The new batch of MICA, Ahmedabad, continues to practice diversity, with 71% of the batch coming from a non-engineering background, comprising lawyers, architects, dentists, chartered accountants, a flying cadet, a doctor and a national level cricketer. In terms of gender ratio, 47% percent of the incoming batch across all three programmes ~ flagship PGDM-C and PGDM, Crafting Creative Communications (CCC), and Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) are females, whereas 53% are male students.
Prof. Githa Heggde, Dean, MICA, said, “At MICA, we celebrate diversity. The MICA admission process has always facilitated bringing a very interesting mix of diversity across various categories to the campus. This year, in the PGP class of 206 students, we have a host of students with varied professional degrees including architects, lawyers, dentists, chartered accountants and a Doctor. We also have a few students with postgraduate degrees in international journalism, sports management, and economics. We do take pride in our uniquely designed entrance test, MICAT, which tests analytical and creative skills, attracting diverse students without any preference or quota.”
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Of 235 students across all three programmes, 110 are female students, whereas 125 are male students. Out of 206 students from the PGP batch, 90 are female students and 116 are male students. For the CCC programme, 18 out of the batch of 24 students are girls, whereas the FPM batch has 2 female scholars and 3 male scholars.
About 80% of the PGP class comprises students in the age group of 21-25 years. As many as 62 percent from across all programmes come with prior work experience. Thus, the number of fresh out-of-college students in the batch is 38%.
Prof. Ruchi Tewari and Prof. Taral Pathak, Co-Chairs of Admissions at MICA, said, “With 71% non-engineers in this batch, this shifting trend is a healthy sign indicating that students across all domains are equally competitive to make it to a premium B-school. We also take pride and take credit for this healthy mix of students because our only merit-based admissions through the MICAT (MICA’s indigenous exam) not only checks for analytical skills but scientifically assesses their creative skills which is the need of the hour. The result says it all - with no artificial systematic filters, students from extremely diverse academic and professional backgrounds are today a part of the MICA learner cohort.”
The highest number of students are from Maharashtra (46), Delhi (31), Gujarat (27), Uttar Pradesh (25), and others. Interestingly, the batch also has one student from Tripura and 2 from Assam. The institute has students from various disciplines like MBBS, Pharma, Architecture, Dentistry, Design, Law, and Finance
DIVERSE STUDENT PROFILES:
FROM SOARING IN THE SKIES TO FLYING IN THE CORPORATE WORLD: For 26-year-old Param Veer Chahal, who belongs to a family legacy of military service, joining the armed forces was his first choice. After studying law, he underwent training at Officers Training Academy, Chennai and Air Force Academy, Hyderabad as an officer cadet. However, little did he know that life had other plans for him. A knee injury at the last leg of his training compelled him to withdraw from flying and introspect further. He says, “It was during this period of uncertainty that I started to read about different courses and colleges to study management and thus I came across MICA and MICAT. To my surprise, the exam was strikingly similar to the Armed Forces selection process, and the more I read about the institute and the curriculum, the more I felt that this would be the right fit for me. Two weeks of orientation and one week of classes in, I can now say with conviction that I made the right call to join this institute that stands apart in a league of its own.”
FROM MBBS TO AN MBA: An itch to bring change in the healthcare sector: During COVID-19, Dr. Dhruvam Nanavati from Ahmedabad witnessed the healthcare system’s mismanagement and the scope of improvement the sector required. This gave him the motivation to study management. He said, “I was initially advised to join a course focused on healthcare management, but after a deep research, I found MICA’s preposition of right-left brain development
and the challenges it will pose for my personal growth to be the perfect fit for me. A proud MICAn now, I look forward to amalgamating my medical knowledge with the skills I acquired here to bring about a meaningful change in the healthcare and pharma industry.”
VOICES FROM THE NORTH-EAST:
Twenty-four-year-old Debaraj Roy, hailing from Tripura, is elated to be the first in his family to travel this far for studies. As COVID-19 upended everything around us, Debaraj, an engineer, utilized the lockdown period to prepare for management exams. “Marketing has always excited me as I try to find stories in everything around me. I have lived most of my life in Tripura, and this change was something I was looking forward to,” he shared.
Leaving Tripura and coming to MICA was a significant decision for Debaraj. His family, with a strong background in government service, had never ventured into management education. Being the first in his family to pursue this path, Debaraj felt a mix of excitement and responsibility. “Northeast is a small world in itself, but MICA seems like the real world. My batch is very diverse, and that reflects in our day-to-day conversations.”
Now a proud MICAn, what he cherishes the most is the plethora of new friends he made, the culture at MICA and lush green campus,which reminds him of his life back in Tripura.
Twenty-seven-year-old Kaustav Kaushik from Assam always had an inclination towards finding creative solutions to problems. He says, “After my unsuccessful attempts at clearing the UPSC exam, I realized that the best way I could build my career post the lengthy gap period was through working on what my strengths were. I always had fun organizing and working in events, I felt MICA with its unique pedagogy was the ideal institute for me where I would have the best opportunity to learn. So far in my short time at MICA, I have had the best time meeting a diverse bunch who have been very welcoming and I am looking forward to having a great two years at MICA”.
UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF SPORTS IN THE LIFE OF AN MBA: The corporatisation of the sports industry is paving way for new careers like sports analytics and management. For 22-year-old Shreyas Walekar, a cricketer, it was his quest of interlinking cricket and creativity that brought him to MICA.
He began his cricketing journey at the age of 14 and since then, there was no looking back. He says, “I was in Grade 8 when I first played in the 60th National School Games 2014-15, organized by the School Games Federation of India and then I went on to play various professional tournaments organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.”
Shreyas has been a part of the national tournaments like Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) 2016-17, BCCI West Zone Camp (U-16) 2017, Cooch Behar Trophy (U-19) 2019-2020 and C.K Nayudu Trophy (U-25) 2022. However, instead of breaking into the national circuit, Shreyas turned to a career in sports management. He says, “There is inherently a lot of creative intersection between cricket and creativity. You have to be creative and think uniquely in all situations. I also had the brand knowledge of various marketing areas in sports from the grassroot level and needed a boost to get into the details wherein, MICA being the central creative hub became my newly chosen career path.”
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