FAQ

At ambitions you get the following benefits while applying for admissions to management courses:

• Detailed, unbiased, and Free one to one career counselling about careers in management from experienced management professionals, so that you can make informed decisions while joining any management college of your choice.
• Only education consultant who works exclusively for promoting management education.
• Pay only 1/4th cost of application for applying to many colleges through our single Online application form (http://ambitionsmba.com/online-application-form/) .
• Option of applying and getting information about multiple colleges across India and abroad, which suit your requirement.
• Expert guidance to help you in short listing colleges and prioritizing your criteria for joining management colleges.
• No need to join through management quota or pay donation to any college.
• Dedicated support services to students during the tenure of their course.

For students who are planning to join management courses and are looking to clarify their doubts or need some expert counselling, Ambitions provides completely FREE counselling services. The students are only advised to take prior appointment from our office for availing the services (Details of our management team is mentioned in ‘About us’ page on our websitehttp: http://ambitionsmba.com/management-team/.

For high school students who are seeking career counselling for making informed career choices, we conduct scientific psychometric assessment and follow up with a hour of personal counselling with our expert counsellor for a nominal charge. For more details visit our webpage http://ambitionsmba.com/ambitions-career-counselling-services/

• We provide end to end Admission support services for students seeking admission into MBA/PGDM/BBA anywhere in India or abroad (http://ambitionsmba.com/mba-admissionservices-hyderabad/).
• We conduct one to one or group-based Career Counselling services to high school or plus two students who are confused or seek guidance in relation to the career choices they need to make (http://ambitionsmba.com/ambitions-career-counselling-services/).
• We offer Customized Training services to companies and colleges seeking training in various fields like behavioral, soft skills, project management, etc. through our highly experienced training team. (http://ambitionsmba.com/ambitions-training-services/)

This is the mostly commonly asked question among management aspirants, In India a master’s or a Post Graduate program is offered in the forms of PGDM/MBA/PGPM. Below is a table which illustrates difference between PGDM/ MBA/ PGPM:

Point of Difference	PGDM	MBA	PGPM
Approval	Offered by Autonomous Institute and needs to be approved by AICTE, under ministry of HRD to be called as a recognized program by the government of India. Most of the PGDM colleges offer only management programs and are specialized in offering such program. Examples: IIM’s, XLRI, IMT, SP Jain, etc.	Offered by Deemed Universities or Independent colleges, approved by AICTE and affiliated to an UGC recognized university. The course needs to be run on a full-time basis in the college and NOT offering a distance learning degree or foreign university degree to be called as a recognized program by the government of India.	Not approved by any government body and is run like a certification program as per the college self-guidelines. This course is only considered as a vocational program and is not recognized by the government of India as a master’s program, hence is not regulated.
Duration	2 years full time with either semester or trisemester system	2 years full time with either semester or trisemester system	2 years full time with either semester or tri-semester system
Specialization offered	All specializations offered	All specializations offered	All specializations offered
Jobs	All companies consider it as master’s program and placements offered differ from college to college.	All companies consider it as master’s program and placements offered differ from college to college.	Recognition has mostly no impact on private companies considering PGPM students.
Focus	Skill development, internships and placements.	Projects, research, and knowledge. Placements dependent on the institute offering the program.	Skill development and placements
Government Jobs	Eligible	Eligible	Not Eligible
Education loans	Eligible	Eligible	Mostly not Eligible by nationalized banks
Further studies	Eligible for further studies in any other country or for pursuing Ph.D (depending on university)	Eligible for further studies in any other country or for pursuing Ph.D	Program is not considered equivalent to master’s program in any other country and not eligible for Ph.D as the course is not recognized.
Value of the program in other countries	Has lesser value in developed countries like USA, UK or France	Has more value in developed countries like USA, UK or France	Has No Value in developed countries like USA, UK or France
Eligibility	Must have passed in any recognized graduation program with a minimum 50% (in case of open category) and qualified in any national or state level entrance test like CAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA, CMAT, GMAT or sometimes Institutes own test (eligibility score might vary from college to college). Further the student might need to qualify in the GDPI conducted by the College.	Must have passed in any recognized graduation program with a minimum 50% (in case of open category) and qualified in any national or state level entrance test like CAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA, CMAT, GMAT or sometimes Institutes own test (eligibility score might vary from college to college). Further the student might need to qualify in the GDPI conducted by the College.	As per the college Norms.
Curriculum & assessment	Self-designed by the college and autonomy in following their own assessment or examination system	Regulated by University norms	Self-designed by the college and autonomy in following their own assessment or examination system
Faculty	Mostly industry oriented along with Academic faculty	Mostly academic faculty as regulated by UGC norms	No regulation
Others	Is considered equivalent to master’s program, while applying for immigration to countries like Canada or Australia	Is considered equivalent to master’s program, while applying for immigration to countries like Canada or Australia	NOT considered equivalent to master’s program, while applying for immigration to countries like Canada or Australia
Conclusion	For all practical purposes PGDM and MBA programs are considered mostly equivalent, until they are approved by the relevant government body and the unrecognized PG programs or colleges normally offer PGPM and joining such courses is left to the discretion of the student, while considering the above-mentioned points.

With globalization, privatization, and growth in economy many colleges are offering different specializations beyond the traditional Marketing, Finance, HR, and Operations specializations. A student today has an option of pursuing dual and triple specializations during once course, so as to improve their career opportunities. A list of various specializationsoffered in different collegesare mentioned below:

Marketing	IT Management	International Business	@Travel & Tourism Management	Event Management
Finance	Infrastructure Management	Rural Management	Construction and real estate management	Retail Management
Human Resources	Banking, Insurance, Finance, and Allied Services (BIFAS)	Telecom Management	Advertising and Brand Management	Digital and Ecommerce Management
Operations	Supply Chain & logistics Management	Hospitality Management	Media Management	Business Analytics
Pharma Management	Agriculture Management	Hotel Management	Fashion Design & Luxury products management	Sports & entertainment Management
Food science Management	Entrepreneurship Management	Strategic & Leadership Management	Environment and sustainable development management	Hospital Management

Normally most students select specialization based on their previous degree and job opportunities, though they are to be considered while selecting your specialization but are not the most important. The first thing which a student needs to consider while selecting specialization is matching the specialization area to his/ her potential or strength area. Which requires one to have a self-understanding. In case you have difficulty in understanding your own potentials or strengths, we strongly recommend you take the Free Psychometric Test available on our website for us to help you in understanding yourself. (http://ambitionsmba.com/psychometric-test/)

Most of the students normally consider ‘Placements’ as the only criteria while selecting a college for pursuing the program of their choice. However, one has to understand that though Placement is an important attribute one needs to consider, it is the least guaranteed aspect which a college can offer, when compared to many other parameters on which one needs to consider while joining any college. Moreover, most of the colleges today claim good placements and offer similar benefits, which makes your decision making further difficult. Below is a brief list of other features which one could consider while selecting a college:

Placement	To improve qualification	Fees Charged/ Budget	Strong Alumni	Schedule of the college	Sports
Skill development	Infrastructure	Return on Investment (ROI)	Management of the college	Assessment system	Industry interaction
Better College life	College brand	Location of the college	Great Campus environment	Guest lectures	Project works
Building Entrepreneurship skills	Recognition from government	Faculty	Interactive class room sections	Internships	International trips
Change in career	Additional accreditations	Curriculum	Application based learning	Seminars and workshops	Security
Extend college life	Specializations offered	Extra benefits offered	Quality of classmates	Events	Building professional skills

B-School is a term used to refer any college which offers exclusively management courses and specializes in developing future managers. On the other hand, there are many colleges or universities which offer MBA program along with many other courses like B.Tech, B.Sc, M.Sc, etc. As management course is highly application oriented, the experience of studying in a good B-School can be fruitful and rewarding.

All students who plan to pursue an MBA/PGDM program from an approved B- Schools require to have passed any recognized graduation program with a minimum 50% and must have mandatorily qualified ( Cut off score will vary with every college) in any of the national or state level entrance tests like CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, ATMA or GMAT or Institute’s own entrance exam. Beyond this every institute has its own selection process, but the below is the standard process

• For a deemed or private university check UGC website, to see if the university is in the approved list.
• For a private college offering PGDM or MBA, check AICTE website for checking if the college is in the approved list and how much is the approved intake.

The cost varies from Rupees 2.5 lakhs to 20 Lakhs for the two years of the program and some additional costs might include - Hostel fee, Material cost, Laptop cost, International trip costs, examination fee, Convocation fee, Library fee, refundable deposits and transportation costs. The fee might vary due to the following reasons:

• Infrastructure provided
• Location of the college
• Extra benefits provided like additional certificates, laptops, etc
• Brand of the college
• Kind of faculty provided

Point of Difference	Studying in India	Studying Abroad
Tuition Fee (In Rupees)	2.5 to 20 Lakhs for the two years course	13 to 18 lakhs (depending on country)
Hostel (In Rupees)	2 to 4 lakhs for two years	12 – 15 lakhs for the entire program (normally students pay this money through part time jobs and hence the cost incurred could be covered through the money earned through part time jobs)
Placements	2.5 lakhs to 12 lakhs per annum in India (in tier 2 colleges, might be more in a Premium college like IIM’s)	25 to 48 Lakhs per annum in the country of study (If the country allows work permits)
Exposure	Mostly domestic	International and cross-cultural exposure
Learning	Depends entirely on the quality of the college	Learning is based on practical application and self-study
Infrastructure	Varies from college to college and the fees charged	Most of the colleges are highly regulated in developed countries and hence offer high quality infrastructure
Faculty	Varies from college to college and the fees charged	Faculties act more like a facilitator than trainer, as teaching methodology in other countries is self-study based
Duration	2 years	16 – 18 Months (including internships)
Eligibility	Any graduation with minimum 50% marks and qualification in any common entrance tests	Any graduation, (but preferably 10+2+4, especially in USA, Canada, and Australia) with 6 to 7 score in ILTES/TOFEL (not required for France) and sometimes need to write GMAT
Recognition	Mostly AICTE & UGC. Recognized for any government jobs or private jobs and also for pursuing Ph.D)	Recognized by government bodies of that country and have other international accreditations from private bodies like AMBA. Might not be eligible for doing government jobs but can pursue Ph.D.
Education loans	If it’s an approved program and one meets eligibility of the concerned bank, 85% of the fee is provided as education loan at 10.5 to 12% interest, which payable after completion of the course.	If it’s an approved program and one meets eligibility of the concerned bank, 85% of the fee is provided as education loan at 10.5 to 12% interest, which payable after completion of the course.
Positives	- Placement assistance in one’s own country. - Comfort of staying in home town. - Skill development - Less cost - Faculty assisted training	Opportunity to earn and save more money. - Can work and settle abroad - Better lifestyle - High class infrastructure - Cross culture exposure - Opportunity live independently
Negatives	Highly regulated - Sometimes learning can be academic - Better facilities come at higher cost - Lot of internal competition for jobs - Longer duration of the course.	Initial investment can be higher - Language barrier - Might need to work and stay beyond duration of the course for justifying the expense incurred. - One need to do Odd/ Part time jobs for meeting one’s expenses. Else the cost of the course will go up. - Sometimes you might face Visa hassles

Education loan is national government policy and every loan provider has its own set of rules, but the following are some of the common conditions for availing education loans:

• If the loan amount is less than 4 lakhs no collateral is required but surety would be required
• Course being pursued needs to be recognized by AICTE
• Parent or guardian of the student need to be a tax payer or government employee
• If the loan amount is more than 4 lakhs, one has to provide surety or mortgage
• One should have a consistent academic record.
• Graduation should be in a regular mode and not distance.

Most of the private colleges offer dual or triple specialization, where a student has an option of selecting two or different specializations. For example, Marketing as major and minors as Finance and Business analytics so as to improve their knowledge areas. However, it’s not mandatory to do dual specialization for getting better placements.

• Full Time MBA/ PGDM
• The student needs to pursue the course for 2 years full time without pursuing any other job, as attendance is mandatory in most of the colleges. For fresh graduates and 2 or 3 years experienced graduates, this is a preferred mode of education as the students are assisted with placements.
• Distance MBA
• People who are already in a job and are looking for enhancing their qualifications, can pursue distance MBA so that they can continue in their jobs and also pursue an MBA. Students might need to attend some contact classes and appear for only exams when required. In this mode, placement assistance might not be provided. Further the fee for this course will be cheaper when compared to full time MBA and duration will be 2 years.
• Executive MBA
• An executive MBA/ PGPM program runs for a duration of 1 year and is aimed at 5 years or more experienced graduates or post graduates who would like improve some of their managerial skills. Placement assistance might not be provided, and student might need to attend contact classes.

For a student to secure admission in reputed management colleges, one might need to face Group discussion and personal interviews. The topic for group discussion might vary as per topics which might be in news at that time, like ‘GST a gift or a boon’ or ‘Jio phones a gift to customers and distraction to industry’, hence one needs to be updated on current Below are some of the mostly commonly asked questions:

• Why do you want to do an MBA program?
• What specialization would you like to pursue and why?
• What kind of job do you like and why?
• Tell me about yourself, your strengths, weakness, career goals, and so forth.
• Why do you want to start your career in your area of specialization?
• Persuade me that we should select you.
• What extracurricular activities did you participate at your college? What leadership
• positions did you have in any of these activities?
• Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years? In twenty years?
• What is your ultimate career goal?
• What do you consider your greatest achievement till date?
• What is the biggest failure till date?
• What was your favourite subject in college? Why?
• How would the people know you will describe you?
• How would you describe yourself?
• What is the minimum salary your expecting after completion of the course.
• What goals you have set for yourself?
• Who or what has the greatest influence on the development of your career interests?
• What factors did you consider in choosing your major?
• What are the most important things to you in a job role?
• What kind of work do you want to do?
• What can you tell me about a project you initiated?
• What are your expectations of your future employer?
• What is your GPA/percentage? How do you feel about it?
• What work experience/ college experiences has been the most valuable to you and why?
• What was the most useful criticism you ever received?
• Can you give an example of a problem you have solved and process you used?
• What has been your greatest challenge?
• Can you describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual and explain how you dealt with it?
• What are the biggest problems you encountered in college?
• What are your team-player qualities? Give examples?
• Can you describe your leadership style?
• What interests or concerns you have about the position or the company?
• In a particular leadership role you had, What was the greatest challenge?
• What idea have you developed and implemented that was particularly creative or innovative?
• What characteristics do you think are important for this position?
• How have your educational and work experience prepared you for this position?
• How do you motivate people?
• Why did you choose the extracurricular activities you did? What did you gain?
• What frustrates you the most?
• What can you contribute to this college?
• How would you react to having your credibility questioned?
• What challenges are you looking for in a position?
• What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction?
• We are looking at a lot of great candidates; Why are you the best person?
• What else should I know about you?

If you find any of the above questions difficult to answer and want to know the right way to answer them, Please call us on 9700808899/ 8801137754 or register online on our website (http://ambitionsmba.com/queries/) for fixing an appointment with our experts to help you in preparing for interviews.

SIP stands for Summer Internship Program. As most of the students join management programs with no prior experience. Most of the good B-Schools provide SIP’s to their students after end of first year of the course, so that the student gets a feel of corporate life and get first-hand experience on the concepts learnt. Sometimes the students who perform well in SIP, might get full time job opportunity from the same company.

MBA can be done by graduate from any stream as management is an integral part of any industry and all companies need management graduates. If a student has an interest of growing in the ladder of any company; holding senior positions in an organization; does not shy of taking responsibility and has a zeal to be wealthy, then MBA is the course for you. Alternatively if an engineering student or B.Com graduate pursues higher course in their own stream, they will be ending up only learning the same things which they have learnt in their graduation. We strongly recommend you take the Free Psychometric Test available on our website, for us to help you objectively in figuring out if you suit for a management career. (http://ambitionsmba.com/psychometric-test/)