CAT 2004 - Post GD/PI washout : What went wrong ?

[prasunc]

Hi All,

After sharing the euphoria of those who got thru ...smiling , congratulating and lotsa good words later...a small thing that hurts-I choked.and messed up DI.
98.71 pctile ...no BLAICK calls.
breakup score = 9 /15 /27 :P in DI/QA/VA

So what went wrong.What'd we face and how at the exam hall?
What cud've been done?
What were the success strategies in CAT.
What are the selection criterion for GD/PI.

I know there are Lots more questions from the well , lets face it,"The Also -Rans".

Hoping for some pointed questions from the ever-optimistic hopefuls and some helpful tips for rectification by the best-of-us , who actually made it thru the written phase.
Me compiling a good list of qns myself to be posted.Just that today's not a good day after all the "Sorry-UR not on our list" mssgs!! So post it sometime later , on a better day!
Lets ask them while they are still flush with the experience.And benefit from them

Ciao guys.
PC.

[shallIJump]

Hi all there

Finally I've picked up the courage to post my problem. I know that I definitely do not deserve to post here (where people with 99+ r looking for better threads), but I thought I might get some help here. This was my third attempt, but the only sincere attempt. My previous 2 attempts were just for the sake of it, got (95.5 and 94.4 last 2 yrs). This yr I had decided to put in my everything, and really did so almost jeopardizing my job at Xansa. Been a CL student and've been getting 98 around through out. Been getting in 95s in TIME Mocks.

My problems started with stress headaches. Started getting a kind of headache in September that stayed for days together. They worsened during Mocks, and stood against my quest to jump into the 99s.

I have been putting around 5+ hours since August, and have been working on the materials of the various institutes. I approached a doctor and he gave me an analgesic that used to loosen the nerves, to ease tension. Then by October end I had various family pressures. Finally I was left with 3 weeks. There came a Saturday when I was totally hijacked by emotions, and could not touch a single material. The fear of failure (or I don't know what seized me). I could not do anything in a relaxed manner.

From that particular day things only worsened and worsened. I got a strange kind of a backache and a neck pain (that has still not left me), that got aggravated with sittings of longer duration.

The CL papers were stereotyped after that, so I could manage (got 99+), but the TIME papers I could not. The last 2 TIME papers I was so overwhelmed by emotions (I DON'T FOR WHAT...) that I came out of the hall in the middle of the paper.

The final 2 weeks I could not take a single MOCK for a 2hr stretch. Either I used to feel so pissed of with the section I had taken or my neck pain used to go so bad, that I could not take any more......

The last few days I was praying GOD to somehow relieve me from this point of no return. I was totally screwed. I am a person who is a slow starter in things, so I knew that lack of touch will go against me. At the same time preparing for even a few hours aggravated my neck, back pain and gave me head aches.

Finally the D-Day came, and I went to it with nothing in mind abt the past few weeks. I was totally relaxed in the exam hall. Got a good chair, so I thought my body will stand the test. Was very happy to know the pattern change (thought I could capitalise on this), and started well with verbal. Then did Qt well, and moved to DI. Did the section A in an average manner, moved to section B and got screwed. My demons in the form of a severe neck attack, and various emotions started devoring me. I tried to fight them ... So did finished DI and moved to RC (It was a week since I did proper RCs). I started with 1 RC, but there was absolutely no speed... I tried reading them (have a normally high reading speed of 500 w.p.m), but emotions killed me. I gave up and looked at the watch (12 more mins to go).

So I tried to do the Section B of verbal, and killed time. Finally I gave the OMR to the faculty. I did not know what to feel. It was much worser when my friends expectantly asked me how I had done?

The last month I have been trying various self-introspection methods to analyse and understand the disaster. Looking back I realised that the same emotions had hijacked me during my JEE (left everything and prepared for it, again became hysterical during the exam) and GRE (was totally nervous the last 2 days). But the last 2 months beats these by miles. Regular headaches and body aches (I had never got these b4, I am a very fit college athlete.) I could even see my nerves ticking....

But now I want to move ahead in life. I would like to take GMAT and look for things in this direction. I am facing a tough time at the office, with the Boss unhappy with my pre-cat lack of time-consciousness at work. Too many changes r taking place...

Thanks for reading/bearing with me so far. Now my question is what was is it that caused all the body aches, and the emotional hijacks?

1. Over-strain too early on
2. A characteristic nervous session before exams
3. I don't deserve to carry-on in this world

(Incidentally I made 92.32% this time around, worser than the last 2 attempts, and worser than any of my MOCKs. Not a surprise considering Iwas able to concentrate for only 1.5 hours)

With the scores having come I am wondering….
I have excellent acads, 94(x), 97(xii) and 91(NIT), and decent extra-curriculars. Dunno why I am stuck here……

Do u guys think if I can take the effort and courage to fight out life, and make a turn-around will I be able to crack CAT 2005 or do u think that I should never take CAT again? Think my case will become the typical example for students to understand that nervousness beyond a point can spoil everything. But why am I chickening out in these crunch exam times?

[prasunc]

shallijump,

I guess I could give you a lot of motivational gyaan..but lets try to understand first things first:

What is the Root Cause ?
You said you consulted a doc. Is it a physiological or Pshycological prob that you face ? In both cases professional help can be and ought to be sought.

In any case, once through CAT , let me assure you, the rigour of the course and Corporate pressures are equal , if not more,than the 2 hour stress of CAT. That you manage to perform decently is enuf clue that you no doubt lack in quality , but there are certain things we cant help...
An ostrich may be a handsome bird,but cannot fly.
Everyone is constrained by thier own handicaps,and we got to live with it , if overcoming them is too much of a tradeoff with our current standings.

Analyse your goals viz a viz ur current job etc,and if u still feel that u cant stop at nothing other than IIMs , well...professional help is due.

All the best in ur fight against ur inner demons..thats all I can say.
You have a thing to prove to yourself , before anyone else.
Give CAT 2005 another shy , if possible,and prove your own +ve self to urself.

Keep us in that +ve loop ...and surround urself with +ve energy.
Regards

[shallIJump]

Thanx Prasunc, will ponder on u'r analysis.........
But has anyone had my problems, like headaches or neck/back aches, cause I still do and dunno how to recover from them. Doc says stress, but that is not there now so I dunno....
Also I had the highly escapist attitude the last few days b4 CAT. Hoped for sth that would help the paper to be postponed(knew this would be cruel to the others..... but was my only hope to recover and come back)

[shallIJump]

Also I feel that I am a 95.5 % guy - my natural ability, I got that in my final year without much effort, but was totally cool. Basically I was at this level (say 3,4 points below the ideal) while attempting JEE, and GRE. My anxiety to jump to the 99+ on the DDay, screwed by normally scorable result, and hence this 92.32% this time.
So I think only a few guys r already at the 98-99% level. They maintain that throughout, and do that on DDay tooo. There r a whole lot of others who r basically at this 95% level, who try very hard to jump into the 99+. Some do it, some settle for the next best, and some totally lose out (as I did this year). So people settling for second best, don't feel bad. U must have done u'r best and got what u deserved.......
Me gonna concentrate on XAT and FMS.....