5 Workshops Every MBA Student Must Attend

First things first – congratulations on becoming an MBA! We know how difficult it can be to bell the CAT, or NMAT, or well… the hundred other entrance exams you guys have to take in a season in order to have a shot at your preferred B-schools. And that you did. You cracked the MBA code successfully, and now your visiting card (as well as matrimonial/tinder profile) boasts of “MBA” after your name. But any MBA worth his salt would know an MBA degree, irrespective of the field of specialization, is not the end, but the means to an end. An MBA degree sets the tone for your future business plans, but in a dynamic environment that exists today, constant upgradation is the name of the game. You need to keep honing your skills, as well as adding new ones, to stay relevant in the market.

And so, we bring to you 5 workshops every MBA graduate must attend!

1) Digital Marketing

Unless you’re Captain America who just woke up after being frozen for 70 years, you would know the world runs online now. It would be a sin to not have your business go online and reap the harvest of immense profitability that lies therein, wouldn’t it? Eduwiz brings to you Digital Marketing 101, a one-stop shop to learn about the newest trend taking the marketing world by storm.

Topics to be covered include SEO, blogs, social media usage, components of digital marketing and much more! At 3 hours, the workshop is guaranteed to provide some nice fuel to your brain (unlike a Salman Khan movie)!

Date: 09^th Dec, 2017

Venue: Connaught Place, Central Delhi

For bookings and more info, click here!

2) The Aeonian 2017

Don’t let the exasperating farrago of a word confuse you. If you’re a newbie MBA graduate who is looking to sprout wings as an entrepreneur in life, make this event your phone’s wallpaper. And your WhatsApp DP. For this is your chance to step into the big, but awesome world of investors, start-ups, pitching, and everything that comes along with being a successful entrepreneur!

Organized by Aspire Media, the event is going to be a destination for all budding entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas in front of a panel of judges that includes prominent investors and venture capitalists like Prakhar Agarwal – venture capitalist at VilCap Investments, Vivek Kumar – CEO of Venture Garage, and so many others. It is the perfect way to ignite the spark of entrepreneurship within you and learn from the who’s who the ways of going about it and ensuring a successful venture for yourself!

Well, we can’t guarantee you TRP, but the event is going to be broadcasted live on NDTV. Who knows, you might end up being given more than just TRP next year after this steroid of inspiration…

Date: 22^nd Feb, 2018 – 24^th Feb, 2018

Venue: World Trade Centre, Mumbai

For more info about schedules, events, and passes, go here

(P.S – There’s a discount for early birds booking now! Go be a true Indian and avail the discount now!)

 3) Technology – It’s Impact on Supply Chains and Decision Making

The Indian School Of Business, Hyderabad – one of the topmost B-schools in India – has organized a 2-day workshop on the applications of technology in decision making and its impact on supply chains. It is the flagship event of the school which is presided upon by various influential speakers from all over the globe to provide students and professionals a global insight on the aforementioned topic.

The keynote speaker list this year is ‘lit’ as usual with eminent personalities from various top universities of the world. You wouldn’t want to give this a miss – it may sound boring, but when you have the world’s top personalities at one of the top B-schools… you better take it seriously!

Date: 14^th Dec,- 2017 – 15^th Dec, 2017

Venue: ISB Campus, Hyderabad

For more info regarding accommodation, travel, bookings, etc, click here.

4) Public Speaking

“His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…” goes your mind at the mere prospect of speaking in front of hundreds of people, doesn’t it? After all, it takes more than just guts to go out there and speak. With people judging every word, waiting to pounce upon the slightest error in grammar or otherwise, it can sure seem like a Herculean task to open your mouth…

No more! Join hands with Tushar Razdan, an eminent public speaking and personality development coach, to move over to the greener side of the grass – a place where you rule the world of speaking and fear none, be it 10 or 10,000 people. Over a course of 1.5 hours, you will learn the tricks of the trade required to excel in any given environment – be it an interview or an investor pitch. You will be guided on various fronts – how to overcome fear, build confidence, improve your vocabulary, etc. All this, at the cost of 1.5 hours of a lazy Sunday-afternoon sleep. Worth every night you will sleep peacefully after this though…

Date: 10^th Dec, 2017

Venue: Saket, New Delhi

Click here to get your ticket!

 5) Advanced MS Excel – All India Tour

Well, you don’t need even need to be an MBA to know just how important Microsoft Excel is, especially when it comes to business management. However, for most people, the knowledge of MS Excel is limited to basic formulae and a few keyboard shortcuts. Most people are unaware of the real magic Excel has the potential to create with the help of advanced tools such as macros, PivotTables, VBA, etc.

So don’t be that idiot who sits and drags-down on excel all day! Be that wizard who creates a whole different world of his business using Excel tools. Join the bandwagon with Black Feathers, with workshops to be conducted in multiple cities across India from January to April.

What’s more, you get a certificate at the end of it too! And a free booklet for future references… well bargains never got better than this, did they?

Date: 13^th Jan, 2018 – 29^th Apr, 2018

Venue: Lucknow, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Chennai, Ahmedabad

For exact schedule, full list of specifics to be taught as well as bookings, click here!

If you have too much free time and don’t wish to waste it watching Big Boss or Saath Nibhana Saathiya (wise decision!), you can also check out various other events related to multifarious fields, such as HR, SEO, Web Designing, Blockchain Certification, Online money-making, etc. After all, what else can separate you from the thousand other MBA’s who pass out every year having studied the same stuff that you did? Surely not Heena Khan…

7 Annoying Moments You Will Relate To Every Time You’re in The Exam Hall

To the one reading this right now – our deepest condolences lie with you. We know the horrors you’ve undergone and the hell that you’re going through. Been there, done that. Yes, we’re talking of exams – those damned things invented by Satan himself to make poor little kids like us die not another, but every other day! The wretched feeling of writing an exam is no alien to any of us. Which is why we’re sure you would relate to these 7 extremely annoying moments we all endured (or continue to) while scribbling down those pages!

1) “Dillon ka shooter hai mera scooter, dillon ka shooter! Ah! Ah!”

The question that the paper asks – “What is the Keynesian theory of aggregate demand?” The answer that your brain comes up with – some Dhinchak lyrics of a dhinchak song! Anyone who has suffered from this disease called ‘songstuckitis’ would know how horrible it is when you’re desperately trying to think of answers and all that your scumbag brain can do is replay the lyrics of an annoying song! To make matters worse, it is often just that 1 sentence that keeps playing on loop over and over again; of a song that you have no recollection whatsoever of having heard in the recent past. And yet, it pops up like an un-skippable youtube ad and makes you want to shoot yourself in the head!

2) “Ma’am Supplement!”

2 words. 2 magical words that make you want to punch 2 people at once – the nerd who asked for the supplement 10 minutes into the exam, and then yourself for not knowing what to write unlike the nerd! Even as you’re scratching your head, still trying to figure out whether to do objectives first, there will always be that one guy/girl who will face the wrath of a hundred other losers like you by screaming those damned words! Dork!

3) “Palat! Palat!”

“Agar who mera sacha dost hai, toh who palatke meri help zaroor karega! Palat! Palat!..” goes your mind silently as you look desperately towards your friend in search of some answers. But damn! That dungbeetle of a friend who called you last night to say “yaar maine haath bhi nahi lagaya book ko” is now going Ferrari with his writing even as you keep looking towards him hoping he’d turn around and help you. LOOK AT ME YOU FILTHY FAKE FRIEND! HELP ME OR I’LL KNOCK YOUR TEETH OFF! And yet, he doesn’t…

4) The One That Just Won’t Shut Up!

There are only 2 types of invigilators in the world – the normal ones who ask you once before the exam to not cheat (haha sure!) and not carry phones with you. And then those idiots who think shouting continuously, even as the exam has already commenced, is the only way to drive home the message of not cheating. Yes, you know you’ve had those moments – when all you wanted to do was grab him by the neck and scream in his face “Shut the **** up! We’re trying to concentrate for ****’s sake!” If only! But then such is the travesty of life…

5) When you know you don’t know what you know

A F.R.I.E.N.D.S fan might have been able to follow this train of thoughts. And if you’re not one (get a life!), here’s what we mean – that moment when you can recollect what page number the answer was on… you can even recollect its positioning on the page… but, you can’t recollect the words! That frustration when you know read and prepared that answer but just can’t remember the damned words! Relatable much?

6) “Somebody wants you… somebody needs you… that somebody’s ME!”

So you’re done writing down whatever your mind could possibly allow you to, and think about handing over the answer sheet to the examiner, but wait! It’s still half an hour to go till the bell and no one has left as yet. You look around and see everyone gushing their pens about like they still have tonnes to write and all you can think is “What!!! What the hell is everyone writing so much! I can’t be the only loser to finish so soon… somebody get up!!!” You desperately hope to have some company while walking out from the hall… away from all the prying, judges eyes screaming “haha loser!!”

7) Last ball, Dhoni goes for the hit… and BOWLED!

Let’s face it – it sucks to know that you’re not legendary! Dhoni can hit those last ball sixes and win the match, but when you try to do things last minute… the bell goes off and the invigilator starts screaming “Pens down everyone!” You try to squeeze in words thinking they will miraculously (and quite illogically!) fetch you additional marks… till the invigilator comes around, snatches away your paper and all it reads is gibberish like “Thɇƨƺˁ…”. If only they gave you 5 more minutes… you’d have made Einstein proud. Or so you think.

We’re sure we’ve riled you up by bringing out all these demons that haunt you during exams. Well, we can’t drive those demons away, so yes the annoyance is here to stay. But why fear, when TCF Pro is here! Check out, chill out and de-stress yourself with some quality reads! Also, save on that Jio data limit by having all information delivered to your doorstep, and instead, use that data for some good purpose. (We won’t suggest, but you know what to do with it!). Have fun. You know you’ve earned it!

6 Things Which Actually Happen When You Do Group Study

When those evil exams are lurking around the corner, coupled with the intense pressure to perform well, at some point in your academic life span, you all have resorted to the famous (or ‘infamous?’ you decide!) option of group study. The entire squad bands together during this tough period and all the members pledge to help each other out smash everybody’s doubts and pass these evil exams with flying colours. But, to know what really happens during a group study session keep on reading below!

1. Planning

Every group study session takes off on a serious note, with the entire squad pumped up to study and everyone bringing in as many thick books as possible. Afterwards, everybody is confused as hell and got no clue regarding where, to begin with, and thus, the hours-long planning session begins with everyone having their own planning agenda and a very little time is actually spent on seriously following the plan.

2. Gossip Time

Irrespective of your gender, everybody loves gossiping. Especially when boring books are sitting wide open and the idea of solving previous year’s questions papers don’t seem exciting to the brain with soon everybody is found gossiping about whether Jon Snow a.k.a Aegon Targaryen is going to rule the seven kingdoms or the dragon queen- Danny.

3. Clash in Clan

Well, after wasting hours on planning and gossiping, everybody gets serious but this sincerity is short-lived. Wait for that moment when someone has a doubt regarding the solution to a difficult equation and the geeks in the group can’t stop fighting over whose answer is right or whose way of solving the equation is best. And the rest of the bunch is busy pleading them to cool down and coexist in peace.

4. Hunger Pangs!

After putting the wheels of the brain to some work, the belly doesn’t stay behind to remind everyone (often, at the same time) that it needs to be filled and there goes a good couple of hours straight out of the window. And everyone is busy munching on pizza and fries as well as guzzling down a handful of beers in the process.

5. ‘Rofl’ing

The books are long forgotten and soon, everybody’s fingers are busy tapping on their phone’s screen. Someone is busy forwarding meme jokes across WhatsApp to Instagram, Snapchat addicts are too occupied trying out the new filters and a handful of others are involved ‘rofl’-ing on the floor, the after effect of binge-watching a lot of comedy sketches.

6. Sleeping

As expected, after such a long day of hard work, it is quite obvious that the entire squad would be feeling pretty tired and worn out. Thus, the group study session concludes with everyone dozing off with the promise of doing some real-study the next day.

So, if you are one of those who is planning to be a part of a group study session, make sure that you don’t over-indulge in any of the above scenarios and do open those thick books to study.

Digital Marketing Guide For Beginners!

Everyone, literally everyone is online today. With the evolution of technology, people are more switched on now than ever before. The smartphone revolution has empowered people with information at their fingertips. Study  shows over 78 % of internet users carry product research online before purchase. Which means failure to integrate digital marketing strategy to the overall business strategy could prove to be disastrous for brands. It’s is imperative for these brands to keep pace with digital dynamism and get digital expertise on board. More importantly this hints at the need to acquire Digital Marketing skills as an individual has never been greater than it is right NOW!

Source : Hootsuite

What is Digital Marketing?

Neil Patel lambasted Wikipedia for providing a crappy definition and gave this – Digital marketing is any form of marketing products or services that involve electronic devices.  They can be done both online and offline and their importance cannot be neglected to formulate a well-rounded digital strategy.

Why Digital Marketing?

The highways and roads were and are always adorned by billboards. Who can forget the 2015 billboard war between Audi and BMW?

But do you really look at the billboards? “That’s the new Audi ….!” Before you finish reading the entire headline,  the car would have already whizzed past. But be honest, how many times do you really look out? Aren’t we mere mortals trapped and stoned in the pleasures of the web?

Apart from the obvious, there are 2 main reasons why digital marketing is so important:

1. Monitor: With well-integrated analytic tools on digital platforms it is easy to track and monitor customer behaviour. These tools deliver precise real-time data which makes it easy to convert into meaningful insights.
2. Affordable: A campaign on digital platforms like e-mail or social media will set you back by just a fraction of a cost as compared to traditional methods like print or billboards.

Focusing on the online marketing technique, here are the 7 major ones TCF has listed to get you started in the field!

1.SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING (SMM)

23% of the total time spent on the internet is spent on social networking sites. 4 of the top 10 websites in the world are social media websites. Need we say more about the importance of Social Media Marketing? Putting it in layman terms, Social Media Marketing is as simple as marketing on social media platforms to drive desired customer action. A few examples of formats & techniques used in social media marketing are Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, YouTube Display Ads, Overlay Ads, Skip Video Ads, Re-targeting and plenty more which we will cover in a future blog.

 

The main reasons why a brand would use social media is

• Increasing Brand Awareness
• Building  Brand identity
• Drive Website Traffic
• Personalizing the Brand
• Improving Communication with Key Audience
• Providing Better Customer Service

Unlike traditional market research methods, advertisers can use social media to obtain real-time granular information about consumer behaviour, helping with laser-precise targeting. The cost of advertising is the lowest on social platforms. These factors not only reduces the cost of acquiring a lead but also ensures marketing efforts are directed towards the right audience, hence improving ROI tremendously.

2. CONTENT MARKETING

Content Marketing is a hot topic but not a new topic. First signs of content marketing can be dated back to 5000 years B.C. reflected on cave paintings, which talked about ways to prevent a wolf attack. While our communication has progressed beyond cave paintings to digital platforms, content marketing still works on the same basis of driving value to the mass. By definition, Content Marketing is an approach of curating and distributing content – that is valuable, reliable and consistent – to attract and retain a set of customers – ultimately be able to drive desired customer action.

Source ; Hub Spot

 

Great content with an opportune mix of timing, audience targeting, distribution channels, amplification, seeding, and cross-promotion on multiple platforms does wonders!

TE-A-ME, a Kolkata based tea company made the most of the content marketing by sending 6000 green tea bags to Donald Trump. We don’t know yet whether he drank the tea or not but #TeaForTrump went viral on social media like a frenzy! Here’s the link to the mastermind content marketing!

3. E-MAIL MARKETING

You must have heard the word email marketing been thrown around on the internet or eavesdropped on an intense conversation between two marketing students on the topic. What exactly is e-mail marketing? Email marketing occurs when a brand sends a commercial message to a group of people through E-mail. More than 35% of the world population uses E-mail. That makes it 2.3 billion people on earth. What makes it more astounding is that email is highly underestimated medium but the most cost-effective for marketers.

Four basic types of emails found in email marketing are :

1. Transaction Mails: These are the emails that arrive in a customers mailbox once they have made any kind of transaction with the merchants. These can be purchase order receipt, set up guide,
2. Direct E-mails: The purpose of these emails are purely promotional with offers, discounts and product launch updates.
3. Welcome Mails: These are emails that are sent on account of signing up to the brands mailing list. The main aim for these emails is to increase the brands’ credibility
4. Newsletters: The goal of this email is to give consumers a sneak peek into the company’s products.

Email Marketing is a great tool to have in your digital marketing arsenal. And if you master it, your personal brand equity will surely hit the roof.

The ClearTrip Mail I received

Sieving through destinations already!

4. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO)

Do you ever check out web pages featured on the second page of Google? I guess the answer is a blatant no. A study shows that 98.3 % of search engine clicks (Google, Bing) comes from the first 4 links on Google or Bing. This is where SEO comes into the picture like a knight in shining armour. SEO is the process of using a set of techniques that help feature your website on the first page of Google – or other search engines – for the keywords or search queries typed by the user!  There are two broader types of SEO:

• On Page SEO- On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages of a website. These are done adhering to Google’s ranking factors such as headlines, internal linking, content, page structure and page load speed.
• Off Page SEO– The technique of making your website more authoritative on search engines by linking to other websites. The various ways to do this is via social media shares of your content, influencers sharing your content and guest blogging.

To rank on the first page of Google and drive constant traffic to your website, you need to cater to both of these techniques. They are like Juno’s swan, inseparable!

Note-  This is an organic method of optimizing your website. results may take time to materialize. On an average 6-8 months.

5. PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING (PPC)

Pay Per Click just like SEO is a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) technique albeit a paid form. An advertiser can display ads about their goods or services – to people searching online – entering relevant search queries. An advertiser has to pay every time a user clicks on the ad. This paid technique is also known as keyword advertising since keywords play a major role in it. These ads can be placed on two mediums:

1. Search Engines (Google Adwords): These ads mostly appear on top of search results which comes with a tag as sponsored suggestion whenever a user types a related keyword. Check out the image below to get an idea.
2. Display Networks: These ads are placed on websites which are relevant to the advertisers’ product or retargeted on websites where the user frequents. The advertiser pays an amount to the host website, every time the user clicks on the ad.

For example, Imagine yourself reading about the new Padmavati trailer, an Amazon add pops up; selling you Amish’s Sita at a discounted price. You click on the add, purchase the book and to make the delivery free, add another piece! Amazon might have to shell out a few rupees for that one click but earned hundreds with your purchase. This is PPC. A lot goes into building a winning PPC campaign: from researching and selecting the right keywords, to sorting those keywords into well-organized ad groups and adding these ad groups onto meaningful campaigns . The more an add satiates the user, the lesser an advertiser pays for one click, to Google; this means profitable returns.

Couldn’t find an Amazon add though!

6. ONLINE PR

Online PR in its core sense is similar to traditional PR- influencing people but on the web! With online PR, traditional media brands may still be a target, but often online PR targets online properties, along with an array of other platforms and networks, from search to social. This online approach influences:

• Columnists & traditional writers (just like traditional PR)
• Bloggers: personal & professional
• Websites & brand sites
• Twitter users (based on their followings and interests)
• Social media users: Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest, SU, Reddit, etc

Other online PR best practices incorporate real-time marketing efforts, reputation management, word-of-mouth marketing and influencers marketing.

7. AFFILIATE MARKETING

As Neil Patel explains it- “affiliate marketing can be seen as the process of spreading product creation and product marketing across different parties, where each party receives a share of the revenue according to their contribution.” It has 4 core players – ‘merchant’, affiliate’, ‘network’ and ‘customers’. The merchants pay the affiliates for successfully marketing its product which is done through an extensive network ( viz., Amazon) and the customer ends up paying everyone!

 

 

We are sure you are feeling all revved up and enlightened! Every perfect dish can give its credit, not only to the ingredients but also at what time they are added, the temperature at which it is served and the presentation! We say now is the perfect time to combine these variables and create your own digital ratatouille.

Rush Hour: The Last-Minute guide to Bell The CAT

“Dhoni finishes off in style…. India win the World Cup!” is a sentence no Indian is likely to ever forget. It is also a sentence most Indians wish to have it based on them! Talk about heroic finishes… the feeling of jubilance after having earned a victory. Right now, with just over a month to go for CAT, all MBA aspirants especially would be hoping and pray for a magnificent finish akin to a Dhoni innings. And we assure you, you will! Go through these few tips in order to handle the last minute pressure of exams and come out all colours flying!

Do not start with something new

By now, we’re pretty sure you must have finished studying almost every topic. The few tough ones that you haven’t, or are not completely well-versed with, should be left alone now. At this juncture, you will do yourself much better to improve your speed inaccuracy in topics you’re already sure of! Practice all sums of these topics as much and as quickly as possible so when the day comes, those 3 marks are yours for the taking. This is the time to revise, and not confuse and stagnate your brain with more data that cannot be processed at this point. A trick that’s advocated even by Ananth Radhakrishnan, IIM Bangalore student and CAT topper with 99.85 percentile.

Never stop reading

The Verbal section is a real time-cruncher. With more than 6-7 RC’s nowadays, the onus is on you to maintain the optimum reading speed throughout the section in order to finish the section. You may have clocked the desired words-per-minute ratio before, but CAT doesn’t care about the past, does it? You have to ensure you maintain that speed – for an entire hour – something that is possible only by regular reading. Make it a point to solve at least 1 or 2 RC passages every day until the main day in order to keep your brain oiled.

Kick the calculator

Yes, CAT 2017 is slated to have an on-screen calculator to perform basic math functions. But here’s why you shouldn’t depend on it – it is damn slow an exercise! Clicking each number separately with just a mouse is quite cumbersome and time-consuming. You could save a lot of time instead of by speeding up your own mental calculations. Writing it quickly and roughly on the sheets provided and then calculating quickly will save those extra 3-4 seconds of typing. Think it doesn’t matter? 16 DI questions out of which say 12 require you to calculate properly – rounds up to approximately 36 seconds saved. Those 36 seconds will come in handy for attempting an additional LR question that is easy but requires time for complex matrix building/option elimination. Hence, just like RC’s, make it a habit to indulge in complex mental math solving to keep your brain loaded for D-Day. A habit advocated by Prateek Bajpai, IIM Ahmedabad student and CAT topper with 100 percentile.

No mocking the Mocks

As said before, now is not the time to indulge in new learning. It’s the time to hone your existing skills. The best way to do that is giving mock tests. Of course, how better to know how prepared you are for giving CAT than well, by giving CAT? It showcases the minute chinks that might be prevailing in your armoury and tells you what flaws you need to iron out. If you have joined classes, they must have provided you various tests of their own, including sectional tests. Even otherwise, there are various other websites like Hitbullseye and Careerlauncher that provide hundreds of free as well as paid tests. Not just results, some sites like hitbullseye.com also provide a detailed analysis such as time taken versus time allowed, accuracy measurement, SWOT analysis, etc.

(source: hitbullseye.com)

Practice so much that the actual CAT seems nothing more than just another mock test!

Develop a healthy routine

It may sound irrelevant on the outset, but a healthy daily routine can go a long way in ensuring you go the IIM way. Eat proper food, especially during the last week before an exam. You do not want to feel lazy and bloated while attempting the main exam, do you? Also, ensure you’re well hydrated and well slept. After all, your brain is not a machine! It needs to be fresh so as to be at the peak of its speed and accuracy levels. It’s no secret that CAT is extremely demanding in these areas. Going into the exam hall with a fatigued mind devoid of sleep and with a bloated stomach full of undigested oils is a recipe for disaster! We know it’s Diwali and you want to revel, but trust us – this one Diwali that you miss will be worth a hundred times more glamorous Diwali once you get the MBA tag on your visiting card! Think of the greater good!

PS – “Healthy routine” would also include staying away from excess social media usage (we know you’re guilty!). Parties and dates can wait too. It’s tough, but as an ex-master of Hogwarts once famously said

(Refer to mbauniverse as well as entrancecorner for more exam-day tips)

Also, check out this video by an IIM-A student –

Here’s hoping to see you finish your world cup in style. Dhoni-ishtyle!

6 Countries with Feckly Free College Tuition Fee !!

The unprecedented and exceptionally high tuition and living expenses make us question whether studying abroad is worth all the effort? Many parents pool in all their resources to send their children to the States or the UK for higher education. While many can’t afford to avail the benefits of the same!

Have your dreams of attaining higher education from a prestigious foreign university come crashing down at the thought of the impossible fee structure for international students? If yes, then we are here to help you ride back into your dream sequence and live it! Strike out the United States and The UK from your list and bite your nails (not literally) as there are many countries providing affordable and quality education with zero or negligible tuition fee!

Here are 6 countries with virtually free college tuition:

1.Germany

In 2014, 16 German States abolished Tuition Fees for undergraduate students irrespective of their nationality. The students are required to pay ‘administrative costs’  about €100-200 including conveyance, student service, cafeteria charges and so on.Almost 40 universities are listed among the world’s top leaders in the QS World University Rankings, as conducted by Technische Universität München.

Prepare to shell out €800-900 for living expenses.

Hamburg University of Technology

2.France    

The land of wine, cheese and millionaires has public universities with minimal tuition fees in cities like Cannes, Grenoble and Lyon away from the pricey Paris! However in Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris the average tuition fee is €350/year. Besides your living solutions, you need to pay €200- €400 for registration. Why not become a étudiant at université française?

Pierre and Marie Curie University

3.Greece

With a high level of English speaking population, the warm and welcoming land of  Gods – Greece, expect a meagre €1500 per year, college tuition from International Students. Renting a room in Athens can amount to €270 and there is an option of living with a host family which will make you delve deeper into the exquisite Greek culture.

Greece- The city of Gods!

4.Slovenia

Proximity to tourist hotspots like Italy and Croatia, free college tuition and an extravagant cultural ambience makes Slovenia a great choice for higher education. The students regardless of their nationality are exempted from paying any tuition at public higher education institutions in Slovenia, however, they are required to pay  €30 per year as an inevitable registration fee.

 

The beautiful City of Slovenia

5.Austria

With Vienna as its capital and ranking as the QS Best Student Cities, 2016, the beautiful country Austria offers education at a reasonable cost. Austrians regard higher education for two semesters and international students are required to pay €726 per semester. The living costs can compound to €700-€800 a month!

Awestrucking Austria

6.Brazil

Brazil offers Tuition-free and world-renowned courses for MBA, Engineering, Odontology, Medicine and Veterinary Science. The students pay a small registration fee and the living costs can vary from R$160-350. The birthplace of Paulo Coelho and Pelé; the land of contrasts with a Latin American Culture surely will give you an enriching experience.

Brazil- The Land of Contrasts!

Worry Not! Explore countries and possibilities beyond your preconceived notions, pertaining to your field of interest. Before you move to our previous article, reminisce the words of Paulo Coelho from his best-seller – The Alchemist!

We would love to watch you wear the graduation robe and come out with flying colours, from your dream university abroad! Share with us your graduation story in the comments below!

7 Effective Tips to Ace GMAT

Ever dreamt of being a billionaire like Bill Gates or maybe the next Zuckerberg? At some point we all have. The innate desire for fame, wealth, status and the pride of standing out from the herd is intrinsic to us social creatures. Joining Harvard, dropping out, becoming a billionaire –  these are stuff new age legends are made up of. The likes of Gates,  Zuckerberg, Elon Musk have laid down benchmarks for achieving the pinnacle of success, haven’t they?

Let’s snap back to reality for a moment. To drop out of Harvard, you first need to GET INTO HARVARD! And anyone who plans on doing that would know it’s no mean feat. As per popular business website Business Insider, you would need a score of over 720 to be considered being called by Harvard Business School for their MBA program. Suddenly, getting a reply from your crush doesn’t seem as difficult anymore, does it?

The following 7 tips can help you channel your inner Zuckerberg or Bill Gates –

1. Dump that “Smart” phone.

Turns out, our mothers have been right all along (as always). Our phones are no good for us. Studies conducted by psychologists have found out that excessive use of smartphones decreases the concentration and attention span of humans. And this has got nothing to do with ‘being online’. The study also goes on to claim that mere presence of the phone is enough to get you distracted and make you have FOMO. So if you aim to get into Harvard folks, it’s time to get out of those Whatsapp forwards (please excuse the horrible attempt at rhyming!)

2) Don’t be Phoebe – Have a “Pla”

“Make a plan” – This is a statement which has been used by successful people more often than Shahid Afridi’s “Inshallah the boys played well”. As clichéd as it may sound, failing to plan means planning to fail. Making the plan, however, is the easiest part of the job. It is sticking to the plan diligently, that decides which side of the Harvard gate you stand on. Start from broad but definite goals. E.g “I have to complete 3 chapters of QA this week” and then work towards the macro aspect of it like “2 days for Time & Work” and “2 days for speed math”. Ultimately, create and follow even more minute targets like “10 sums per hour”. Once you cultivate a habit, the previously tedious task of following a schedule will now seem like an easy, everyday affair for you.

3) Start with Quantitative & Verbal Aptitude

Now that the plan has been made and you’re finally on the study table, start with the toughest of them all, so that you can devote maximum time to it. The trick to scoring well lies in both speed and accuracy. This double delight can be achieved only after regular practice over a long period of time.
*free additional tip related to this: ALWAYS study on the table. Do not recline lazily on your couch/sofa so that you end up dozing off comfortably!

4) Improve your writing skills.

The one thing that sets GMAT apart from other exams is the section of “Analytical writing Assessment”. As you would know, AWA is an essay based question involving acute logical reasoning to critique the argument presented in the question. Developing the skill of logical reasoning is quite manageable, trickling down to how well you can put pen to paper. It is essential you stick to the point and not beat around the bush. This is not your 10th-grade exam which gives you marks based on how many sides you write, is it? Improve your vocabulary, but don’t keep blasting words superfluously like Shashi Tharoor – you don’t want your essay to be an “exasperating farrago of distortions”, do you?

5) Choose the correct study material

This is a confusion that most students have. Tonnes of tutor classes have now cropped up on every nook and corner, with every one of them offering their own versions of study material. Choosing the correct material seems more difficult than choosing a combo at Subway, doesn’t it? Well, have no fear – we are here! According to most top scorers, the best books out there are The Manhattan Prep guides as well as the Official Guide, available at Amazon. Besides, various sites like RetailMeNot also offer attractive discounts for various packages. For those who think their fundamentals are weak, well, Harvard still has gates open for you. Head to Magoosh and improve your fundamentals with their creative tools like flashcards that help you work over the smallest of weaknesses. And don’t worry about the costs – most of Magoosh content is – wait for it, FREE!

6) Take multiple mock tests.

Ask any ranker, like Tarang Gupta who scored 780 in 2016, or Thrishnaa, who scored 770 in 2013, they would state the following – “The key to judging your level of preparation lies in giving mock tests”. Not once. Not twice. Not even thrice. You have to keep giving as many tests as you can, at multiple levels of preparation, in order to realize where you truly stand. The tests also make you aware of the chinks in your armor that you need to fortify before D-day comes knocking. Make sure you walk into the exam center fully equipped like James Bond on a mission to kill. Various sites provide you free as well as paid exam prep packs. Make sure you check out the official site – www.mba.com as well as ManhattanPrep for the best test experience.

7) AAAAANND CUT!

Go ahead, take a break. You don’t have to be Ross to do this. Taking breaks allows your mind to refresh and then keeps it ready for the next round of ‘hammering’. As cool and satisfying as it may sound, this is where most students tend to go awry – do not let a 10-minute break turn into a 10-episodes-of-F.R.I.E.N.D.S marathon, as delightful as it might be. Rest, but do not give in to temptations  – yes you can check and reply to those meme tags – but only in a limit. Better still, treat your taste buds with their favorite lip-smacking delights at equally delightful discounts available only at TheCollegeFever – you know you’ve deserved it!

Giving tips is not the end of our story though. We’re going to be here, waiting and hoping to hear the news of you ‘Making it Large’! Good luck for the exams, and yes, we’re pretty sure if you follow the above guidelines, Harvard will be waiting for you like…

Supreme Court of India stays Counselling in Government funded Engineering Colleges….

including the IIT’s, NIIT’s, and more, as they try and sort out the issues that have cropped up due to the IIT’s decision to award 18 bonus or grace marks for all students

According to the Times of India,

The bench is examining IIT’s decision to award 18 bonus marks to all the candidates (11 marks for incorrect questions in Paper II and 7 marks for incorrect questions in Paper I) irrespective of whether they attempted the said questions or not.

There were ‘wrong’ questions in some of the papers. The IIT’s decided to award marks to everyone. One student challenged the IIT order in court. She believed that this would impact their chances of getting into the IIT of her choice, and the engineering stream that she wanted to study. And, she is right. the Entrance exams are superbly tough, and a one mark difference can lead to many hundred places behind in the ranks. 18 marks will do serious damage to students who have done well.

The Supreme Court is of the opinion that bonus marks can only be given to those students who attempted the question, not everyone. Which kind of seems fair. But, the lawyer for the IIT, KK Venugapal, claims that the wrong questions were in the Hindi Paper, and,

“We do not know who took test in Hindi. It is very difficult to find out and that is why it was decided that bonus marks be given to all students. Till date, more than 33,000 have already taken admission and whole process would have to be started afresh if merit list is revised,”

This decision impacts large numbers of students who have opted for various engineering programmes across the country.

Live Law Reports that

A bench of justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar in the order said “we are inclined to direct that no counselling or admission to the seats in IIT-JEE (Advance) 2017 shall take place until further order.”

The IIT’s have said that this is going to throw the entire process of admission into disarray. Around 33,000 students have already accepted their seats, and have submitted the paperwork for admission. They (the IIT’s) believe, that the entire admission process may be thrown out of gear for this academic year, for the IIT’s, NIIT’s, IIIT’s and GFTI’s.

If you are one of the impacted students, drop us a line.

3 Must Have Apps For Engineering Students

As a budding Engineer, wouldn’t it be nice if you had apps that helped you ? There are. Depending on your area of study there are specialised apps available for each are of engineering, on both the apple and android app stores. Here are 3 must haves :

1. Wolfram Alpha describes itself as “ a unique engine for computing answers and providing knowledge. It is like a wikipedia for engineers, and “It works by using its vast store of expert-level knowledge and algorithms to automatically answer questions, do analysis and generate reports” It is available here

2. Icircuit — as the name suggests, helps you build and test circuits on your smartphone. It has over 30 elements that can be used to build and test circuits.

“ The app has everything from simple resistors, to switches, to MOSFETS, to digital gates.

The app features a multimeter that you use to probe around the circuit to instantly read voltages and currents. If you want to see how a value changes over time, then you can add values to the built-in oscilloscope. The scope can simultaneously track many signals over time and features a touch interface to control the total time displayed and stacked and unstacked modes to easily compare signals.”

you can download it here

icircuit screenshot

3. Mechanical Engineering One As the name suggests, is meant mainly for mechanical engineering students and professionals. The app includes “ various reference tables, calculators, converters. It also has one of the most comprehensive unit converter in the market.”

You can download it here.

mechanical engineering 1 screenshot

What are your favourites, drop us a note and let us know.

Can You Concentrate ? Maybe This will Help

In a world full of gadgets, gizmos, and assignments, it is difficult to concentrate and get work done. Most of us keep checking our phone for messages (even if it is on silent), or are disturbed by chat popups on on laptop screen, while we are working. And, let us face it, it is far more fun to chat, than it is to do assignments. But, the other part of it is this — assignments and studies lead to a job (hopefully); but chats do not

But, concentration is a problem. Most of us cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes. So, how do you learn to concentrate better. Watch this video, for some great tips.