Why Entrance Exams for B-schools make no sense.
So, I was in the market to appear for an entrance exam. For a goof b-school of course.
What I realised was that there are way too many people giving these exams from different backgrounds and the competition is very high. On top of that, every institution has their own exam, there is no set standard and the syllabus is amazing!
The best part was that the syllabus was biassed toward engineers. Yes, next time, ask an engineer about the double entry system of accounting and see what amazing answers you get! Today, If I want to do engineering, please rationally explain me, am I going to be tested on “Credit Default Swaps”, “Collateralised Debt Obligations” and/or “Hedging in Forex derivatives” or say creating balance sheets and trial balances? The answer would probably be no! They would still test me on the same things as they test for MBA entrants.
Please, someone, tell me this is wrong!
I am not able to digest the logic that I have to answer 120 engineering level questions in 120 minutes with 5 years of my life spent on topics like economics, accounting, finance and operations!
Yes, I understand that probability is important and so is data interpretation and other mad stuff like sequencing and logarithms. But, this is a classic case of judging the fish by its ability to climb the tree!?
I mean come on! One reason to do commerce was that I LOVE it! But another one was that I was never very good at maths. But if someone told me in the start that to get in a good B-school, you will not be tested on Economic theories and Adam Smith’s invisible hand theorem but rather on finding perimeter and areas of distorted geometric figures - then maybe, just maybe I would have taken engineering!
Another argument against these entrance exams is that we are living in the best age possible! The information age. A time where information is available freely and within seconds! All the formulas and concepts are available on Wikipedia and google. If you don’t understand something, you can probably take a course on Lynda. Further still, you can certify yourself from Stanford by taking their online lecture series - all this, for FREE!
To be honest, I am working with my dad, trying to do my bit. On the other hand, I am working on a few import and export deals (in plastics and commodities). Furthermore, I am a stock market trader - through which I am able to earn around Rs. 10,000 - Rs. 15,000 a month. Oh and I have no knowledge about commodities and the plastic industry - what I know is through active research, findings and studies - guess what? I am making money! Once, while working on the plastic project, I was supposed to find the volume of a cube, I googled it, the deal went through, the money came in!
IT IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT! However, the system wants to prepare me for 100,000 things and just test me on 10 of them in 120 minutes through 120 questions!
In economics, they say that we think we are rational but we truly aren't! Don’t you think that these stupid tests also reflect the same?
I thoroughly believe that if I want admission in a B-school, the fish should be tested on its ability to swim rather than its ability to climb a tree. You see, it is easy for engineers to pass these tests and become MBAs because they eat, sleep and do sex with Quants! They have given 5 years of their lives to become Einstein and Archimedes of the world!
However, we the commerce and business graduates - have given 5 years of our lives to become great accountants, economists and managers. We have been trained to make balance sheets, trade on the stock exchanges, understand the way money works, we are good at operations and lean management practices. But still at the end, it is the engineers who steal this opportunity from us - because they are good in their fields. We are good in our fields, but no one is testing us on what we are good at!
I have nothing against engineers. Also, I am sure that I won't pass the NMAT exam or any other entrance exams. I am not even saying that the grapes are sour! I am just putting a point across. It is something to think about. The education system needs to change according to the 21st century. In the information age, where we can outsource our brains to Evernote, Google and Dropbox, do we really need people judging us on Quants?
One last point, okay you can teach an engineer about business. But what about risk taking? How can you teach someone that? How can you encourage and develop that business acumen to someone who has heard about Maslow and Porter for the first time? How do you expect someone to romance with the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter and the theories of marginal utility if they have heard about it and studied it only for a semester?
Maybe this post sounds like a Rant. Maybe it is. But it annoys me. For the lack of a better example, I understand that okay, for a minute or two I will rationalise that we should sometimes judge a fish by its ability to climb the tree. Maybe the fish will climb the tree - but, at what cost? At the cost of the fishes life? At the cost that you don’t only want the fish to climb the tree but you also want it to jump from one tree to another, like a monkey!?
To all those out there - engineers, business students, academicians, institutions, test-takers and test givers, please I implore you to give me admission for a Masters in Mechanical Engineering by asking a set of business/finance/accounts related subjects.
Oh, but I am sorry, I cannot do a Masters in Mechanical engineering before taking a bachelor's in mechanical, right?