Harvard Business School (SPNM), MBA: SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Master of Information Technology, Virginia Tech.
GK for MICAT
What is MICAT?
Firstly, the pattern of MICAT along with the MICAT syllabus is different from other MBA Entrance Exams. As most of the MBA entrance exams are made up entirely of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). However, MICAT has a paper pattern that asks objective, as well as subjective questions. Further, the marking scheme for each section isn’t usually disclosed. Although negative marking applies only to the objective questions (except Psychometric). And will not be applicable to any of the subjective questions. In this article, we will learn about the GK for MICAT in detail.
Importance of General Knowledge at MICAT:
While preparing for MBA entrance exams, the aspirants concentrate majorly on the Quant, Verbal Ability, and DI& LR sections. However, General Awareness, which is also an important part of several MBA examinations, is commonly neglected. General Knowledge or General Awareness could be a section that checks an individual’s I.Q level in general knowledge with his awareness of the current affairs that are happening around him. The need for GK is not just limited to the written test, but also to the GE/GD & PI stage. especially when it comes to MICAT, GK holds a lot of importance. So before we get on with the article, let's first have a look at what MICAT is all about.
Pattern and Format of MICAT
The first phase of MICAT is conducted in December and the Second Phase Exam is conducted in January every year. For 2023, there will be six major sections in the paper and the total duration will be 2 hours and 45 minutes. The question paper will hold subjective as well as objective questions. There are three major sections in MICAT. The second section of the paper is further divided into 4 sub-sections. The sections of MICAT 2023 include VA (Verbal Ability), General Awareness, QA and DI (Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation), Psychometric Test, Descriptive Test and DCR (Divergent and Convergent thinking).
The marking scheme for each section isn’t usually disclosed. Although it is known that negative marking usually applies only to the objective questions (except Psychometric) and will not be applicable to any of the subjective questions.
In short, MICAT 2024 Exam pattern comprises of the following components:
- All sections have 20 questions each and the psychometric section has 150 questions
- There are 80 questions in the aptitude section
- 150 in the psychometric section
- 4 in the descriptive section
- There will be a deduction of 0.25 for verbal ability, quantitative aptitude, general awareness and Divergent-Convergent Reasoning (DCR) sections
No of Sections | Subjects | Questions | Time Allotted |
Section I | Psychometric | 150 | 30 mins |
Section II | Descriptive Test | 4 | 25 mins |
Section III | Verbal Ability (VA) | 20 | 1 hour 20 mins |
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (QA & DA) | 20 | ||
General Awareness (GA) | 20 | ||
Divergent-Convergent Reasoning (DCR) | 20 | ||
Total | 234 | 2 hours 15 Mins |
Preparing for the General Awareness section
GK in MICAT plays a crucial role because of its uniqueness. There are only a handful of topics which are needed to be completed. and you can score high in exams. As you can see from the table above, there are 25 questions in the GK section. Also, most of the questions come from topics like marketing, advertising, media, general knowledge, and general global awareness. But let's look at this is detail. A comprehensive list of topics usually covered in MICAT GK are as follows:
- Current Affairs over the past year (National, world, business, etc.)
- Brand ambassadors
- National and International affairs (Social icons, CEOs, MDs, new appointees, etc.)
- Taglines of Companies
- Logos of Companies
- Recent Advertising campaigns
- Recent major Books, awards, and their authors
- Marketing-related major news
- Economy-related questions (major events)
Let's look at some important aspects of MICAT GK:
Only current Affairs based on the above topics:
Now. one great thing about MICAT Gk is that you are not asked Static GK questions based on geography, history, etc. You just have to be well versed with the happening around the world in the last few months, and preferably one year. So don't invest your time in learning static GK. Try to stay up to date with current affairs and you should be good to go.
Huge focus on marketing and advertising GK:
Also, read 7 tips for descriptive test MICAT
It's no surprise that MICAT has a focus on marketing and advertising-based questions. They want their students to be completely aware of what happens in the marketing domain to be experts in their field. Hence, get to know the nitty-gritty of marketing GK. Start with taglines, logos, and all minor details about brands and companies that are household names, and focus on those that have been in trend in the few months. (Eg. Due to the lockdown Zoom got a lot of coverage, so know about them in detail). Also, get to know about the creative agencies behind particular ads and brands, get informed about the campaigns followed by major brands, etc. Overall, get to know all about marketing and advertising in and out.
Articles/ websites you need to read to ace GK for MICAT:
It goes without saying that you have to read newspapers every day to stay up to date with current affairs. Read newspapers like Mint that cover marketing in much more detail than papers like The Hindu and ET. Apart from this, some other online resources you can follow for in-depth marketing insights are:
- FAQS
- Campaign India
- Mad over marketing
- Exchange4media
- Kulzy
- Nielsen
- Reuters
MICAT study material
Us the internet for this productive and fun activity and you will benefit a lot from this. You can also start reading marketing magazines like Manorama Yearbook, Adweek, etc.
MICAT-specific GK articles you should read:
Based on the topics mentioned above, we have also prepared comprehensive articles on GK that would be useful for your MICAT 2021. The GK articles are updated as of 2020, so don't have to surf all throughout the internet for these. Some of them are:
- Taglines of major companies
- CEOs of top companies
- List of Banks with their Tagines and Logos
- List of International Organizations and their current heads.
What is the difficulty level of GK in MICAT?
When compared to other MBA exams GK, MICAT GK is relatively easy. As it does not include static GK and is focused more on the marketing domain and general current affairs. So, if you just read through the news every day and stay actively informed about all things marketing, the GK section should absolutely not be an issue for you.
Conclusion:
Overall, the MICAT GK section is pretty easy to crack provided you keep in mind the pointers we have discussed above. The questions just check your general awareness of things happening around you. Just keep in mind that Gk prep does not happen at the last moment. It is a continuous process, so mugging up the details at the last moment will not help to cover all the events that happened the entire day. Invest one hour of your time every day into this and you are sorted!
I hope you found this article on the details of GK for MICAT useful. Do read our other GK articles on Taglines, brands, etc. that would be useful for MICAT. Happy preparations!