MAH MBA CET 2023 Topper Interview: “Not repeating my mistakes got me into JBIMS”- says Prasad Suroshe

MAH MBA CET 2023 Topper Interview: Prasad Suroshe, who is currently pursuing his MMS program from JBIMS, Mumbai, shares his secret for success in MAH MBA CET exam. He scored a 99.94 %ile in MBA CET 2023 and made it to his dream B-school. In this exclusive MBA CET topper interview with Careers360, Prasad talks about his attempt strategy, mock strategy, and study resources. This article provides a shortened excerpt from the whole interview of MAH CET topper. Dive deeper into the discussion by watching the complete YouTube video linked below.

Careers360 - Please, tell us about your profile and why you decided to pursue an MBA.

Prasad - I have completed my bachelor's of engineering from Datta Meghe College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai, with information technology as a major. I graduated in 2021. So in 2021, I decided to pursue an MBA. So I gave MAH MBA CET that year but did not score a good percentile. So, I took up a job at Atos Syntel as an associate consultant. I worked there for around 8 months and then I left my job to prepare for CET. I scored 99.77 in the second attempt. Unfortunately, I missed the JBIMS by 4 or 5 rank. So I joined Sydenham College. During my MBA journey at Sydenham, I prepared for CET as well as for summer internships and bagged a summer internship in CRISIL. I completed my summer internship at the same time I gave CET that year. After that, in June 2023, I got my CET score and I converted to JBIMS.

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Careers360 - So, you gave which all MBA entrance exams?

Prasad - I gave MAH MBA CET and CMAT.

Careers360 - What all books were you using for MBA CET preparation? And did you take any coaching for MAH MBA CET preparation?

Prasad - No, I did not take any coaching.I mostly depended on YouTube lectures. Some channels teach for several Banking Exams, and the type of questions that come in Banking Exams are very similar to that of CET. So I mostly depended on YouTube lectures to prepare for the MAH MBA CET Exam. With regards to books, I referred to some of the books like R.S. Agarwal and Arun Sharma. specifically for the quant section. The LOD 1 from Arun Sharma is more than enough for the MAH CET exam.

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Careers360 - During your three years of MAH MBA CET preparation, which section was difficult for you and what did you do to improve in that section?

Prasad - Two sections were challenging for me which were Quants and LR. There is a conception that all the engineers are good in mathematics.But in MAH MBA CET, you have to score your best in a very short amount of time. That added time pressure is there. So even if you're good at mathematics, you don't have a whole day to solve those 50 questions in the maths section. So it was very challenging for me to manage that time. So in my first attempt, out of 50, I used to score only around 20 to 25 marks, which was not sufficient to convert a good college in the MAH MBA CET. The second section was the puzzles part of the LR section.The puzzle part was very difficult to manage because when you choose a puzzle you don’t know whether you would be able to solve it or not. Only after you attempt the whole puzzle you get to know if it was worth attempting or not. So, In LR choosing the right puzzle and time management play a key role.

Careers360 - When you converted Sydenham College, I'm sure a lot of people must have told you to continue studying there. Then what made you give the MAH MBA CET again for the next attempt?

Prasad - I think a majority of us know that there is a clear difference between tier 1 and tier 2 institutes, the exposure that you get, the opportunities that you get, and the peer group that you get. So I was very eager to join such an institute. Sydenham has a very good peer group and very good faculty there, but my goal was to only finish my journey-that is my education journey through a premier institute. I never had that tag with me of a premier college in my entire education life. There are opportunities that very few institutes like JBIMS will offer you. So, that pushed me a lot to attempt MAH MBA CET one more time.

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Careers360 - Prasad, usually repeaters get demotivated a lot because of the pressure. So, how did you tackle that demotivation, and what are the strategies that a repeater should use to get an edge over other aspirants?

Prasad - Demotivation is there. It was definitely with me during my second attempt because I had just missed by four ranks. one mistake here and there and you miss three to four ranks and that is enough not to get you into JBIMS.So, there are MBA CET mocks that you give before taking the actual MAH MBA CET. Every mock should be a learning curve for you. Whatever mistakes you make in any mock,you should not repeat those mistakes again. So, that was a major learning for me. I entirely focused on my speed, and on making my question selection better.

Careers360 - What are some of the important topics for CET that you would like to share with students?

Prasad - I think there are seven to eight topics that cover almost 80 to 90% of the exam of the Quants section entirely. So there is percentage, average, simple interest, and compound interest, time and work, time, speed and distance. Then there is permutation combination and probability. These seven to eight topics that I mentioned are very important for CET.

Check out preparation resources for CMAT and MAH MBA CET

Careers360 - Prasad, can you take us back to the day when you finally got admission to JBIMS? What was going on in your head? What were you feeling when you saw your name on the merit list?

Prasad - I think it was the 3rd of June when the results were declared. I will never forget that day and that date Because for around 3 years I waited for that moment. So, I think I can't explain that moment in words. when I went there to take admission, I got instant flashbacks because I had visited that institute even before as an aspirant. So it was a very proud moment for me. I took my parents with me and indeed I would say that is the best moment till now in my entire education life.

Careers360 - Today's AI-led generation, do you think an MBA as a degree is still worth it?

Prasad - MBA teaches you a lot more than what AI will offer you. Because AI will give you answers whenever you want, but it will never groom you as much as you are groomed in an MBA. the peer group that you will get in the MBA or elite institute like JBIMS will push you beyond your limits. You have the peer group that is doing everything that they can to get better and that pushes you to do better. So there are many people in our institute that are doing CFA. Many people have varied degrees that are CAs. Some people are really focusing on case competitions to practice corporate competitions. Some people represent different kinds of sports activities. So there is an amalgamation of everything in the institute.

Careers360 - What are your plans after MBA? Are there any specific domains that you see yourself working in?

Prasad - So, I am planning to pursue finance as my elective in my second year. I am pursuing CFA as well. I really want to join any investment bank or any finance firm because it is what is attracting a lot.I have interacted with many of our alums and I have taken their thoughts on it as well. It's very exciting for me to work in that domain. So yeah, I would like to work in the finance domain after my MBA.

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MBA CET 2023 Topper Prasad’s Interview

Check out this video to watch the full version of this Maharashtra MBA CET topper interview.