Why this College Answer needs to be well planned and prepared in advance as this is the last pitch you would be making in order to secure admission offer from your dream college. Most of the candidates get several Admission Interview calls and interview panel also knows this fact and expects some well researched & customised answer from the candidates.
So if you want to impress the interviewers with your well crafted “Why this College Answer” ; you need to read, understand and follow below mentioned points
Why this college? – You might not get the direct answer for this question by sifting through the books or online articles. You have to frame it well. And mind it, framing too differs from college to college as USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is different for every institution. For instance: IIM Calcutta is famous for finance and is known as ‘Finance Campus’ whereas XLRI is known for its HRM course. You need to equip yourself with the skills that match with the skill set of the B-School that is interviewing you.
Now that you have your interview scheduled for a college, what are you supposed to do?
So, here begins our task:
The prerequisite for a B-School interview is to know life at a B-School inside out. And believe your instinct if it says that the scope of this question is quite wide! From cracking the interview to acing the placements, this gamut also encompasses activities like self-management, networking, working in corporate projects and internship, being a part of a rat race in which students compete with each other for every club and committee interview, for every POR (Position of Responsibility) /CV pointer. All this is sounding a bit too much, right? But this is how a student’s life is at a B-School. A management student not only gets acquainted with these jargons but embodies sheer interest and passion for excelling and contributing in all of these.
Now, the next step is to associate this knowledge with the particular B-School you are appearing for!
In simpler words, you need to know: What is the uniqueness of that college? What different courses it offers? How is its curriculum different from other B-Schools?
Yes! You need to capture all of these in your Why this College Answer. But How?
Explore that college by visiting the college profile, talking to the alumni and then jot down all the points. You will come across both the positive and negative content, but instead of picking holes you need to look at this through a positive lens and take in all the information that you can get. You need to go the whole nine yards to address both the academic and non-academic fronts of that college.
You are now done with your research and have a massive chunk of information with you. What next?
Now comes, the art of ‘Articulating’!
To make your answer captivating, you need to put an interesting spin on the information you have gathered. Yes, you got me right! You need to sugar-coat it all.
Allow me to elaborate on this. Suppose IIM-A is interviewing me and the panellists ask me this cannonball question: Why this college?
To that, will I answer “this is a very reputed and prestigious college…” like every other candidate? Will I be this monotonous? NO! They know that the whole universe knows this. I will tell them exciting things like the campus walk during Joy of Giving Week. I will talk about the legacy that is maintained not only in culture but also in Rambhai’s tea. I will demonstrate my knowledge of their initiative ‘Prayaas’ where, in their free time, students teach underprivileged kids.
It’s entirely upto you how to present your answer as long as it displays that you are serious about joining their college and know everything there is to know for a person who has worked hard for a year and aspires to study in their institute.
The bottom line is to make “Why this College Answer” more engrossing and interactive!
