 to R120 in 2012. (Rate of growth of profit at 20% was greater than the rate of growth of revenue at 10%).
This exercise proves that no assumption can be made about absolute numbers on the basis of some information about ratios.

If you work on your verbal aptitude skills, you’ll gain an edge over the large number of math-focused MBA aspirants. Here’s a how-to guide and some sample questions

WORD POWER

If you work on your verbal aptitude skills, you’ll gain an edge over the large number of math-focused MBA aspirants. Here’s a how-to guide and some sample questions

With the CAT drawing near, it is time for aspirants to streamline their preparation strategy. In the August 22 issue, we shared tips on how to tackle the data interpretation section. Here, we will describe how you can do the groundwork for the highscoring segment that is the verbal aptitude section. While students have adequate clarity about how to prepare for the quantitative, data interpretation and logical reasoning sections because of a designated syllabus and questions, preparation for the verbal section usually lacks structure and direction. Research suggest that the number of MBA aspirants, who are good at mathematics, is higher than those who are good in verbal. The CAT then essentially becomes a competition among math pros, vying for the best verbal scores. Therefore, if you can crack the verbal section, you will have an edge.
MCT

THE BROAD AREAS TESTED IN THIS SECTION ARE:

Reading comprehension Verbal logic and reasoning Grammar Vocabulary Approximately 50% of the questions in the verbal section are centered around reading comprehension. The remaining questions give equal weightage to other areas. Pay attention to the vocabulary items that you encounter in a reading comprehension passage at that very moment, pay attention to the complex grammatical structures in a reasoning passage, work out the line of reasoning that helps you arrive at a particular answer in a comprehension passage etc, as you solve these different questions.

READING SKILLS

To develop a healthy reading habit, earmark fifteen minutes every day to read a few pages of a book or e-book that you will enjoy. It is very important in the beginning to read what you like for the habit to set in. If you like thrillers, read thrillers. If you like romantic fiction, read that. To increase your reading speed, begin with something comprehensive like a newspaper and read it fairly fast. Ignore the loss of comprehension and concentrate on your speed. In a short while, your comprehension will start improving as will your reading speed. If you have improved your speed with easy text from, say, 250 words to 500 words per minute, with difficult text you can do 150 words to 200 words per minute. With practice, the speed at which you process text will improve. Improving Comprehension Comprehension of text is not so much related to speed, as to your concentration and proficiency in language (mastery of vocabulary and grammatical structures). Hence, it is necessary to work towards improving your vocabulary and your comfort level with complex sentence structures.

VOCABULARY BUILDING

Vocabulary-building need not be tiresome. Remember, the functions of a word as an instrument of communication are: 1. to speak, 2. to write, 3. to think. To get quick results in vocabulary building, do not learn new words by rote; instead follow these techniques:
To speak: Look up how the word is pronounced in a dictionary. This works, because if you know how a new word is pronounced, you will feel confident about it, use it while conversing and will not forget it easily. For example, the word chatoyant, which means — having a changeable twinkling lustre, is pronounced as \shuh-TOI-uhnt\.

To be confident about writing a word, you must know its spelling.
In order to retain the meaning of the word, look at the context in which the word occurs. Learn the word along with that context and remember it as a phrase. For example, do not remember ‘chatoyant’, remember ‘chatoyant silk’. In this way the word becomes clear to you and remains in your memory for a long time.
Try to read about the word itself — its root meaning, etymology, history etc. For example, read this information related to ‘chatoyant’. Origin: Chatoyant's poetic origin lies in the French chatoyer, ‘to gleam like a cat's eyes,’ from the French chat meaning ‘cat’. A casual reading of such details about the word will go a long way in making the word a part of your repertoire. Exam-specific learning Root lists, word lists, flashcards and books are useful in learning vocabulary for an exam. You must memorise as many words as possible from such sources, closer to the exam, everyday for a few hours. You must also solve as many vocabulary related
questions as possible. Study of grammar If you are good reader, the grammatical structure of a language is instinctively mastered without actually being able to distinguish between the subject and the object case of a pronoun. Hence continue your general reading of everything possible, as much as possible. Begin by learning the principles usually tested in the CAT and then solving related questions. Do not worry about accuracy initially. Learn backwards, that is, solve questions, make mistakes, and learn all the principles from the explanations to the questions.
VERBAL LOGIC SECTION
This section tests your comprehension and analytical skills specific to the given information or situation. It assesses your ability to reason, ignoring all prior knowledge, you may have about commonplace objects. Examples of verbal logic are the classical logical set theory questions. The data ‘All cats are dogs’ is analysed as ‘All Cs are Ds’, ignoring whatever one may know about cats and dogs. Learn the principles related to logic and then solve questions regularly. Once you get the knack of solving these questions, you need not practice them everyday. Just stay in touch.
VERBAL REASONING SECTION
Verbal reasoning requires comprehension of the data, as the data is generally understood in daily life and the ability to apply principles of reasoning to make decisions. A large variety of question types exist in verbal reasoning. The most structured ones are called critical reasoning questions. Other types are reading comprehension, paragraph completion, jumbled paragraphs, etc. All these types test your comprehension, analytical, reasoning, and decision-making skills. They are generally time-consuming and require active reading of the given data and its good comprehension. In all reasoning questions, ensure that you have understood the instructions clearly. Questions like paragraph jumbles need careful application of elementary reasoning. But, some other question like critical reasoning may require high-analysis, so practise accordingly.