I am a big fan of The Great US Universities : The Harvards, Stanfords , MITs and the like.
My 'fan-dom' arises partly from the contribution they have made to academics and mostly from the very highly accomplished individuals that form part of their community and culture.
Now, of the several criteria on which a potential candidate is evaluated for Master's admission into these institutes - an important parameter is your score on a Standardized Test such as the GRE. So, an Indian student from a very good undergraduate college ( say an IIT ) only needs to ensure that he has a high GRE score and is in the good books of his Professors ( by getting top grades ) .
Getting top grades with a high GRE score is no mean achievement...[ Our Test Cracker has shown you how to do it ] BUT ,
That's it - That's all it takes !
You really don't need to bother about WHAT your Statement Of Purpose is , or ASK YOURSELF WHY you really want to do Post Graduate Study. In other words - an MS from a Top Univ appears to be a function of your aptitude / analytical skills and hard work.
So, why is that a problem ? What am I driving at ?
"Unfortunately" ( note the quotes :) ) , these aptitude skills ( and good grades ) are ALL you need to crack the MBA entrance exams - such as the CAT.
So, our Test Cracker from IIT, has aced the CAT too. - yeah, the same dude who has admits from Top U.S Universities.
So, now he is in a dilemma. Do I choose an IIM over , say a Berkeley , a Stanford or even THE MIT ?!
Whew ! This is something that can give our Test Cracker sleepless nights ! As per statistics, there is a whole bunch of IIT grads losing sleep at this time of the year :)
[ Recently, I saw a few cases of this sort . That is what set me thinking....and can you believe it ? There are one or two people with a Stanford Graduate Fellowship - something that is probably given to 12 students across the WORLD in a given year ! You must be really really good to get that . ]
Okay, so before trying to offer a solution to this problem, a question is in order : Is it the Test Cracker's curse that he is EQUALLY GOOD at everything ? Had he been lousy in his technical subjects in undergrad - he might probably be better placed today to make a decision . Or wait -is there a FUNDAMENTAL problem with the whole setup of admissions ?
How did two TOTALLY different programs ( Business Administration v/s Science Masters ) offer admits to the same student ? Okay, they BOTH asked our Test Cracker what he intends
to pursue , and our Test Cracker cleverly put forth his answer 'as appropriate'.
Hmm..I wonder if there is a practical solution to this problem ? Some method by which Universities could get people who are 'REALLY' ( slowly , this word is losing its meaning ) interested ?
I have to mention here that Ph.D programs ( both in US and India ) come close to getting the 'right' candidate. Why ? Ph.D prgrams don't rely much on Standardized Test Scores, they actually want to see an inclination towards research in a student.
But imagine an IIM or a US University filtering out candidates WITHOUT the CAT or GRE scores ! Jeez, it would take them YEARS to get 250 odd people - so they probably decided -
" Nah! Not worth it . Give them a test and it makes it so easy for us ! "
Easy for them. Uneasy for the Test Cracker.
7 comments:
well,if the testcracker cant figure out what he's REALLY interested in..how can the university ever do it :-) although there's a valid point about these tests being a crude measure of a student's ability,for lack of a more practical method,it'll have to do.Its up to the testcracker to ensure that he has his priorities in order.After all,in the final analysis,success is a function of initiative,risk taking ability and yes.. you do need some intelligence :-)
Nice post. You are the right person to introduce Test Cracker to the rest of us ;)
I didn't know that there are people from IIT's getting admits to both top tech and MBA courses. Maybe they have an aptitude for both, but it definitely puts a question mark over the SOP concept.
I wouldn't take CAT as representative of anything. Like you once said, getting a good score there only implies you can get a good score there ;)
I don't think MS/MBA courses are concerned about admitting "really interested" students. They want students who can complete the course, afford it and also add to the reputation of the univ. There is no other incentive. At the other end of the pipeline is companies who look at these places for intelligent, well-rounded people who will learn on the job provided the pay is good.
"Really interested" is desirable only for Ph.D as you say. I don't know anyone who is doing research because the "pay is good" ;)
All of the above is irrelevant in India where there is a terrible shortage of educated workers and the "trespassers will be recruited" rule applies ;)
nice post man!!
i've been following those mails quite closely too :)
its funny some people fiddle for choices while some others fiddle with them!!
Such people exist in large numbers. Even after completing their MBA, their are not sure about what to do!
Sigh! All because they cracked an entrance in their teens!
Abundance of riches :D. .. Last yr I heard about some IITB guy who aced CAT ( 99.99 ) and went to the interviewers ( A or B..he didnt bother about the rest )and said.."I just came to see the process and institute " ( He had an admit in some Princeton/MIT )
Unfair that some ppl get all the brains:( When will they ever start reserving seats for the not so bright
have to have a test man
cant filter people otherwise
i know that way some very good potential managers get filtered out...but they will anyway make it big in the managerial world...take my word for it
n bout some people getting both science n business cracks....beleive me...there are mnay such guys who are equally brilliant at both..AND as u will see...business admn is mostly science only :o)
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