The MICA aspirant's Guide to the Galaxy

The top keywords leading to my blog seem to be MICA or Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Despite the fact that it stands at a pathetic 570 hits, I shall be nice and blog about the institute... for all the thousands of information-starved, post-CAT, MICA aspirants. Here's an account - no holds barred.

Disclaimer: These views have nothing to do with MICA, its management, authorities etc. They're purely my own.

--------------------

There are three kinds of people at MICA:

1. The ones who really wanted to get in. They've always been focussed on communications as a prospective career, are interested in ad campaigns, writing and have worked part-time/full-time/interned in communications/media for at least a month. Some of them think they're "creative". And a lot of them think MICA is a place where they can use this "creativity". Their application basket includes SIMC, SIBM, NMIMS, IIMC, ACJ...
2. The ones who wanted to get into the IIMs/XLRI/FMS etc, but messed up CAT, applied everywhere they could, converted any one or more of IMT/TAPMI/XIMB/IMI/IMT and landed up at MICA thanks to good word of mouth. A lot of them think "brand management" is a high-flying career, where recruiters will pick up a fresher & say "You're in charge of the branding activities of Cadbury Dairy Milk, starting today."
3. People with 5 years or more of arbit work-ex who wanted to get into IIMs/XLRI/FMS, messed up CAT, applied everywhere they could, and came to MICA because it was their only call. A lot of them spend the next two years scouting for restaurants in Ahmedabad or sleeping in their rooms

There are some more, but they're too small in number to be categorized "I came to MICA b'coz my dad told me to", "I came to MICA b'coz my girlfriend is at IIM-A"... and the rest.

Well, at least they all write CAT and compete against 8000 others to get in here. There's another breed which haunts MICA, that we like to call "sachets". If I start writing about them, my post will have tinges of racism, Nazism and bias against less intelligent forms of life. So I will not venture into that territory.

Okay moving on to how to get into MICA.

1. Get a CAT score of about 90 %ile. (I got a 99.38, but that doesn't matter - I was still waitlisted).
2. Buy the MICA application form.
3. Keep fingers crossed for MICA call.
4. Log in to the MICA website on the day of your results. Look out for your name.
5. If you've got a call, pay the test fees. Write MICAT (The MICA Admission Test). Psychometrics, GD/PI. Very general stuff. No stress. You'll need to be presentable, smart and have a fair idea about what's happening in the Indian marketing & communications industry. You'll also need a slice of luck. (Please do not flirt with fellow candidates of the opposite/same sex and post about it on pagalguy)
6. Wait for the final call.
7. If called, be prepared to pay around Rs 6 lakhs for the two years here.
8. Get ready for the most amazing two years of your life.

MICA is an exciting experience... well, depending on who you are.

I've loved my 18 months here, and I can't believe I have only 128 days to go. Ouch.

Coming soon: What you'll learn in your two years at MICA.