[ram426]

I thought of sharing my CAT preparation experience.

Well it all started by following the crowd. I never planned to do any higher studies, but having seen my friends preparing for CAT, I also developed an interest to solve problems. I used to like only maths and each problem was like a new challenge and I used to fight hard to solve them. Came 2005, and I enrolled for the mock CATs with IMS. I never worried about DI and Verbal. I used to spend 1 hour for quant and 1 hour for the other two sections and always felt I was good in CAT. Little did I realize how to approach a Cat paper. And in some of the mocks, I used to spend 15mins for a quant problem, thinking that how can I not get the solution. My preparation never deviated out of quant, and ofcourse the results anyone can say, I screwed up big time in CAT2005 with an overall percentile of 89. I was more sad for the fact that I made only 93 percentile in Quant.

I slowly started to feel that I should prove to myself that I am really good. I used to study well till my 12th, then never took any interest in studies and life was a smooth sail from then, no major achievements and more important, no failures. And suddenly CAT seemed to be a failure for me. I wanted to clear CAT and I was determined to do it in 2006. I started my preparation from April 2006 and spend almost 12-14 hrs a week. And this time I enrolled for TIME and IMS mock cats, and Sundays I used to enjoy writing two tests and this time I focussed on the other sections also. I realized that I was good in DI and used to consistently make high percentiles in DI, and quant was not bad. But I always screwed up verbal. I dont know how to clear verbal cutoffs. I tried everything, attempting all questions, doing all rcs, not touching rcs, everything I tried, nothing worked out. And I never cleared verbal cutoff till the last but one mock cat. I was sure that I was doing well in the other sections, but was really down because of my verbal scores. In the last mockcat, everything was favourable for me, I cleared all the cutoffs and got a good AIR. I felt ok, now I can clear CAT. The paper , with all formats changed, seemed to help me a lot. I thought I cracked quant and di, and was doubtful in verbal, as the paper was ambiguous. The results shocked me, I made only 95 percentile overall. I saw that my scores were ok , In verbal I made 38, that should be great score. Twist in the story, I made 38 percentile in Verbal, not 38 marks. 98 in quant and 97 in DI was of no use now. I was shattered, I had hopes, even though I was not sure of the verbal solutions, I thought I will get calls , but gone 2006.

I decided that 2007 would be my last attempt.I have almost 4 years of work exp and next year, I dont want to try and fight with the kids. Saying that one last time, I started the preparation. Nothing great this time. I used to write the time mock cats on Sundays and check the solution for 2 hours and thats it. My percentiles started with the mid 90s, then 80s and finally dropped to 70s. Ok, I have decided last time CAT, so started taking up some more mocks from Career forum and IMS at home, seemed to do those well. As usual, I never cleared the Verbal cutoffs and this time clearing DI was also a problem, I thought, its all over. Wanted some confidence before the D-day and took the last Time Mock Cat, saw the score and was shocked. My percentile was 54, with verbal being the highest at 72. No hopes, just write and come back. But I felt I had a point to prove by clearing CAT, and I went with no fear, determined to crack the test. I adopted my usual strategy of 45min quant, 40mins verbal , 45 mins di , and finally 15mins for quant and di. Like 2006, I felt I cracked quant and di , but not sure of verbal. I checked the solutions posted in different sites and had a verbal score between 31 and 41.
Finally checked the results, and my verbal score was 31. Phew, what a relief. I made overall 99.71 , with 99.13 in quant ,98.53 in di and 96.97 in verbal. Yes, I got calls from all the 6 IIMs.

[Aki_Gurung]

Hey puys, just thought i'd share with you the experiences of one of the unluckiest guy on that BIG DAY....18th Nov...08


Its been almost 4 years in Kolkata. I came here in July 2004 for my Graduation which I completed under amazing circumstances (that’s another story altogether) last year …..abt 7 months ago….maybe 8. Had a Post Graduate Degree in Philosophy all lined up infront of me, but I went in search of greener pastures (read an MBA degree). Big Bucks, City Life and all that. So I gave up a career as a Professor of Philosophy in my hometown in Kalimpong, no I wasn't offered the job…but just pipe dreaming my way if I had taken a PG Degree in Philosophy…feels good. Anyway, I got my self enrolled in one of the institutes that imparts packaged training modules for preparation for the MBA Admission Tests. I slogged my way through - doing Math after 5 years (I started from Fractions man), reading 'The Economic Times' (which seemed like French at the beginning), giving up my weekly schedule of playing football in Sunday morning's to guess whether 'Bus A will take 5.7s , 8.7 or 6.6 seconds to reach Kya Kya Island' in the elusive Quant section of the weekly Mock Cats. Scavenging through newspapers for admission notices and test registration details, trying to figure out the 'n'th power of 'whatever' and after countless sharpening of pencils. The Big Day had arrived - CAT Nov. 18th 2007 - the mother of all entrance exams.
The night before the Big Day…….I was up till 3 A.M. in the morning twisting and turning in my bed since 10 P.M.(About 5 hrs of mental <Snip> caused by the most ill-timed bout of anxiety attack)…..talk about shit happening. Woke up around 8 A.M. and left for the centre which wasn't really that far an hour early..( second big mistake). I reached an HOUR earlier as planned but didn't know what to do outside the gate, felt really nervous especially after a horrible night of sleep. For some inexplicable reason I felt my throat dry up and bought some water and with it the curse of the Urinary God..if there ever was one. 15 mins into my exam I felt the pressure, which had assumed tremendous proportions by the time I was 30 mins into my exam. By the time I got excused after 1 hr of the exam had finished, I could almost feel piss running through my entire body instead of blood. The feeling that I had at the rest room (which was most 'conveniently' placed a FLOOR below my examination hall) was as close to an oxymoron that I'll ever experience. With my mind thinking that I've <snipped> my exam to the lower part of my body experiencing what they say is 'the best feeling in the world'…….I was nervously relieved (don't care if the oxymoron doesn't stand). I felt the pain in my heart every time I friken pissed for almost a month after the CATastrophe.
TO BE CONTINUED...

[misnomer]

Bear with me because you might not find this post really relevant.
So I was this guy next door who managed to do well in school, had IIT dreams in my eyes since I was like 15. Hardwork in 11th, indolence in 12th and an average JEE later, I couldn't get what I wanted in any IIT, so I joined NIT Surathkal in '04 (and how I enjoyed). Coz of family background, MS in USA was my ultimate goal. I think I had it in my DNA or something. I'm 11 yrs old and a neighbour is asking what I want study. MS in the US of A was my answer always. After studying for about 3 months, i gave GRE (1500/1600) in Jul '07 and a month later also got a hardware job in Bangalore in a good company. I was so happy, I decided to work for a year, 2 at max and then go for MS. I didnt even apply to any university this year. I don't even remember why i chose to write CAT, because MBA was never my intention. I had a friend in college who had taken TIME classes but never wrote even a single mock test. So I replaced his photo on the id with mine and went for about 3 mock tests just to find out how it is. Those AIMCATs really finished all hope in me, in the sense I was above 97 %ile all times but never managed to clear cutoff in all 3 sections together. Bangalore was my centre and I reached on Nov 17th. Us friends hit a couple of pubs, slept well and got up fresh for the exam, no tensions at all. I found the test to be enjoyable, all I remember is that DI was easy, GRE helped in my verbal a lot (gave patience) and that i was never stuck anywhere except a few Qs in verbal. I hadn't marked any answers on the paper, so I couldn't find out roughly how much i would score, and honestly, I didn't care at that time. Results came out jan 9th (i was home then), but i had forgotten my admit card in my hostel room. Next day a friend of mine broke my lock and after checking the results (all this without my knowledge), asked me to get at least 5k back to college for treat. After much pleading I found out my reg no. and was really really dumbstruck when i checked the score.
Since then my life has been totally MBA centric. You might call me an opportunist, but that works for me.
QA-96.01%ile, DI-99.84%ile, VA-99.93%ile

[frndngl]

Hello Puys!!...
I really dopnt know why I am writing this.. Been thru with all the posts... all the words which are reflecting the zeal and hardwork to bell the Cat.
I am always an average guy. Scored always between 50% to 60%. Never thought that i want to do or want to be something. I am happy in what ever ways, life is turning up and down. Somehow cleared class 12th. I somehow tried to get admission in a private engg college in noida. Due to some personal reasons, not able to join it. Then I somehow managed to get a job in a BPO in noida. Life is all going smooth. When we use our brain then we think.. but what abt a guy who is just living a mechanical life. Salary in that BPO was good and i am spening it. Drives.. dates... drinks and discs.. these are the four most imp D's in my life.
As stated in the post of Sumit Bhai... a girl can make a life and break also.
A girl came and start taking care of my.. why.. i even don't know. She shattered all my four D's and making a hell out of me and keep on saying.. "Do something"..........
Then I still remember the ironic date 18th feb when I resigned my job and start thinking for MBA. .........
I know I am still a slow starter... a guy who hardly study... how can that guy suddenly transform into a brilliant guy and study 16 hours a day....
This site rocks.... I met with sumit bhai.. he supported me a lot... he inspired me and said that you have to try.. what ever happened.. don't think abt it....
Few days back, I have joined TIME.... the one in CP.
I am trying to make the basics strong.. the grammer and the vocab....
I am confident abt the DI but quant... hmmm.. in the middle...
let's c./.. what is in my destinty but i understand one thing............. give your 100%.. coz there is nothing like 110%.......:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|:-|...........
All the best for allwho are waiting for CAT'08..................
Good luck...

[man_on_mission]

Usually people who have successfully cracked CAT post on this thread. Mine is not a CAT success story but still wanted to post on a thread that gave me immense inspiration whenever I needed it. Title of this thread is ‘all I wanted to speak about CAT’…so thought this thread is not necessarily only for success stories…

I will start with a brief background because…I don’t know about others but it(background) always play the part…the social environment…financial needs…family needs etc etc really matters for me…in a way they r always in back of my mind…I love my family (my mom and my sis) and for me they always come first and then rest of things….My background nd my environment is always wid me infact dey wer wid me wen I was preparing for CAT…Responsibilities on my shoulders r lil more ….:satisfie:

Brief Background:
When I was 6 yrs old God needed my father more than my family so he took him away from us via a car accident. Since then life took a different turn, after this only I realized who are your true relatives and friends…I realized the power of money…. We came to Calcutta to stay @ my maternal grandparent’s house…. Since then my mom has only one dream and that is to build our own home…home which we can call ours…home which is our dream…. her dream slowly became my dream and still its an unfulfilled dream…. I have fought life very hard…Studied hard…always topped my class… during my B.Tech course my priority was to get a decent Job…Till my third year (beginning) only thought in my mind was getting a job and try build my dream home and take some responsibilities off my mom’s shoulder …@ the end of the 3rd year I found that most of my friends were preparing for CAT…. I too started preparing for the CAT….so that I can have a better future…accelerated growth and of course the money which I really need…


CAT 2005:

Preparation:

Joined Erudite in Nov 2004…. Campus interviews started in Feb 2005…and had to struggle a bit for the job that I wanted badly… Finally got the best job…got placed in a MNC as an SAP consultant…in Aug 2005…between Feb and Aug…it was a tough time…was in two minds whether to try for jobs, study technical, more technical projects…etc etc or try with full force for CAT…but as I mentioned because of my need and dream I chose to work hard to get a job…because of this my CAT prep went for a toss…I started preparing again in Aug 2005…by then it was too late…I joined AIMCATS…didn’t do well here…percentiles ranging from 30-90…. but still I thought if I can keep my cool I still have a chance….

C-DAY: Didn’t do well here. Started with English then went to QA and the DI….was getting a decent score….then a thought struck me that my attempts wouldn’t be enough and went for lot of tukkas (that too in 2 markers..) and with that gone were my chances of getting calls even from NITIE and MDI (which I mite hav got widout flukes)…final result came and I knew I did a disaster…
OA: 85.XX…maximum in English (87.XX)…. was expecting it…….

Only other Xam form I filled was NMAT..got a call from there but I knew I deserved better place than NM..so chucked my NM call….I wanted to give another try….a try where I am fully prepared…I don’t have to go for flukes…a whole hearted try…

A lesson was learned …there is no place for flukes in CAT..

CAT 2006:

Started my job in June…wanted to be best in the compani…actually succeeded in doing that …topped the xams for frehsers…got the best project of the company….won my managers confidence…became key member of award winning project…I did all these as I needed promotion and lil more money …got promoted in 1 year…but in my effort to be best in my company my CAT preparations took back seat…I knew that I will not fare well …but still gave CAT because this year it was the first time that CAT was of 2.5 hrs…wanted to take a feel so that it would help me in 2007…I still rue this fact that y the hell I didn’t prep in 2006….now I don’t want to speak much about it…!!!!
My good work @office in 2006 was rewarded in 2007...i was offered onsite twice but 2 months br CAT 2007....

CAT 2007:


Ahh…. big year…decided to give more than 100% this time…I knew that I cant put 1 more year so this was my last attempt…I really worked hard….after office ( use to reach home @ 9 pm)…I use to sit @ 10 and study till..12….den use to get up 5.30 in the morning and studied till 7.30…this was my weekday schedule…on weekends I used to slog even harder...first AIMCAT...then analysis and then study for about two hour..in the meantime I ignored everything that came between me and CAT…gained 12 kgs in 9 months.. ( I was a regular gym going person)…the thing which gave me the utmost peace of mind that is talking to my mom….went for a toss…didn’t even have time…I cud see that on her face….she always wanted to talk to me…I started getting irritated very easily…coz every time in my mind I was doing some CAT problem or the other and when if any one disturbed me @ tat time..invited my fury…even on dinning table….once my mom told me …aajkal tere ko itna gussa kyon aata hai…

Preparation:
Figured out my weakness…nd I found tat my weakest section is QA…(this is an example for people who think QA is easy for engineers so engineers have advantage here…infact every one has to work hard and who puts effort finally succeed…) I needed to work on my QA…coz m not the person who is a QA champ but I understand QA easily….i knew for doing well in CAT I needed hell lot of practice …started with Arun Sharma .completed it in 2 months…den solved AIMCTAS of previous years…TIME material…CAT papers..and always figured out 2/3 methods for a problem…solving a problem is imp but even more imp is attacking it wid diff approaches and find the best method for solving it…and my hard work really paid off…most of the time got 95 %+ in QA…( in AMIMCAT)…. My overall %ile fluctuated in AIMCTAS….usually they were in early 90s…and sometimes I managed 98…once I got 60%ile…but I had the confidence of performing well on the C-day.

English (RC being my strongest section…used to read 2 RCs daily)..was decent enough…I read a lot of books …esp diff subject books. Psychology, history, literature, science, philosophy, fiction, self help etc…Reading books help immensely and according to me reading is the best preparation for English…for VA I followed threads of PG and materials of diff coaching intis…

I always enjoyed LR…my weakness was calculation intensive DI…here also I practiced hard but cudnt raise myself to a satisfactory level…but used to do well in logical DIs…


Meanwhile when I started my preparation I asked my frend (now in IIMA, he had alredy cracked CAT in 2006) how he prepared…he told me join PG its very helpful…this is how my relationship with PG began…. and boy it’s a great place…ppl helping each other…always encouraging…. and this place is gr8 place if one needs inspiration…. so many inspiring stories….this is the place which give ur all India standing….It’s the only place where I found ppl so passionate abt IIMs..ppl leving LIK for ABC….Its after joining PG that I became absolutely passionate abt IIMs…I wanted only IIMs now…started to put in more effort…

‘The’ CAT Day (18th Nov 2007):

Frankly speakin I was a lil nervous n that day…I was trying to look very cool but inside I was nervous…:nervous:

Paper was again a 75 ques paper…felt that this will b the day for me…being my last attempt I was under pressure…when invigilator asked me to sign on a sheet …it took me nearly a min to find my name…:nervous:

Started with Eng as usual..gave 45 mins to it..it was smooth ride…did all RCs xcept 1…nd felt good…was confident that I will clear cut off easily…
Then went to DI cudnt find a single LR type DI….(my strength)…solved couple of sets…Then came the easiest of DI (veg, non-veg DI)..and I made a mess of it…I knew that it is easiest of the lot...it played on my mind that y I m not able to solve it..?? why?? And then because of this I messed up my paper…gave 55 mins to DI..finally solved 12 questions…(in DS marked couple of questions incorrectly in OMR..)….
Finally came to QA..but DI was always on my mind and I knew I will not clear cut off in DI…ended up messing my QA also…in all did 11 question in QA…

Came out..feeling disgusted..nd knew its all over for me…few of my frends told me that QA was tuf..but I dint think so..it was not tough but it was decent….b4 deeming it as tough one must always remember that this is a paper which will give you a seat in IIMs…if one consider that it was not tough at all…came back home…everyone asked me how was it…I felt like shouting that don’t ask me….but then realized they are just asking how it went…and its their rite to ask…calmed myself down and said pathetic… its all over…wanted to cry…and cry a lot…but then if thought if I will break down so easily(just because I didn’t do well in CAT) then who will take care of my family(in times which will be much tufer than this)…I remained upset for about a week…Appeared for other xams …but my heart was never there…(this was a big mistake..shud have given my 100% for other xams..)…

Finally results came out…I knew CAT was disaster…ended up getting QA:95%ile, Eng 96.XX %ile and DI 77.XX%ile..OA 96.XX %ile…

got calls from NMIMS and IMT,G…missed FMS and IIFT by a whisker…it was really close…Found it really diff to prepare for GD PI of NMIMS and IMT,G…but couple of my frends (@IIMA) and Buck_was (thanks Salil Bhai)advided me to at least convert my calls….appeared for GD PI and converted my calls…I wanted to join only IIMs …but when I calmed down , I realized I have other responsibilities…I have some targets to achieve in next 8 – 10 years…m alredy 25…and I need to fulfill some targets very soon…cant wait for another year…Finally m heading to NMIMS…I know that I didn’t get what I wanted…but then I have seen such tough times and learned so much from life that I have learned to utilize the resources (that r there with me) to max…I bliv in myself and I know that I will do well in life…

One thing which life has taught me is that most imp thing is …wether u r happy wid ur life or not…I have seen ppl in IIMs and still unhappy…I realized that I will only b happy when I can see a broad smile on my mom’s face..when she is happy…when I will fulfill her dream…Hats off to the fighting spirit of my mom..i want to take off all the burdens from her shoulders. I will continue to fight wid life as I have done always….i will surely b a winner…even from NMIMS….and the day I fulfill my mom’s dream I will be the happiest person on this earth…Thoda jada ho gaya …bas yahi stop..

Why I love CAT:
I wrote so many bschool entrance xams…but I love only CAT…why? CAT is not merely a test of Aptitude but its tests ur ability to perform under pressure..it tests ur temperament…it tests how tuf u r emotionally…ur passion…ur mental strength…CAT out thinks you...however good strategy one mite b4 CAT…the best strategy is the one which u devise during those 2.5 hrs…its here that CAT tests ur decision taking ability…no other exam can match CAT…i njoyed it the most….

A lot has been said on this thread abt the lessons learned from CAT…abt how to prepare…lot of advices …so I will not get into these things…But what I wud like to say is if u work hard…if u give ur best…sooner or later u r going to succeed…Do whatever makes u happy…If u come out of the xam hall wid the feeling that I have done my best…than tats the best thing…so always prepare for giving ur best and never prepare for Results…results will follow ur good work…If u believe in urself…then u r always a winner…never lose self confidence…..Do what u think is best and not what is best for others….this is the lesson which I have learned from my personal experience.

Frends please pardon me if I have ritten something which is irrelevant to this thread..if I got too emotional…actually I wanted to pour my heart out…and that’s exactly what I have done…

[kusnoor]

Finally after much deliberation and much coaxing from my fellow puys whom I love so much now, I am posting in the most sacred thread in pg Mine is not a success story but its one hell of a story! Puys, hold on to your seats and read this journey of mine Its been a great experience and one that I would cherish for my lifetime!

Now lets see, how did it all start? My father is an MBA himself and I guess that is one big reason why this CAT seed was sown into me . So, in my third year of engg , I decided to start preparing for cat. The moment I looked at the pattern of the previous years I knew it was to my liking ( have always been quick to grasp things u see ) .

CAT 2004
That was the year I joined the IMS classroom course (Yeah, I am quite an oldie with CAT ). As the year rolled on I realised that I was good in QA and DI but lacked a bit in VA. I was shocked at that realisation. Here I was, an ICSE pass out where english is like god types and struggling to clear the VA cutoff . I just couldnt figure out what was going wrong. But I must admit , i never gave it my 100% as I had the college work to juggle with. It was in the holy month of October that we(me and my friend) decided that what would start burning the midnight oil One month of serious prep and we really made some grounds. I was good at QA and DI and my friend was an absolute rockstar in VA. This was a great learning as we realised that the reason we were having our respective weaknesses was that we never attempted enough in those weak sections. We started attempting more (just to remind u ppl that prior to 2004 cat was a bang bang! ) and lo and behold our overall scores started to sky rocket. So by D-day we felt quite confident of doing well.

D-Day --> As cat would have it, it was the first time that differential marking was introduced and I became one of the many victims of cat. DI which was my strong section did not go too well. I got stuck in the 2 markers and that was it!
Final percentile - 95.12 with 88 something in VA(still my nemisis ha! ). Wont even mention DI

CAT - 2005
This feeling of so close yet so far always hurts! Now that I knew I was close and not that bad , I started with renewed vigour again in July. I thought the best way to prepare for CAT was by doing mocks and trying to minimize the weaknesses by analysing the mocks. But as fate would have it, I had joined a company by then and since I wanted to do well in my first company as well, my cat prep took a real beating. I felt that I was out of steam come november and then the results proved me right.It was my worst performance in cat. Percentile - 91 odd...

CAT - 2006
I felt that this would be my year as I had persisted for so long now. My work had fallen into place now and I could finally concentrate on cat. Oh. and I forgot to mention, my friend whom I had mentioned about earlier had got an IIMB call in the 2004 cat with a 97.3 percentile (No, he was not a school topper or anything like that but this just reminded me of rpradeephere's satire ). He couldnt convert it and so here we were two big hopefuls again trying CAT for one more time . I thought the prep was going pretty smoothly with both of us consistently hitting the 98+ percentiles in the mocks with decent scores in all the sections.

D-Day - What a shocker of a VA section!! This time though I mixed caution with aggression and since the paper did not have too many questions, one could afford to do that. Did whatever I could in the paper and came out. Checked the solutions and hell I could figure that VA was going to be dicey. I did not do great in QA - 45 marks(cant remember the percentile), DI - 50 marks and VA -15 marks!! All hopes dashed! The coaching instis were predicting 30-35 for me. Oh, and my friend screwed up his DI with 35 marks in that section.

Percentile - 96.6 odd. Got a lone SPJ call with that which I couldnt convert!

CAT - 2007
Now, this was now or never for me. By this time I had decided to apply to all the Top B-schools in the country as I was getting desperate. Before this year I had written only CAT and XAT as the two exams. :gunsmilie:
Now, I was still wondering about my performance that was lacking and I realised that the culprit was not me getting overwhelmed by the occasion but it was taking too many mocks and getting used some set sort of a routine. I cut down on my mocks and focused more on analysis and sharing of thoughts. I again did reasonably well in the mocks. 98+ or even 99+ was becoming a regular affair now. I felt extremely confident this time and along with a hoard of other exams to write , I thought this time i wont be left without any options.

D-Day came - I realised that if I had to get all 6 calls (which was the sole aim) I had to go with all that my heart could offer and see what happened then. I knew maths wasnt as easy it was last year but I backed myself to playing the big game. VA was dicey as usual but slightly lesser so. I did all I could in the 2.5 hrs and came out reasonably satisfied.
My attempts were QA - 16, DI -19, VA - 21 . This was good number of attempts and I finally thought I had done well. Then, I checked the solutions and it was the worst moment of my life! I had missed most of the tricks the QA paper had to offer and ended up with a measly 34 marks! DI went very avg with just 46 and VA was languishing in the late 20s . I ended up with and overall of 97 percentile.

There it was, 4 attempts and not once I had managed to crack it! I was inconsolable for a week. Then my father told me something I shall never forget. He said - 'Why is your thinking so myopic? Why dont you look at the bigger picture son. What do you want, only an IIM degree or an MBA? You have equally good options to choose from, now dont waste your life trying only for an IIM degree. You have hit a ceiling and you have to move on if you want to become a better person' . Man, I shall never forget these words. It came to me at the time when I needed it the most. Thanks dad!

My father's words are all that I have to say for all you puys. Try your best at CAT but dont be a fool and just keep at it year after year. After all, its the bigger picture thats imp right?

And from my signature you can possibly make out how I feel after all this. The crownless shall be king , no doubt about it!!

[swagatsinha]

Once upon a time, there was a boy. The boy was considered a prodigy because of his mental sharpness and good scores. One day the boy happily decided to go out and play. But the boy was ignored and ridiculed by his friends as he got more marks than them. The boy cried, pleaded with them to let him play with them; but to no avail. With tearful eyes and a heavy heart, the boy trudged back home, and buried himself in his own world of stories and books. He started to change. He didn’t even want to go out anymore.

The boy’s family shifted places. He tried to make friends, but it was only a half-hearted attempt. The boy had lost faith in friends. He continued to engross himself in his studies and books, and became a full-fledged introvert. Life continued on the same pattern for many years. One day, the boy’s board results came. He was 7th in his class. The boy was devastated. He almost decided to quit on this first tryst with truth. Somehow he dragged himself back. But the fight had gone out of him. He was just going through the motions.

The boy got into an engineering college. He liked it there. Somehow, he felt part of the crowd. He made friends as well. But rather than using this to his benefit, he got lost in the revelry. He ignored his studies, and flunked a few papers. But just as he was about to go into his old mode of sulking, his friends pulled him out of it. They supported him, and gave him self-belief that he could do it, he could fight back. And he did get something back: the desire, that had died a long time ago; the need to excel that had taken a back seat.

It was way too far to come back regarding his college studies. But in the end, he managed decently there. He had two options in his life: to take up a job and start working, or go in for an MBA. He took up MBA as a challenge, as it seemed to him that his life seemed to be a little mismanaged. He promised himself, that he would finally achieve what was expected of him. He would finally break the shackles of mediocrity and rise to excellence. He promised to get into one of the top management colleges in the country. Along with some other friends, he prepared for the entrance exams. But as everyone must face a few problems before success really feels sweet, he didn’t receive his CAT admit card. But this time, there was no sulking. He had changed. He took the blow on his chin and moved on. He appeared for SNAP and XAT, and performed decently. He failed at the final stage at SIBM, but the self-belief that he had instilled in himself made sure that he didn’t give up.

After his college got over, he decided to wait and achieve the goal he had set for himself. For once, he was willing to fight one and all for his aim. He practiced, enrolled in a test series, and put his mind to it. The exam season arrived. He gave all the exams his best shot. He was satisfied with his performance. When the results came out, he got his first taste of real success. He had got 99.55%ile in CAT and 99.84 in XAT. Some of the country’s best B-schools, including IIM-Ahmedabad, had short listed him. It drove him on, like a mad-man, towards his goal. He prepared for the stage where he had tasted defeat last time around, the GD/PI, and gave it his all. When he reached that stage, he found himself in seriously good company. Most of the other candidates were from the best colleges and schools all over the country. Just competing with these elite, gave him a high that he had never felt before. He gave it his best shot and waited for the results.

Today, that boy is waiting on the cusp of achieving something really good for the first time in his life. As he looks back at all that has transpired to get to this point, he asks himself a question: Was all that worth it? Was all that worth its commensurations? And with a smile, he answers himself: You bet it was.

I have written my story in the third person because when I look back at that phase of my life, I find myself learning from the mistakes made then, but I don’t find myself connecting with that person anymore. I have moved on, learned from my mistakes, picked myself up from the bottom. I am extremely grateful that I was given this opportunity to excel and make up for all those lost chances of earlier times. CAT gave me that opportunity.

I want to tell everyone who has a dream in their eyes: Don’t let anyone, I repeat, anyone bring you down. There will always be a few stupid people who will try to do so because you have something in you. We all have. It’s our spirit. Don’t let that spirit get broken. Cheers!!

[mohitbehl]

finally even i get a chance to post on this revered thread..............
the very fact tht i am writin this post at 530 in da morning n hvnt had a wink of sleep wud tell u tht it still hasnt sunk in............the fact tht i made it to IIM B!!

am a marine engineer by profession, always been a gud student being a school n college topper bt thn hamesha hi gaali khata raha hoon frm every1 includin my parents, friends n seniors fr ditching IIT Delhi to go for Marine Engineering!!!
no it wsnt passion fr marine engg as such jst the fact i wsnt sure wt i wantd to do n thn i got an option which wud provide me an opportunity to see the places most ppl includin me cud only think of n also pay better!!
anyways realised in final year tht my interest ws in management n nt engg bt thn decided to experience sailing fr a short while b4 jumpin on the CAT bandwagon..............litle did i realise tht "short while" wud turn into 4 years b4 i cud appear fr CAT n take a step towards my dream of gettin into IIM Bangalore..............factors were many n wudnt get into thm
bt thn wen i finally got off my last ship in jan end n decided tht its gonna be NOW or NEVER, my decision ws followed by the worst possible things...........things i cudnt hv even dreamed of...... certainly the worst period of my life.............wen i look bk i dnt even kno hw i endured so much!!

joined CL fr prep jst fr the fact tht i dint hv anyth to do n CL wud at least gimme a chance to get out of my home ............ started in May wid da classes n thn joined TIME test series as well bt thn wid all the things happening i was findin it hard to maintain my sanity leave alone preparin.....
the classes did hv an effect on me n it ws to at least get me into a bit of thinkin as in using my mind which had gone dormant over the past years.... started scorin pretty well in mocks even widout any prep n even i ws amazed by the kind of scores i ws getn......... they were gud mostly above 95-96 and never went below 90 percentile even though i got a whoopin 6.xx percentile!!!

lost my will to do anyth around october n thn it took a gud friend of mine to convince me to stay in da hunt........ "jst keep on appearin fr mocks, jst do tht n we all kno wt u r capable of" tht ws wt he said n fr sm reason i did listen to him............i remember tht day today n thn thank him fr convincing me to hold on
smhw tried to prepare as much as i cud bt i always had 1 thing in my mind tht its nt the prep thts goin to matter fr me, its goin to b my mental state......... as even widout preparin i smtms got 99+scores in TIME as wella s CL mocks
come D-DAY nd i jst wanted to get done wid it............
started wid quant.....first 7 mins or so did 2 questions n thn fr the next 30-35 minutes i almost attempted whole of quant section widout even being able to solve 1 question and all tht i thot abt quant being my strength!!!
anyways thn it ws smthn strange tht hapnd...........suddenly remembered smth tht i had dne in past........ appearin fr IIT JEE n thn inspite of doin gud in physics n chemistry papers i left the examination hall during maths paper in jst 1 n half hrs wen the stipulated time ws 3 hrs!!........n cm the results day......i got an AIR 2444..........jst wanted to kick my *** n still feel doin the same smtms though dnt regret goin fr marine engg ever, it gave me a lot.............
comin bk to D DAY .......smhw calmed myself down aftr realisin 40 odd mins down wid just 2 answers ticked........ tried few more again n thn aftr 1 hr i had attempted sm 6-7 questions........jumped on to VA made a mess of things there fr sm 35 mins n thn moved on to DI tht ws the turning point of the exam fr me......never really had any confidence solvin the DI section given the kind of question sets we used to get in mocks bt thn ......... smhw managed to do arnd 17 questions in jst half an hr!!!
thn felt tht if i wanted to hv any chance had to clear quant cutoffs n again went to quant....managed to solve 11 questions in total dedicatin More than Half of stipulated 2 nd a half hrs to quant!!

jst wrote my whole exam experience so tht if sm future aspirant smday finds himself/herself in similar situation........DNT LOSE HEART.......jst believe in urself, nt tht u cn do it bt tht u HAV to do it!!

aftr tht appeared fr othr exams as well IIFT,JMET,XAT n FMS bt smhw it ws all kind of goin thru the motions........... (smhw managed to get calls frm IIFT,XLRI n a JMET AIR of 38 )

i knew i had almost screwed up CAT bt thn smth inside me wsnt ready to accept it....come the day of CAT results i was pleased to find tht i had scored 98.99 percentile n the call frm my dream institute IIMB besides L nd K
interviews...........dunno wt to say ......not asked much anywhere performed well in GDs though bt thn cudnt make anyth out of less than 10 mi interviews where i wsnt asked any questions......
thats all a thinkg of past
AM HAPPY NOW..............aftr convertin my dream insti after havin an interview where i mst hv given sm of the most weird answers the panelists may hv ever heard frm interviewes....bt thn i guess doesnt matter............they saw smthn in me n thts y i m there today!!!

BEST THINGS HAPPEN TO PPL IN WORST OF TIMES!!! cudnt b more true fr me!!!
nw the only thing i cn think of is whether this is the beginning of end of my troubles or start of new ones!!!
hopefully its the former!!!

[abhithehobbit]

Well, I thought I'd complete this tradition before I know where I am headed to this year - And truly, what a tradition it has been! I don't really know how much of a place this post will find here, but here goes...

I have now taken CAT thrice. Each time, there has been a tale to go along with it....

CAT 2005

Jaipur. A naive engineering student in his final year, who reads up on newspapers and is seduced by the massive salaries drawn by management graduates from the best in India. Having a massive ego himself, decides, " hey, if they can do it, I can do it too"...and decided to go give CAT a shot.

Around this time,I was having trouble with my academics - trouble, which wasn't very visible. I was a brash, lazy individual ( still am, actually ) who thought all that life had to give was his to take.

Job interviews were scarce at my college. However, I managed to secure a job with HCL in my final year, and a sense of relief set in. With around 2 weeks to go for CAT at this time, and me doing well at mocks ( albeit, still flunking in quant a lot - something that haunts me to this date )...I became rather circumspect.

Come D-Day, I took CAT, and was mighty pleased with myself - until the keys came out. When I checked my score, key after key told me I had failed. I decided to give up the dream and pursue my fortunes at HCL.

Then, fate took another turn. I checked the CAT result casually at a friend's place around a week after the result...and had managed 96.38%. I hadn't applied anywhere, so I was a little taken aback. I sent emails, frantic ones, to IMT, NITIE and the like, but none would consider me. ( told you i was naive ) - Eventually, gave interviews at Welingkar and KJS, but did not join.

CAT 2006

The naive student, is now working. The result last year has given new hope, and he has joined Career Launcher at Kolkata. New developments on the personal front give a fillip to life. But he is still complacent, and does not apply to XLRI.

At this point, I was doing very well on mocks at CL.Despite my centre manager's constant reminders to work on my quant, my scores used to help me keep my ego going. Also, I was in a sort of a relationship ( one that eventually ended, and pulled my scores down too...), so things did get busy. I had friends and had a lot of fun in life. Kolkata was probably one of the happiest phases of life for me, if you discount CAT and my missing my parents....It helped me grow both personally and professionally.

Eventually, I took CAT 2006 - what is deemed to be the Waterloo for most verbal enthusiasts like me. Was a real pain in the you-know-what on PG, with my constantly inane pretensions, advice and fervent hope I'll get a call from an IIM because I was 'scoring' 60 on verbal according to some key - ah, how naive i was.

Eventually, things panned out in a way that made me eat my own shoe - 89.66, with 98.98 on verbal and next to nothing on the rest. I was sufficiently humbled. Decided to leave it for another year, got crowned Bored Housewife 2 on the CAT thread and moved to Noida

Eventually, we come to this year...
CAT 2007

I was now very much over the ego issues. I knew now that I must temper my expectations, and learn to maximize potential and work on m grey areas - I prepared harder than ever before, even woke up at 6 in the morning for classes ( well, the number of girls in class helped ...) and constantly annoyed my centre staff. I had to manage to absolve myself this year...also, I was lucky yo get to Noida because it afforded me the best competition in the country so far as verbal ability was concerned. But Quant was still a major issue...My friends at work found my excitement contagious, and they took up CAT too - and they are now headed to b-schools around the country themselves I am glad I helped them further their career interests.

I had become a veteran and a CAT adviser by now. Did pretty well on mocks, but quant still annoyed me. People like prashant, basilisk and Anirban know of my plight. Eventually, CAT came along - and to my utter surprise, I did pretty well for once. Mathematics, however, came back to haunt me again. Despite a 99.31%, I only had one I call. - I was lucky to get that too, by one mark.

But I look at it as providence, that I only got this one call, by just that one mark ( which counts for MDI too, where I am through in all probability )....I hope I have more good news to report soon, with the IIM Indore result just minutes away....but I felt this had to be done beforehand. To all those I have conferred, argued and debated with....this is my salute, to them, and to the spirit of PG.

Cheers,
Abhishek

[Jok3r]

I've read through this forum many many times, & this post is not an attempt at an inspiring story like most of them, but just a fulfillment of a promise I had made to myself while reading the posts here during my preparations, that one day...I will be posting here...
& I am happy I am doing it after Abhishek's post, one of the best friends I made during my preparations..

2004(The Background)

Predictably, my story starts with the engineering entrance exams as well. I had been just an above average student all through my school life, my interest always lying in sports & not studies. But as is the case with lakhs of students across india I too gave up everything else & started preparing for the mother of all exams ..IITJEE..
11th & 12th were hell for me...finally ended up with an aieee rank of 65000+...forget iit ...
decided(again...as thousands in india do)to drop a year for iit...not thinking that I wasn't as academically brilliant as the students who actually crack this exam.Worked as hard as it was possible in that year but ended with an aieee rank of 54000+.Got into a college called JIIT, in Noida, about which even I hadnt heard of. That was probably the last time that I've actually cried in my life.My parents had never ever put any pressure on me to study all through school, but the disappointment on their faces was evident.Maybe it was because of the pressure, I used to choke at crunch time...but at that time I knew...that I had done all that I could & it still wasn't good enough...


Jan 2007(why MBA?)

Soon I had forgotten it all in 2.5 years of college life.Sports & Gaming had taken over.In my 3rd year,my closest friend...who had gone to NIT hamirpur, & was a year ahead of me, gave cat06 , got 97.36%ile in it (& eventually got into HR at MDI).That was the 1st time I heard of cat.I had heard of the iims, my dad is from fms,& xlri & imt finished the list of colleges that I knew about.

Found out that almost the entire year at my college was preparing for cat & most had already joined coaching.But companies were about to come to campus & the first preference was a job.Infosys was the 1st at our camus, & last year they had changed their test pattern to something closer to cat.That started my preparation.Took up my roommate's IMS packages & finished basic quant & di in about a month along with all the puzzle books available in the market.Though this kind of preparation wasnt needed for IT companies it ensured that I blasted the papers of all the companies that came to college .I took up 3 companies finally by the end of the semester.But what was important was that it gave me some much needed confidence to think about cat.

I decided to give up gaming altogether(it is a sacrifice if its something one does for 10+ hours a day )...borrowed packages from friends to start preparing.I didnt have the courage to ask my father for 25000 bucks for the coaching even though money didnt matter.I also had absolutely no confidence on coaching centers after the JEE fiasco.My friend had joined a 1.5 month crash course from TIME & I had decided that I would join it if I felt like preparing in June.Spent that semester till may sporadically solving maths from packages of CL as I knew that I was weak in it.

June 2007

After the sem got over I decided to go ahead with my preparations & join the course in TIME as I had absolutely no idea about the exam apart from what comes in it. I remember going straight to the TIME office on a saturday with the 14000 fee in hand. The lady at the office asked me about the colleges & I got only Calcutta correct out of all the IIMs(other answers included Allahabad & Bombay). She smilingly enrolled me & told me about a test the next day.Went to give it & immidiately the familiar feeling of crowds in entrance exams returned.
That was the last sunday of May & the test was aimcat0820.I started from left to right in linear order & left the entire last section.Got 95.9 in that test, which made me think "Hang on....I can actually do this".Also Got a 3000 Rs scholarship from time, which I used to enroll for CL's test series.

Classes started in the 1st week of june & were held 5 days a week for 4 hours a day(for 6 weeks).There were just 15 students in the class but there was such a shortage of time that things were taught at the speed of light.Moreover nobody had the time to discuss aimcats. My %iles were from 89-93 odd in the next three aimcats & I still treated sectionals as an extra statistic on the TIME site.

PG.com

One day I heard the word 'pagalguy' uttered by one of the teachers in class in response to a question posed by a student from the site & I thought "what a weird name for a site".Was idling around at home that day so got to the site....eventually reached the threads for aimcats.I couldn't close my jaw for the first 10 mins.Firstly I found out about something known as sectional cutoffs, but more importantly, I saw guys here who were scoring 99+ in each paper.Somehow "seeing" such people in person brought me down to earth.Since I had no peer group to study with, being at home most of the time, people like MFI,JLT, Basilisk,Anirban,Rohan,Prashant & many many others here became the group I compared my marks against. At first it was very frustrating, I used to tear my hair apart thinking that these guys are here only to show off, they used to ace these papers without breaking into a sweat. But soon I saw how hard they worked to achieve the high standards they had set for themselves & how they helped others like me on the threads. Seeing the strategies & ways of attempting the aimcats of guys from the UDT & DT teams helped me the most. I never had the guts to post my weak scores though.

I had found out early enough that VA was my strength.Many years of reading had ensured that I was good in it.But more importantly I had an extremely fast reading speed.As expected I had 2 weak sections.So I used to bunk english classes to keep up with the pace of study(not that it helped). The only good thing I did in that period was that I used to solve the entire quant chapter from the package which was going to be taught the next day even if it meant being awake for the entire night.This was a mistake I had made during the engineering days which I wanted to make sure I didn't repeat. This made me better than the other 14 students in the class & also gave me some confidence on my weaker section.

The all india open mock cat 0816 was on the same day as the 1st CL mock cat.That was the 1st time I crossed 97 in an aimcat.My classes along with the june-july holidays got over & I left hostel & came home to prepare for the next semester.

August 2007

Had to study almost all the course by myself as chapters such as number systems had been taught in 2 classes, but in those 1.5 months of classes I had got an idea about cat which I didn't have before.The numerous threads at PG (& totalgadha) helped, most of all the concepts thread from which I learned the entire number systems from maximus.

By 0809 I had scored above 98 twice with my other scores hovering between 82 to 94 odd. I had never been able to clear both quant & di in a single aimcat but atleast my strategy was set...DI-VA-QA. Even this I had decided upon after reading Basilisk post his strategy once

DI of aimcats gave me nightmares(CL was a tad easier for me)...I was able to do better in CL's mockcats, partly because of lesser competition.
I had managed to clear quant's cutoff(albeit by a small margin) 3-4 times.I was only good at geometry,& my question selection was usually good, giving me a 90-100% accuracy most papers, but the attempts were never enough.
VA was the only section that kept my percentiles up.I was able to attempt all the questions(if <40) in 50 mins,& never needed to study anything for it, & usually scored 98+ in it.

The most important thing I did during that period was that I managed to find aimcats of last year & started giving quant & di as sectional tests.To compare my performances with someone I opened up the aimcat threads of last year & compared with posts from last year.
This improved my quant & DI greatly along with fine tuning of my strategies & question selection, but what was to prove decisive on the final day were the DS questions which were ever present in the 07 aimcat series & rarely in the 08 ones.I had never posted in all this time on the threads as I felt my scores werent up to it. But after reading a post by buck_was I even started posting.

October 2007

One day I was called for a counselling session by TIME, which included all the toppers, where I was told that I actually had a chance of getting a good score in cat.Before that, I had never thought seriously about cracking cat. My focus used to be from aimcat to aimcat, always trying to improve my performance there instead of thinking about november.
I also had 2 guys who were counselled with me,both from dce, both of whom had the problem that they used to get nervous during the paper. By that time I had gotten over that problem of mine completely & I saw firsthand what I had read countless times on pg that how cool you are on the final day matters a lot. Seeing these 2 toppers tensed at exams made me decide that no matter what, this time I am not going to make the same mistake I made in my engineering exams, I am not going to crack or buckle under pressure.

Slowly as my quant course finished & with practice, I was able to cross 97 %ile 4 times in the last 8 aimcats,my average was always between 92-94(last 2 aimcats were 93 & 91 odd).I had cleared all 3 sectionals only once & had never made the toppers' list (though I had managed it a few times in CL).But I always had the same thought in my mind, that this is only my first attempt,I can give cat again, no one expects anything from me, & I am going to turn my weakness into my strength & be as cool on the final day as possible.The maximum I hoped for was a 98 %ile so I could get calls from mdi & nitie.

November 2007

I had heard a lot about "burning out" at pg...so had decided not to study in november come what may.I had attended college just enough to maintain my attendance to a bare minimum so decided to go there for 2 weeks.Celebrated my birthday by playing counter-strike for 2 whole weeks.One thing that I used to continually think about those days was whether to continue to do DI as my 1st section. Since DI is a case of nerves (my personal opinion) I was apprehensive about what would happen on D-day.Finally decided to face it head-on & keep the same strategy of di-va-qa.Came back home for the last 2-3 days, revised formulas & slept for a whole day before cat.

continued...