Get Ready for GMAT and FMS

I have received quite a few inquiries on GMAT preparation and admissions at FMS. I have tried to provide the best of suggestions, recommendations and help to everyone who had inquired from me. So now I thought how nice it would be if I have the online repository of what I have to share on this matter so that even those who have not inquired can refer and may be benefit from it.

So before I begin with the actual info, data and tips, a brief:

• My target group for this post is MBA Aspirants (especially aspiring for Faculty of Management Studies and are applying under the Foreign Students category)
• It’s been 3 years that have taken my GMAT test and it’s been more than 8 months that I have passed out of FMS. I belong to the Batch of 2014
• If you just need some help with the GMAT preparatory materials, then do drop your email id (Gmail account) in the comment box at the end of the post and I will share with you my GMAT Preparation Folder from my Google drive

What does it take to apply for FMS?

A minimum score of 650 in GMAT is mandatory for application. Along with it, your 10^th, 12^th and Graduation marks/percentages/CGPAs are also required.

When is the last date for application?

The last date for Foreign Students is usually end of Feb, 2014. However, do check the actual dates in the official website: http://fsr.du.ac.in/ under the “ Last Dates for Application Submission” link. Alternatively, visit the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_c8B4O8ufMAUU9JZWhFZm9PbVk/view?pli=1 and go through the Foreign Nationals section at Page 10 of the brochure.

How do I submit my application?

I believe for Non-Nepalese Foreign Students, the application can be submitted directly to Foreign Student Registrar (FSR), Delhi University (Gate No 3). However, there are generally three ways (for Nepalese students) to have their application sent and processed:

1.       Through Indian Embassy at Kathmandu
2.       Through Ministry of Education, Kathmandu
3.       Directly submitting to Nepalese Embassy, Barakhamba Road, Delhi

It is advised that you personally visit the Nepalese Embassy in Delhi with your documentation and the Originals well before the last date. It is then processed here and sent to the FSR. 

How and when will I know whether I am selected or not?

Usually, the results are announced somewhere around May. The list of selected students and Wait-listed students is published in the www.du.ac.in website or fsr.du.ac.in.

What do I do if my name appears in the selected list?

Basically, you are required to be present at the FSR office within certain date to confirm your seat. You will be asked to appear with the Originals of your documents that you had submitted along with your Original Passport. Also, some other letters like Proof of stay outside India (which should certify that you were not residing in India for the at least the past 9 or 12 months). Don’t worry; here onwards you will get all your required steps over emails through the concerned departments.

What do I do if my name appears in the Wait-listed Candidates list?

That is a very ambiguous state now. You can either be happy that at least you have now got a chance or remain anxious to know that someone from the “selected list” is not joining and you are now the first-one among the wait-listed. Nevertheless, don’t lose hope is the moral of the story. However, start thinking seriously of alternatives.

Is only the GMAT score important for selection?

Although selection is relative (based on the number of applicants who have applied the in the same year as you have applied), the selection is not purely and solely on the GMAT score. It is advised that you supplement and strengthen your application documentation with relevant certificates and honors of achievements (be it academics or extra-curricular). Even letter of recommendations from your school/college professors or previous work employer will bolster your candidacy.

How to apply for GMAT Test

Applying for a GMAT Test is very simple. www.mba.com is the official site where you need to register yourself. But before that you need to apply for a desired date in order to schedule your GMAT test. Notice that in Nepal, the only test center is Kathmandu College of Management (Gwarko) and the tests are available only thrice a week: Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. A total of 9 slots are available each day. It is advised that you register for your date at least 45 days in advance to secure your day and time (and also give you that dedicated 45 days of preparation time).

Follow the steps to find the test dates:

1.       Visit www.mba.com
2.       Go to THE GMAT® Exam> Find Test Dates
3.       Enter “Kathmandu” or whatever location you desire for in the “Choose a Test Center” page and Click Search
4.       Select the desired Test center/ centers and click Next
5.       Select the date in the desired center
6.       You will find the list of available slots under Morning and Afternoon
7.       Once you decide on the desired date and time, you can exit  from the page

After this, you need to create your GMAC Account by clicking on the Take the GMAT Exam button on the home page. Once your GMAC account is created, follow the steps to register yourself for the test:

1.       Select “Register” under the THE GMAT® Exam link
2.       Click “Schedule a GMAT Exam”
3.       Login with your GMAC account
4.       You will prompted to choose a test center
5.       After selecting the Test Center, click of “Show me the next available dates”
6.       Select the date and time and then Click on Complete Order in order to proceed for payment

For Nepalese: In case you do not have a credit card to pay the $250, then you can reach out to NIBL or any other banks that facilitate such payments. You will need to give your GMAC Id and password and equivalent amount in NPR. That’s it. J

How to prepare for GMAT?

Although there are numerous coaching centers that can help you prepare for the test, always remember that the centers will only remain as enablers for your preparation, thorough and dedicated self-preparation is very much required for a decent score in GMAT. Now that GMAT has four sections: Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative Section and Verbal Section, it has become all the more demanding. A total exam time of 3 hrs 3 minutes will really be taxing unless you have given ample mock GMAT tests in the true spirit. Begin with GMAC Official book and then gradually move on to Kaplan, Manhattan and Advanced Kaplan. I have uploaded some Manhattan Strategy Guides for Verbal and Quant in my drive. Just drop in your email address if you want to access them.

I would really advice that at least 20 days prior to your test date, give your 100% time to GMAT preparation. Start tacking mock tests (as if you were actually taking a real one) every alternate day. However, as advised for every other tests, do not panic and take pressure when you are just a couple of days from the test date. Revise. Gain Confidence. It’s okay even if you do not take any more mock tests. By now, you must have already done away with at least 6-7 of them. Remember, Appearing for a GMAT test is not just about getting the correct answer, it’s also about your timing, your cool and your consistency. Most important: Do not lose your cool.

Good Luck! :) (y)

To the Unsung Hero of my Life

I am very happy today. In fact, my happiness knows no bounds on this great day of May the twenty-ninth of 2012. To the world, the reason might be different. But I am sure you know the actual reason behind my gladness. It’s not about me; it’s about ‘my’. I bet you are aware of it. That is why at times I feel that you know me better than myself. I am indeed proud to have you in my life, no matter a little later.

The timely suggestions, the moral boosters. The late night shifts at your house and the instant calls for follow-ups. I am sure I am going to miss all these for at least a few years from now. I don’t know if I can ever become a person like you who sees solutions and not just problems in every matters of life. The real life experiences of your life that you shared with me when I get into troubles were always a dose of optimism to me. I know that you are very caring and helpful and joyful and thoughtful. But it seems to me that I enjoy a lot of those from you rather than anyone else (this could make a lot of them envy me! ;)) Yet again, it was your constant suggestion and encouragement that I have started off with this Blog. However, here, I would like to borrow a phrase “Have I made it large?” from my inspiration to my continued blogging zeal so that I can ask my readers if I have succeeded in portraying you in my life.

As I sat down to dedicate this blog post to you, I realize that it’s my Eleventh post this May as well as in my Blogging history (J I started the Blog in May itself!). They say that Eleven is a lucky and fortunate and good number (after 7). I am once again delighted to dedicate my Eleventh Post to you. And as a retrospect my past, I find that I met you for the first time in my life during my admissions for the Eleventh grade after my SLC. And as I peep into the near future, I discover that I have an-all-new journey set for my future and career from the Eleventh of June (as I will be moving for Delhi from Nepal for my MBA at FMS) which I know would have been a dream to me if I keep aside your relentless efforts along with me to fulfill my applications (I hope you remember the formalities to be done with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with the sending of my Relevant Original Documents to New Delhi through your acquaintance via SpiceJet!) Wow, what a co-incidence of Elevens. And let me add to this what stroke me at this moment- the movie Ek aur Ek Egyarah starring Govinda and Sanjay Dutt. May be, if I had stayed with you together in Nepal for a few more years, we could have been the real life casts of that reel-life!

I hope you will like this small gift from my side as I thought to gift you with something that belonged to me, entirely me. How nice it seems to me to gift you with a technical and ICT-related gift- through my personal blog post dedicated entirely to you!

I don’t know if I have done justice in recognizing you as my Unsung Hero, but I would sincerely like to defend or rather explain my connotations behind the selection of this title. I didn’t know you at all some 7 years ago. You were none other than anyone to me before that, just like any stranger passing by. You were neither any so-called relative to me nor any distant relations of our acquaintance. No relations of blood either. You are neither my father, nor my uncle. Neither was I anyone so special to you. But yet, over the years, you have made me all the more special to have you as my friend, my elder brother, my mentor and my guardian.

Your contributions, large and small, are very very monumental and extra-ordinary. I am certain that they weren’t extended out of any moral liability or obligation (just like the duty of a father towards his son, or a responsibility of a teacher over his disciple) and neither did you have any sort of vested interest in your unconditional support and love towards me. Let me become selfish at this instance, I am too proud to have you as the most Special person in my Life-long odyssey.

You have taken a great leap from No one to The Most Special Person and that’s why I take you as my Unsung Hero. I love you for what you are, I salute you. You once said in my house, “I can never be Vipul” but here I say to you, “No need to become, you are great as you are. You remain as my dearest Amit Dai, forever and ever.”

So, Have I made it large?!?

P.S.: I am still awaiting a perfect moment to provide a platform for another outflow of my feelings for the Unsung Heroine of my life whom I met still a bit later in my life. I don’t know if I can and should name her or not, but yes, she too deserves the tag of ‘my unsung heroine’ in my life.