Oct 08, 2021

The Big Question

Raghav Ralhan,   PGDM 2021-23

As I took a sigh of relief post the completion of the first term exams, I received a call from a junior who was planning to attempt the CAT this year and wanted to join SPJIMR in the Marketing specialization. He wanted to know a little about life here before he made that call. As he asked that question, memories from my preparation days rushed back into my mind. The answer I gave him is as follows:

“The preparations will be nerve-wracking, CAT is just the first phase. You’ll need to prepare well for the admission questionnaire and the interviews that will follow. They will make you introspect in ways you had never thought of and at the end of the day, you will know yourself better no matter the consequences.

The wait for the results will make you anxious, changing from the company website to Telegram groups hoping to get a lock on the result dates just to see your name among the selected candidates. But that one line on your computer screen saying “Congratulations!” will make you feel on top of the world.

You will always remember the day the course starts. Long classroom hours would be the last thing you would be worried about. The never-ending assignment deadlines, case competitions, and sleepless nights that would follow will take a toll on you. But the Non Classroom Learnings – the committee work, the much-needed Addas by Fin Gods all will give you lessons that will stay with you for a lifetime.

As I entered my journey, I was told to network with people because that might come in handy in the future. But somehow, I ended up finding something much better; I created relationships, bonds that were going to last a lifetime. A group of friends who became special even before I met them in person. A randomly chosen team event gave me a friend with a shared level of craziness (although the jury is still out on that). The case competitions may not have yet given me CV points but gave me people I could rely on.

The faculty here are the best there can be, keeping you on your toes with pre-reads and quizzes that will happen at the least expected times. But what they’ll teach you is something that will make you score well not just in exams, but in life as well.

Life@SPJIMR is a roller coaster and you better have made yourself ready for it if you want to make the most of it.”

This answer was followed by a long pause and I was imagining a confused face on the other end. This was followed by another question, “Wow, that’s a detailed answer. I have just a follow up though: Do we actually learn something different? And is it all worth it?”

“You learn to accept the unexpected. And yes, it is, a million times over Yes!”

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