[adityarockz]

MY CAT STORY

After Class X :
2 possible paths I choose for my career.
1) Do a B Com and then an MBA
2) Clear IIT and then an MBA.
Path 1 would be less risky and easier (or so I was made to believe). Path 2 was challenging, riskier and fancier. I don’t need to emphasize the path I chose.

After Class XII :
Clear JEE. IIT Kharagpur. Manufacturing Science and Engg.
Step 1 successfully completed.

First 2 years go by without any incidents or too many achievements and not so bad – not so good cgpa. Suddenly seeing the profiles of seniors who make it through CAT, I realize that, IIM’s would remain a dream if I didn’t do something about CGPA and my profile.
Study harder for the next few sems. Do some CV building.

After my 3rd year
Decide on not doing a foreign intern but stay in India and work less and prepare for CAT. Land up at Bangalore. Full Masti. Zero Prep.

4th year [The Crucial One]
Joined IMS test series. Only 8 tests that year. Clear the cut offs in a test and then the next test would be a complete mess up. Cycle used to repeat. Still somehow remain confident that I will do well on D-day. No serious preparation other than play word games on LAN to improve vocabulary. These word games become an indulgence and I neglect QA and DI. No strategy in place. Very ill prepared. Could be termed cocky and over confident of self.

D-Day 2007
Mess up every section badly. Nowhere near any cut off. All dreams lie shattered. Decide not to take CAT again. Instead want to give GMAT, while I decided to take up job at FICO.

On the Job
The desire to crack CAT still exists but the confidence in my abilities is at an all time low. Coding as a career choice feels like a wrong idea and I do not foresee any growth for self in that sphere. Suddenly, am in two minds about CAT. Casually tell a friend that I’d give CAT this year but without much prep. He looks me in the eye and tells me, “If you are giving CAT, do it with all your heart.”

Mission CAT 2008
Discover Pagalguy from that very friend. QQAD was my favourite companion in office till D-day. Join TIME test series. My 4 other roomies also join. Used to discuss scores and analyze and compare and feel jealous of the top scorers. Used to do well in most tests and slowly analyze and decide an optimum strategy. Decide not to worry too much about my high scoring roomies.

D-Day 2008
I take time when I start off solving. So was solving a PG QQAD previous yr test at the centre. (Call me silly, but that’s me) Keep myself in the problem solving mode so that I don’t waste time in the exam hall warming up.
Question paper has 25-25-40 instead of the usual 25-25-25 with higher marks for VA than usual. ‘Coz I Consider VA my strength, I tell myself that this is my year. Confidently give the exam. 50-50-45-5 was my time break up for QA-DI-VA-QA again.

CAT 2007 Fiasco

Results day
Knew I would be through.
QA – 45 – 98.08%ile
DI – 41 – 97.37%ile
VA – 82 – 99.74%ile
Total – 168 – 99.89%ile
BLACKI.
Awesome feeling.

GD/PI season
Profile matters more. Unless I mess up badly, I was confident I would make it through one of the big three.

My IIM GD/PI Experiences

IIM Results
Wow!!! ABCLI want me in. K kicked me out but I don’t mind.
Ecstatic. Over the Moon. Fruition of a dream.
Off to IIMA. To live my dream.

CAT 2008 story

Finally
A big thanx to my roomies for providing the optimum preparation conditions and to PaGaLGuY for providing the QQAD platform to hone my dying QA skills.

PS: I'd penned a few tips for CAT aspirants out of request. Feel that it would be of help to a larger section if I posted it here.

My 2 pence on preparing for CAT

PPS: Use the links to know more.

[sidharth0208]

My CAT story started in my 3rd year of graduation. Was not sure about what I wanted to do but was sure that pursuing a career in core electronics wasn't my cup of tea. Joined CL, wondering what this CAT experience would be like.. not knowing whether i was good enough or average or pathetic at these things. (Was preparing for CAT 2007)
To my pleasant surprise, I seemed to have a flair for CAT. Was quite good in quant and DI but was not sure how good I was in the verbal section. Worked very hard, decided to screw my placements and study for CAT.

Mock season started.. I was taking mocks from both TIME and CL and to my pleasant surprise, I was doing very well in both.. got over 99.7 %ile on an average on most occasions and was able to maximize in all 3 sections. In the meanwhile, I also got placed in a pretty good firm but still... focus was on CAT

CAT 2007: What I had feared had come true. The verbal section was as ambiguous and had an element of luck just like it was in CAT 2006. I spent some 75 min in the verbal section to try and attempt as many as i could (17 out of 25!) in that absurd section so that i could just clear the sectional cut offs. As things turned out, I did clear the sectional cut-off... got 95.3+ %iles in all 3 sections but the overall percentile was just 98.95. It was a kind of a shoker for me cause I did not get any IIM calls that year. Initially, I faced it strongly but then I got a little upset at not being able to do well after a strong mock season.. Got calls from IIFT, MDI and FMS. Did not attend IIFT and MDI interviews (liked these institutes but.. i just wasn't in the mood). Went for the FMS interview without preparation and couldn't clear it.

After the B-school season.. Focus was now on the job. Wanted to get about 2 years work ex now and thought about taking CAT seriously in 2009. In June 2008, some coaching institutes started their mocks and my friends sometimes used to come to my home to discuss how they did and talk about selection of questions etc etc.. It made me miss the mock season (I really loved taking these tests).. So I decided joining the TIME test series just for fun..

To my surprise, although i had not studied for a second since CAT 2007, my performance in mocks was still very strong... it was actually a little stronger than my previous season.. Kept scoring over 99.85%ile and even got top 10 finishes in some mocks at TIME (and at CL too, which i joined a little later on). I did not study, did not analyze mocks.. did not do anything except take the mocks but still, the performances were good..

CAT 2008: Liked the question paper right from the start.. Had decent attempts and by evening, I knew that it would be the turning point of my life.. My scores...
QA: 99.88
DI: 99.93
VA: 99.79
Overall: 100

when the result came out on January 9th, I had the best day of my life. Also managed 99.85 %ile in XAT and got a call from XLRI. Now there was another battle to be fought.. balancing the GDPI preparation with work.. I wont get into the details here but things got very... very hectic for me. To read an assessment of my interviews, you may click here:
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-an...ml#post1484816 (Profile of People who have Converted their IIM Calls!)

I had calls from IIMs BLACKI, XLRI and MDI.. Converted calls from IIMs CBLKI, XLRI and MDI.. And I am heading to Joka day after tomorrow

[sidharth0208]

Originally Posted by meetpradnya

Hey siddharth,

u hav really unusual story....!!! but cheers...!!! u're living ur dream now....


pradnya

Originally Posted by mitasha

hey sidharth.

its realy cool dude..bt strange..gud

Its not unusual.. actually you can take away a key learning from this..

See, when I was preparing for CAT 2007, I could solve all kinds of questions. I used to solve the easier ones during the mocks and I could solve the difficult ones at home later on... After the gap between CAT 2007 and the next mock series, I kind of got weaker in solving the very difficult questions.. but they didn't matter, right??.. cause i never solved difficult questions during mocks anyway.. I could still nail the easier questions and that is what mattered
And I was more mature that time around and was more light-minded and aggressive in attempting.. which is why my performance did not dip, it only bettered during the 2008 mock season.. I hope this makes sense.. concentrate on solving the easier questions efficiently and CAT will be a cake-walk for you

[sparag]

Guys!!

I thought I must recount my story because some fun is definitely good for health.

I am a Bihari, the same one to whom IIT or IIM is a big brand. And I am also an egoistic brat who believes that cracking these exams make you superior to the masses.
CAT 2007
Like other IITians I also went for CAT in my last year. It was a fiasco. And the reason would make you laugh. My sister stays at Calcutta and I had gone to her place a day earlier to take my exam. And man I ate something ungodly.... I think some vegetable with lots of corns followed by a glassful of milk. And yes my tummy hurt but not so much that I could predict it could ruin my day.. my D-day. On the morning of CAT it did hurt real bad. After taking some pain-killers I somehow managed to reach the center and flopped down on the pavement in front of the main gate. I was trying to soothe my pain by adopting a number of awkward postures and it seemed to help. When I took my seat in the exam hall, I felt like Neo. Don't think you are, know you are. So I stopped thinking that I am feeling no pain and started trying to know I feel no pain. And I succeeded for 15 minutes which I must say were sufficient to get me all the score I could in quant. Beyond that, it was complete and utter comedy. A cruel end of my months of preparation. I ended up in bathroom though it was not allowed (examiner took pity on me). I also ended up drinking a lot of pudin hara. Well, I got 88.88. I could have gone to Shillong, I guess.
CAT 2008
I am getting bored. Well, I was in some company which paid me 4.4 lpa. Not enough and IT was something I hated from the core of my heart (prejudices die hard). Yet now I like it somewhat. Coming back, CAT was the only escape route I could see. I started taking the mock tests (TIME) and devoted some time after company. It helped that my room mate was also preparing and that he was also from IIT-KGP. What helped more was that being IITians we were enjoying such fabulous salaries. I was still not that serious, a frustrated mind never is. The trigger was another friend of mine who was in a better company (monetarily) and was cracking AIM-CATs quite easily. He was getting 99 with ease and I had not managed even one. The day he told me this was the turning point. Almost two weeks from then I hardly got a <99 percentile. And in English I hardly went below top 30. Eventually, I got 81 in English whereas my total score was 159. It's a shame that I could muster only 37 in QA... IITians think I am a blot on the name of IIT. Still, ABLIK was good enough for me and I converted AL with wait list in IK. Now I am on the seventh sky and euphoria has not yet worn off me. But I must tell you I like studying hard. Afterall, it lets me prove to the masses that I am a cut above the rest. :P

Btw, more philosophically I don't believe in superiority of any individual. Everyone is potentially divine and potentially perfect, Swamiji said. And I value his words more than anyone else because I studied in Ramakrishna Mission, a school he founded.

[Apurv]

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Cheers!

[amithar]

First of all, I am "inspired" by meshed (who happens to be one of my real good buddies on Campus @ IIM L)- which is why I'm posting her eon this thread! - Anyway, glad to share my story!

We all have our stories of having made it to an IIM or to the B Schools of our choice. Honestly, given the Demand-Supply mismatch for higher education in India, it toughens us up - and I consider that to be a blessing in disguise. Darwin couldn't have been more right about the Survival of the Fittest!

I graduated with Computer Engineering form BIT Mesra in 2006. Did not take the CAT in my final year (CAT 2005) - Was president of a club, member of the Placement Cell and more importantly, was part of a rock-band in college - so I chose to make the most of my final year of engineering college!

CAT 2006:

That's when it all started. I chose to work for Cognizant - Did not sit for other (read: better) companies 'coz I wanted to stay home - spend time with family since I had been away for a while and of course, prepare for CAT in the comfortable confines of my home. Started in July - thinking I had supernatural abilities and 4 months would be "sufficient." I was actually suffering from - what I call = the "good engineering college syndrome" - which forces everyone to beleive that he / she has the Midas Touch! - I was surprised to be proved wrong. I joined IMS, Kolkata - Weekend batch and took only the SimCATs on Sunday Mornings at Bhowanipore College, Kolkata (Popularly known as "Bhaggu").

As expected - my ego was slashed to pieces and I "secured" a 92.45 percentile in CAT 2006!

CAT 2007

Citius, Fortious, Altius, I thought! I started preps a little earlier in May. My monotonous job as a software engineer at a "top-tier IT Services Company" continued. I had a hard time spending time in office and had a harder time putting my idle mind (idle throughout the day) to work at night once I got back. Basically a desk job at these "IT firms" makes u so brain-dead sometimes - to add to that I was in Software Testing! Anyway, I joined TIME "this time" - a special program for CAT "Repeaters" - which was decent. I had scored low in QA in CAT 2007 - so I was all out to reverse that - being an engineer scoring a low QA was blasphemy. My CAT 2007 results turned out better than CAT 2008. - 98.09 Percentile.

Calls from IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurgaon.

IMT Ghz - Convert. Did not Join.
MDI Ggn - Waitlisted. I found the MDI selection process to be a little skew. As far as I could see it, the output of thier interview process was "binary". Percentile was so heavily weighted that there was hardly anyone above me with a lower percentile than me - and vice versa.

Anyway - "Jo hota hai, achhe ke liye hota hai!" - I thought. I was REALLY keen on making it to MDI Last year. I didn't. But I was determined that if my business education has to start NOW, it will!

I started finding out about making a career shift. Having been a debator and a passionate communicator, I knew that Marketing was worth giving a shot. Being an engineer and having IT work ex, the only firms that would consider me would be start-ups. I spoke to a few, interviewed 5 rounds with a start-up founded by some IIM A alumni and finally joined it. I decided to leave the "comfortable confines of my IT Cubcile in my hometown Kolkata" to pursue the hard life of joinind a company in it's nascent stages in Mumbai.

CAT 2008

Working at a start-up (and living on my own) meant long hours, 6 (if not 7) -day weeks, roaming around on local trains for meetings all over Mumbai and coming back home - tired and figuring out my dinner. I still made sure I took out time for 2 things:

1. My Blog - TalkingTails.in - and it paid off coz I got selected among 10 blogs by The Economic Times and earned an invite to the "Power of Ideas" event.

2. CAT 2008! - I got back late. But I ensured that I studied. I cut down on my sleep. Perhaps what also made things slightly easier was the fact that I was working with a GOOD set of people - a bunch that had passed out of the IIMA Campus, there were people from the IITs, the Army - so I knew that this is what I wanted to do. My "downside" had been lowered. I had a "Life beyond CAT now" - and I was excited about it. Anyhow, I worked hard and managed a GD / PI call from IIM L.

I was thrilled - but was weary of the pitfalls. It would take ONE bad day to take my 'L'one call away from me. I prepared to the minutest detail. I was fortunate to have some amazing friends who helped me tweak things to the the smallest detail possible. Finally my interview went off well. I had my fingers crossed though - and was THRILLED to have converted my only call.

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you've given things a shot and they aren't working out. Try out something different. There's no point doing the same thing all over again. No one can "deny" you anything. Everyone wants to study at an IIM - but well - If you can't make it, does not mean you don't learn "BUSINESS" or don't get to be a manager.

Honestly speaking, I have learnt a hell lot of business working in Mumbai - and that was one year that I was supposed to be in B School. So, if you want something, seek it!

Cheers - And all the very best to all "seekers!"

[rajat_neo]

I have a slightly differnet story to tell. It consists of struggle. But more importantly, it has self-realisation. I worked hard for 2 years to get into an IIM. Now, that I am here i am quite disappointed. I want to tell all you guys out there. Keep the blinkers aside. There are things that you ought to know.

The biggest disappointment for me was to find out the complete lack of diversity in my IIM. Everyone appears to be the same here. We all come from the same background and hence, there is no diversity here. The opinions and perspectives that people in class give are so similar! Ask anyone who has graduated from a good Bschool and you will realise that classroom leraning is not even 5%. They all talk about the learning from peers. I think the more different people you meet, more the learning. Currently, i don't see that. One keeps getting a feeling that one should go abroad. The curriculum here is very theoretical and though they tom-tom about case study method and all it's still very theoretical. Also, the course is designed almost entirely for people in corporate life. Entrpship and leadership have no mention!

The number of female candidates is astonishingly low. Lack of female participation makes the course dry and in real life you need to understand and appreciate the female perspective. The qulaity of professors is strictly okay. Please dont be in any illuison about an IIM giving you very good professors.

It appears to me a glorified placement agency. The entire endeavour is to improve/maintain rankings by getting better pay packets.

My advice to fellow puys:

1) If you are looking at entrpship, explore abroad option if u HAVE to do a MBA. In my opinion its not required.

2) Take the CAT but do not be obsessed with it. It's really not worth that much sarifice(i'm talking from experience).

3)If you have 3+ work ex, i would strongly recommend ISB inspite of the steep fees.

4)Experential learning is very low at IIMs. Be very sure why you are doing it(MBA).

5)The crowd at IIMs is strictly ok. They are no geniuses(except proabably the 99.9+%ilers). Most of them are just lucky to be there. Most of them only want a comfy job and all their efforts are towards that.

6) Don't get caught by the hype of the media and the coaching classes. Remember, it suits them if you are desperate.

I am personally going to take the gmat to see if i can go to a better place from here.

[Satwinder]

Originally Posted by rajat_neo

I have a slightly differnet story to tell. It consists of struggle. But more importantly, it has self-realisation. I worked hard for 2 years to get into an IIM. Now, that I am here i am quite disappointed. I want to tell all you guys out there. Keep the blinkers aside. There are things that you ought to know.

The biggest disappointment for me was to find out the complete lack of diversity in my IIM. Everyone appears to be the same here. We all come from the same background and hence, there is no diversity here. The opinions and perspectives that people in class give are so similar! Ask anyone who has graduated from a good Bschool and you will realise that classroom leraning is not even 5%. They all talk about the learning from peers. I think the more different people you meet, more the learning. Currently, i don't see that. One keeps getting a feeling that one should go abroad. The curriculum here is very theoretical and though they tom-tom about case study method and all it's still very theoretical. Also, the course is designed almost entirely for people in corporate life. Entrpship and leadership have no mention!

The number of female candidates is astonishingly low. Lack of female participation makes the course dry and in real life you need to understand and appreciate the female perspective. The qulaity of professors is strictly okay. Please dont be in any illuison about an IIM giving you very good professors.

It appears to me a glorified placement agency. The entire endeavour is to improve/maintain rankings by getting better pay packets.

My advice to fellow puys:

1) If you are looking at entrpship, explore abroad option if u HAVE to do a MBA. In my opinion its not required.

2) Take the CAT but do not be obsessed with it. It's really not worth that much sarifice(i'm talking from experience).

3)If you have 3+ work ex, i would strongly recommend ISB inspite of the steep fees.

4)Experential learning is very low at IIMs. Be very sure why you are doing it(MBA).

5)The crowd at IIMs is strictly ok. They are no geniuses(except proabably the 99.9+%ilers). Most of them are just lucky to be there. Most of them only want a comfy job and all their efforts are towards that.

6) Don't get caught by the hype of the media and the coaching classes. Remember, it suits them if you are desperate.

I am personally going to take the gmat to see if i can go to a better place from here.

To be honest with you, the first time I read your post, I did not like it. (I scarcely like anyone criticizing the IIMs). But after re-reading it, I felt as if you are just sharing your personal feelings with everyone, and you dont mean any harm or malice. And I can see that you are clearly disappointed after getting into an IIM.

Maybe you had quite high expectations. But the thing is, what you said in your post, most people know already. Let me take it, step by step.

First you say, the complete lack of diversity. Yes, its true. Over 90% of students in IIMs are engineers, with a similar mindset. And many are from IITs as well. So no wonder you feel everyone is same. But you cant help it. The CAT exam is designed in such a way that engineers will always score better in it.

Secondly, about the curriculum being theoritical, its true of all institutes in India, starting from schools, till end of college, we all follow the system of learn by rote. This is a very unfortunate situation, but unless it is changed from scratch, nothing can be done about it. The whole system needs to be revised, I feel. We all focus more on theory and bookish knowledge than gaining practical skills. Most people who score well in exams are those with a very good memory.

Thirdly, low no of female candidates. Sigh, this too is true for all major institutes in the country, esp Bschools and Engineering institutes. If I wished, I could keep writing about this all day long. But I will leave it. Will rather post an article on this in my blog later on.

Quality of professors low? I thought the IIM professors were amongst the best in the country.

And finally you are going to do another MBA? Frankly, I have never heard of anyone giving GMAT after getting into an IIM.

On the whole, good post.

[navneet023]

Continued from

CAT's a coffee shop on the highway (All I wanted to Speak about CAT)


Well... I had penned down my experience till 2007 season before, but thought of writing the things that happened thereafter as I have learnt new things during last one year. First of all my apologies to those who might find it rather long and unnecessary in first place, I just had to write it, if only for my own sake.

A job which keeps you engaged from 7 in the morning till 10-11-12 in the night is not the most optimum one to prepare for the MBA exams(expecially CAT) side by side. Reasons? Well... you would not like it when its 1 am in the morning while you are munching( or shall I rather say, swallowing) your dinner while reading the funda books or a novel. You keep studying till 3-4 am in the morning and wake up again at 7 in the morning, only to realise that the washroom is occupied and you will be again running after your company bus for the umpteenth time this week. You sure make good friends with the rickshaw wallahs and the driver and conductor of the bus this way though. I am sure you would like to spend your time in a better manner than this.

Well, the only one good thing mumbai traffic has given me is the plenty of time in the bus to study and to sleep. Its really a bliss when the bus is stuck in the traffic and you are solving mathematics, the concentration you can create is AWESOME...I loved doing that. Besides, it also meant I would be spending less time in office and so the burden would be lesser than usual(or so I thought...lol).

Now comes the office part. One lesson. Never ever tell anyone in your office( unless they are completely harmless or are your bestest of friends) that you are preparing for MBA. Not atleast when she/he is your PM/BDO/Senior Manager. It helps little to your already hectic schedule when you are repriminded on not finishing the given task within the time frame(which of course is lesser than the life span of antimatter). Also, it is very much probable that you will be taunted that your work is getting affected due to your MBA preparations(They seldom think its the other way round). Huh.

Well...do not let your senior know of the MBA sites you have been surfing of late. She/He might as well stalk you there too and ask you to not to use these sites and rather concentraate on your work.

USE LUNCH TIME FOR ALL READING(IF YOU CAN DO WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT). HAVE LUNCH WHEN YOUR SENIOR RETURNS FROM THE LUNCH.

Get back on the first bus to home rather than waiting and working in the office till 10 pm in the night. It is really irritating when you have to do that as you know that you will not be getting enough time to study and sleep early and that you will be caught in the loop again.

Well... Now you know what I went through last 1 year.
I enrolled into CL weekend classes and surprised myself by performing really good. I mean, I got 74%ile in the diagnostic mock. And thereafter I improved myself pretty good. I never felkt like I was out of touch or something like that. But the real surprise came when I took the 1st mock. I got a pretty decent 95+%ile. It was really morale boosting. Thereafter I kept studying regularly.

NOTE:- DO NOT FALL FOR ANY (AND THAT MEANS ANY ANY ANY) GIRL IN YOUR COACHING CENTRE. YOU STOP CONCENTRATING ON YOUR STUDIES PROPERLY AND THE RESULTS ARE HAMPERED. I FELL FOR SOMEONE AND THEN FELL TO 80%ILE IN MY 4TH MOCK( OR MAY BE 5TH).

Practice regularly even if you think you are very good in some specific section. Do not become complacent. Also, give more time to your weak section and do not just ignore or believe your mock scores. They are like convex mirrors... "Images in the mirror are closer than they look" Remember na??

I scored almost at an average of 96-97%ile....barring a few occasions, when I crossed 99.97%ile once and also 78%ile. Apart from those mocks...95-99 was my domain, and I thought I was pretty much on the track. Atleast I thought that....

NOTE:- DO NOT LET YOUR EX-GFS SPOIL YOUR LIFE AGAIN. THEY HAVE DONE THAT ONCE, SO THEY KNOW HOW TO DO IT AGAIN. YOU HAVE SUFFERED ONCE, SO YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW HOW NOT TO SUFFER AGAIN.

The PG meets meanwhile were an eye-opener for me. I have made many friends through these meets, and have learnt a lot from them. Some of them are pursuing their MBAs this year, while some will start the journey with me. I even got selected in Mumbai Dream team in PGPL, which failed finally. But it has given me such a network of friends that I do really feel proud to among them. Someday, I want to make them proud of me too.(I know, it would be an exception...lol)

Well, the forms were out and as I had planned, I filled almost all of my choice of colleges. I wonder though, why do CAT people do not come out with the correct solutions within a week of the exam. This way we students/aspirants would not have to fill up each and every damn form. Is it so that CAT people do not have proper solutions to the questions before conduction the exam? Is it so??? to CAT management committee.

Well, I think I spent around 14k on the MBA forms last year. Would not be repeating the mistake this time round. Hit something...some CAT question from CAT 2009.... hospital rounds??? lol

Anyways, I went on an extensive 20 day vacation to my native place(not before fighting with my seniors a lot for extending it from 15 to 20 days). It helped me a lot in becoming the complacent Navi I am famous for. I really became complacent in the name of taking lesser tension. It seems that's when I lost it.

Come C-Day and the first thing I remember is when I was out of the Examination hall. The 150 minutes were a blur. All I could remember was that there were 40 questions in EURC(my nemesis the last time round), and 25-25 in othe two sections. Quantss initially seemed tough to me, but then I chose the right questions and solved 12 of them. DI again was too much math-a-pachhi doing, but I seemed to find a way round and solved only the right questions. 10 in DI.

Now I turned to my nemesis. EURC. I saw the watch. I had 55 minutes. I browsed through the section and found it rather easy. NO FIJS...lol... Some sentence corrections, ssome RCs, some grammer mistakes..."That's all?? ", I asked myself. BIG BIG BIG MISTAKE. For once again, I became complacent. It cost me speed and accuracy, both. And finally an IIM seat.

I could solve one 18 when others did 24-30 and some even all questions.


Final results.
QA- 12 attemted-All correct-48 marks..98.xx %ile
LRDI- 10 attempted- All correct-40 marks.. 97%ile
EURC 18 attempted- 8 correct-10 incorrrect-22 marks- A PATHETIC 64.xx %ile...

FINAL- 95.12%ile

Calls.
IMT-G,TAPMI,IMI-delhi

I was devastated.
Even XAT could not get me through. just 97%ile.
JMET- not qualified.
FMS - not qualified
SNAP - uski to
IIFT -not qualified( unki bhi )


Finally Attended only IMT-G and IMI-D GD-PIs. Skipped TAPMI after reaching the college(They were asking for 10 L as course fee)

Meanwhile, I lost my job one fine day after slogging for 15 hours on average in office. Reason:- No reason. Unki bhi

I went through 2 breakups during this time which added no respite to my already going bad phase. But , but but but, 1 thing I learnt that no matter no one stands by me, I will always be there for myself.

Most of the first half of this year, I have been busy looking for a new job, not in software/private sector anymore. Stability is the word for me this time, in the government sector. I do not know where this quest will lead me and I have had my share of doubts over my ability. But I have come through all of them, with full faith in myself and now again I am preparing for season 2009. Though I still have to enroll for any test series, I will do it soon and when I am there, I know I will sail through this sea of uncertainty.

I wish next time I write my experience, its all on a positive note and I have atlast something to boast of and to be proud about.

PS:- Do not go seeing off your ex on CST airport. It makes you more emotional and weak than you would ever want to be.


See you friends... see you soon


Till then....

Rock ON...



P.P.S. :- Most important lesson I learnt was to struggle in the worst of the times. Though I am still struggling hard with circumstances, I have the belief and more importantly, a gaurd against complacency this time. I just hope I peak at the right time, not like the last time, when I peaked too eaarly and went down thereafter.

[haripi2]

I am one of the old timers 2003 batch of PG and writing my CAT story
5 years after it ended. unlike majority of the success stories on CAT you have here , mine is a failure as far as CAT is concerned, but nevertheless there were important takeaways from CAT as far as life was concerned.

I would have perused through the pages of this thread a hundred times. Looked at chandoo's thread and felt inspired. Used to think that "agla saal mera post bhi yahan aayega" .. I am definitely not a IIMite or any of those 95-98 percentilers who went to XL,NITIE,MDI and similar colleges. I would be one among the few hundreds that tried for CAT like crazy who were on the precipice of success but just gifted away the seat by virtue of maintaining pressure upon myself on the D-day.

I started my prep for CAT 2004 in Dec 2003 a solid year in advance. PG used to be pretty small those days and there used to be close to 2000 members with 100-200 regular folks. It would be an understatement if i said i did not know the regulars. It was like a Cult to be a part of PG. after all people logging into forums for CAT discussion was something new. The desire to get into IIM was accentuated by the fact that three of PG's chennai folks had made it into IIMB in 2004. So we were a bunch of 3-4 guyz who decided that we would be juniors to those guyz. Its been 5 years since then and none of us had a chance to be their juniors. we did finish our MBAs from different institutes but the first love i.e. the IIMs remained unrequited.


Enough of the history. lemme get to the point. I did not make it into an IIM and did graduate out of Great lakes , chennai , but the point is i should have cracked or belled the CAT so easily that i fluffed it with open hands. This post is going to be a post of what not to do if you want to bell the CAT. There have been so many success stories in belling the CAT, but i believe my story might give some inspiration to folks to avoid the mistakes that i did. i honestly believe every year there would be at least 1000 candidates like me who would burn the midnight oil towards CAT prep and then see it wither away on the D-Day. For folks like that, please dont give up the seat that you so rightfully deserve.This post is dedicated to you folks who toil hard and unnecessary bring pressure upon yourself.

Things not to do

a) too many cooks spoil the broth.
too many MOCKS also spoil the broth

To ensure that i did a variety of problems i used to take both CL Mocks and TIME mocks. i used to take two mocks on a single day and the pressure was huge.one mock i used to do good while in the other i used to do real bad. this was a huge demotivating factor.Its difficult to maintain concentration for extended periods of time.so please avoid that. one insti mock is enough.

b) Spend at max of 6 hours per day for CAT.

for some this might be a huge number, but trust me i was spending much more than this during my CAt prep. we think that more we do better we would do. The problem is more and more we do we try to remember so many concepts that at times your mind could become cluttered.

c) CAT is not life. There is life outside CAT

I did that mistake. I forgot that i needed to have a life. I became a walking sloth immersed only with CAT. Frequently go out with friends. Try learning guitar or salsa. Hit a gym. hit a pub. do whatever you can to make sure you have a life outside college/work. for me it was work or CAT. period. To sum it in short i used to be a zombie. It becomes even hard to come out of it when CAT flops.

d) too much PG is injurious ( hope i dont get banned)

unless you are spending it at the chit chat session. i agree that PG is addictive and so are solving problems, but that is the problem with PG. It makes so addictive that you get mired into the circle called as CAT prep. Try to balance it by hitting the chit chat sessions.

e) Do not worry about the outcome of the CAT.

easier said than one. this has to be the most difficult part. But this is of paramount importance. The moment you start thinking about the exam results you could consider your case to be a goner. We have to be indifferent to the CAT result and just aim at giving our best. agar Hit toh we study at IIM this year nahin thoh.. there is always life outside the CAT.. i hate to use the paraphrase from eye eye pee yumm but it makes sense think beyond it.. there is more to life . the best part of my life began after my failure in CAT.

Each one of us have our own reasons. In my case, it was more like i hated my job, had to get out of it, all my friends were in the US or doing their MBA, peer pressure. so CAT was the only respite. that's what i thought and how wrong i was. for those of you in crappy job profiles, you are not alone and all of us are. Its not the job that sucks but it is life outside the job that sucks. so try to get a life guyz... dont become a loner while u prep. I am not asking folks to enjoy leaving CAT prep in the lurch. but please have a balanced life. Ps3 , age of empires, xbox, wii for those who are gamers, for the rest we have films, anime, girlfriends, sports etc... Try Yoga if you are not able to feel cool and composed.


Now for some gyaan on prep front..

a) CAT is not about solving all problems , but trying to solve the easier problems. so sometimes i feel the ones who have minimal CAT preparation are at an advantage as they would be easily able to identify sitters as opposed to those who do too much of CAT prep as the hard workers would always find all problems solvable. hence timing and accuracy goes for a toss.

with regards to quant at least 6-8 sitters would be there in every paper. if you solve this in addition to that you need to solve just 3-4 additional problems to clear cutoff. sounds simple nah?

b) Number systems, time speed distance, ratio proportion and algebra should help you sail through quant cutoff provided you know the fundas.thats it !!!


c) Geometry is invariably difficult and identifying sitters in geometry is also a bit difficult. so if one is weak in geometry i would suggest you devote less time to it. no point trying to hone skill in it as invariably we would fall short in finding the answer.


d) Start reading a lot of betrand russell passages to improve concentration in RC.

e) For sentence correction refer to salil's GMAT notes. I believe that is really good and i had a look at the SC thread in PG. Both these should be really helpful.

f) THE MOST important point. after every Mock, analyze each mock for 6-8 hours. try solving the remaining problems and when you are not able to solve it then look at the solution. do not analyze just your marks. analyze your capability to pick sitters too. I think that is the most critical capability that the CAT exam tests you on.

so now coming back.. about a brief history of what happened post CAT.. 2 months was psychotic... almost suicidal..then joined great lakes.. then it was bliss..

was a 99 percentiler in my mocks...

2004 - on D day -- 88 percentile.. thats what pressure can do.. ( more than 2000 hours of preparation)

2005 - wrote CAT again for the heck of it.. just to prove a point to myself that i was not so bad.. 97.6 percentile... ( zero prep)

Happy prepping. Hope this post helps at least one person and prevents him/her from screwing up on the D-day like i did.