All I wanted to Speak about CAT

[Jok3r]

continued from last page....

November 18th

I reached the exam center early, & the tensed faces there removed what little nervousness I had. On seeing the same pattern of 75 questions I broke into a smile as I had an inkling of what was coming next.
Started with DI, but everything was different from aimcats, & I soon realized that the logic was very easy in the sets.Changed my set strategy of attempting sets completely to solving a chosen few questions(ones with smaller calculations) from many sets, but wasted 1-2 minutes on the wrong question. After 50 minutes I knew I hadn't done very well as my calculation speed had always been slow, but at least it hadn't been as monstrous as the aimcats & I had been able to solve all the DS questions.

Moved on to VA , & here again it looked like alien territory.With 5 RCs, my strategy of attempting the entire section went out of the window, & it somehow seemed even more ambiguous than the aimcats.I Decided to do something which I hadn't done in any paper.Gave VA only 45 mins & attempted 20 questions, hoping that I would still be able to still clear VA & 55 mins in quant would help me clear it.

Again, got a big shock, with geometry having only one question. But still attempted carefully thinking that a high accuracy in 55 mins will help me clear the cutoffs.

Came out blank, had no idea how I had done. Everything depended on how fast others had managed to do their calculations in DI, my accuracy in quant, & of course, the VA keys.(I never used to have a track of how many I was attempting in quant & di)

Soon found out that the only section in which I had definitely done well was my weakest section-DI...getting 50.I not done well in VA according to the keys...getting about 25. 10 marks hung in the balance in quant & I wasnt sure about an answer I had marked.Removing those 10 marks & the answer, I was getting 27(which could go upto 42).
The entire next month went in speculation of cutoffs, va answers, & quant questions as the iims had managed to make even that ambiguous.I knew I was on the border for 98% getting about 102...but I personally thought at that time that more no. of test takers this year would mean cutoffs going higher than last year.

On the day of the results, I was in hostel, & got a call from my Dad(from whom I had carefully hidden the fact that results were coming that day). He had found out about the results...& they were :

QA - 32 (95.60 %)
VA - 35 (98.23 %)
DI - 50 (97.41 %)

Overall-117(99.26 %)

Jumping with joy was an understatement at that time.On checking from the website I had calls from C,I & K. Other factors making sure I didn't get a call from L & B, & I had missed A by 0.04 %ile.I was a little disappointed, thinking that I might never again get a shot at A, but was still happy & intent on trying to convert the calls I had.


The Gdpi Adventures

I Enrolled in TIME again, and soon the feeling of joy dissapeared. I had no problems with speaking, but there was no content whatsoever.My GK was pathetically weak (near zeros in IIFT & snap testament to the fact) & I had never seen a newspaper beyond the sports page.

I put in a lot of hardwork, reading a year full of subscriptions of magazines, spending hours on wikipedia, studying subjects which I hadn't looked at during engineering, & watching CNN during whatever free time I could get( even had to sacrifice my near-shoulder length hair )
Attending some mock gd's helped iron out flaws(my habitual bunking disorder didnt help) & I was ready for my interviews.

The GD & interviews were really fun.I had a great time & by the end of them I was satisfied(which was also because I was never grilled much on acads) with whatever I had managed leaving the rest to the profs.

After much delay,results came yesterday.First got a boot from C in the morning,& then ,after what seemed like the longest wait of my life...got into K...
Never really thought about going to an IIM...ever...didn't jump for joy & dance around this time and it still hasn't sunk in yet.

All I want to say about cat is that it gave me a 2nd chance to prove myself...& with some luck on my side I've managed to do a bit of that.
I have really enjoyed the last year, made lots of new friends, & have found out more about myself than the previous 20.
I just want to thank everyone here at PG who have prepared alongside me this year....even though I was an almost invisible participant, I've read almost each & every post. You all have helped me more than you guys know, & for someone preparing almost entirely on his own, PG was the only support I had.

Thanks again, and all the best to everyone...

cheers...

[mishasinghal1]

hi everyone....
here i am...speaking my experience with CAT....or rather CAT's experience with me..... am a bit nervous honestly....

CAT has been a life changing and opening phenomenon that happened to me when i needed it the most to happen. I can very comfortably say that I was the in the most dire need of something to challenge me out from the kind of life I was leading and with the kind of beliefs I was having. CAT provided me the way to lead life.
All emotional....but that's exactly how I feel for this journey of my MBA preparation.....

I was stuck, yes I call it stuck in my engineering education of Electronics and Communication, with no clear way to go for, with nothing to look forward for. I was within the impression of completing my BTech, after which I'll work with a big multinational company and then I shall get promoted and then eventually get married and everything shall be happily ever after....GOD...that's how I was before this angel called CAT happened to me....

I joined CAT preparation classes so as to get an idea of what does this so called aptitude test means, which all the seniors used to say is compulsory to get through for campus recruitment. Hence i enrolled for PT education...yeah u heard it right....but in ahmedabad.....it has a big name...though i understood what it is actually...later....

And then they say started my love affair with CAT, how much i found myself engrossed in it without actually realising it. I used to love doing everything that it required me to do. The verbal classes, the maths,logical solving ability, everything. Infact, honestly these were the things I had always wanted to do, but just couldn't find a way where I can actually utilize them. The application of mind at the right places so as to get the desired answer, moreover applying your reading skills to test, all these were things I always looked forward to.
That was one of the reasons, I never enjoyed my BTech, because the kind of application it required out of me,I could never provide it with that.
So all in all, I had found something pleasant, something beautiful,enchanting,exciting,thrilling and engrossing.
I went on solving CAT materials whenever I could, and the most beautiful part was that I never solved them with the feeling of wanting anything in return from it...I did it because I found it relieving...and because that was something that gave me soothingness I required after my brushes with my BTech education...
So from November 2006 to May 2007, it was PT education and solving their materials....in between I did try to check the pg...but didn't find it up to mark for myself...[]
Then from June onwards the prac cat of PT started....and I panicked....because i got 98.xx %.....i was like there's something wrong......i cannot be getting this high %ile at first go....with all over India people making such gung-ho about %iles in 98 or 99.....hence I decided to enquire about what should be done....
luckily for me....a senior of IIMA came to deliver lecture at PT and showed me the way by telling how he used to practice maximum number of papers by getting them xeroxed or anything......then I came to know about AIMCATs....and enrolled for it......also I enrolled for CL's peagus series....and as i decided mon-fri--->COLLEGE....sat--->CL.....sun--->AIMCAT....and that's the exact schedule that i rigolously followed from July to October 2007....and man.....THOSE WERE THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIE.....

I used to go for my college mon-fri 9am to 4pm...and then in the evening it used to be my cat practice sessions....on saturday....I used to reach college at 11am for a single class..then leave at 1pm...reach CL at 2 pm....give me mock cat by 4:30 and then used to take the 5pm bus to home...
on sunday...i used to reach the centre by 10am...coz i didn't have a bus later on sunday.....and the aimcat used to start at 11am...used to finish by 1:30pm....then either i used to attend pt classes from 2pm to 6pm or used to take the state transport bus home...and then off to sleep....wow.....that experience was something....I am ready to go about it all over again....just for the sake of fulfillment it used to give to me....
The only time when I again panicked was when my exams approached in october 2007,I knew i cannot be following the same schedule herein...hence I had to collect the paper from the centre and give them at home....My exams luckily got over on 1st november...giving me odd 2 weeks to prepare myself mentally....

During this period, the initial one week I wrote a paper daily, but in the last one week, I was not able to...so I decided not to pressurize myself but to relax and so watched as many movies possible....

On 18th...just went in with the same kind of feeling as of aimcats....telling myself all the right things I could......After the paper...had the same kind of feeling like I had for other AIMCATs....that I did all that I could have done but could have done better......
After the intial discussion my QA and DI score came out...which were not great but not so bad...so everything depended on my VA score...just like the same for all....
to be continued...............

[josephike]

NOVEMBER 18th 2007. Can't forget the crowd. The rush, the tension. Reached early. Very early.....

FLASHBACK - I guess an IIM was always on the back of my head since I'd heard of them. Right since I was a kid old enough to know what CAT was and what the IIM's were, I'd imagine myself studying and passing out of one of them. The biggies. But they'd always remained dreams. Always on the back of my head.

I was happy...no...I was content with my job. It'd been 2 and a half years and I wasn't really looking to go anywhere. I was satisfied. And the IIM's still remained dreams. Still on the back of my head. Until Jan 2007 that is.

I had a few major upheavals in life. Personal and professional, and I took a few days off, just to contemplate my life and where I was headed, and my goals, and priorities and everything else that a confused, depressed, unmotivated, directionless guy looks at when he realises the world isn't his playground anymore and that time's catching up and life's moving on.

Not that I was always the same way. I was usually cheerful, happy go lucky, flirty, jovial, witty, a loose cannon if you may. Thats how my friends would've usually described me. But a few twists and turns, and there I was, the complete opposite. And I realised, that this wasn't who I was. I'd never considered myself a quitter, no matter what. No matter hwo bad the circumstances, come what may, I was going to turn my life around. 360 degrees, yes sir. So there I was, on 10th Jan 2007, sitting in Marina Beach in Chennai, 11:00PM, deciding to do my MBA.

I usually considered myself pretty intelligent (I know it's not modest and I know some of my friends might not agree) and thought I'd ace the exam. Easy. How many questions had I solved for people who came to me after writing their CAT exams and I'd taken a look at their papers out of curiosity and tried solving a question or two here and there and gotten it right. So I joined TIME, attended a class or two and decided I was too bright for them. So stopped going. And waited for their AIMCAT's to ace them. Come May and came the first mock cat. Went in confident. Answered what I could and came out smiling. I got 85% ile. Damn!!!

I realised I wasn't god's gift to mankind. And got depressed again. (Dont worry if it sounds pretty frequent. Those were troubling days for me - for lots of reasons). I decided to channel all my depression, all my anger, all my frustration into my preparation. Decided that I would not quit. Come what may. I have to prove I am better. Opened my TIME books for the first time. Asked around for help from people. Did a lot of quants. Joined PG. Never posted much since I didn't have much to add, but read most of the posts.

This suddenly gave me focus in life. Now I had something to achieve. My preparation took my mind off its sad track. I started doing better in office. Started attending TIME classes more regularly. And started brushing up on everything in quants. I was happier if not thrilled. I was back. Now if only I could prove myself.

Come mid June and TIME starts off with it's AIMCAT series. Write the next one. I'm much better prepared this time. Score in the 90.xx range. Better than before. Still not up to what I thought I was. Now it's an obsession. Gone's my happiness and gone is my sorrow. Gone is everything else but a goal. I have to get through CAT. Come what may. I stop concentrating at work. The only efforts put in being swiping in and swiping out. Since I work nights there wasn't anyone to monitor me. Buckle up and spend the entire morning and afternoon studying. Getting only 5-6 hours of sleep a day. My week is now Sunday for the AIMCAT and wednesday for the result. The results show a bit. My AIMCAT's start improving. Going up to the 95% range now. Still not good enough.

I kept missing the quant cutoff. I did well in verbal though. Got country rank 2 in one of the AIMCAT's in verbal. Haven't cleared a single quant cutoff yet though. Ashamed to call myself an engineer. Back to basics. Split up chapters. Grind through Arun Sharma. Mug up basic formulas. Didn't even remember the area of a sphere. 10 AIMCAT's to go. For the first time, clear the Quant Cutoff. On seventh heaven now. But surprise...miss the VA cutoff. Hell, still don't have a single AIMCAT with all cutoff's cleared. My percentile's up in the 97% though now. But there's something lacking.

Put in more efforts. Read faster. Crack puzzles. Solve the sudoku. Stop giving a damn about office. And then, 9th AIMCAT, there I was, in the topper's list for the first time. Page 5. But still in there. Cleared all cutoffs. TIME analysis says its good for a single call. Percentile up to 98%. And since then on , a regular occurence. Cracked the toppers list a few mroe times, but still missing cutoffs in Quants occasionally. AIMCAT 1. One more week to go. Have taken leave from office. Nervous as hell. Last AIMCAT. Write as I would've written the CAT. Pretty content but still nervous. Can't wait for Wednesday. Come wednesday. Cleared all cutoff's. Cleared the 99 barrier. Tenth rank in the City (Chennai). Pretty happy. But the feline's still to be belled.

NOVEMBER 18th 2007. Can't forget the crowd. The rush, the tension. Reached early. Very early. Wrote the CAT. Spread my time equally. Did exactly what I practiced in all the AIMCAT's. Was satisfied with what I did. Came home and realised I could've done another 6 questions with no effort at all. 24 marks down the drain. 12 marks not attempted in QA, 12 marks not attempted in DI. VA was a roller coaster depending on which website I checked. Frustrated but helpless. Couldn't say anything. Just had to wait for the results. I knew I wasn't a quitter. So what if I missed 6 sitters. I'd still done enough I thought. I had put in the effort I thought. I had gone through PAIN for a year and more. This shouldn't have happened, but there wasn't anyone to blame but me for not looking at all the questions carefully. Anyway I won't quit I thought. I will do better. If I miss this CAT, I'm going to 100 percentile the next one. Here I come CAT 2008 i thought. Lets wait for Jan 8th. If I'm not in, I'm putting in a fight to remember. That's what I thought that day.

MAY 2nd 2008. Can't stop the smiles. Can't stem the tears. As I sit and write my experience over the year and a half. 6 Calls. 6 Converts. It's finally time to be happy. IIM's here I come. Another BLACKI. I will never quit I said.

[CATalyzed]

Really it's a dream come true writing about my story on this thread. I wanted to post about my journey but very well decided to wait until I had all my results and looks that i was correct

History

Well my father has a transferable central govt. So I had my schooling all over the country. I wasn't the "studious" type of guy at any point of time in my life. Anyhow I completed my class Xth & XIIth with odd 87% & 74% respectively. I didn't get through any decent engineering college in my 1st attempt so took a drop for an year. Next year too I couldn't get through IIT. I joined DA-IICT that year and no regrets. It's one of the best thing that has ever happened to me.

PREPARATION PHASE

Well I had CAT at the back of mind since 2nd year of my Engineering but hadn't took any concrete steps in that direction. I did join IMS correspondence course at the start of my 3rd year. I didn't want to join a classroom coaching because I knew that aptitude can't be learned/developed by sitting in a classroom listening to some guy. Also I thought 15-20k is way too much for some guy teaching me unitary method & percentages. Started studying enthusiastically but it all died down within a week-10 days. Anyways books were eating dust and life in 3rd year moved on. I guess the turning point came after the placements.
I had 3 offers (from Infosys, TCS & Mindtree respectively) but I realized that I didn't want to get into IT industry. Then I decided giving a serious thought to CAT. So I started preparing seriously for CAT from June 2007. Joined TIME test series. My first mock was AIMCAT 0814 i.e. by the time I had joined I had already missed 6 of the mocks. In first mock I scored a 95%ile with missing sectionals in QA & DI by single mark. Was pretty pleased with the start I had got. As my preparation progressed I realized that I was pretty strong in VA, good in QA and really pathetic in DI. I am not an avid reader of book's and all but thanks to my ex-school I was in habit of reading newspaper daily ever since I was in class 7th. Anyways I think that IMS material was very good for clearing fundamentals but the practice problems were childish. Several of my friends had joined TIME class room coaching. I also used to borrow material from them and practice. One point I would like to make here is the numbers of hour you put in for CAT preparation doesn't matter at all. I had several of my batch mates in college who would spend the entire day in library doing the booklets & sheets they used to get from coaching. Even during the engineering classes I would notice a few guys/gals sitting at the last bench mugging up cue cards. Hell even I didn't used to pay attention to what the professor was talking about but this habit was something I really despised. And finally when results came I don't think anyone of them made through. Point I want to make the preparation something you enjoy, please don't convert it into a mundane routine job. Anyways as for me I would spend 10-15 hrs a week on preparation. It wasn't like fixed 2 hrs a day . Some days no study and someday 4-5 hrs. Sundays were spent going to TIME test centers and giving AIMCATs.The picture was still the same. Used to rock VA and used to get rocked in QA,DI. QA was still better but DI was a complete disaster. Also I noticed that I wasn't a big fan of speed. If there were 30 questions in each section I would attempt around 10-15 and If there were 50 the number of attempts would go around 15-20. Anyways my percentiles used to hover around 75-85 %ile with a spike around 95% ile in every 3-4 mocks. Also had lows of 41 & 52 %ile. But anyways I never lost faith in myself. I had this feeling that I'll perform way better on C-day

So I stopped giving mocks after AIMCAT 0803. Didn't gave 0802 because I was sick and didn't gave 0801 because I didn't want to shatter my confidence before the real thing.

C-DAY 18th November 2007

Reached the center around 45 mins earlier with a few friends. We were sitting and chatting idly sitting under a tree while a few people were frantically going through their notebooks and a few were having photo sessions with their friends .

Well after a long wait gates were opened and I went into the center. Had a lot of water and it started to show its effect as soon as I sat down on my seat. Took me 15 minutes to find out where could i relieve myself. Finally when I found it out I was greeted with a long long line of people in queue . Anyways relieved myself and came back and sat on my seat.

The procedure started with distribution of OMR sheets. 120 or 135 bubbles with 5 options each. I thought god...I am screwed. Next came question paper. Got so happy on seeing good old 25+25+25=75 & 4:1 marking scheme. The guy signaled to open our papers and with trembling hands I opened it. Unlike most guys I didn't use to follow a fixed strategy. The sole goal I had when I used to write a paper was solve each question as it comes and NEVER overspend time on a question even if It felt like a sitter or was something I had before. But I did used to go through paper in fixed pattern of QA-DI-VA. So with CAT 2007 paper in my hand I started with QA. And here is the bummer...first 10 minutes had passed and hadn't solved a single question. Pressure was getting to me but was keeping hard to keep my focus. Finally after 20 minutes managed to fill 3-4 bubbles. By the time I had finished my alloted time to QA my confidence was rock bottom. I had managed to solve around 8-10 questions in first pass. Next came DI, couldn't make head or tail of the first set. Immediately said pass to it. Next sets seemed easy. Thankfully most of sets were about number crunching which I loved . So after finishing with DI had this feeling that I was back in the game. Next came VA. The RC's seemed so tiny compared to ones I had been doing in the mocks. But once I started reading them my head went into dizzy. Couldn't make any head or tail out of them. So said them tata bye bye and jumped to VA questions. Here too options were way too close to call. Any how finished with VA but wasn't really confident. Now I had entered buffer time. I had option of either going for VAfor doing a few more QA questions. Decided to go with QA and managed to solve a few of them.

Came out with a fixed feeling. Didn't went through the answers posted my various coaching institutes.

Result-Day

Well came 8th January 2008 and CAT results were out. My result read:

QA-28.00%-93.17%ile
DI-56.25%-95.53%ile
VA-33.00%-97.67%ile
OA-39.16%-99.16%ile

"Sorry your name does not figure in list of any IIM's"

Obviously was quite sad. But out of blue IIM-K came out with some additional list and I had my name in it. Wasn't aware of it and luckily it caught eye of a friend of mine who promptly informed me.

And rest is history

Other Calls

IIFT-Kolkata (waitlisted)
XIM-B (Rejected)
NITIE-PGDIM (Rejected)
FMS MBA-FT (Rejected)
MDI-PGPM (WL-133)

MY 2 PENCE'S ON CAT

Well for cracking CAT you don't need to be a stud. If even an average guy like me can dot so can anybody in this world if you have willpower, dedication and some luck . There will be failures but important task is to not let them take you down with them. I would like to quote lyrics from a song by Fort Minor:

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!


P.S: Here is my IIM-K interview experience:
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-an...ml#post1014191 ([2008] IIMK GD-PI Experiences) ([2008] IIMK GD-PI Experiences)

[mishasinghal1]

here i continue with my story.....

So after giving CAT...it was quite a chapter that has just finished in my life...for the next 3-4 days....all i did was to sleep and check the ongoing discussions on CAT...and in the next 3 days...I was supposed to give IIFT...well that was another story because I feel IIFT people tricked me as they didn't clearly mention the sectional cutoffs were there or not...anyways....
I was never hopeful of going to IIFT also...

then later...I realised and found myself to be absolutely empty and drained...i was not able to understand what are the other things to do in life except writing mocks and analyzing them or discussing them with others.....still life continued....I learnt meditation in between....which was nice....and then I gave SNAP...which was frankly easiest of the lot....
I was getting used to life without CAT prep.....but then I realised...I was loosing something...I was missing something...something in my behaviour and thoughts was missing the spark....then I realised that actually I am addicted to CAT....and again I started with the preparation...though this time it was with nothing in mind.....
And then came XAT..which again I gave with the same attitude....may be a bit more calm I was.....and later FMS on the second sunday of 2008...which proved to be a disaster because of various factors in the ahmedabad centre....

RESULT TIME::

when the results came on 8th Jan 2008, I was in my training of final sem...and I can tell you nothing else was on my mind from 3pm onwards....I was all the time rushing up and down...trying to check if one website can open and I can see my results....but nothing came of it...and then I got the SMS reply telling my score...I still have it....I'll delete it after this.....
QA....91.3
VA....88.5
DI...98.5
OA...98.07

and I knew that all the doors to IIMs are closed.....well that was honestly heart paining...but also not heart shattering....because I knew I was good but not the best...and there were many who were definitely better than me and deserved it much more than me....so I accepted it gladly and then started looking for other options....
I also decided to go for GMAT....also downloaded the GMAT prep software...and was ready to go for a job for the next 2 years...when XLRI save my day....

I say save...because in that one week between CAT and XLRI results...I realised that I will never be able to do a job again...after what I have experienced with the CAT preparation...I can never go back to doing the technical stuff in any form....and hence I was greatful to XLRI...also I got call from MDI...
(hadn't applied to any other lesser colleges...yeah SIBM was there...but then inspite of converting it...I didn't go for it....)

and then began another important phase of CAT preparation with me.....from the very beginning....I was confident for GDPI...somehow...maybe because I am confortable speaking about myself..maybe because I am a bit talkative....maybe because I am a gal...and an aggressive one..as others say....don't know....but yeah I knew I am confident for GDPI more than that for the tests....

but during this preparation...I was rewinded back to my theatre classes...where one had to express oneself to the best level without showing too much efforts.....the preparation made me look into myself as a separate human being who can tell me my +ves and -ves....I found it quite enjoyable....I started seeing facets about myself which I could never see....I could view myself the way I had never thought of.....
again all in all....a life fulfilling experience....

I write all this with great hopes in my heart that the experience and journey I had with CAT for last 18 months till now....will be something that shall be with me for the rest of my life as a hope that there are good things in life to live for and to look forward for....

with all the best wishes to everyone.....I am off for XLRI....BM...

thanks to each and every person who helped me in some or the other way....thanks people....it was a rewarding journey with all of you....also...reading a few posts above mine...I feel touched,humbled and deeply choked.....I do feel I didn't lose anything in life....if I did....I lost to so many others who deserved it much more than me....

take care....

[amitnsitian]

A Journey called CAT

IIM – The acronym every B-Schooler aspires for in India. I being not too different from others had similar aspirations, desires and dreams. Oh yes, forgot to mention the common full form of IIM is Indian Institute of Management; but I came to know of another full form during this journey, which will be eventually revealed to all J
Umm…from where to start…let me go back to April of the year 2000. It was the time when my sister made it to the well…Joka land It was the time when I was preparing for my engineering and already made my mind to make it to an IIM.
First two and a half years of engineering went fine but it’s generally in the third year when one starts thinking about what next! Then I joined Career Launcher in Delhi in my fifth semester and little did I know that I was not the only one aspiring in my batch. I met junta of NSIT there. The classes started and very soon I realized the weakest link for me to the ultimate goal – the VERBAL part. Anyhow, my senior gave me this wonderful advice to taking CAT in the third year to get a “feel” of the exam. I liked the idea and finally took it. And yes, at that time, CAT had no rule which barred people taking the exam who are not in their final years. I think it is coz of people like me that they thought of this rule. It’s good to be a reason which made IIMs take a policy decision
CAT No. 1: Year 2002 in November
It was a normal 3 section paper in which I had no pressure to perform. The paper went fine and it was the first time wherein the percentiles were to be revealed. Moving to the results, QA was 99.5 % with an 86 odd in DI and some 65 in verbal. This clearly told me where I had to work on – as if I didn’t know it before.
Jan 2003 – Oct 2003 – The time when all of my friends, classmates and everyone and anyone was a CAT aspirant. It was good to be in excellent company and I think that competition forced me to prepare for the exam which eventually I think I did.
CAT No. 2: Year 2003 in November
Was I nervous??!! I WAS. This was the day, the time, the 2 hours which are going to decide the future for me. I still remember how the exam went. The sound of opening the sheet, the answer sheet being filled, the sweat, the tension – everything is still like a movie in my mind. Anyhow, in the end I was quite happy with my performance in DI and QA J Also, I knew that I had did well in Verbal because 2 RCs which I attempted in the exam were luckily from some of the test mock papers of the institutes.
But then disaster stuck as soon as I crossed the gates of the school of my center – my mother telling me, “Amit, CAT is cancelled. The paper got LEAKED last night.”
I was like noooooooooooooo, it’s difficult to give your best again. Well, with no option left in life, I started preparing for my semester exams.
Forgot to mention this, 3 weeks before CAT, I had a disc collapse in my back which forced me to take bed rest for 2 weeks which meant no studies, nothing but I think that did not have any adverse effects on my CAT preparation.
Ah yeah…had that CAT not cancelled, I would have never joined PaGaLGuY.
Year 2004 has come J I had already done the greatest mistake of my life by filling just 3 forms – CAT, XAT and MDI. The XAT exam was next and so much verbal focus, I knew it was difficult to clear it. But then trying was important, which I did and eventually failed also. But since CAT was still there, I thought to myself that I still have a chance to make it to my dream school.
CAT No. 3: Year 2004 in February
After been there already, I was not as nervous but yeah, pressure to perform kills you. The exam was little on the tougher side but it went fine. In this internet age, the solutions were out by the evening but I had decided not to check till the next day.
Next day, I started checking my paper. As always, I started here also wit Quant. The performance was sufficient enough to clear the cut-off. I don’t know what prompted me to check verbal next. I did and was amazed to see my score and was already jumping in my room…but hang on…story is not over yet.
I checked DI then and my world came crashing down. I attempted 4 caselets and got 2 of them ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! I scored a single digit in DI; it was something I was not prepared for..why why why!!! After not able to make it in IIT-JEE because of Maths then, again DI did me in.
Crying made me no better and I knew that it was bye bye IIMs and MDI.
The results came out as expected and I was prepared for it. Some of my close friends had all six calls or single calls or some calls atleast. Most of them made it and then we parted on our different paths in life.
I joined HCL Technologies in Delhi in July and was sure of cracking it this time. Some intelligence which I did this time was widening my B-School list – IIMs, XLRI, NITIE, MDI, SPJain, IIFT and FMS. This meant I had to take 4 exams this time and that too with my job. Also, somehow I got a really good project in the company which required me put in a lot of effort there. I could have avoided work but somehow it’s in my nature not to give 100% which is entrusted on me. That year, I went to office for 29 days in October, 2 days off being 2nd October (Thanks to Gandhiji) and Dusshera (Thanks to God Ramchandra); else I would have been in office then also. Adding to this was a family problem which required me to spend 3 months nights in hospitals as my grandfather was ill. When I look back, I wonder how I managed all this. Oh one more thing, my sister wedding plans was also underway which required my inputs and participation too.
CAT No. 4: Year 2004 in November
The exam time came. CAT, XAT, IIFT and FMS. Results: calls from IIM-L, MDI, IIFT and NITIE. I was confident of converting one call atleast this time. CAT percentile overall was 98.94%. Also, this was the time when PaGaLGuY shot to fame with that result link getting exposed and all This was the first CAT in which differential marking was introduced.
Jan 2005 – MDI interview, my first B-School GD/PI experience. Somehow managed the GD and went in the interview. Interview was okie-dokie. With next 3 interviews in March, I had loads of time to prepare for them.
Feb 28, 2004 – MDI results are out. Not selected…not even in the waitlist..am I that bad. Maybe yes. With around 10 days to go, I left no stone unturned to prepare for the GD/PI. Next interview was NITIE in Mumbai on 8th March, 2004 (which was my birthday too J).
March 7, 2004 – Disaster will be an understatement with what happened. I slept with a little back pain but just could not life myself up from the bed. The pain in my lower back was killing me and even lying straight was not helping me. We rushed to the hospital and I was diagnosed with slip disc. 3 weeks bed rest, no movement nothing. My NITIE was next day, IIFT in 3 days and IIML in 10 days. No way was I going to miss them.
I had to get admitted in the hospital and doctor did not allow me to move at all. This meant, all pleadings for attending interviews for NITIE were waste. IIFT also went by and I sat there who could not do anything about it – just cry a bit ok..not a bit but a little more.
I had my mind, come what may – I will attend my IIM interview. When doctor heard the word “IIM”, he also became a little soft and said that try to get it postponed as much as possible. We tried our best but date was still within my bed rest period. With a little change in is heart, he allowed me to take the interview.
The GD was bad for me as the pain was still there and it was bad. I had to wait for nearly 3 hours for my interview and this aggravated the pain. Somehow, I braved it and faced the interview panel.
It was an above average PI but performance in GD was still enough to ensure that I don’t get in.
The results came and I was waitlisted at 107. This is when I joined PaGaLGuY and my first post was on the IIM L thread. After months of praying and tracking the WL day and night, it closed at 102!!!
I applied for a transfer to Mumbai to stay with my parents and take care of my back. Eventually the company did transfer me and here I landed in Mumbai. I joined the TIME test series and was doing pretty fine but the office culture here was really bad. For the first six months from July to December, there was not a single day when I did not contemplate resigning.
CAT No. 5: Year 2005 in November
I added one more exam in my list – JMET. Exams came and went and somehow I screwed ALL of them. CAT 97 %ile, XAT 99 %ile, JMET – 500+ Rank and similarly all. All but one – FMS. Had calls from both the courses and went to Delhi for the interview. MS GD was average, PI was also average. Then came the FT day. That time, people having both FMS calls did not have process the same day, unlike today. Since I had become quite visible on PG, I met many familiar people. GD was excellent and PI was also good but FMS thought otherwise. My name did not figure in both the list, not even the waitlist. This was the very famous 1:1 ratio batch of FMS: mg:
One interesting thing about XAT. Had a 99.9+ in both DI and QA but 86.80 or something in Verbal. Basically I missed the verbal cutoff by .01% L
With 2 years work experience already in my kitty and entering my third year, GMAT option was also available. (just hang on for a bit, the other IIM is coming now J ) In April, I registered for a June date for my GMAT and also joined TIME classes for CAT preparation. I knew it was NOW or NEVER. PG was a really big help for GMAT and after 3 months of study, I scored a 710. This is where I found the other IIM which stands for Indian IT Male Most of the applicants from India fall in this category and no wonder it is really difficult to get in US B-Schools when being an IIM
Had plans to apply to 3 schools only – ISB, CMU Tepper and Goizueta Emory. The application process in these is a pain but in the end, it is quite insightful. One comes to know so much about oneself Coupled with this, I was attending classes in TIME and going to my job also. Somehow, I stuck the right chord in Mocks and was posting on PG big time. I earned the label of “sophisticated spammer” which I still disagree to I am and never was a spammer
Oct, Nov 2005 – Had interview calls from all 3 schools – ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT day was also coming. I was done with my ISB interview (which was very very arbit) and Tepper interview over phone before CAT. The last interview was scheduled in Mumbai in December as a part of the World MBA Tour. Both the US B-School interviews were pretty straight-forward – Why MBA, strengths, weakness etcetera etc.
CAT No. 6: Year 2006 in November
The 5 options paper for CAT…man I had seen it all Started with Quant and killed it. Moved to the most arbit verbal paper ever and then did DI. When the solutions came in the evening, verbal had left me hanging..well almost. Btw, SP Jain was out of the hit list.
Dec 2006 – Jan 2007 –> Worst time of my life. Rejects from ISB, Tepper and Goizueta. CAT result out. 100%ile in QA, 95 in DI and 82 in verbal. It was over for me. With just 5 days to go for XAT, I had no option but to give it my best. It was verbal and verbal and just more verbal.
7th Jan, 2007 – In the XAT paper itself, I knew that finally verbal is cracked. Meanwhile, JMET had given me a rank of 39 and calls from IIT B, D and KGP were on J MDI also found me suitable for college, even NITIE thought the same
20th Jan, 2007 – The evening before the FMS paper. Just went online for something and saw the XL result link. With all my confidence, I punched in my roll number and saw the line “Sorry….” WTF !!!! how how how….then clicked on the scorecard link. QA 99 something, Verbal 95.42..scorecard is not over yet..DI 77 %ile This is just not possible…gave up all hope of MBA.
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