Name – Rohan Fernandes
College Name – Lords Universal College
Course Name – BMS
Rank in TY SemV : 1st
GPA / Percentage: 6.43 / 70.85
1) Tell us about yourself?
I come from a science background. I had chosen the science stream after 10th with an intention of pursuing a degree in engineering. However, I found it boring and my interest in science began to dwindle after 2 years of it in junior college. I began to get interested in commerce and the increasing scope in the commerce field made me consider it for an undergraduate degree.
After considering all the options in commerce, BMS appealed to me because it’s the perfect mix of pure commerce as well as management subjects. Each semester opens you up to new subjects which are not only interesting to learn, but also present before you concepts and ideas that I feel other commerce courses do not.
As a former science student, I really enjoyed the refreshing subjects in BMS that teach you more about the functioning of the real world than boring scientific concepts and problems. As I prepare for my final exam in BMS, I feel that switching to commerce and studying management was among the better decisions I have made.
After developing an interest in it during my time in college, I further plan to pursue to a diploma in hotel management and look forward to working in the hospitality industry.
2) How does it feel to be a Topper of the college in TY Sem V exams?
Being ahead of the others always feels great. However, I feel it’s more important that you try your best and let it go. I have seen others who study with tremendous pressure on themselves to top the examination, and later feel bad if they do not manage to, even if they have scored very well.
Even though I’ve topped in previous semesters, topping the exam was never something that was on my mind. As long as I’ve felt that I’ve done my best and getting a KT in any subject was unlikely, I have always happily chilled at the end of every exam 😀 Ranks do not matter, your own performance does.
I believe that life isn’t about comparing yourself to others. It’s about challenging yourself and constantly striving to improve yourself. So, a strong message I’d like to share with my juniors, if your score has increased to 60% from 50% in the previous exam, give yourself a pat on the back instead of looking with awe at that bookworm who’s been scoring 90% in every exam he/she has taken.
3) Whom will you credit your success to?
After looking at the mess that the FM results were last year, I’d first of all have to thank my lucky stars that I did not get caught up in a similar hassle this year. That said, hard work is also required to be successful in university exams.
Apart from that, I’d like to credit my success to Raj Tutorials. Prof. Raj is among the best teachers you can get for challenging practical subjects like FM and SSF, who does not believe in rushing with the syllabus, but rather takes a slow, steady and systematic pace with the syllabus. Students looking for a coaching class for BMS should definitely approach Prof. Raj.
4) Did you start preparing from the first day of your TY Sem V?
Preparing for exams from day one is something I’ve been trying to do since my early secondary school years. I’m now in my final graduation year, and that has yet to happen.
I’ve always been a last-minute studying person. The closer the exam is, the higher my studying efficiency goes. I can study 10 answers in one hour if I have an exam tomorrow, but I wont finish even 1 answer in the whole day if the exam is a month away.
However, this is only for theory subjects. Practical subjects need to be started well in advance, and need to be progressed with at an easy, relaxed paced throughout the semester. Trying to study a practical subject on the last day is only going to mess everything up.
Different people will have different studying patterns. Someone who is more comfortable studying in advance should definitely continue the same way. However, it does not work for me.
5) How did you study for Sem V?
I have been regularly practicing FM and SSF sums as they were taught. This is something I feel everyone should do. The approach to be taken with theory subjects varies from person to person. If you have the capacity to learn lots of theory at the last moment, it can be left for the last week before the exams. Even so, theory should never be blindly rote learnt. Read the topic and understand it well. Once that’s done, writing answers in your own words is much easier than recalling every word from the textbook.
I always do theory subjects at the end. However, studying a little bit of logistics everyday from the beginning of the semester is a good idea. Logistics theory is slightly technical, and may take time to understand.
Also, some coaching classes may encourage you to take up coaching for logistics as well. Never fall for this, as the new logistics paper pattern has hardly any numericals except for some really easy ones. Theory is slightly difficult, but nothing you cannot do on your own.
6) Which are the easy subjects in Sem V?
Many will disagree with me, but I found SSF to be among the easy subjects. Choose your specialization well. If mathematics is not your ally, go for marketing. I’ve always preferred practical subjects that actually utilize your mental abilities over theory subjects that require long hours of monotony.
The other easy subjects are Business Ethics and Service Sector Management.
7) Any special way of writing the answers? Do you write answers in bullet points or in paragraphs?
Bullet points. Always use bullet points. No one wants to read an untidy page-long paragraph, and especially not stressed-out moderators who need to check thousands of papers. Your paper should be kept as neat as possible, and bullet points go a long way in doing that.
Answers should be started with a short explanation of the concept behind it, and then the main body explaining the answer. Also, end the answer with examples wherever possible. A good example always shows that you’ve understood the concept well and usually draws more marks. Start writing your example with “Example” or “Eg.” clearly written and underlined. This helps to highlight it and draw attention to it, ensuring that the moderator does not accidentally skip reading it.
8) How do you crack case studies in theory and practical subjects?
Practical subject case studies are merely sums that are longer and a bit more difficult than other sums. Practice your sums well and practical case studies are taken care of.
Theory subjects are a bit different. Case studies in such subjects test your understanding of concepts in the subject. Learn and understand theory concepts well. Refer to solved case studies and get a feel of how the answers are explained in the solutions. Practice solving case studies on your own and take it to your faculty and ask for feedback. Properly written case studies can help in scoring good marks.
9) Did you draw any diagram in any paper? Is it mandatory? Does it help to get more marks?
Nothing is mandatory. It all depends on how well you present your paper, and how relevant your answers are.
Neat diagrams always aid good presentation. As long as an answer has a relevant diagram, I always draw it neatly, and I’m sure it has helped me score better.
10)Any specific study pattern adopted i.e. timetable / how many hours per subject per day etc.?
Even though I’ve written up study schedules for myself, I’ve hardly ever stuck to any of them. But when one actually gets serious about studying, it’s always good to do study one practical and one theory subject every day. Stick to one topic of each until it’s completely finished. Changing chapters and subjects randomly is a bad idea and breaks the link. For students studying theory in advance, Regular revision too is required for theory subjects.
11) How do you fight against mood swings and distractions during exam preparation?
Mood swings aren’t really a problem for me. Distractions at home are plenty, and I deal with that by staying away from home and practicing my practical subjects in the college library when exams are still away. When exams are actually on, I don’t get easily distracted from studies.
Since I always study theory subjects at the last moment, pulling all-nighters before a theory exam is nothing new to me. When I get too overwhelmed to study during such nights, a quick 15 minute music break helps. When studying in the afternoon, one should understand the concept of power-napping and use it when studying lots of matter in a short time. It’s a really refreshing way to take a break.
12) If you are made the Vice Chancellor of Mumbai University, what changes would you like to initiate in Indian education system?
First of all, I’d make sure that the course is taught in such a way that students get exposure to industry happenings. Every college should be made to conduct proper industrial visits and organize guest lectures so that students get an opportunity to interact with professionals and experts from various fields. This would help to bring the real world closer to a course that is sometimes taught purely from textbooks. I understand that the University may already recommend the course to be taught in a manner that is much more than textbooks, but does not bother to check if colleges sincerely follow that.
Secondly, I would try to eradicate the system of internals. The 75-25 rule has helped definitely. There is no way for the students to know what kind of corrections are being done to internal papers. Some colleges easily give marks in internals and some other colleges with freaky management or faculty love to mess with student’s internals.
Student favoritism for absurd reasons also takes place in some colleges. Students have no way of knowing if this kind of favoritism affects their marks. I feel the entire system of internals is unfair when it is understood that everyone is, after all, a student of the same university. Marks should depend on the student’s performance alone, not on what other people think of the student, nor depending on whether the management of the college is student-friendly or not.
13) Many students prepare sincerely but constantly live under fear that they are not from big college not from English medium and eventually lose confidence. What message would you like to these students?
When preparing for exams, everyone should just focus on the task at hand. Background of the student does not matter at all. If one is properly prepared for the exam, he/she should go for the exam with confidence. Living with such insecurities is like saying a student of a reputed college is guaranteed good marks even if they have not opened their books at all for the entire semester.
14) Through this struggle and success, what have you learned? What is the wisdom of life and competition?
As I’ve mentioned somewhere above, I believe life is about always challenging and improving yourself. I’ve learnt that everyone is different, and everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. It is important for a person to identify his weaknesses and work upon them. Your biggest weakness might be something that some other person can do without breaking a sweat. Never compare yourself to someone else.
If you identify a weakness and work hard to make it your strong point, what will you do when you emerge successful from the struggle? Feel victorious and proud, or think that it’s no big deal because someone else did not consider that as a weakness at all? The former, right?
The 3 years you will spend in college will be a very unique part of your life, where you see a transition of an immature, young yourself to someone a little bit more mature and understanding. Use this time well, it can be a very rewarding experience. Make sure you work hard towards the things in life that interest you, but take frequent breaks and enjoy yourself too.
Also, college is a time when you get to know yourself better and develop an interest towards certain fields. Don’t blindly follow the herd. If you have non-conventional choices and interests, pursue those and see where it takes you. You’re young, you can afford to take those risks. It’s much better than suppressing your interests and passions and ending up regretting when you’re older.
Identify your true friends and make sure you never lose touch with them, even in later years. When everything seems to be going downhill, it is your friends who will always be there for you.
This is what I have learnt, and I feel it’s an important lesson of life.
15) Your feedback for any of the below site?
(BMS.co.in / BAF.co.in / BBI.co.in / BFM.co.in / BMM.co.in )
Frankly speaking, I’d not even known the other websites exist, so I will not comment on them. Bms.co.in however is an excellent website that keeps BMS students updated about everything happening about the BMS course. The question banks are of a great help to everyone, and so are the encouraging articles posted on the site. I sincerely thank the support team for doing such a great job. Keep it up!
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