What it takes to be a Bocconian?
The key to secure admissions in SDA Bocconi’s International Master in Business at the Asia Center To embark your journey at SDA Bocconi Asia Center, focus on the critical points below to prepare yourself diligently and kickstart your management career. CV “Painting an attractive self-portrait is hard, but that’s the key to crafting an MBA resume. A powerful resume grabs admissions officers’ attention, which may bring applicants closer to an acceptance letter.” Provide examples: MBA applicants should give admissions officers a reason to say “yes” by demonstrating a strong desire backed with purpose on their resume. Demonstrate leadership skills: Portray your leadership skill as it is a necessity on an MBA resume. You’ll further groom your management abilities during your MBA program, but the admissions committee wants to know that the foundation already exists. Describe extracurricular activities: Admission officers lay emphasize on the meaningful impact of the candidate on organization and community and not so much on the number of activities the candidate has participated in. Hence, avoid listing a large number of activities without explaining your accomplishments or admissions committee will suspect that you’re either padding your resume or stretching yourself too thin. Offer specifics: An MBA resume should have a detailed description of one’s accomplishments mentioned in concrete language. Admissions committees like to see action words and results-oriented phrases in a resume, so for every bullet point, try to quantify results in amounts or percentages whenever possible. Highlight soft skills: The best MBA resumes are focused on soft skills which are also called power skills that are essential to business leadership and critical in the workplace. Teamwork skills are worth highlighting. Think of examples of when and how you united people behind a common goal, capitalized on others’ talents and skills, instilled a vision, identified a new problem or prioritized the project’s needs above personal ones. Focus on career advancement: Applicants with significant work experience should focus on positions that are more critical to their professional success. Experts say “When applying to a business school, you’ll need to show the admissions committee a clear path of professional growth. “Hence, one should avoid looking stagnant at the admissions wants to admit students who continually seek to learn and advance their skills and leadership abilities. Keep your resume streamlined. Applicants with significant work experience should focus on positions that were most critical to their professional success. “When applying to a business school, you’ll need to show the admissions committee a clear path of professional growth, ” Avoid looking stagnant, as the admissions team wants to admit students who continually seek to learn and advance their skills and leadership abilities.” Ultimately, a successful MBA resume tells a coherent story and clarifies why business school is the natural next step. Add value to the application: Your resume should add new information but maintain the consistent impression you’ve given throughout the application. It’s the applicant’s job to make sure each part of their application brings out their values. Remove jargon: Eliminate industry jargons from your resume and use terms that an MBA admissions committee can understand and comprehend. Keep it short: An MBA resume should ideally fit on a single page and not exceed two pages. Tell the truth: A big part of an MBA admission officer’s job involves judging applicants’ credibility. It is not wise to inflate credentials on your resume. Just be honest. Become informed before you apply: Conduct in-depth research and know all about the B-school. Bocconi Test Tips for the Bocconi test from Sayli Mhatre, IMB Batch 2020 – 2022 “The Bocconi test is an adaptive test with a pattern similar to that of CAT and NMAT. It is divided into 3 parts; Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, and Logical Reasoning. A few tips to ace the Bocconi test: Be thorough with data interpretation and logical reasoning shortcuts which is similar to CAT. Time management is key. Develop a habit of reading and comprehending the questions quickly. Read articles from The Hindu and attempt practice tests. Practice abstract reasoning to identify patterns efficiently. Since the exam is adaptive, focus on accuracy in solving questions to score high. Practice meditation for better concentration.” For more information, watch the video below. Personal Interview An interview is the first time where you can make a lasting impression. Strategize and prepare thoroughly and bring to the table all the skills and experiences you have to become an MBA and what change you will add. Before the interview, you must: Be well-versed with the video interview software- For seamlessly navigating through the software, look at the meeting link shared with you and identify the software that is going to be used for the interview. Update to the latest version and look up all the controls- unmuting, screen sharing, leave call option. Check for any video and audio disturbances. It is recommended that you do a test run to see how you will appear to the interviewer. Place your laptop at an appropriate angle. Stack up a few books under your laptop to adjust the height if required so that you are not ‘ooking down upon’ the interviewer. It is lowkey psychology associated. Turn off notifications on your laptop and keep your phone on silent mode. Log in to your laptop from a ‘Guest Account’ to eliminate all notifications Keep your laptop charged and request your household to limit their wi-fi usage, also, as a back-up, turn on your mobile hotspot to interchange connection in case of any internet disruptions. During the interview: Background and lighting- Declutter your background and opt for natural or artificial lighting that lights up your face. Avoid back-lit backgrounds. Keep essentials handy: notepad, pen, water bottles and any documents. Tactical approach to appear confident and relaxed: “Do’s Your Comfort zone When you’re talking to a screen, it may be more difficult to pick up on social cues or think about your own. Above all, let your personality shine throughout the interview, even if it’s not face-to-face just like how you would do face-to-face Look
How to prepare for the Bocconi Test?
Bocconi Test conducted by SDA Bocconi Asia Center With a lot of tests being conducted over the MBA season, candidates have to prepare separately for each one of them. To make sure that the test-takers know the interface and what to expect, I have penned down a review of the aptitude test conducted by SDA Bocconi Asia Center. The test is divided into 3 parts: Verbal Reasoning Test, Numerical Reasoning, and Logical Reasoning Test. Each section has a couple of practice questions that you might want to take before you start the actual test. These will give you a feel as to what the interface would look like, where the relevant buttons are and the kind of content you are dealing with. You can also practice the sample test available here. Verbal Reasoning Test The Verbal Reasoning Test part of the exam has 30 questions to be solved in 19 minutes (the countdown timer is in the form of minutes only and so, will start from 19 minutes). The questions are completely based on comprehending short passages and drawing conclusions from the given data. The upside of having such a section is that candidates are tested purely on the basis of their aptitude and not extensively on the basis of technical content. There were 10 passages that had 3 questions each. The passages range from 100-120 words in length and are pretty easy to read and understand. The key thing to do here would be to keep a track of time and move ahead quickly. The average time taken to move through a passage would be less than 2 minutes and so, you need to make sure that you don’t get stuck on some question.Also, you will not be able to go back to a question once you have attempted it and you will not be able to move to a fresh question unless you answer the existing question or give it a pass. Not seeing a few questions in the given time period is bound to hurt you as there is a fair split of questions on the basis of their level of difficulty and you might have a few easy questions towards the end. The basic format of a question-set is a passage followed by 3 statements each of which has to be categorized under True, False or Cannot Say. The best thing to do here will be to look at verbs carefully and understand the difference between could, may, might, will, must, should and so on. If the passage talks about a possibility, the conclusion cannot be a certainty. Also, pay attention to the facts mentioned in the passage: the chronology, the data in the form of percentages, ratios, studies, etc. and the persons involved in the activity. Numerical Reasoning This is probably the toughest section of the test. You will have 18 minutes to answer a maximum of 15 questions that are in the form of data interpretation sets with 5 answer options. There are 3 questions per set and almost everything is calculation intensive. There isn’t an on-screen calculator present and so, you would have to be pretty good at guesswork if you have to save some time while solving the section. The key thing would be to read the table/chart properly before jumping on to the set or else, you might find yourself revisiting the set a few times before you get the hang of it. Considering that you have around 4 minutes per set, it makes sense to be fluid throughout the section and only allot time to a set if you feel that you will be able to crack it within 3 odd minutes. The focus is not so much on remembering mathematical concepts and formulas but in reading data quickly, understanding it and arriving at the required conclusion. Polish your ratios and percentages comparison techniques before you take this section. Logical Reasoning Test This is probably the only section for which you can prepare mentally and in terms of content. The section has 15 visual reasoning questions to be solved in 18 minutes. The questions are based on which diagram would come next in a series and has a set of 5 question figures in a pre-decided order. The questions have five options and again, the impulse would be the key in this section. The faster you are at eliminating options, the better off you would be in terms of attempts. Clockwise or anti-clockwise rotation, addition or deletion of images/parts of images and mirror reflection/water reflection are the concepts you would need to be thorough with. As is the case with the other two sections, you cannot afford to not see the last question of the section and so, need to plan your time accordingly. Final thoughts The test is certainly different from what you have been preparing for and would reveal your aptitude level fairly. The ideal attempt in the Verbal Reasoning section would be around 25 questions, in the Quantitative Reasoning section would be around 10 questions and in the Logical Reasoning section would be around 15 questions. So, a score of around 40-45 out of 72 should be a good representation of your aptitude. Not getting stuck or surprised by the test (which would lead to a lot of students giving up because it is out of their comfort zone) is the key and if you keep the above things in mind, you should be able to perform well. [Update] 21st September, 2018 SDA Bocconi Asia Center, formerly known as MISB Bocconi, is a prominent pan-Asian hub located in Mumbai, providing top-tier executive education and postgraduate programs designed by the SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy since 2012. SDA Bocconi is a leading business school in Europe and is distinguished by its triple accreditation—EQUIS, AMBA, and AACSB—which places it among the elite business schools worldwide. The programs offered by SDA Bocconi Asia Center are recognized as being on par with other top business schools in Mumbai. Like
How to go about preparing for Bocconi Test?
It’s that time of the year again when you would be contemplating how to go about cracking an entrance test which will land you a place for your higher education. Your mind must be busy with following study schedules, writing notes, trying to stay away from the calculator, solving mock papers, crying over more negative marks than positive scores, self-evaluation, apprehension, nervousness, and at times procrastination. And this may still be not enough for you to feel confident. Yes, we understand, it’s a mess. Bocconi Test (BT), is the one step solution to bring you closer to the life of a Bocconian. Here are a few tricks and tips which will put your agitated mind to ease towards preparing for the BT. BT is not compulsory, provided you have CAT, GMAT, or GRE scores to submit; but it is highly recommended that you appear for BT as the best scores across these exams shall be considered for your application. 1. Access example questions and full-length papers We genuinely want you to perform well and hence, we provide you with immense resources which will help you understand the style of BT, the types of questions to expect, and practice papers. We suggest that you go through these resources and get comfortable with the idea of solving, and then actually solving them. 2. Scan through concepts Once you have an idea of the kind of questions to expect, we advise you to remove the layer of dust that your old academic books have gained. Brush up old concepts and gain conceptual clarity. This is necessary because even the software run test will not be able to evaluate you if there is a lack of understanding of the concepts. 3. Practice and be honest with yourself It’s time now to fasten the seat belts and tighten your grip on the questions. We believe that this is the correct time to start practising and solving the papers. Yes, we understand there is a feeling to use the calculator or take a sneak peek at your notes, but you need to resist the feeling. Our apologies as neither of the two resources will be made available during the actual paper. 4. No negative marking means less worries BT is special kind of a test where it not only assesses the candidates aptitude but also the potential for future development. And there shouldn’t be anything barring future development. You can take a deep breath and not worry about making a wrong choice of an answer. In case you don’t feel confident about your answer, we recommend, marking the closest option because the computer software will measure your potential instead of giving you minus marks. 5. Evaluate and practice again Upon finishing the paper and receiving marks, do a self-evaluation and learn from your mistakes. Revise the concepts of those questions where you didn’t feel confident and then take a little break. Do something that relaxes your mind and then come back to attempt another paper. So, this is it folks! We do believe that you hold the potential, but we are only suggesting ways to harness that potential and grow. Carry out the same process again and again and victory shall be yours. We, at MISB, wish you all the luck for BT. The above article is written by PGPB5 student Paritosh Agarwal who took the Bocconi Test for his admission. You can reach out to him at pgpb05.48@sdabocconiasiacenter.com For more details on Bocconi test – Click here
Bocconi Test: Here’s What You Need To Know
Once you’ve submitted your application to the IMB at SDA Bocconi Asia Center, you may be prompted to take our internal exam, the Bocconi Test. Wondering whether you need to take this exam, and what is involved, if you do? Here’s more: