Interviewer: Dr Rav Singh Topper: Prakshal (Finance Associate, SCMHRD Convert)
Dr Rav Singh: Hi everyone, today we have with us Prakshal. Prakshal, you made a significant choice by leaving calls from IIMs and IIFT to join SCMHRD. We want to know about that complete journey. First, tell us about your background.
Prakshal: Yes, Sir. Thank you for interviewing me. I am from Mumbai. I completed my Bachelor’s of Management Studies in Finance from HR College of Commerce and Economics. I graduated in 2023 and then worked for one year as a Finance Associate in a debt financing company. Currently, I am pursuing my MBA in Finance at SCMHRD.
Dr Rav Singh: You scored 97.2 percentile in CAT and 99.2115 percentile in SNAP. When you compare CAT versus SNAP, what do you feel is the major difference between them?
Prakshal: Sir, I believe that in CAT, the difficulty level of questions is much higher. You must be able to solve difficult questions. In contrast, SNAP is less about difficulty and more about time. It is like a T20 game: 60 minutes, 60 questions, and there’s negative marking. The timing, the number of questions you select, and the accuracy are incredibly important.
Dr Rav Singh: Your first SNAP attempt did not go well, despite your high CAT score. Why was that?
Prakshal: I think so. There is a myth that SNAP is an easy exam, but it is not. Because I scored well in CAT, I was under the assumption I would easily do well in my first SNAP attempt, and I didn’t give it my 110%. The first attempt was my worst. That was a big realization.
Dr Rav Singh: After that realization, what changed?
Prakshal: I prepared very hard for the next two attempts. I took the SNAP King Score Maximizer mocks—all 20 of them. Also, the 100 Quants Sectional Mocks helped me a lot, especially since I’m from a non-engineering background and wanted to scale my Quants score.
Dr Rav Singh: How many attempts would Prakshal recommend for SNAP?
Prakshal: Yes, Sir. I would suggest that you must register for all three attempts. In my case, my best score was in my last attempt. Also, if something unexpected comes in the first attempt—like those general knowledge questions about mountain ranges in Europe in the Logical Reasoning section last year—you get time to prepare for it for the next two attempts.
The Strategy: Maximizing Attempts
Dr Rav Singh: You didn’t attempt all 60 questions. You attempted 58. How did Prakshal use smart guessing or calculated risk?
Prakshal: Sir, I attempted a total of 58 questions, in which 52 were genuine, and six of them were guesswork. I took a proper calculated risk because you gain plus one for a correct answer versus losing only 0.25 for a wrong one. I focused the guesswork especially on the Quants section and Logical Reasoning, where you can eliminate options and take an educated risk.
Dr Rav Singh: What was your final attempt strategy? You didn’t follow the typical pattern of solving one section completely before moving to the next.
Prakshal: Yes, Sir. My whole strategy was to first go through the entire paper and solve all the easy questions from all three sections before moving on to the difficult ones. I believe that whether a question is easy or hard, it only has one mark. Why waste time on a hard question first?
Dr Rav Singh: Can you break down that “run-through-the-paper” strategy?
Prakshal: For Verbal, I did all the questions in one go in about 7 minutes. Then I moved to the Logical Reasoning section and quickly solved the easy questions, marking the tough ones for review. I did the same for Quants—all the easy questions first. Then, I went back to the Logical section to solve the medium difficulty questions, and finally, tackled the hardest ones. This ensured I wasn’t wasting a single second.
Dr Rav Singh: What was your first mock score?
Prakshal: Ohh. My first mock score was 22.75.
Dr Rav Singh: That perfectly shows why strategy is so important.
Prakshal: Yes, Sir. In the first mocks, I was only able to attempt 32-34 questions. After changing my strategy based on analyzing the papers, I was able to clear the SNAP examination successfully.
The Interview Phase
Dr Rav Singh: How was the SCMHRD interview experience? Was it about your job or your college?
Prakshal: I think the best thing about the college is that they want you to be at your best. There is no stress interview; it is an interaction. My interview started from my introduction, and since I am a football player, they asked me a lot about football, my favorite player, and then moved to my work experience and my undergraduate subjects.
Dr Rav Singh: How long did your interview last?
Prakshal: I guess my interview lasted around 15 to 17 minutes, and I never once felt that I was in an interview. It was an interaction, and they were even guiding me throughout, suggesting ways to upskill myself during my MBA journey. It was a very good, holistic experience.
Dr Rav Singh: What advice do you have for the Group Exercise (GE)?
Prakshal: Since it is a Group Exercise and not just a discussion, it is very important that the whole group must come to a common conclusion. We are generally given a case-based problem. You must give logical suggestions and solutions, and then try to minimize the conflict so the group can reach a conclusion. That’s very important.
Dr Rav Singh: Superb. All the best, Prakshal.
Prakshal: Thank you so much, Sir. It’s a pleasure.
