Well I think its time for me to speak about my cat experience , I am just warning every one please dont read this one with high expectations, as i am not an IIM call getter or an IIM student. Its about how i managed to crack cat and got into a prestigious college , which even 2weeks before CAT Exam i didnt think i had even a remote chance of getting into

2008-2009:

Well the CAT journey started in june 2008 for me , i joined a 2 year course at Time Pune:biggrin::biggrin: , yes a two year course as i wanted to prepare in laid back manner i guess , i used to attend my classes regularly and did that till Jan 2009 , it was a weekend program, due to heavy workload during weekdays , only time i got to study was in the weekends, after January my focus shifted towards PSU exams , like everyone i also thought PSU would be the best option during those times, particularly when we faced a lot changes in policies , pay offs ,workloads, it was really a difficult time for everyone , i continued with my preparation of PSU exams , and became less regular towards my coaching classes, as a result i lost sight of CAT and MBA altogether , by June i was completely out of touch , when one day i attended a DI class , i was completely awestruck with the kind of questions being solved , also to see my peers doing so well , i literally wanted to run out of the class

I gave my PSU exam , and missed the cut off for general category by a whisker , i was completely down and out , i had sacrified my CAT preparation for it and also was performing below my competency level in my job , i didnt know what to do , fortunately i had my roommate who was always there to encourage me , and bail me out of these situations , i again started preparing for CAT 2009 , with 4-5 months in hand , i thought it was all but over .
My workload at job also increased i used to get free at 10pm everyday, i didnt have internet at my home so i stayed back in office every night solving questions, learning concepts , alongwith my roomate who was also preparing with me , we used to stay till 2am every day and come back sharp 8 am in the morning (Onsite Calls :nono::nono:) , i continued this way , but it was tough as i was performing miserably in Aimcats , Cl mocks , even getting negative marks in quant, which i thought once was my strength , my mock scores varied from 36-86 %tile mock to mock , everytime i gave a mock i got more and more dejected , but somehow kept working hard and kept analyzing my mistakes , improved a little over the months :)


D-Day

December 1 , well my center was COE , Pune , i was assigned the same lab , in which server crash happened on 29-30th:biggrin::biggrin:, we were all skeptic about our fate and asked prometric guys , about whether everything will be fine , they said "Sab bhagwan k hatho mein hai ":biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: , wow what confidence they showed in there systems , well after the intial screening , we were made to sit infront of the system for 45mins , and i dozed off during that time i still sometimes feel how can i doze off in one of most important days of my life but i did, well the paper went well attempted around 45-46 questions, but then found out that everyone attempted 50+, i knew my fate :biggrin:

28th Feb 2010

Well it had been a dissapointing season so far , performed badly in Snap , JMET , missed IRMA due to Social Concern section:biggrin:, missed out XAT and FMS due to dengue, so entire Jan 2010- and half of Feb 2010 was gone due to the ailments and after effects of dengue

After hearing dissapointing results of my friends who performed much better than me in mocks , i knew i would score less than 80 even:nono:, but when i checked my result i was surprised to see a 95+%tile against my name, was overjoyed, i called my roommate(cheeka nicknamed after his village's name in haryana) immediately, and later on found out that had got 99%tile in cat , we both were happy that finally the efforts we put in were reedeemed,(Cheeka is in IIM Indore 2010-2012 batch)


I got calls from Nirma , LBSIM , IMT-G, Wellingkar, IMI delhi, i didnt apply to many colleges due to my happening mock season:biggrin:

I converted all the calls i attended and finally joined IMI Delhi, I know i didnt make it to an IIM , but i am happy and contended where i am



Just want to say to every aspirant , if i can make something out my pathetic CAT season last year , so can you :)


There are so many things related to CAT journey :), which cannot be expressed in a single post , but it truly is a memorable one , whatever may be the outcome :)


All d best to everyone , for a journey of a lifetime

@Nikhil.katariya: : Welcome to the forum! Do search around for an appropriate thread for your query . Spend some time in the forum to familiarize with the way it works and find the appropriate thread to post.

You can always use the shoutbox if you are need of an urgent query to find the thread.

Likely these two posts will be purged from this thread to maintain the thread theme

Girish...!

Hi ,

Before i begin ,let me give you a disclaimer . This is neither the story of a 99 % iler nor is it packed with tragedy and a final happy ending. This is just the story of a regular guy . Before i began preparation i told myself I will give this Exam one attempt , if it doesnt work out , then this is not for me.

If you still find this interesting Read On!

Background :

Born and brought up in a typical educated family in a small town .Above average student. Nothing special. Gave AIEEE a shot . Cracked it and got into NIT-Allahabad. Computer science and Engineering . College was totally new and during second year got to know about CAT. Also got to know that the probability of getting into an IIM was very low , So kinda lost interest. One day i was just chatting with Narendran, a senior of mine who told me to calculate the ratio of AIEEE applicants to number of people in NITs. That ratio seemed pretty low too ,but i had managed to get into one of the Top 15 engineering colleges in the country. I will never forget that conversation. I decided to give CAT a shot. Joined career launcher during my 6 th semester. Career launcher Allahabad was not very the typical high result producing coaching center. But the people were friendly and the materials they gave were interesting to read.

Preparation and Mocks:

Initially i was not very regular with the classes but i had two friends who got me the materials regularly. I worked out the basics during my class hours. There is no place to learn for Cat than the last bench of your lecture hall . During my summer vacation after the end of Third year , i was done with the basics and tried the Take -off series . Take my word - Take off series is the best thing that Career launcher has. It makes you realize the seriousness of the exam . It makes you wake up to reality. After all these days of slack preparation , i took the take off seriously and completed them at my home. I came back to Allahabad for my final year. The placement season was on. I knew that the initial companies would not be interested in a 7 pointer like me and decided to wait until the companies with lesser packages arrived. Meanwhile i took my first mock at Career launcher. I was very confidant . The test seemed to be easy and walked out with a smile. When the results were announced , the smile still stayed on my face but for different reasons . I realised how i ignorant i had been.I scored 82 % ile in my first mock .

I bunked a lot of classes and started quants once again. My English was pretty strong thanks to my foundation and healthy reading habits.The secret to doing well in English is " thinking from the shoes of the author " . Take any material you want and just read a page . Try to think of it from the author's mindset. It seems very very simple but trust me It isn't . It comes with practice and reading a variety of topics will help. Novels is not a good idea when it comes to this concept because you get to read only one author's point of view. Good magazines such as TIME are of great help in this regard. Coming to quants , I started reading Arun sharma religiously. Still i was not able to clear Quants section during my mocks .


I maintained a score of 93-97 % ile during my mocks. The occasional 70 was also there owing to the fact that i was juggling job interviews with cat preparation. Also the fact that i was in a relationship with a batch-mate did not help my CAT preparation . The fights between us would have a very negative impact on my mock scores. One day out of the blue she broke up with me owing to the fact that i did not have enough time for her . I was shocked for a lot of days . Time heals us all . I was back on my feet again.The IIFT exam was in 15 days. I spent over 7 hours everyday immersed in Arun Sharma and on the internet. My last mock score was 99.27 % ile but i was still not able to clear the quants section.

Exams :

During one my mock tests i got a call from my Ex asking me to meet her. She had realized what i was going through , We were back On . It cheered me up . She dropped me at the IIFT exam centre and the exam was a surprise. They had introduced sectional cutoffs and i was not prepared to attempt GK questions. Still i managed to do well. Then came CAT . I planned the exam well and things went smooth. I managed to attempt 49 questions ( 13 Q , 19 DI , 17 V ) . I came out with a big smile on my face. Jmet was next and it was pretty easy when compared with IIFT and Cat .

Results :

The results were not to my expectations. I scored 37.9 in IIFT ,cleared the overall cutoff but missed the GK cutoff by .15 marks . Next came Jmet . Managed to get calls from IIT-K ,IIT-M AND IIT -R . Cat results were up next . The overall percentile was good but quants has screwed me over again. I knew IIMs were not going to be interested in me. I missed C and L call owing to my bad quant score . I was devastated. During my IIT-M interview i got a call from NITIE mumbai . I knew this was the best call i had. So i started preparing for the GD/Pi s . I did not join any coaching class because of the fact that the quality of peer group in allahabad was not very good. Pagalguy proved to be a boon .

The day before by train to Mumbai ,I got a call from home. My dad was admitted to the hospital owing to chest pains. I decided to go to Pondicherry straight from Mumbai. My train was at 4 pm and i spent the whole afternoon complaining on how shitty life can be. She consoled me saying my dad would be alright and there was no need to worry. I did not want to travel alone and unwillingly packed my bags and left for the railway station.
NITIE was a beautiful but the amount of competition was unforeseen.The GD was average but they loved my enthusiasm and zeal in the PI . I reached home hurriedly and spent some time with my dad.

The Beginning :

It was 2 pm when i was playing a game of FIFA . Suddenly i got a msg from career launcher saying the results of NITIE had been anounced. I opened my browser and kept staring at the results page for 15 minutes. I could not believe it .NITIE Mumbai converted.The feeling of having worked so hard towards something for 18 months and finally seeing you hardwork bear fruits is unmatched my any other feeling in the world. Here i am at room 418 at hostel 4 in NITIE Mumbai posting on this amazing forum.

I have been one of the avid followers of this thread and it gives me inspiration every time i feel low . It is such a privilege to post on this sacred thread.




The 2009 season
Calls IIT R ,IIT K ,IIT M , IMI , BIM , NITIE
Didn't attend IMI ,BIM
Converts IIT-R ,NITIE


Praveen
Management batch of 2012
PGDIM-17
NITIE-Mumbai

Friends,today I want to share my CAT story with all you people,it will hwlp the CAT 2010aspirants in doing their preperation

2008
I was in my final year of my graduation ,and I did not join any coaching centre for my CAT preperation and want to give CAT just for a try and want to give CAT with my preperation in 2009,so,went for CAT 2008very calmly and nicely,I got 73 percentile in CAT 2008 and this was my first CAT and I want to mention that after giving CAT 2008i come to know that I am very good At DI,ok at quant and very bad at VA and RC.
2009
Now,I though that there is no use of taking coaching from Coaching institute ,since,many of my friends took coaching and they also got more or less the same percentile of mine,so,I counsulted some of my seniors and I come to know about some good books for QUANT,DI,VA and RC.
QUANT: I prefer quant by Arihant publication,very good book.
VA and RC: I perfer book by Arun sharma.
DI: I was very good at DI ,so,I did not gave much attention and I prefer arun sharma for DI also.

Test Series
Friends,this is very important for evey CAT aspirant,I joined Pteducation and TIME test series,I would like to tell you that tEst series of PT educaton was very helpful for me,ssince,it has around 20online full time tests,so,it helps me in making my strategy.I tried all the strategies in my test series and I was able to get the best Strategy works for me.
And,don't get dishearted if you get less percentile in TIME test series,since,it is very difficult,I never score more than 70 pecentile in TIME test series,and finally,I end up with 91.72 percentile in CAT 2009.

Some imp tips:
Take test series very seriously
Focus o your strength,since,that area will help you in scoring good marks
Don't give much focus on your weakness,since,it is your weakness,you will not be able to score very good marks in your Weak subject,if you will focus more on your weak subject,you end up with less time to focus on your strong subject,you will mess up in CAT
Try to get some technique in your weak subject,it will help you to clear the cut-off in your weak subjects.

Hope you people will find it usefull..

Hi friends,

After two season of CAT, I would also like to share my experiences with you all .My story might not be inspiring for an aspirants as it may not be one of those success stories but it will help people to understand that life is not always a fairy tale and in the end you get what you want. Some times you have to make compromises in life.
I heard of the buzzword IIM when i was in second year of my college. I used to see some third year and final year students going to coaching institute hanging advertising bags of institute at their back. I got curious what this PT, IMS, Cat and IIM is all about? why people sitting in the cantene more interested in solving maths puzzles then preparing for their end sems? I talked to some seniors and i came to know about the importance of this degree and what huge sums of money it can get you, something which being an engineer you can just dream of.

Yes, money in MBA degree motivated me to learn more about CAT. The real passion to go for it came when i looked through mock papers and free sample tests on net and used to score well in those tests. It made me feel that this is something which suits me and i should go for it with a structured preparation.

I joined PT education classes like many others. I used to score very good in mocks and was always a candidate who can get an IIM call if everything goes normal on my day.However english was something i feared. But good scores in few mocks in English gave me confidence that if it will be my day i am surely gonaa clear that hurdle too.

Being my first attempt and confident of my abilities i filled up forms of only 4 exams CAT, XAT, JMET, FMS..I still remember day when i was sitting for CAT my hands were shaking till i filled first oval..As time passed i felt more relaxed, but initial pressure of few minutes got me out and immediately after coming out of exam hall i got feeling that i could have done better. Some more exams followed after that and I performed well. Checking keys from coaching institutes after cat gave me hint that English section can break and make the CAT result for me. When result for CAT came it was a real disappointing day for me. English section as I feared got screwed completely and I scored mearge 10 marks compared to 20-25 marks I got through various institute keys. Though I managed to get a call from XLRI-BM and IIT Bombay the disappointment of not getting an IIM call was always there with me. Even after converting IIT Bombay call I didnt join as I wanted to give one more chance to myself to make it to big IIMs as I always believed and experienced that brand always matters.
After all this I joined wipro and didnt appeared for next CAT as I wanted to get a handful of experience. Then came year 2009 and I started preparing for CAT, joined TIME aimcats this time. My performance in AIM CAT was consistent as my scores ranged from 95-99 percentile again English always proved dicey in my scores. Then came CAT 2009, exams was going to held online first time, got form on the first day as it coincided with my birthday thinking it might prove to be lucky.
Then came the D-day, I was more nervous this time. May be because it mattered to me most.I came out with a sense of fear as I couldnt attempt more questions by getting cautious of not making wrong attempts. Results came and my fear came true I scored just 95.xx percentile. Dont know who to blame myself, my nervousness , prometric , IIM, I dont know who was accused for my debacle but one thing was sure I will not be able to make into IIMs again this year. Again I got calls from couple of good institutes like FMS, IIT B, IIT D..but not from IIM.
First I went for IIT Bombay interview, it was one of best GD/PI I have ever had. Then came IIT Delhi interview. I would describe it in one word: Pathetic. I felt very low after interview. It was the worst interview in my entire life. And then FMS interview was super cool and super good after a bad GD.
Due to some personal reason one thing was clear for me this is my last attempt to take admission in b school. If not this year then never.Results came and to this date I have converted iit Bombay and iit delhi call and waitlisted in FMS. I again was in dilemma whether to join IIT Bombay or delhi. After discussing with several seniors I took decision to join IIT Delhi.
I would just like to give one simple advice: dont put too much pressure on yourself. I was able to clear all exams XAT, JMET, FMS but not CAT. When I think of the difference in my approach between these exams and CAT I can find only one thing that IIM was something I wanted more than any other college that put an extra pressure which finally didnt helped me. All these exams are not only about checking your aptitude and time management skills but also how good you can handle pressure.
My end of story may not be happy but it is still not sad. I may not go to IIM but I am still going to IIT. Some dreams remain dream forever..

Hello Everyone!!
As i m a novice over here....I hav less to speak...but 'll stil give a try..
Going thru above posts...wat i feel is that..."Each n Everyone has its own way of doing things.."One's strategy cudnt b applied to other ppl...
Every person's surrondings r different...and a person's grooming...depends to the xtent on his/her surrondings...
For eg... A person who has done his school education in hindi medium...wud he/she not require preparation level in English to crack CAT...so how can one not require prep for CAT...
I also feel that CAT prep is not one or two year prep...its a prep rite from ur childhood...the way one grooms himself/herself....
I gave CAT in 2008 n was not able to crack it....but while going thru the preparation....I underwent many chnages....n that groomed my personality a lot...
So just cracking the CAT is not the sole aim in one's life...
:)wat matters is that wat lessons u learnt from ur mistakes and failures...:)
So on a positive note i'll say...
:):)DO YOUR BEST n LEAVE REST ON THE GOD!!!:):)

It has been my dream to post here in this thread. But i didn't know i would realise it this soon. I've learnt many things in life but here i'll just explain THE MOST important one. And the lesson is this - If you have an aim cherish it as if it were your baby.

UPBRINGING
----------------
Born to a farmer based in Kerala who somehow managed to get a job in delhi and got settled there. None among his brothers/sisters were allowed to pursue education after 10th as it was of no use. But he didn't want the same to happen with me. In fact he was pretty much concerned about my education. My parents admitted me in a nearby school as we were outsiders in delhi n they were concerned about my security. The school was recognised only till 8th but they said by the time i would reach there it would get recognition till 10th. The school authorities kept delaying it even when i reached 10th. We were 9 students in that class(only 1 section). Needless to say my command in english was bad. Whatever command i had was due to my father's consistent requests to read the daily newspaper.

I was like a frog in a well until i joined maths tuition in 10th. I met some high standard people there e.g. from DPS and similar top schools. I craved to study in such schools. I knew i was missing something really BIG. Managed to get 73.8% with 95 in maths. Hence got into a decent school in noida for 11th(The reason why i mentioned maths score was because the cutoff required for this school was 80% as far as i remember. And it's only because of maths score that i got some consideration). Initially it was a culture shock but adjusted soon. Now i was thinking in a way in which a normal Delhi/NCR school going boy would think. It definitely wont be an exaggeration if i say i was clueless about future. So decided to concentrate on engineering entrance exams after 12th especially JEE. Didn't perform well there but got into a very good college in Kerala. First and second years went like a breeze.

CAT
-----
After one of my 4th sem university exams got over i met one senior. He was already placed with Siemens and had been preparing for CAT. Dont know why but that hit me. People in my college aren't THAT career oriented. But this guy was having a good career option and a good backup as well. Enquired with some other seniors and as expected not many had a sound knowledge about the exam. So talked to some of my friends in college and decided to join TIME Trivandrum in august. It was about 1.5 to 2 hours journey from our place. And we were a good amount of people so enjoyed a lot. Ultimately what happened was that i wasn't faring well anywhere. AIMCATS started and i scored close to 90s. I was hopeful and wanted to improve exam by exam. Exams in college arrived and I lost concentration in CAT. In between all this i had joined PG but didn't use it. Still the fire was not there. Appeared for only 3 exams CAT, XAT and JMET. Meanwhile my mock story was coming to a tragic end as my scores got lower and lower. The reason was simple. I didn't analyse my mocks. Just came out of exam hall checked the keys and count my score.. well thats all i sincerely did.

CAT'08 came and went. What i remember from that day is travelling with friends to Calicut which is about 10 hours from our place. I knew that I'm not gonna get IIM calls this year hence i was cool throughout the exam. Came out saw a movie and had a booze with friends.. forgot CAT. So much that the day before result we were playing FIFA throughout the night. On my way back to hostel one of my classmates asked me my result. I was shocked to hear that results were out. Even though i hadn't worked hard still i was curious to know the result. 95.71% it was. I was happy to say the least. applied to some colleges and appeared for their second rounds. Went alone to chennai and bangalore to attend those. Was a very good experience but not a positive one. Got a call from a college which i didn't join. I had an INFY job offer which i thought about joining. Didn't give a thought to appear again and follow the same rigorous procedure starting from filling the forms.

Final sem exams arrived and i was hitting PG regularly especially this very thread. Even during my university preps i couldn't resist myself from this site. I had read all posts in this thread by then. By now i felt i should 've done this before. But it wasn't the time to regret. Rather it was one to assure myself that one day i would be writing here.

SEASON 09
--------------
BTech over and back home. Joined a test series after thinking a lot. Things went fine as i was able to chalk out a plan and work according to it. Thought of giving all the exams and skip the company's call. Suddenly everything looked gloomy due to my recent performances in mocks and was rethinking my decision. After a lot of advice from people from PG and other friends i had decided to join INFY. Had to convince parents as mother was alone at home. Quickly i completed all the formalities and landed in mysore thinking that i would prepare with all might for MBA exams.

And it wasn't the case. People were so busy that they hardly thought about doing anything apart from studying. And the fact that mysore campus was awesome and offered several facilities made things worse. I had in fact stopped writing mocks towards the end as training was getting hectic day after day.

IIFT exam day.. Went with one of my friends who knew bangalore and with whom i stayed the previous night. I still remember people studying in front of centre and we just smiled. We talked about anything but the exam. Whatever funny things we were talking about were still buzzing my ears just before the start of the exam. 5 minutes before the exam i prepared myself mentally to perform. Since i wasn't tensed i gave it a decent shot. Checked the keys and found i stood a chance. Forgot it.

Gave CAT on the second day of the window and had a feeling that i screwed it. Could never open PG from there as i thought it would be restricted but it wasn't. One
fine day i opened and saw IIFT results were out. NOW my hands trembled. Opened the pdf file and saw my name among the selected 1000 and was quite elated. Now it was time for real hard work as i knew i had to read a lot and sharpen my GK. Again i didn't have anyone to prepare with and people were so much immersed in training there were times i felt discouraged and to do exactly what they were doing.

I kept my composure and went to the GDPI with low expectations but confidently. My GD performance was average but PI was very good but overall I wasn't satisfied. Thanks to my hectic schedule i didn't even bother about it. Its good to be busy sometimes in life. In the meantime i couldn't write XAT as we had a very important exam(compre- for those who know) the next day. I had fared badly in CAT but again didn't spare time to think about it.

IIFT results were out one day and by not seeing my name in delhi list i was disappointed. I didn't bother about kolkata due to my ignorance about the waitlist movement. Got posted in bangalore. Came to know that i 've received an offer from iift kolkata. I thanked GOD for giving me one convert for this season. Checked PG that day and found out i had some chances of converting delhi. Felt great and started preparing mentally for this movement. The IIM waitlist had stopped moving or so i thought. Me and a friend who had cleared IMT G this season were going to join the test series next week when shockingly i received a mail from Mr.Gulati for delhi campus. Couldn't believe my eyes. I told my friends to read the mail and tell me whether it meant I had an IIFT-D call. I didn't confirm it until i called IIFT office the next day. The feeling is yet to sink in.

LESSONS
-----------
i) During my CAT preparation it happened that I was about to get bogged down by people's comments. But then I started putting people in proper perspective. If you feel someone is discouraging you understand why is he/she saying that. What I ve always found is that they are not getting what they want in life(as they are not striving for it) hence their approach is negative. And it is definitely not to pull you down!(though it may look like)

ii) From being an introvert, shy guy with low confidence during my school days to someone who could initiate a discussion, speak confidently in interviews, I ve seen a mammoth change in me. It's nothing but the desire and prayers. It's all in the mind guys. If you desire something and if you give enough energy to your thought there's no reason why you won't get it (provided your cause is right).

iii) Think positively always. If my parents hadn't dreamt of this I might not have been here. Whatever tough times I ve had I never stopped dreaming.
Conclusion: If I can be here anyone with proper focus can.

"That which is necessary will inevitably take place"

So, finally my dream of IIM is in reality after a lot of risk, hard work, struggle, failure & patience. After rejection from 5 premier institute in India (IIT B, Kgp, D, IIM L,K in sequence.......later on 17/5/10 IIT kgp converted), IIM Indore gave me huge shock of life in form of my selection. The day 09/09/09 I resigned to 11/05/10 day of selection, I went through number of ups & downs. But I sustained to them & finally victory belonged to me. So folks, I will like to recap all those incidents in way of my admission.

On 3 Aug 2009, I resigned from my post of Assi. Manager - Lab in VMESI. But Manager told me to think once again & didn't accept my letter. I remained firm on my decision to go for management career & resigned. So, 09/09/09 was my last day in VMESI. People gave me farewell party & I marched towards my target of IIM. I came to my hometown & started study. I didn't joined class. But I took so many notes, books & question papers from my dear friend Dere. I filled forms of IIFT, CAT,XAT, JMET & FMS. I started study. I didn't have any friend in our hometown to study with me. But my self motivating approach drove me to do hard work. I studied there till diwali & after diwali I came back to pune to remain in heat of preparation. I joined reading room. I studied for 8 hrs per day. I solved so many question papers. My first exam was IIFT in mumbai. It was OK. On 30/11/09, I have CAT paper. With cool & unruffled mind, I gave exam, I solved near about 35 question. I became relaxed after exam. However I got to know people had had attempted 45+ questions. So, slightly I went in gloomy mode. But I had to have gear up as I had JMET after 13 days. I gave JMET & after exam, I checked my answers with answer key & I found I may get at least a single call from IIT & I was happy. From my view, both CAT & JMET were of same difficulty level. After that, I came to home, now I was looking for job because I don't like to get money from parent as I am 22+ year old. But I didn't got it or might be my efforts were less. Then I came to pune for NEW YEAR celebration & next day I appeared for XAT which was highly tough & for me essay was disastrous. Next day there was result of JMET. I was eligible to apply. I applied for all IITs. Meantime, I was in rejection list of IIFT & XAT(in turn XLRI & GIM). CAT result was postponed. Subsequently, I was eligible to apply to IITs.

Now I was in dilemma to go for job or prepare fully for GD/PI only & decided later- To go for Full-fledged GD/PI preparation. I was sure I will get admission somewhere. My next GDPI was of IIT R. but I skipped it as it was too long. After long agonizing wait, CAT result declared. I wasn't in for IIM A,C,S. I was again sad. But two days later, IIM L list came out & I was in. I had feeling of cloud nine. Within few days, I also had selected for IIM K & I. I got strong feeling that I will get admission somewhere. I skipped interview of IIT M & K. I attended interview of IIT B & Kgp & D. On 10/04/10, all interviews were finished. It was start of waiting time.

21/04/10 was date of IIT result declaration. I had great hopes from at least IIT kgp. But against my expectation I was dumped by IIT kgp & as expected I wasn't in for IIT B. Also, I got rejected after few days by IIT delhi. I was in turmoil. My feelings of defeat had started to grow up. But I had hopes from IIM L. My IIM L interview was better than best ever. But interviews of IIM K & I were average. On 28/04/10, result of IIM L declared & to the greatest shock of my life, I wasn't in for IIM L. I was completely devastated. I become totally numb. I found dark everywhere. I wasn't able to think. I wasn't able to understand where it went wrong. I guessed my CGPA (which is 6.56) is a reason behind my rejection. In mind, I started to accuse IIM L for giving so much credit to CGPA. I lost my confidence. I assumed I would be out of IIM K & I also and this is end of season for me as I also didn't appeared for MHCET. I didn't tell my family members about my rejection. Next day I packed my luggage (with CAT books & remained rough pages for preparation of CAT10) & came to Mumbai in search of job. I started to live with Vishwas in his flat at Sion. Internally I was broken. But I started to smile with friends. I was trying to boost my confidence with my positive attitude. I considered next year is one more chance for self improvement. I knew I deserve IIM, sooner or later I will be there. I have determination to go management & I have taken decision of management career & I need to stand by with it. My roommates in Mumbai were doing job. So they were leaving early from room & coming in evening. I was alone in flat. The day I was spending with ET & some books. I called some consultant also but there reply was "Right now we don't have any opening but if we will have, then we will come back to you". After their reply I was cursing myself for leaving job. Also most of time I was sleeping, but I had so many nightmares. The persons I didn't meet last some months were coming in my dreams. Days were passing, I attended one interview also, but my profile was not matching with their requirement. Meantime, I also in rejection list of IIM K. On 11/05/10 morning, my balance in card came to Rs.34 considering the fact that most of time bill was paid my Vishwas. Also, I didn't had room rent or any related accessory charges. So I had been looking huge crisis in future.

On morning of 11/05/10, my dad called me & asked about result. I clearly told him I have been rejected by all institutes. Now I am looking for job. He had disappointed because he has so many hopes from me. After call, I was on a way to cry. I had lost the battle. But also I determined to find job earliest & to start study of CAT10.
That was also a day of IIM indore result. But I wasn't interested as I assumed that I would not be in. But also I have curiosity to check the result, in turn my rejection. At 3pm, I called Vishwas & I asked him to check whether results are declared or not. He inquired about my CAT regn no & DOB. I gave. After few minute, he called me & said "Are tu nahi zala select, jaun de, apan job shodu (You are not selected. We will search job.)" I said "Ok. I know that. Bye". Before ending the call, he enthusiastically said "Bhai tumhi select zale ahat IIM indore madhe(you are seletced)". I was in a shock. I told him please don't make fun & tell me true result. He repeated again & again but I wasn't able to believe. He gave mobile to his colleague & he also said "I am selected". I can't describe my situation of that moment. I said OK to him & ended the call. I called another friend Charya & asked him to check result & he replied I am selected. Now I started to believe that I am in for IIM I. I was on half pant. I wore shirt & came down to building & by bus I went to Net Caf. As afternoon time, it was closed. I agonized. I went forward in search of somewhere near. My friends started to phone me & congratulate. But I was still uncertain about result. I wandered in that area & got a Net Caf. I went in & checked result & I found I m in for IIM Indore. ONE OF THE HAPPIEST MOMENTS IN MY LIFE. I was on top of world. My eyes became wet. I remember a stint in movie "Pursuit of Happiness " in which W. Smith get job as broker after tremendous struggle. "that part of life, that little part of my life is a happiness." I thank GOD for converting my efforts into success. I was entirely shivering. I called my dad & told "I am selected in IIM". He also became happy. I really can't describe that time in words. I came back to room. I was alone. I played song "God tussi great ho" on my mobile & started to dance. I had become mad.

In evening my roommates came. That was party time. They had to go early in office. Still we were in bar till 3 am. Next day I departed Mumbai & came back to hometown via pune. My dream of IIM has come in reality.

The most important thing which I again realized in my life is "PATIENCE & STRUGGLE". These words have supreme importance in our life. If you have done hard work, then you are bound to get what you want, sooner or later victory belongs to you. Just believe on yourself.

on 17/05/10, I got mail from IIT kharagpur that I am selected. But i m nt joining....

very long post.. so its time to stop


Story of my MBA admission: Dream in reality........IIM Indore

Please read previous post as well!!

July 2009 till Nov 2009
During this time, I had almost unofficial RESIGNED FROM MY JOB. I had moved onto bench where I utilized my free time for studies. I had already made my mind that I won't be working any more in IT firm and definitely want an admission to any top 15 b-School in India except few IIMs where I was not eligible as per the kind of weight age they give to 10th, 12th and graduation marks.

I started solving Quant Problems from PG, QQAD from previous years and DI sets and side by side, I have started solving previous TIME and CL Mock CAT of previous year 2007 and 2008. I used to spend most of my office time sitting in Conference Room and solving previous year Mocks.

Soon I came to know that I would be hard locked, it was then, I started planning and asked my HR for 1 month Loss of Pay (LOP) because if I wouldn't get LOP, then I am left with only another option to quit the job and prepared wholeheartedly for MBA but somewhere I had concern to be in job till all forms submission are completed. I had morbid obsession to crack into B-School.

Finally my request was approved and then the whole next month I devoted to CAT preparation.

August 2009
After my LOP request was approved, I stayed back at my home in Bangalore and started preparing very hard. During this time, I had solved entire QQAD of 2006, 2007 and 2008. I got some Number system and geometry questions from Total Gadha and digested enough of material from Pagalguy and other MBA forums.

September 2009
I got know from my new Senior Manager that soon I will be hard locked in one of new project which demands working for 12- 13 hours. I was shocked that with just a month to go for IIFT and CAT exams, how I am going to manage it:oops:.

Also he told me that the pressure would be quite enormous and would have to work from my home and it can extend to 11-12 hours.

It was then I decided to resigned from my job without even telling my parents as they would not have supported my decision. After considering so many factors, I decided to went ahead with my decision and put down my papers and planned to get relieve from the company.

That month, I never slept more than 3-4 hours a day in entire two month:sneaky:. I have worked very hard, solved again previous years and current year mocks. The entire month, I didn't went to Company and spend most of the time in my room where I was living alone.

IIFT Exam- 22 Dec 2009
At 10.00 AM, the exams of my life had started and before the bell goes, I was able to manage to complete all sections with uniform attempt in each section. I came out with confidence that I am very close to get a call from IIFT. I was very happy about my performance and finally hard work had started paid me off.

Last week of November 2009
Finally the wait was over, at least how is the pattern of CAT, difficulty level and number of questions in each sections. I was shocked :shock::shocked:to hear that students with no preparation level attempted in the range of 50-55. I was quite surprised by reading the reviews of students about the difficulty level. At one point, I was broken that this isn't fair for the students who are preparing hard for last 3-4 months:splat:.

CAT Exams-2 Dec 2009
On 2 Dec 2009, I went to center to write first Online CAT and perhaps last CAT of my life. Most of the students have started writing the exams but in my case the Test window hanged for almost 15 minutes which almost panicked me like anything.

Finally after 15 minutes, I began my exam with panic and confusion but manage to attempt 49 questions (18 quant, 15 DI and 16 VA) and was quite confident about getting few calls.

9 Dec 2009
I came to know that IIFT result will be soon announced today before end of the day. I was writing down Mock JMET when somebody stood up in the middle of the exam and announced that IIFT RESULT HAS BEEN DECLARED:cheers:. After few minutes, I got the great news from my friends that I have received my first ever call of B-School:cheerio:.:thumbsup:

Jan 2010 till Feb 18 Feb 2010
As I have resigned from my Accenture long back, I came back to my home town for few days and decided to move to Delhi for preparing further for interviews. Luckily, I got stay in relatives flat where no one was leaving and where I would be going to spend another 1 month and working hard to realize my dream..

By this time, I couldn't manage to get a call from SIBM-Pune and SCMHRD despite being scoring 111.5 marks:shocked:. Moreover, I did blunder in JMET and XAT and knew that FMS will probably near miss 300+.:|

The next whole month was spent on preparing hard for Group discussion and personal interviews. Till this time, I was quite unaware of the process how things are conducted in IIFT which means that it would require a lot of knowledge at least in my case who never had any experience before in B-School Group Discussion and interviews.

Based on my current knowledge, the kind of knowledge/skills expected in interviews and my marks in 10th, 12th and graduation, I knew that I have to work very hard and gather as much as information and knowledge as possible. I knew that the task ahead will be definitely going to tough, so I started my rigorous self study with exactly one month to go. I used to spend most of my time reading newspapers, magazines and other stuff gathered from PG and various other sources.

19 Feb 2010 Interview Day
Finally the most awaited and important day of life came, I went to IIFT for interview. Appeared in GD, essay writing and PI round and was able to manage very well and was quite satisfied with my performance. One month of rigorous preparation seems paid me off and performed well in every aspect.

After my interviews, next thing started worrying me as I have told everyone including family, relatives that I was in medical leave. I have to tell them truth that I took the risk and quit my job long back ago only to crack MBA exams and to achieve my goals and was not interested in further pursing career in IT.

Soon after CAT result were declared and managed to get 96%(98.xx Quant, DI 95.XX, Verbal 60% ). Thanks to normalization in scores and PROMETRIC, myself was normalized too:banghead:. Just manage to get a call from IMT-G/N which I decided to skip as my only concern was that I have made a lot of effort and perhaps doesn't deserve that. (Please note that this is not an offence against any B-schools)

But soon after months later, I got converted my IIFT call (lone precious call) and today I see myself proud that I was succeed in making my own way after bitter experiences. (Sorry Puys, if u thinks as overconfidence but it is pride).

Before i end my long boring post, i would like to share some learning i had with my fellow puys.

Dont loose hope if you dont get good percentile in mocks, just keep on working and try to develop strategies.

Prepare and fight wholeheartedly for any challenges you get in life.

Don't get obsessed only, have morbid obsession to chase your dream. Fight hard to bring your dreams close to reality.

Nothing is impossible, if you dream, work hard towards it, you will surely achieve success and make your own way.

Anyways, I would like to thanks PG team for supporting me and helping me in the every aspect of preparation.

ALL THE BEST.

Thanks
Harsimran Sahni
MBA(IB) IIFT Batch 2010-2012

Scores in IIFT 2009:-
Section Attempted Correct Score
Quant 9 9 9
DI 17 17 17
VA 25 20 14.33
GA 15 11 3.47
-----
43.74

In my entire mock history, I never scored with such accuracy.

Hello Puys,

This space has lot of content about the inspirational story of the guys who are now part of the most reputed B-Schools. Finally the wait is over for me to write this post as I am also a part of one of the most reputed B-Schools of India, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. I cant say that my story/challenges is different from other successful puys but it is definitely different in terms of actions/risk I took to achieve this success. Through my journey was quite painful but there has been immense learning from it.

This is story of Insane IT Guy aka Software Mazdoor who sacrificed his job in Coding factory, only to prepare wholeheartedly for MBA exams and finally got success after few bitter experience which I would like to share with you guys.

History

2001-2003
After barely getting 60 marks in +1, I was very sad with my performance. Moreover, I wasn't preparing for IIT-JEE and even AIEEE as I was still not clear what lies ahead. But in +2, after August I made my mind to appear for AIEEE exams. I knew that I cannot crack IIT-JEE as it required consistently 2 years effort and dedication:banghead::nono:. I started preparing for AIEEE very seriously and landed up in Thapar University, Patiala.:drinking:

In short, I was an average guy, had average marks in 10th and 12th, no IIT tags :oops::|but STILL AIMING VERY HIGH.

2003-2007
The graduation went very smoothly, did nothing significant , moreover, I never want to do Chemical engineering but was forced by parents to opt for that and stay further at home for another 4 years. I still regret that this was one of biggest mistake in my life.

I was in 3rd year of graduation when I first time heard about MBA: and I wasn't still not aware of what exactly I want to do in life. Now begin the rat race as my most of college mates joined Career Launcher in Patiala, so I decided to join the class and started preparing for MBA. Initially I prepared well but gradually I lost my interest and didn't even appear for CAT 2006 after I got placed in Accenture.

August 2007 till October 2008
I reached Bangalore after few days to join Accenture. Initially 2 months, the training period went really well and was hectic too but soon enough I was well versed with how the project worked and being run and learned the great deal about various technologies. I worked very hard in the project and there were days when I have to work for 13-14 hours a day.Was quite unlucky that got into the worst project with just 13 members and loads of work. From August 2007 till the August 2008, the life was completely changed.

It was in August 2008, when my Team Lead informed me that you have won ASE Achievers Awards and cash rewards for stupendous performance during your 1st year. I was very happy that despite being non-computer science background, I have performed very well :). But soon after this achievement, sometime really started worrying me that I don't want to this thing my entire life and started preparing for CAT and another exams. I was good in the Maths but was not comfortable in Verbal Ability. Throughout my 10th and then +2, I have consistently scored less and perhaps in the range of 60s and 70s:-(.

I had the Career Launcher material with me when I joined class in 2006 and started appearing only in mock cat for both CL and Time. I was very shocked with my performance as I was consistently getting low percentile in the range 80-90%. It was in October 2008, when my performance got worsened by every mock cat I wrote and added to this the work pressure:splat:.

November 2008
The D-day has arrived and surprisingly, the VA section had 40 questions as compared 25 questions each in Quant and DI. I gave approx. 75 minutes to my weakest section i.e. VA and 40 to 45 minutes in Quant section and a meager 20- 25 minutes in DI section.

When I came out of examination center, I knew that story ended here and I am not going to make it as I had managed to mismanaged the management exams. I gave another 3 exams IIFT, FMS and XAT and in each exams, I did blunder in either English or DI section.

So year 2008 ended with no calls and got overall 92.xx %(91.xx Quant, 96.xx VA and 32.xx DI:banghead: in CAT 2008 but still didn't lose the hope, I knew that I can also be a part of prestigious school by working hard and devoting more time in preparation.


January 2009 till June 2009
After CAT 2008, I had completely lost my interest in working in IT firm(coding factory):-( especially in development and maintenance team and was obsessed with cracking CAT. Moreover, the things started changing in my project. During this time, the condition in the project got worsened, my seniors started leaving project because of arrival of new team lead who was no less than Hitler. Some were forced to leave the project and other decided to move onto another assignment. But in my case, the Pre-CATing days were back again, spending 12-14 hours per day in office :drinking:and added to this that I have to crack CAT this year DEFINITELY.

Finally in the May 2009, I asked him to relieve me from this project. To my surprise, he agreed but still took another 2 months to relieve me from the responsibility. During my last 15 days in project, I started taking things sincerely regarding MBA preparation. I started collecting a lot of material from different sites and mock cats and prepared a study plan to crack MBA exams.

To be continued.....

This isn't really an inspiring story but something which I had written for my blog two years ago when I was in my final year of engineering. I had thought of posting it on Pagalguy only when the time was right..

Here it goes..

Thursday, April 3, 2008
CAT-o-feeler!
Although I would have liked to write this post when I myself would have had something to write home about but nevertheless one should never miss an opportunity to humor the reality of life.
DISCLAIMER: The views of the author are entirely personal (and hence not important) and are a reflection of behaviour of people at large (including the authors!). Any resemblance to acts of any classmate or friend is purely co-incidental.
So the CAT season begins with these lively conversations in class usually around at the time of New Year when people sitting behind cant stop raving about this certain Kumar Sir/ Verma Sir/ Sharma sir who is apparently brilliant at teaching Prime and Composite Numbers to people in the age group of 20-25 years. His biggest fans being students of 3rd year engineering who as such are experts at solving partial differentiation equations using Lagranges Theorem and finding Fourier Transform of complex functions but genuinely need assistance when it comes to solving problems of Speed, Time and Distance.
People, who must have never gone beyond reading Chacha Choudhary at the age of 12, will develop an overnight fancy for books like Atlas shrugged, Fountain head, Freakonomics because the pretty female at the coaching institute asked the boys to develop good reading habits. All of a sudden, about a dozen students in the class can be spotted reading The Hindu every morning since The Hindustan Times and The Times of India dont really match up to the standards of English required for CAT.
The good thing about CAT is that everyone is made to believe that they have a lot of scope and potential to transform themselves into super human beings irrespective of whether you end up in a B-School or not. So people will religiously attend classes of How to read 600 words per minute. (If someone has mastered the art of the same, please drop me a line).
GRE Barrons would become a bible for most and highly sophisticated vocabulary used in grammatically poor sentences will find its way in daily conversations.
The buzzword of the season would be strategy! Every conversation shall find a religious usage of the word strategy which amongst other techniques shall also include intellectual discussions about whether to solve the jumbled sentences first or do family tree problems first.
The season shall start with discussions about how qualified and friendly (?!) the faculty is at each of the coaching institutes which apparently form the most important criteria of choosing one. Mid-way it will just boil down to where the crowd is better!
On the whole, the CAT season is a highly entertaining sight what with non-aspirants also taking an active part in this festival of strategies. So as the noble aspirants will shun the world to crack the paper (which some of them do!) , the non-aspirants will love to poke their noses all year through advising how good or bad a certain B-school is . Theyll love to take potshots at the hardworking souls, all the time being unaware of their own standing.
So much so for the journey, the emotional impact of CAT results varies directly in proportion to your passion for it. From those who are unable to make the cut, while some people will accept the negative gracefully, analyze the past and move on to cracking it next year, theyll be others from whom youll never hear the end of how wrong the circumstances were, or how facile the paper was or better still how the institute is no good anyway!! The last excuse makes up for the best lines :clap:
One day if I'm in a position to do greater justice to this post, then I shall elaborate further on the other earth shattering consequences of the CAT results until then, can someone tell me how to enhance my vocabulary by 50 words each day?
MDI
PGPM (2010-2012)

Alrite...now is my turn to write the story.....for all those who think for iitians, getting into an iim is a child's play, then read on...this is gonna be a long story but i will try to narrate in an interesting manner

Year 2005:

i was studying at iit-d and was it was the start of 7th semester. i was rank-2 in my deptt and was preparing for toefl/gre and was scheduled to pursue phd from usa in chemical engineering field.....our placements were to be held at the end of 7th sem, so was concentrating on gre preps...1st august, my close friend who was interested in mba from IIM A/B/C joined rootseducation which was at the backdoor of iit......i also joined it there and then but didnt started preparing untill september 19th when my gre was scheduled and my entire focus was on d exam...if u think, if i wanted to pursue phd, then y did i join mba preps, then read on:

this goes into flashback....i prepared for iit-jee entrance test for full 2years during 11th and 12th class...preps were very gud and i was confident of getting into iit with a very gud rank..cleared the prelims and all..but in mains had a very bad rank......except jee, in all other entrance tests, i had very gud results and took admission in nsit electronics..was happily settled there....but in 2nd semester, started feeling d heat and decided to reappear for jee and got 1109 rank in jee and admission to chem engg at iit-delhi.........the result was highly unsatisfactory to me as i used to rate myself very highly those days and this is how i wanted to prove to d world through cat exam tht my iit-jee results were an anomaly and my rank 2 in my deptt as well as super %ile in cat is a testimony tht i m stud.....so was looking at cat for redemption...

coming back to the story..after sept 19th, i knew i hav crammed d whole vocab og barron and i m on strong foot in va, so started preparing earnestly for cat with only one aim...score 99.5+%ile in cat...barely a month into d preps, that d disaster stuck...had one of d worst disease in dis world..dengue fever!! entire month got washed away laying on hospital bed and there i was barely 10 days left looking into cat 2005 and staring at bad grades in semester exams due to prolong absence.......

wrote some mocks courtesy career forum in those 10 days but barely managed anything due to lack of practice and out of touch.....cat result was however a bit above my expectations...got 97.3%ile overall with 75%ile in di, 97%ile each in qa and va.....didnt mind though and prepared hard to save myself from bad grades in college and retained my rank 2 which was so dear to me and was built on hard work and dedication....but a feeling started sinking in tht i aint tht a bond...i m just above avg....

year 2006:

very bad start to the year...was in for a rude shock....i had applied to phd to top 10 univs and i didnt get a call from a single one....realised tht one of d proffs had played d spoilsport in reco letter and had spoiled all my apps,...i was doomed......i was so confident of pursuing phd tht i didnt develop basic attributes to get a gud job...my resume was pathetic with no formatting and all....

companies came and went...some shortlisting me but then ditching me.....entire 8.5+ pointers in college got placed except me and one other...somehow, luck came my way and i got selected into UOP after 5 rounds selection process ..the company came to campus for d first time and is a dream company for chemical engg students......my gud times started from thereon...forgot abt phd altogether...god had played d trick....with that kind of job, things were on a great platform...i was sent to usa within a month of joing for over an year...had a great tiem there...and yes no worry abt cat 2006 as i was out of d country....year 2006 over

Year 2007

came back from usa in oct, but sent to philippines for 5 months in nov first week...anyways had no chance of writing cat since i didnt fill d application form and neither did i bothered...was happy wid minting money at foreign locations......

Year 2008

came back from philippines to india in march ....had got a rude learnign of life....staying away from home for straight 1.5 years at such an early age made me very home sick and i realized tht at home i hav better things to do than living a nomadic life here andd there...requested d management to post me permanently in delhi office......the things kickstarted from hereon....back to my hometown, got ample time with myself and slowly dream of nailing d cat started haunting me but now i had a valid reason too to do mba...so joined TIME regular mba prep course and started preps in full vigour...things started on a gud note but things are not tht smooth.....my father got seriously ill in b/w for months tht affected my concentration during the entire season....plus, being new to delhi office, work was taking its toll due to new work environment but things were slowly settling down.....i was not doing exceptional in mocks but used to score 99+ every now and then.........in nov start, i realised i had gud preps nd i m in wid a chance....had filled cat form only.....took a 14 days break from work to concentrate on cat....did d worst mistake ever.....as i had nothing to study much in those 14 days, i used to pass my time thinking more and more abt d exam.....the anxiety levels started increasing gradually in sub concious mind and by 14th nov, i had become visibly nervous and anxious.....d day came....but before it could come, my bad luck came to haunt me...on d morning of d-day, i woke up at 3-4 am in utter pain and discomfort......the anxiety levels had did me in....had fallen sick on d exam day......all hopes started fading...father told me to relax and forget abt d exam.....but i told him, watever i say, u just get m,e to d exam center..rest i will manage......somehow reached d exam center...cannt forget tht day....i was very uncomfortable.......was very tired beacuse of sickness and no rest since 4 am...went in with only 20% energy....paper pattern had changed and my mind didnt form an effective strategy to counter increased no of questions in VA........attempted rc's literally half-sleeping mode......but i dont make it an excuse for bad performance......i was afailure and i accept it.......came back home and checked my answers...scored very gud in di and quant but was on borderline in va...experts told me tht i will manage 2-3 calls
Year 2009
9th jan results came: oa 98.3, qa and di - 98%ile+, eu - 88%ile no iim calls
entire season wasted
my father sensing my disappointment bought me a car on very next day....the rest of d year was gud...my father's health improved considerably...my job appraisal was also gud....somehow, i gave up my dream of cat.....also, i realised tht i m only an above-average guy nd only way i can succeed is thru hard-work.....i cannt forget may 28 when TIME had a free mock...on 26th may, told father tht TIME is having a free mock and i dont knw whether to giv or not....after deliberating, thought i wont giv it....on 28th morning, after coming from morning walk,....something happened in my sub conscious mind nd i geared up to take d mock....then there was no looking bk...enrolled in 3 mock test series by september and attended classes in time's bright batch...things were smooth but then in october one of d most significant events happened in my life which ripped thru my preps......i got engaged and was scheduled to get married in january and engagement ceremony in december.......my preps were over for gud.....didnt study even a bit after tht...managed to give 4-5 mocks after tht and tht too with poor scores...scheduled for 30th nov slot for cat and was in usa for 1 week for client presentation till 23rd nov.....u can imagine how out of touch i got........after coming bk, couldnot study anything since work related committments were at peak by then.....went for nov 30 exam with very little confidence but was not anxious a bit this time....

the miracle happened and my exam got postponed to 7th dec........applied sharukh's formula...6 din cat course in......revised everything and appeared for d exam.....attempted 53 questions ......

year 2010

results came albeit a bit late. scored 99.72%ile (see signature for breakup)....got 5 iim calls - B/L/I/Ranchi/Rohtak in addition to mdi-g........it was a dream come true....i was visibly estatic tht day.....i had got wat i had started beleiving i dont deserve.....
next task was to convert them....skipped ranchi nd rohtak........appeared for d rest 4.....gave my best shot but was able to convert indore only.....but anyways my dream was fulfilled to get iit+iim tag and a cat %ile of 99.5%ile+........i think god has been kind to me and i was able to convert 1 of my 3 best calls........

the story of cat ends here but the story of struggle doesnt...it merely gets into a new form.....as i say, struggling is something i cannt live without .......the task at hand will b difficult nd i hope to maintain my fighting spirit alive!!!!


Thanks for having so much patience to read my story!!!

Regards
Anshul

Warning..!! Really Long, boring, emotional and philosophical rambling ahead.....

I hope your hair doesn't turn grey after reading this..!!!

This is no fairy tale and if you people are expecting strategies to crack CAT please excuse me. But if you are looking for something more than that please read on and bear with my writing skills.4 years after coming across Pagalguy and countless no of times reading this thread for inspiration, I finally got to realize my dream. There have been times when I literally cried after reading the posts on this thread. Tales of people who have realized their dreams, overcoming the difficulties thrown at them by life made me realize that if people in those circumstances can do it, why can't I do it inspite of having nothing to worry about and being a pampered child at home. So here goes my journey...and it's a long one.


2005: Final year engineering..was preparing for CAT without knowing why. This is called herd mentality. Placed in Infosys (This is also herd mentality, studying electronics and joining a sw job) and CAT prep was thrown to dogs. Blissfully enjoyed my final year engineering days doing absolutely nothing. Wrote CAT 2005 and was not surprised by the result (84.XX). Forgot about CAT.


2006: Joined Infosys and had a great time at Mysore with friends. I was vacillating between MS and CAT. Was not sure what I wanted to do. Thought I will work for a couple of years and then decide. Did not give CAT.


2007:Wanted to badly go back to my hometown and transfer was not forthcoming. Said goodbye to Infosys and joined a product development company thinking atleast that will improve my coding skills. Was enjoying my work and freedom in the new company. Again did not give CAT, but it was constantly ringing in my mind.


2008: Realized that I want to be in India and a career as a techie in India is not feasible financially or work satisfaction wise unless you have a super brain and have lots of inclination towards technical side of things(this is not to say that B-School grads don't have brains...!!It's just that they use it in a different way) a, both of which I don't have. So CAT was back into the picture and was playing in my mind like background music. But as I said I was lazy and got comfortable with my job. Still, I enrolled for TIME AIMCAT series and was writing them with out any preparation or analysis and my scores varied from 65 to 97 percentile many of them being in 80s, but I was scoring consistently good in VA and it was my strength. I had this strong belief (don't ask me from where I got this funny idea, but it sure helped me...!!!)that I am always a big game player and I would do well when it matters the most and that is what kept me going in spite of my fluctuating mock scores, but also led me to a sense of complacency. Finally on the C-day gave the exam with out an iota of anxiety or stress or any expectations. Results came OA 97.56 (VA 98.XX QA 88.XX DI 88.XX) Felt bad about it thinking had I practiced QA and DI I would have cracked it. Again forgot about CAT and concentrated on my work which was getting boring day by day and not even remotely challenging.


2009: June came and with it the mock CAT season. Started giving mocks seriously this time and analyzed the first few mocks after the exam. Scores still fluctuated wildly 65 to 95 percentile. Somewhere in August lost the motivation, but the thought of CAT engulfed me all the time. All I did was just think about the exam and do nothing about it. The feeling was so intense that I became more frustrated about my inaction and I still did nothing...!!!! This was the time when the holiest of the threads on pagalguy came to my rescue. I don't know how many times and how many hours I spent reading this thread again and again. Finally I pulled myself up and decided that it was now or never. For the whole of october I religiously prepared for the exam. Analyzing mocks, solving QA and DI from previous papers and reading as if my life depended on it..!!! And then it happened again...lost my motivation and this thread came to my rescue yet again. Took 10days leave from office before the exam and revised all my quant basics, read different kinds of stuff and just relaxed. On the C-day went to the center along with my friend and just gave it normally as if it is some mock CAT. Attempted around 53 questions and was satisfied, but did not have high hopes as reports on PG suggested that the paper was easy and people were attempting 50+ questions. Anyway, forgot about it as even the answer key was not there to indulge in speculations.


2010: Concentrated on my job and the period of jan to feb was one of my most productive times at work. And after all the drama results came. I scored 99.15 (QA 99.24, DI = 94.67, VA = 95.43). Expected BLIK calls, but it turned out BC(PGDCM)LI. Till then I never attended a GD in my entire life and had no idea how a B-School interview was going to be. Took help for interview from one of my dad's friend's son who is an IIM C alumni and also from my cousin who is also an IIM C alumni..!!! Did all my GDs and PIs well except for Lucknow in which I was royally screwed in the GD where I hardly spoke..!!Finally converted C and I. The day I converted C was the most happiest day in my life till then and I can't forget that moment. I jumped on my mom and dad like a small child and started kissing them wildly. I could not sleep that night wondering if I really converted it.


Things I want to say to you guys even though you would have probably heard these things a thousand times:

1. Self belief is the most important factor in your success. Period.

2. Never ever give up. I could have easily given up writing CAT after having 4 yrs of work ex, but my dream kept me going and of course this thread. Guys, seriously, after having 4yrs of work ex people loose the motivation to give CAT and explore other options and it has happened to many of my friends. I don't know what I would have done if I did not get through this time, but still I kept my hopes alive for 4 yrs.

3. Don't take it seriously. This may seem contradictory, but it helps to keep your calm in the exam, but also be guarded against complacency during preparation stage.

4. It's not the end of world. Not getting into IIMs or a good B-School is not the end of world. Believe that there are better things coming your way. Believe me when I say I am no longer euphoric over getting into IIM C. That moment of glory is over. It's fleeting. After all the wishes have poured in, it's back to normal for me. People have moved on with their lives and I am again back to thinking what's next...!!!! So please enjoy each and every moment of your life and that's the most important thing.

5. Last but not the least, please read this whole thread atleast thrice before you start CAT prep...!!!!


Congratulations....you are well on the way for your RC prep..!!!

but some how u got to live wid reality..so started my prep for GD's ..again no clue wat a GD means...
enrolled myself for weekend clses in Time BAngalore..
first mock..barely i opened my mouth...its like a dogs fight for the next 10mins n 1 dog didnt try to bark even n dats me (coming from a village n after getting used to mothertongue educatioon,,its very difficult to speak in GD)..but determined to open my mouth in next mock (coz stilll i remembeer dat girl n want to show wat im)..

after sum 5 or 6 not so gud mocks my IITB inetrview came..didnt manage to speak well in GD but interview is a gud 1..
IITD..avg GD n superb interview
SPJAIN ist round reject
MDI...superb GD n awesome interview..
NITIE didnt attend...(i dint get call for PGDIM but got cvall for software engg)..
IMT didnt attend..

for some reason I want IITB n only IITB...i neva bothered abt IITD or MDI...

d results day..
sorry u didnt get selected is the reply from IITB..not even waitlisted..dont know wat went wrong but once again accept the reality...

slelected in IITD n MDI HR n waitlisted for MDI PGPM..

personally i dont want MDI irrespective of conversion in PGPM n decided to go to IITD...
then sum of my frnds advised me not to join this yr as its my first attemptt n dat too widout coaching...but i feel i dont know whether ill prep next yr or not,,whether this momentum will be alive dat time or not (coz i may find sum odr girl in the mean time then revenge on the previous girl wont be there)...so decided to go to IITD...all the best to me...

im from no IIT...no extra curriculars..decent enough %..these factors also played wen decidind tyo join IITD this yr....


I started preparing for CAT only for dat girl but later i really enjoyed preparing...its really like a race..every mock cat result is like a festival for me irrespective of the % i got...

few lessons i can teach u..

dont put all the eggs in d sme basket..means dont concentrate only on CAT..IIMs cant accomodate all indians rite....dont neglect preparation once CAT is over(it costed me XLRI n FMS)...

dont neglect ur achilles heel..verbal in my case n it costed me my IIM call..

coaching n 1 yr preparation are not must...no coaching n 2months prep can also fetch u a seat in decent enough colege...

Dont know whether sumthing happens if u want it wid all ur heart(alchemist) but definitely it will happen if u put all your efforts...

ALL D VERY BEST DUDEs....

AIMCAT 14 is my first aimcat n scored 95 as already told...aimcat 13 around 94..then arun told me 94% are always gud to C but they wont fetch u anything if u didnt make it to 98+...i know im damn gud in quants but DI n verbal are never my cup of tea..but to my surprise i got gud %les in VA in both those AIMCATs..n AIMCAT12 bang on target wid 99.3% with 99.8% in verbal....so on cloud 9 n thought im damn gud at verbal(no clue abt things to come)..DI was the toughest part 4 me in almost all AIMCAts...I managed to get 94+% in almost all AIMCATs wid occasional 80's n 98's...apart from AIMCATs arun advised me to go thru CAreerforum pervious yr papers(quality of questions is damn gud)...

I booked my slot on 6th December(after boookin 1 of my frnd told me its black day n no clue at dat time dat its goin to be a black day for my IIM ambitions..)...applied to IIFT,FMS,XLRI,JMET along wid CAT..n even wid dat 2 months preparation also ..,im confident dat il make it to top 10 n neva applied anything below top15....

22nd november..IIFT..first B school entrance of my life...butterflies in stomaxch as usual n they costed me sum 3 sitters in quants..the moment i came out of hall i know im out of race...
6th dec...CAT...tough verbal 18 attempts..admn easy quants..15 attempts n i know 1 is wrong for sure(worst show as quants is my strength..)..DI 18attempts ..decent enough show...considering my attempts n previous days f/b no hopes...
13th dec..JMET..forgot to carry my watch n d gorgeous on my rite showed me d way n time...sum 100 odd attempts n gud show by any standard...thanku gorgeous...
1 month long gap to the next exam n i can swear u i never touched ny book..
3rd jan XAT n 10th JAN FMS..both the exams i neva thought like sitting there..but 1000 I have paid for fee made me sit there for the exam time...

RESULTS

IIFT 34.5 marks wid crossing all sectionals ..gud but not gud enough..
JMET AIR 89...hurray moment for me..my 2 months efforts paid me..
XAT 97.76%...applied for BM only n missed the cutooff..
CAT 97.87% wid verbal 70%..felt like crying for a moment..but have to accept itt..
FMS 328 while cutoff is 331...
who the hell on earth will be unluckier than me...n dat tooo XAT n FMS missed bcoz of my mistake (neva touched book in dat month)

What is ur ambition?? asked some senior of mine in 2004(ist yr engg) n i told him doing MBA 4m IIM (i can swear u I dont know wat MBA is n IIMs r apart from reading in sum newspaper abt MBA in IIM)...seems god mistaken T for M n he gave me IIT ....nyhows no regrets coz i dont think i can ask for anything more wid sum 45days prep widout any coaching)...

sorry if it is boring n forgive me for bringin sum personnel issues also...

some october 2008 i hjave joined SAIL and first 4 months is an awesome journey..just enjoyin no work no tensions only salary...I was loving a girl in my Btech n even she 2 loved me(dats wat she told me)...but due to some unavoidable technical glitches i couldnt talk wid her properly for sum 6months n later she started tellin dat we r gud frnds..asked her wats d problem n started gettin weirdf reples..n 1 among them how can u take care of me wid d sal u r gettin in a PSU(though it is sumthing arnd 38k for a 22yr old)...so for her sake i want to start preparing for CAT (1 more reason i dont want to stay in a PSU for my entire life)...

SO I HAVE STARTED TAKING CAT SERIOUSLY N DECIDED TO LEAVE DAT GIRL(but i cant..stil i luv her)...evrything happens 4 a reason n it seems my love wid dat girl is only to divert my attention to MBA(its 4 yrs since i told dat senior aim is MBA in IIM n i never bothered to give a damn thought to neither CAT nor IIM in these 4 yrs)...

its september 2009 if im not wrong i started preparing CAT..havent attended any clsroom coaching for CAT b4 n i cant afford to take now as im staying in SALEM(no gud coaching insti's)...so its a journey alone dat 2 after feeling ditched by a girl(later i came to know she is in love wid another guy who happened to be my close frnd ..shock after shock...thought LOVE IS CONSTANT but LOVER IS VARIABLE u can change wen u wish hahaha...)...

I have no clue how to prepare 4 CAT but I know one of my frnd givin AIMCATs when i was in verizon...so I 2 want to give AIMCATS n enrolled in time...widout any preparation I gave myy first AIMCAT n got 95%..surprised for a moment n later thought widout any prep i got 95 so wid marginal preparation ill be a 100%er.so to make 100% a reality i have started workin..got TIME materails XEROXED by september month end and my serious journey started....

In the mean time I came to know sum arun is workin in my plant n dat guy got 99+ % n goin to join IIMB...so I got my Dronacharya..I went to him n asked his help for preparatiion..so I got sum books,I got a guru n enough motivation(to show dat girl WAT IAM..hehe little childish rite)...

its a 9 to 5.30 job ..so no prob for me in preparing after ofc ohours...n its a PSU so no prob for preparing in ofc hours even...so i never bothered to give a damn thought to wat my bossess r thinkin of me..I have put my heart into for entire october n november..6-12 in the evngs and 6-8 in the mornings..n some formulae n al in the ofc....its my routine for those 2 months....

Contd ...
July 2009 - 6 June 2010
Awesome time ... a person who remained devoid of friends for almost 1 year found lot of friends , started enjoying preparation for CAT rather than taking it too seriously . However, being transferred to Mangalore did not provided a chance to have discussion with faculty on questions but realized that it was no more needed as puys were around me all the time. Joined TIME and IMS mocks as CL is not available in Mangalore .

Most of you reading the posts are aware of the crests and troughs in mocks of this season as well Took December 5, 2009 slot for first ever online CAT :)

Immediately after coming out of examination room , talked to Varun Rajaram as he and Milind were also in same slot. Then , began the long wait for results. During the wait , got calls from IIFT , SIBM , SCMHRD and then came the results of CAT .

Scored overall 98.38 with shocking 91.xx in QA , 92.xx in DI and 99.xx in VA

No IIM calls were guaranteed especially with the revised criteria of many IIMs ... but bagged calls from biggies like MDI , Gurgaon and NITIE, Mumbai along with calls from IMT-G, IMI , FORE and a consolation call from GIM , Goa ( I still don't know why I filled so many forms ... may be due to great IT experience )

However, did not attend GIM's PI after straight rejects from SIBM , SCMHRD . Another PI reject awaited in the form of IIFT. By this time , I decided to skip FORE and IMI as well. Attended IMT-G , MDI on consecutive days and then NITIE which was more of a reason to meet Varun Rajaram for the first time than getting a convert .Had lot of fun in Mumbai , went to PGHQ for first time and then again the wait for results started.

Was in food court in office, got call from Rajaram about NITIE Results... i was waitlisted at 3 which is considered as a sure shot convert and he had a straight convert Was happy for both of us but happiness doomed as came to know about the very high waitlist number of 2 of my very good PG friends

After lot of discussions with seniors from various b-schools as well as few people from industry , I decided to go for NITIE no matter what the result of other calls were. Got waitlisted at high number in MDI but was happy as it brought a convert for one of my dear friend Milind .

The season came to an end with official confirmation of NITIE Convert and with it came an end to my CAT journey and though i could not achieve the highest which i aimed for , I am happy that I did not had to compromise with my back up plan because if it was neither NITIE nor MDI , i would have gone for CAT 2010. :)

7 June , 2010
Today , if I look back and analyse my journey , I realize that more we enjoy our preparation , more we succeed . And no journey can have a happy ending without friends :)

Simple things happened in my last 1 year journey... and I don't find anything special to mention especially when I believe that nothing special for someone else can be special for you and help you in achieving what they achieved. Every person has his own special way to tackle exams and his hold on that approach will help him in cracking exam rather than approach of some other person on which he worked for sometime with a hope that he will master it.

Just 2 things i would like to say to aspirants ...
1. Never get tensed by your low scores and high scores of peers. Try to improve yourself all the time rather than thinking about how is your peer scoring. I found good number of people who kept on thinking on latter and did harm to none other than themselves.

2. The key to success in CAT is the fun in the journey of preparation .. and you can have it by only being the part of this great forum .. Be active on PG always , take help and help others

Before I sign off .. would like to thank few people who helped me directly or indirectly in this journey especially during the time when i felt low. Rajaram Varun , Naga and Prem saar , you three will remain special for me for the posts and PM you sent when i was feeling low after one of the mocks. Also , am thankful to my mentors Raghav bhai , MFI aka Harsh saar and PP to give me suggestions and guidance whenever i was in dilemma . :)

Last but not the least , as i always say in my every thank giving post, am very thankful to Rohit bhai for allowing me to continue as the member of forum and stopping me from the mistakes which I did during my initial days.

:cheers:

Thanks for reading the marathon post

Note: It is a very long post and may be sometimes boring even .. as I have mentioned what all i had to say about my cat journey and have not added any spices of creativity.

After many days of contemplation , amidst the post by various legends , here comes a post by someone who is just like a Boy Next Door .

Why calling himself a Boy Next Door !
-> Average student throughout academic journey till date
-> No IIT/NIT tag
-> Average marks in class 10th, 12th and B.Tech
-> Still, dreams high !

Flashback ... !
September 2006
Was sitting in a senior's room in hostel, discussing on various career prospects. He being a good scholar throughout gave me a good insight on varied career options. He had done some statistical comparison of MBA and non-MBA grads career graphs/growth based on few parameters and explained it to me as well.
I went back to my room and started googling about various things ... ranging from what is MBA , why people do MBA , various specializations in which one can pursue and the top b-schools of the country... this continued for good number of days.
October 2006
Was in home for some holidays , got call from one of the college mates who did not go to home during vacations that Career Forum People are interested in running classes in college campus for CAT 2007. I asked him to enroll me as well.

November 2006
Went to few classes but soon realized that the classes are of no benefit as faculty was not good . Lost my interest and stopped going to classes. Solved few booklets of the course material but later stopped it as well.
December 2006 to May 2007
Got involved in lot of extracurricular activities ... no time for CAT or B.Tech studies .. did not solve even a single question related in any respect to CAT .
June 2007
Was getting bore at home during sem break .. went and purchase QA and DI books of Arun Sharma and solved them completely during vacations and was feeling bit comfortable with a thought that finally I studied something

July 2007 - November 2007
Toughest period of my life ever ... final year of college began , was at either of the top 2 positions of all 4 most active socities/IEEE/clubs of college and conflicts with almost everyone of my branch .
Joined CL Test series and saw great scores varying from 24 percentile to 78 percentile except a single mock where i got some 97 percentile. I was not disheartened by the scores as much bigger things were going on all this time to make me feel down at every possible front.

Took CAT , matched with answer keys and had not performed well in any section except QA . There was no time to think about the performance as even worse things were in store and i kept facing a lose , bigger and bigger day by day.

December 2007 - May 2008
It seemed as if worse and worse things happening with me are now the part of my life . Amidst this , came 2007 CAT Results and i scored 90.xx percentile with QA score of 98.xx , VA of 64.xx and DI of 69.xx.

I lost all friends including the person who was most special for me. Seeing everyone going to those who were doing good from career point of view, I got a point to prove to myself and learnt the biggest lesson of life till that day ' Everyone salutes the rising sun '.

June 2008 - November 2008
Joined CL regular classroom programme in Lucknow. Had good classroom sessions , lot of interaction with faculty and seperate sittings with faculty discussing on various approaches to a question. Soon , everyone in CL was expecting good results from me and so were my expectations from myself.All this time , i kept researching on every possible top B-School of the country through every possible resource ( except PG )

Took doubt clearing sessions of peers in CL when no faculty was free Mock scores improved in meantime ... this time ranged from 90 percentile to 98.xx percentile with median score around 97.xx . Analysed the mocks, identified my weaknesses and tried to wotk on them.

Wrote CAT , matched the keys and found that VA has again ditched me and i was going to land no where.

December 2008 - June 2009
Joined Infosys . Was enjoying the Mysore campus when CAT results came and score card showed 96.xx percentile with break up as QA - 98.xx , DI - 95.xx and VA - 79.xx . For the first time, i was feeling bad about the scores.

Got the calls from IMI and IMT-G ... Did not attend IMI and did not join IMT-G after a convert which was not in marketing ( the area where till now i have decided to specialize in as it suited what I had done in college as well and excited me the most )

Got transferred to Pune , got introduced to PG by one of the friends ( who has always been a silent spectator of forum , even till date ) ... and finally came the time to make PG ID.

Thinking what to make ... decided to aim for the highest and then see where i land up ... For a person like me with avg acads , B was never in scene. And hence, came up with id visionIIM-ACL .. its purpose was to aim for highest ... with a back up plan of taking admit in a college which was in top 10. ( No offence to any other college but this was purely based on what i wanted to prove to those who were special to me at one point of time )

contd..

Hi everyone.

Many inspiring stories here. However my story is not at all inspiring. I did all that should not be done by a CAT aspirant during the last two years. But I am posting my story here because it is unique given that most of the people who have posted here put in at least some amount of hard work to get into a good B-school, whereas it was much easier for me. Now that I have definitely got into IMT Ghaziabad, I would like to share my 2-year experience.

I still remember the day I joined IMS as a student - Jan 6, 2008. I took the material, arrogantly took a cab home and showed off the material to my parents. Then I was supposed to take a preliminary test (I took it on Jan , scoring a mammoth 180 marks in a paper based on CAT 2007. I did not take the test entirely honestly - given that there was no one to monitor me when I took it. I took 30 minutes more than the allotted time and checked out answers to 3 Quant questions.

However, the next day, while the CAT results were still coming in, I found out to my pleasure that everyone at the IMS centre was greatly pleased by my performance in the PT and praised me a lot. This made me very happy and maybe slightly complacent.

Classes started in March-April (during and after my B.Com final year exams) and initially I attended sincerely. However with classes only on weekends and no job at hand, I became a big lazy bone. I did nothing for days on end, apart from attending IMS lectures. I made several study timetables - I only started following them twice and did not start at all many times. I kept postponing studies, simply because, 1) I did not need to do VA for the most part, being highly proficient at it already 2) My DI was just OK but somewhere I knew I could turn it around within a month's time if I wished, and 3) It bored me to death to do QA - my weakest subject where I could not even solve basic problems half the time.

In time I even stopped attending all lectures. Like I had done for several years, I began to rely on natural ability. The SimCATs started and in Sim 1 I scored 92.59%, with 98+ in VA, 84 in QA and 65 in DI. Sim 2: 88.04, Sim 3: 90.15. Just before Sim 4, I had to undergo a laser eye surgery. A peon from my dad's office brought the CAT form for me, but she entered my dad's name in the pay-in-slip and we didn't notice it till the dates were over!!:-(

I was saddened, but since I had other exams to take as well, I wasn't completely disheartened. Meanwhile, IIM A rejected my request for a new form and I ended up with a shocking 24%ile in SIm 4, with 77 in VA .

I was scoring in the mid 80s till Sim 7, and was terribly frustrated. However, then I stayed up all night before Sim 8, and at the SimCAT centre, the gal behind me was a superhot chick who too incidentally had not slept the night before (having spent her night at Hard Rock Cafe and then on the beach). Dunno if it was a lucky charm or what, but from Sim 8 onwards, my scores read 91.xx, 94.17, 95.09, 98.40. Around Sim 11 I became very active on the IMS forums and engaged in wild competition. It spurred me to constantly keep my VA percentile over 99.3 - though my QA percentile since Sim 3 had been hovering in the 30-50 range (ya, seriously). However, I had worked on my DI and brought my percentiles close to 90.

Ultimately, I couldn't take CAT 2008 but missed the NMIMS cut off by 2 marks, the XLRI PM IR cutoff by 0.5 marks and couldn't take CET due to high fever. I knew I had wasted a year, and got scolded a lot for it from my parents. Moreover, I could easily have got calls from XIMB/GIM but had applied only to XLRI.

By this time, thanks to my activeness on the IMS Forums and one long post in which I had provided comprehensive tips to other aspirants regarding VA/RC preparation, I got a job as a content developer at IMS. It was so quick - the Product Head just called me at night one day, asked me if I wanted a job at IMS; I went for the interview the next day and started working the next day.

I worked to the best of my ability during my first year at IMS and earned accolades from everyone. But once again, what with job constraints, booze parties with colleagues and my own bewildering lack of motivation, my studies never took off. This was surprising given that I wanted to do MBA since Std. 9. I knew I had to pull it off this year but I couldn't bring myself to be serious. In fact I missed the IMI and TAPMI form dates. However, my wholesome attention was focussed on my job, and on helping students out day and night. They said I ran a nightshift at IMS.

CAT forms were out: I bought one, and after some "intuitive" calculations, decided I would take CAT on December 4. Till the D-Day I could not prepare well, but I was quietly confident.

Come CAT day, and I was remarkably relaxed and calm compared to other candidates at my centre in Bandra. People were damn tense, and adding fuel to the fire was the fiasco over the previous few days.

However, my exam passed very smoothly. I can say with confidence that I managed the time masterfully - I knew exactly what I was doing; I was calm, cool and relaxed; I knew what part of QA I could do, and I never ever panicked. Perhaps this was the upside of having been so complacent over two years.

Personally, I expected around 95-99 in CAT 2009. Meanwhile, NMAT was a big disaster, while through XAT I got a call from GIM and through SNAP, from SIBM - B. CAT results were extraordinarily delayed and yet I was less tense than most people. I became a Puy in February 2010 and started contributing.

The D-Day came and I managed to log in to my result before the server jam. I had got 97.09 - within my expectations - more importantly, 83.52 in QA - which meant MDI and IMT calls were on. I knew I could have done better, but I was relieved.

Meanwhile, my GIM GD and SIBM B PI were a disaster. I applied to BIM and Welingkar as last resorts, but never went for either interview. KJ Somaiya GD PI was very good and yet I was not even in the W/L. I was starting to feel scared for the first time. Add to that the fact that I was lazy to prepare for my GD/PIs too - and duly, my MDI PI was a disaster. It opened my eyes to the reality facing me and I prepared a bit for my IMT PI 3 days later. The Situational Analysis was good - I wrote well, and during the PI, though I initially fumbled, I answered all Economics questions well and generally pleased the female panelist due to absence of any nerves. After the PI I felt the best I could achieve was a W/L, but lo and behold! When the results came I had converted IMT Ghaziabad in the first list and was ecstatic.

I continued interacting a lot with seniors and contributing heavily on the IMT thread, happy that I had got into a top-15 college at last. I leave for Ghaziabad on the 17th of this month and now the nostalgia is starting to creep in.

To conclude this over, over, overlong post, the few tips I can give are:

1) CAT is more about skill than memory testing. Therefore, do work hard on your weak areas, but it is ultimately your innate intelligence that will see you through.

2) Add to this time management in the actual CAT - I never felt any pressure while taking CAT because I took it like just any other Mock test. I was not at all stressed because I did not try to absorb the gravity of that exam - I just let go.

3) As far as possible, DO NOT STUDY ON THE LAST DAY. It only increases tension and pressure. Instead, have fun on the last day.

4) Be extremely cool and calm while in the exam hall. Don't think of what's gonna happen when the exam starts. Cut out all such thoughts and think of nice things. Once the exam starts though, you should see just the screen and be blind to everything else.

5) Strategize. Know your strengths well.

6) Even if you don't prepare well for CAT, prepare well for GD/PI. Speak at least nominally in your GD otherwise, however well you do in your PI, you will be rejected.

7) Confidence is a HUGE factor determining your PI performance, even more than your knowledge. Not being stressed at all, looking happy and ready helps a lot in final conversion.

Thanks for reading this MASSIVE post. Cheers!!!

There are numerous useful threads in PagalGuy forum but this thread in my opinion is the most revered of them all. I was inspired not only by the success stories but also the conviction and focus that were shown by all those who have shared their experiences here.

History:

To be honest MBA for me began as an escape route. An ill-timed transfer during peak recession season (start of 2009 ) to Kolkata took the wind out of my sails as a techie. By April, I was without a project and my ratings had taken a nosedive. My efforts to change to another org. also failed. I was absolutely dejected at that time.

While in college I saw a few of my friends prepare for CAT/XAT and other such exams. I used to in awe of the speed with which they solved the seemingly complicated questions. When my friends got admission in the top b-schools of the country, I was inspired by the focus and dedication with which they went about during their preparations. But I never thought of trying it myself out of the lethargy of a comfortable job.

Start:

Now after being pushed to the brink of depression, I decided to put in everything I had behind CAT. To test the waters I got hold of the 2008 paper, and attempted it (without any time limits). I was pleasantly surprised by the results as they were enough for IIM calls (though it took me close to 5 hours, excluding the numerous breaks in between ). Soon I enrolled myself in the classroom course at TIME, jodhpur park, Kolkata.

Preparation for 2009 season:

It was difficult to balance office and the studies in the beginning as I was habituated to working late. I knew I had to pick priorities or else the effort would go to waste. To avoid the extra hours at work, I maintained a low profile ( cant hurt saying now, yesterday was my last day at office ). The most difficult part was to keep up the motivation to attend the weekend classes, that too on hot and humid summer afternoons.

It was here that Pagalguy became a part of my preparations. I came across fellow puys who were also preparing in addition to keeping full time jobs, sometimes more demanding than mine. This thread and its true stories egged me on. I began to follow the regular Quant, DI and English related threads and made a few contributions myself too. I might sound a bit naive, but the few "thanks" I received inspired me too contribute even more. The desire soon became an obsession as I Pagalguy became my home page in my office PC.

The mocks:

My mocks started with a bang, with a 98 %ile and AIR of 197 in the first AIMCAT. ( My 2009 mocks ). This gave me the much needed confidence and the desire to concentrate even harder. My mock scores were pretty decent. I struggled to clear the cutoffs in DI, so in the last 2 months I kept myself busy with DI. I was confident about Eng as my voracious-book-reading-habit-since-childhood finally gave dividends. I was quite comfortable with Quants as I was able to do well in my strong areas. On the whole I was optimistic about performing on the D-days. I took out forms for CAT and XAT. In hindsight I feel I should have tried FMS as well, but at that point in time, it looked very much like a lottery.

The Exam days:

My CAT day was on the 5th of Dec, 2009. The news of the inconsistent testing conditions did make me nervous, but as my test center faced no such situations in the first few days I regained the composure. The test went off without any untoward incidents. 20 attempts in ENG, 16 in DI and 17 in QA was my effort and I was quite confident about them. Even went out for dinner with my best friends to celebrate.

The celebrations went on for a few days before I realized that I was doing XAT an injustice by taking it easy. So back it was to the books for another month. But it was close to new year and the parties were too good to miss. So I spent new years eve ( and the whole night too) partying with friends. . The hangover lasted a full day . I even thought of not being able to attend the exams. Thinking of it now makes me realize how ironical life can be. Because that was the best exam I had given, counting the mocks too. The changes in the -ve marking suited me just fine. I attempted a total of 63 questions with 16 in DI, 18 in QA and 29 in ENG. I tried to maximize the scores by attempting more than usual.

Back at home in the evening, when I mapped my answers to the available keys, I realized that I had a good chance for a call from XLRI. That provided excuses for another round of celebrations . The countdown began for the results.

Results, Interview, Waiting and finally Conversion at XLRI:

The results came out while I was on a family vacation in Puri. My prayers at the temple were more sincere because of that . The interview was on the last month of February, which gave me not more that 2 weeks for prepare. But as luck would have it, work became tough during then. I was able to attend just one mock interview and that too 3 days before the real one. But the interview was an amazing experience. Being put at ease by the panelists, I did better than I expected.
A month later the results were out, and I was waitlisted for BM at 23. I spoke to my engg. college mates in XLRI and they assured me that I would convert comfortably going by previous year trends. And as they had predicted, I did convert the call in the first waitlist movement itself.
The time after that was spent in procuring the loan, finishing up work at office and of course partying :cheers:. A week is all I have after finishing office before I join XLRI Jamshedpur on 13th Jun, 2010.
As far as CAT was concerned, I got interview calls from IIM Indore, NITIE, MDI and IMT. As my XLRI results were already out lethargy took me and I skipped all but IIM Indore. An IIM interview is a rare thing and I wasn't going to miss it. The interview was ok until we came to academics. Data structure screwed me again . But it wasn't as bad as I thought, because I was placed on the waitlist at 120.

My learnings:

The past year has been a great experience as I have come to know myself better. It takes a lot of effort to get a top %ile but it takes even more to keep motivating yourself if you already have a comfortable job. I'll try to jot down a few points that I found useful in my preparations.

1. Always leave room for time with the family
   
2. Always leave room for parties with friends
   
3. Leave room for those days or even weeks where you might lose the motivation to carry on. But make sure you have the hunger to get back on it again.
   
4. The mocks are a great way of evaluating yourself against others. But only the scores on the last day is what matters. Be it 98 %ile or 68, it should not go to the head.
   
5. Pick your priorities carefully. If CAT/XAT happens to be on the top, make sure it stays there throughout the preparations.
   
6. Share your approaches and strategies with others, you might come across something better than your's.
   
7. USE PAGALGUY , half my preparations were online, and it helped.
   

Hope my fellow puys have the immense patience to go through this lengthy post

This is the post I thought that i will write with a smile on my face but now. By every mean I am an ordinary guy from AP you will find.Scred 500 out of 600 in X (alot of people do in AP),took MPC
(bcoz getting into medical college is tough), got 91% in XII(you can say above average in AP), in 2002 i took ECE(they said IT is in slump ,with ECE go for IT too, besides it is ever green).
Engeineering was fine I used to score 65%. I wanted to go for MTECH but left it after seeing seniors landing up at same software jobs after Mtech.
CAT
*****
I didn't know something called CAT exists (and IIMs too) upto my third year in engineering(2005). Our lecturer maruthi reddy sir (i am indebted to him ) told u
abt it while he was leaving college for software job, our management lecturer Ramesh sir even inspired us with other facts abt it. I thought that let us get a job
and then try for CAT.
2006
******
got into company. completed training was into a project not much work there. year was complete
2007(worst year of my life todate)
******
I was into a project not with much work. This is worst period of my life . I didn't try for CAT.I didnot go for coaching . I did nothing literally.
I disn't have a GF and i was not boozing and roaming around hyd (which is my ome from 2006). Year wasted was going to hurt me badly later .
2008
******
I was into much better project . I got enrolled into TIME regular batch. I used to go for coaching on weekends and prepare whenever possible. project was good and again I had good time
to prepare.manager was very helpful. AIMCAT started my scores ranged from 85 to 96 . I was happy with that. I used to study regularly.but somewhere down the line i felt that i was not
that serious . still continued that. gave only CAT. paper was vvery tough for me
result 85%
2009
******
god thought that i was enjoyying too much to put an end to leisure life my company went to deep waters with a scandal(every one knows it ). Every one was
panicked for their job.fortunately my project was extended just 10 days before to another 6 months. I was fine as far as job is concerned. Then again i started
preparin gfor CAT this time with a lot of seriousness. I was studying for 2hours daily. AIMCATs started . in the first AIMCAT i got 95%. I was consistantly doing well wit
touching 98% twice.94 % was my average overall.i thought that i should give other test as well . so gave IIFT , JMET also. I didn't apply for FMS, XAT i thought they are
too tough to crack. applied for NITIE but didnot select PGDIM as it was showing NA later i came to know that it was to changed to yes. wrote IIFT well. shifted to
another company. took 20 days leave studied for CAT well .I was disturbed by the problems with CAT. i attempted 44 questions. meanwhile got call from IIFT
I was at home when CAT results declared
my score was
98.01 overall
97.62 QA
99.85DI
57.34VA(u must be kidding)
I could not believe it . I was in depression for one week.
converted IIFT Delhi joining it.


:banghead:Mistaeks i Did
**************
1. Taking things for garnated (my one year wasted will always hurt me ). You can never know when fate can change it's course. Use all the resources well. study when
ever u can , not when u want to
2. Apply for all exams (FMS, IIFT, XAT) . you can have an off day and it should not cost u an year
3. Small negligances can cost u alot (my NITIE)
4.Donot overlook ur weakness. It can hurt u where it matters(in my case VA was not my strength)
Over all i want to tell you all great things i found preapring CAT which i can cherish no matter what may be the result
1. Engrossing feeling after completing an AIMCAT
2. To see the number of correct answers and wrong answers after an AIMCAT
3. posting scores on PG, and guessing % with the score
4. Irresepective of result CAT gave me confidence that i can compete with guys from IIT, NIT etc( i wanted to go for IIT in XII but could not and was told that it is impossible to get with my level of knowledge)

Thank you for reading the post i hope it helps in not making the mistakes i did

Regards
Semco

All I Wanted (Not Wanted Also) To Speak About CAT:
CAT was a very alien thing to me. I have never expected to be a part of this league. Never ever expected to be in an IIM as well.
I feel life has been more or less very kind to me. And I would like to thank the God Almighty for helping me and being with me wherever I am today.
My Formative Years:
Born in a rural village in Kerala, I was a very motivated student right from my kinder-garden days.
My mom always used to say, I was very keen to go the school without even anybody forcing me to.
I was the school topper in 10th standard. I had a very good social as well as extracurricular life in school.
But the studious /smart & talented part in me almost ended there.
I never heard about IIT till my 12th standard beginning. Nobody in my family or school knew such a college exists.
And by the time I knew it, I was late. Even though I tried during the last year, I understood IIT is not my piece of CakeJ
After scoring decently good enough in my plus-2 & decent entrance rank in Kerala CET, I managed to get admission in the 2nd best college in Kerala.
(Later I realized that I could have managed to get an admission to NIT Calicut (best in my state) also with my AIEEE mark. I dint attend the counseling because we had to keep 5000/- buffer for the same.
I was very sad that I couldnt get in to an NIT. But now, I feel God has helped me in taking up CET, the 2nd best college. I dont have any regrets now.
I completed my graduation with lesser investment, managed to get in to the same company as any NIT ian would have got into.
Moreover, I enjoyed the liberal life style of a government engineering college with active politics life/love life & friendships!
And now, with this very modest profile, I have somehow managed to get admission to an IIM as well )
The reason why I am saying this. everyone has a chance to prove yourself. Never get demoralized. You might be late somewhere. Better late than never.
My Learnings:
If you find something drifting away from your hand for no fault of yours, dont yield.
Buckle up and enjoy what has been given to you. Just remember that something better is coming to you. Sooner or Later..!
As one of my Sir would say it. If somebody is raping you and there is nothing much you can do about it, the lie down and enjoy..!
My CAT Journey:
To be very honest, I never had a very serious tryst with CAT throughout my preparation days. Gave the first one on 2006.
But then I already had 3 job offers in my kitty and I never trusted myself in cracking the CAT. The result was a dismal 70%.
For the next 2 years I never even wrote CAT. All my school mates/coll mates/batch mates kept attempting and many succeeded as well.
The fair well messages in my official id from the BLACKI & top 20 college guys was a real pain in the ass.
It was deemed that you are a loser provided you did not quit the company in the first 3 years.
I was literally anxious about the same. And this in general motivated me in attempting CAT 09 (when I would complete 3 years in my company and the bond period gets over)
Unlike the software guys who are here in majority, I had a very diverse job profile. I had a decent package with ample scope for travelling and learning.
I never hated my job. I never wanted to badly get away from my job. The only thing I missed in my job was lack of female colleagues & other associated benefits with it. ;)
Mine was purely technical management. Had a fancy designation of Deputy Manager , thanks to HR dept of my company. All these factors above have helped me in my final IIM admit.
Hence, I would always recommend prior work experience before you plan to do an MBA.
I never prepared that seriously for the CAT 09. I had 6 days work a week. And the lone Sunday was more or less the Laundry Sunday.
But even then, I religiously took most of the Mocks at TIME. Had very fluctuating scored though. Most of the times, I had to share my friends lappy for writing the test.
Beg, Borrow & Steal. This wouldnt be a exaggeration to describe the way I prepared for my CAT. I never had any material to study.
But I had a very supportive boss during my 3rd year (2nd year boss was a Bas**rd, I felt like quitting and dying under him, but I survived) and this has helped a lot too.
I am posted in Chennai and my gf is in Bangalore. So even I had to miss a few AIMCATs to meet her at Bangalore.
Even she was preparing for CAT. It was fun to attempt online practice tests at her home. Little did we learn though.
I was scared that she might go to the IIMs as she performed better than me most of the times. And trust me having a companion is a great relief.
We had more or less similar scores once the results came. However, she did not get any calls. (She was IT).
She has inspired me a lot during my GD/PI stage even after her having no calls. I always wonder what I would have done if it was the other way around. L
I know that there is nothing in my story which will be inspiring to you. Rather you might find it off-topic or misleading as well.
Hence I would like to list down a few things which I have found useful in my journey. Hope it helps you as well.
1. I feel everyone should have work experience before going for MBA. Trust me that helps a lot. Even for the CAT as well as GD/PI.
2. Enjoy life with friends at times. I would never recommend a total reclusive life during CAT preparation.
3. Develop an all round personality. Hobbies/extracurricular/ some NGO also if you are interested etc just to add that extra sheen to your profile.
4. Have good friends/ a companion to confide and console. It helps big time. Peer learning is the best learning.
5. Get insulted at times. That will help you rebound and will give you the vigor to prove that you have it in you. Similar way of saying that you must taste defeat to emerge as a winner. J
6. Always believe in yourself. Hope for good things. One thing goes, get over it and move on (Wouldnt advice the same for relationships though)
7. Be extremely religious. It helps big time. After all, everything is a part of the Big Plan!! J
8. Do your bit in your work life also. That can teach you a lot. You will at least help you in building your self-confidence (A Back Up Plan)
9. Be enthusiastic & cheerful (Remember the Rape example) It helps during the interview.
10. Watch a lot of movies. Get updated about your friends status messages in FB. It was really inspiring for me. (Talking abt the IIM waalas and other top 20 ones)
To each his own. So as the one above me has said, this is not advice. Do your bit. Leave the rest to god almighty. And dont forget to enjoy life. God bless each one of you!!
P.S. Final Admit Status: IIM- I (Only reason I feel cause I am from a diverse cultural/work ex back ground and have decent acads & co-curriculars)
Final CAT percentil 96.34 (GEN Category)

Well, in case you're wondering how/why you haven't seen me before and why in the Devil's name am I posting here, i'll tell you a small story:

I joined PG back in my final year of engineering, sometime around the July of 2008. Clueless as I was, I hobbled around PG, and one of the first threads i came across was AIWTSAC. I read the entire thread over the next couple of days, and needless to say, I was a little inspired ;). It was then that the conceited little fool in me took over. I made a small resolution to myself: that my first post on PG would be on this very thread, no matter when that happens. Childish, I know, but a man should sometimes be allowed a little vanity ;). The fact that its the summer of '10 now should give you an idea of how pent-up the words you are reading have been. And boy, its been one heck of journey!

Like almost everybody else, I took to CAT (and by extension, management entrance exams) in the third year of my engineering at NIT Kurukshetra. A shot at CAT had been at the back of my mind for a few years by then, and since everybody around me had been taking it up, I thought I might as well too. I got myself enrolled at the weekend batch at IMS Chandigarh, and I woke up early on Saturdays and Sundays, just so that I could attend those darned classes. I kept up the pretense for sometime, until, lo and behold, i reached final year! Soon after, I (and everyone around me) got placed, I started losing interest in the whole idea of CAT. I immersed myself in the far more pleasurable environs of booze parties and the works, and general joblessness. In between, I had joined TIME AIMCATS, and that was the only thing I did regularly. Got a couple of high 98s, but my mock performances were mostly mid-nineties, and I didn't really try to make them any better. Soon, it was time for CAT. Wrote my paper without a care in the world. The most fatal mistake I did was dividing time equally among all three sections (this was the CAT with 40 questions in VA). I ended up with a 93 percentile in CAT. I took about six or seven exams that season, but all to no avail, and honestly, I wasn't sad because I knew what I deserved with the amount I put in.

Life moved on, I graduated, and came back home amidst cries of recession and delayed joining dates. After two weeks of whiling away time at home and no offer letters in sight, i thought I might just use the time a little more constructively, and I started working with my father (he is into Exports). That was July 2010. I kept going to office, I liked it on some days, on other days I hated it. I needed something else to keep me occupied. That was when the germ of taking CAT again grew in me. I enrolled myself at CL Calcutta and started attending the "re-takers" batch.

In hindsight, I think it was joining CL that was the turning point. It was a highly competitive batch, and to see everybody excelling kept me on my toes. In particular, our Quants teacher, (lets call him DC, since thats what he is called!) was inspirational, sans any of the gyaan and fundae. He was inspirational by way of his concepts and approach to problem-solving. I started taking mocks a little more seriously, started practicing QA and RC a couple of days of the week. In my first Proc-Mock, i cleared all the sectionals, and missed the overall (and therefore, my name on the Toppers' List) by 2 marks. This motivated me further. However, there never came a point where CAT was all I thought about. I'd still go partying every Saturday night and go see Hip Pocket play at Someplace Else every Wednesday and/or Friday (ask anybody from Calcutta about Someplace Else, you'll know what I'm talking about). TIME Mocks were also happening decently, scored a couple of 99s and many 98s, and I became a regular on the CL Toppers' Lists, and I thought maybe, just maybe, 2010 might be my year. (Meanwhile, my joining dates from Accenture and Verizon came, and I dropped them! I was enjoying working at my dad's and preparing for CAT- the dream of being the corporate could wait! It was something that required a lot of ba**s, and I'm happy I did.)

I took CAT 2009 on the third day (30th November). As my luck would have it, the exam was cancelled at my centre on the two previous days. And I was booked to fly to Bombay for a wedding on that very evening, some two hours after CAT. So, it was no surprise that I entered the centre with a lot of trepidation. Thankfully, the exam went pretty well enough, started with DI, moved on to VA and ended with QA. In the middle of the exam, while i was on the QA section, I felt excruciating pain in the bladders. I had to go, or all hell would break loose (pun intended). Somehow I convinced the center-in-charge of my situation and was allowed to use the washroom. On my return, my fingerprints were taken again- can you beat that? And all the while, the clock was ticking down!

IIFT results came out in the 2nd week of December, and I was through- my first call!! I was ecstatic! However, this proved to my undoing again. The sense of complacency again crept into me, because of the lone IIFT call. Missed XAT by a whisker (98.XX), applied only to SIBM-P and again missed the cut-off by one mark! By the time it was time for NMAT i was so indifferent that I debated whether to give the exam a miss. Finally, I woke up on the morning of the exam and just wrote it somehow. Started slogging like a dog for the IIFT interview. GDP, PPP, interest rate, Barack Obama's waist size- you name it, I knew it! I tried to leave no stone unturned. The interview went off pretty well, and I was fairly confident (or cocksure). NMAT results came in, I was through (and pleasantly surprised too!). But the big daddy of them all was still left! CAT results came, and my dreams went (out of the window). OA-98.26, DI-97.2X, VA-99.36, QA-80.70. I couldn't believe it, 80 percentile in Quant? Inspite of attempting 18 questions from 20? And I'm supposed to be an engineer, good with numbers etc etc. I got very disillusioned with CAT and its scheme of things. Was there no justice in this world? Spent many a night hurling the choicest abuses to the CAT authorities (and their kith and kin, mostly female!).

Meanwhile, IIFT results were out, I was not selected, not even for Kolkata!! All that effort for zilch? Further despair! Those were indeed one of the lowest points in my life. Thankfully, I had made it to the MDI and IMT lists. I again started preparing for GD/PI, though with half the intensity of IIFT. To add to that, my CAT scores weren't particularly exceptional, and I was positive that, come what may, there's no way in hell i'm converting MDI (what with 70% weightage to CAT score and all).

Then, one fine day in April, as I was helping the Census-taker with all the information she needed (which, by the way, is a lot!!), i got a call from a friend: "Bi***! Congratulations! You are through- MDI! PGPM!". I was frozen! Seriously? PGPM at MDI? (I had no hopes for PGPIM or PGPHR with my score, forget PGPM). Wow!! There is indeed justice in the world!

And thats been my story! I've been on cloud nine ever since! But before I sign off this mammoth post, since everybody is so adept at giving gyaan I'll add mine too. Truth be told, there isn't any gyaan. To each his own. Just because your friend's friend is putting in 6 hours to CAT prep and ending up with a 99, doesn't mean that you will too, if you were to put in 6 hours yourself. For me, CAT prep was addictive, I enjoyed doing it (to the extent that I felt sheer boredom and ennui, or a vacuum of sorts, after December, simply because there were no mocks to take, no prep to do). But, at best, I studied four days a week. Thats what suited me (however, I'm no child genius or prodigy or anything). Find what suits you! The only bit of gyaan that indeed holds true is that its all a mind-game. If you're in the correct frame of mind, all preparation that you may not have becomes immaterial!

Anyway, I'm preparing for another 2 year stint in Haryana (after my four years of engineering there). Its going to be a rollercoaster ride, and I'm going to meet a lot of you there. Till the time we do, cheers!!

Lest I forget, I want to add in here my indebtedness to PG. I cannot express in mere words what PG has been to me. I can count on my fingers the days over the past one year, when I have not visited PG. Infact, there were times when I would visit the PG forums more than I visited my FB page! (okay, that last bit might be a little exaggerated, but you get the drift). PG, what would I have done without you? ;)

P.S: If you've actually read the whole of this post, give yourself a pat on the back, and you're getting a "all hail" from me!

MY CAT MEMOIR

I wasn't sure, if I should post it here. After all, my percentile wasn't the best. Neither did I have ABCL call. But then I reflected back and I asked myself, Dude you have been through one helluva journey last year. You have changed. CAT has changed you. Though you haven't been that perfect CAT Aspirant, but you have learned in the process. Plus you have managed to convert a very good college and have been waitlisted in the other. It surely deserves to go in here. So here goes my story. Bear with me because this is going to be a long one. The length is not predefined but as I proceed to write I will recall and the more I recall the longer this write up would be.
Three years and ten months of "sometimes glorious otherwise mostly dull" routine in a Top Indian IT firm (TITF) had turned me into a laggard. It all started in the winter of 2005 when my alma mater was expecting a few companies to pay their regular yearly visit and handpick prospective employees. TITF supposedly being a day zero company was the most sought after. This belief coupled with lack of confidence in civil engineering placements kicked me to sit for the recruitment exam. I was the last to be selected amongst the qualified candidates. Don't recall how I felt then, I must have been happy. After all it did take away the pressure of CAT and looked like an easy escape route. Expectedly, I fared bad in CAT that year. My mind wasn't where it should have been. My close friend made it to IIM C and that pricked too.
Charged with emotions and a promise to crack CAT next year I boarded the train for the TITF Initial Learning Program at Bhubaneswar, Orissa. The best two months of my life. However, no sign of CAT anywhere. I didn't even care to fill up the form. The escape route being - "I want to gather some work-ex before I proceed for a management degree."
Come December and life in Mumbai was fun. New city, easily available booze, good friends and the motto to enjoy along with a few other extravagances found me disoriented. However, CAT and MBA were running at the back of my mind like dormant computer processes occupying the least memory. Frustration at work was denting my progress as well. Management education it seemed was the only way to get me out of this phase. Did all the regular razzmatazz that CAT aspirants do each year. Unplanned and unorganized, I approached CAT. Lack of planning got the better of me and for the second time I found myself tearing away the scorecard. Again consoled myself and moved on.
2008. This would be the year when I will crack it. Started preparation again, didn't score great in mocks. Mid August, I was offered Onsite at US. Let me tell you something very candid at this point of the post. Since the day I started working, my only resolve was to get into a good business school. This did impact my work as well and it showed in the lack of interest towards it. However this was US. I had never been out of this country. I could suddenly visualize my great American dream. I took the offer and escaped from CAT again that year. As one of my friends had put it, "An onsite trip does save you from the agony of writing CAT". At this point in time I wasn't doing well in mocks either. That further strengthened my decision.
With more than 3 years in my kitty, I was back to my country and could now see GMAT as a possible choice. But this year what I was running out of was time. I had to make something of myself this year. Not only had I failed to secure a release from my current project, but was almost left without work. Day after day staring at the screen and doing the usual rote excel analysis, I had by now figured that my career graph was headed south. I decided to give CAT a serious shot yet again.
Months passed. Sometimes I lacked discipline, sometimes I worked to my best. The scores in the mocks were in correlation to the work pattern. I did analyze mocks, but not very thoroughly. I started getting demotivated with mediocre scores in mocks. I decided to bank on GMAT. Started preparing for that religiously and religiously I did prepare. Scored well in all the mocks but something went bad on the final day. Result: A miserable score.
Took me a month to get over that. Got back to CAT. Analyzed all the previous mocks thoroughly this time. Did my CAT papers too. Finally went in for CAT on December 5 2010. All the controversy shrouding CAT thankfully didn't bother me. Then came SNAP followed by XAT and FMS. Finally done with all the exams, I waited for the results. I had hopes from SNAP and FMS. XAT was an epic failure. Results started coming out in mid January. Scored well in SNAP, but missed the QA cutoff by 0.5 marks for SIBM-P. Then came FMS in February, and again I wasn't amoong the shortlisted candidates. FMS had sadly decided to cut the call ratio from 1:7 to 1:5. XAT was as expected a result I didn't even bother to look at.
As each result turned into a ding, so did my chances of not quitting my job and the horror of not doing anything at work. This grabbed me like a nightmare. My career was at stake. I wasn't getting a release from my project since the past 8-9 months despite 10,000 promises. Moreover, I didn't have a very high hope from CAT considering my previous record, though I knew I had done decent in the exam. But then came the CAT result day, and I ended up scoring okayish. Though it wasn't good enough, but I felt kind of satisfied. However, this was not going to last long. The nightmares of going through the same old unproductive life came back like a boomerang. At one point I just gave up. Music became my friend for a couple of weeks. My social life went into red. But this was to change soon because destiny had a twist in the tale for me.
I used to check the GD/PI shortlists of all the IIMs for my roll number. This was more out of desperation than hope. A-Ding, B-Ding, C-Ding, L-Ding, K-Ding, S-Ding expectedly. Indore wasn't really worried about declaring the list soon. They were taking their own sweet time. However, the day that list came out, that would be the when my lifestyle and my psyche would change for the better. Honestly, after ABC ding I had even stopped looking up for my number. I instead used to track a number below mine and that dude had calls from ABC. I was on my way to check his BLACKI but what I saw there instead was my roll number. I checked and re-checked multiple times. My brain took longer than usual to process the visual that my eyes were looking at. I had a freaking IIM I call. An IIM I call. If I could describe that feeling in this post, I would have chosen to be a writer. I felt weird. I danced in my office. Suddenly the laggard me was enthused with energy. Lots of it. It gave me wings :P. Then came SP Jain followed by IMT-G. Believe me I was on the verge of losing it. I had given it all up. And suddenly from nowhere the game changed. My dad once told me "Life is like a game of Poker. You have a spate of bad games, but one good game and the winning streak suddenly starts."
Let me now straightaway shift to May 17th 2010. I call it the Independence Day. I finally got that coveted mail from SPJIMR, Mumbai. My fate was finally shining and the fat lady was singing. I immediately sent in my resignation. I could suddenly taste it. It felt good. I felt liberated. A long, challenging and a struggling journey had finally come to an end. I am waitlisted at IIM I, but after the kind of interview I had, I feel good about the waitlist too. I do hope I convert it.
Nelson Mandela said, "There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires." I am valuing this freedom each moment I realize its attainment. This is a freedom from frustration, mediocrity and routine. I yet again question myself. Am I taking the right path? Is this my true calling? But these are questions I would never be able to find answers to.
My Learning:
1. It ain't over till the Fat Lady Sings:I had almost lost all hopes. Esp. after FMS and SNAP. But the magic just happened. So whatever happens, please do not give up.
2. Never get demotivated: Cause the moment you do, it all starts falling down like a pack of dominoes. Bhai, PG ki yeh thread hi pad lo. Nothing can be more comforting than reading success stories. I even used to read last year final results threads. Used to make me feel good about it.
3. Be Disciplined: I needn't explain this and sound preachy.
4. Be active on a forum (Read PG): Believe me this is a good medicine for anything and everything during the CAT journey.
5. Never Ever Give Up: I gave up and I faced the ramifications. Why take the path to hell when heaven is up ready for you?

So here I am...finally writing a post for the most revered thread on pagalguy....
have no structure in mind...and i write long...so plz bear with me(bhaagna mat beech main)..:nono:
When i entered the 11th grade, i had to decide what stream i want to choose...which by default turned out to be "science"!!...no surprises there...
Now, every science student in india has to either go for engg or medical...i chose the former
the reasons were as follows:
1.i had heard ki medical main bahut padhna padta hai
2.engg ki coaching was nearer to my place:)
so started my first tryst with entrance exams....all my over confidence was shattered when i stood second last in the initial tests at coaching....but over a period of 2 years, i clawed my way up and was ultimately ready for the challenge...IITJEE 2006!!!
what an exam it turned out to be...i rocked physics and mathematics....but chemistry rocked me...
scores:
physics=84...cutoff=48-49
maths=50...cutoff=38-39
chemistry=54...cutoff=55:-(
i had cleared the overall cutoff...this was the biggest shock for me...
then i drifted thru engg for 2.5 years and suddenly..another huge opportunity loomed large...CAT...till then..coz of a cousin of mine...BIMTECH was my dream college...
i joined IMS..in january 2009...my past failure was a tremendous motivation...worked really hard....and started doing well in the mocks...
In the meanwhile, i got to know about pagalguy....got completely addicted to it....and drew inspiration from ppl like...shashank doc, rik_12, silent assassin......these were the ppl i looked upto....
then came the entrance exams...i kept on doing well in all of them and got numerous calls....
one of my first calls was IIFT...they had sent a form to me...a 10-12 pages lamba form
so i went to my coaching center for some guidance....and the first thing the mentor there says:"tera iss saal kahin convert nahin hoga...look at your grad percentage....pathetic...work for 2 yrs...then go....abhi sirf practice ke liye dede"...i was hugely demoralized...i kept the form aside for a week or so...and prepared nothing....
then by chance i happened to attend a conference of the UDT members...prem sir was giving some gyaan on cracking pi and gd...was able to attend the thing thnks to rajaram....anyways, rik aka sinchan really motivated me...and brought me back on track....
i still rmbr...i asked rik..."can a boy with 55% grad dream of IIMC?"
rik said:"he very well can...."...this small assurance did wonders to me and my confidence....and somehow...my dream of joka became all the more achievable...
i prepared for the gdpi full swing...started of with irma and sibm rejects...then converted IIFT-D, XIMB, XLRI..and the big one...IIMC wl 30...which now is wl no.1...
i hope to convert soon....
the reason why i listed down the iit and grad wala part are as follows:
1.my story is not spicy enuf...so to make it spicy...
2.to show that life is a roller coaster ride..where no one can escape the ups and downs....
so let's enjoy each UP...and strive to work harder everytime we are down....
this is more like my autobiography...CAT ke baare main zyada tha nahin kehne ko...
thnk u for reading with patience....though my writing style may show my story in a boring light....believe me...it was one helluva ride...and i enjoyed it!!!

P.S. CAT 2009 fiasco ka kuch na kuch zaroor karunga main...hope to bring in the minutest of changes by being within the system....jo hua doc and assassin and vipul and others ke saath...makes my blood boil...

Hi Guys.I almost lost touch with PG after IIMI results.But i feel i owe this to my PG friends and future aspirants to share what i learnt.Even if a single person finds it useful,i will feel that the purpose is solved.
A little about my background.I am a marine engineer by profession,done BE (marine) from MERI,kolkata. Have been working with shipping companies for last 3.5 years. I always had my seniors and colleagues try to switch career because of n number of reasons.But what i always felt that, a lot of them lacked in understanding the principle of diversity. This i want to convey,specifically, to people with not so called orthodox background(read software engieers).Please dont consider yourself to be out of main stream and feel down.DO feel that you are different and show it.Please note this is in noway offensive to people withs/w degrees. i have high regard for you people.

As for my CAT journey, i never managed more than 90 percentile in any of mock CAT.but that never disheartened me.Coz one of my friend was in IIMI and he was in the same boat.So in future also you people can feel the same way.This was my first serious take at CAT.When the season of results started with set back of IIFT and followed JMET, i kind of lost hope and had applied for all the schools.Then came the XAT and XIMB as a respite.
And when CAT came out with results after age long wait, i was in Delhi,appearing for my Great LAkes interview.A friend of mine called up to tell me that he had call from IIMA. And just like the lines in 3 idiot goes,it felt really bad.;){jab dost top karta hai to jyada bura lagta hai}

BUt to my pleasant surprise i had good percentile and managed a few calls.All set for the next phase.Mock interviews did help.a lot.And then it was my network with a few good men that made my sailing smooth.Fr future aspirants,Please feel free to contact people u feel will be helpful to u.BUt when its ur time to do the same,dont pull hands.Because someone else is in ur shoes now.
A lot of people will tell u this and u might again think its crap.but trust me,the people who interview u,are too experienced and knowledgeable to be fooled by your gimmicks.So be true to urself,be true to them and Rest will be taken care of.
Siging off
Vivek sharma
CAT 99.68
Calls_IIMB L I NITIE SPJ(ops) MDI IMT MIB XIMB GIM GREAT LAKES
CONVERTS : ALL

Probably, at first glance, my journey of CAT might seem to be a lucky one - having converted an IIM call the very first time of serious preparation ! But, by the time readers finish reading my experience, quite a number of opinions would change. Read on..........


Final Year of Graduation-2008 :
The first time I ever gave CAT was in 2007 during the final year of my engineering at KIIT, Bhubaneswar on my parents' behest. I never prepared for the same and just wanted to see where I stood amongst the thousands of bright minds of India. In fact, I was one of those technical and adventurous guys who used to do a lot of projects in robotics, roam around with friends, participate in technical (and cultural) fests at IITs around the country and win quite a few of them. Google and Microsoft were my dream companies. Alas, none of them came for recruitment to our college that year. Yes, Indian Air Force did come and I cleared all its psychological and medical fitness rounds. I also had an offer from TCS.


The Way Destined:
As expected, CAT 2008 was a disaster - to the extent that I managed a meagre 70%tile overall. I wasn't perturbed for I had made up my mind to join IAF. But, destiny had other plans. TCS' joining came within days of me finishing my graduation. There was no surety of the final call from IAF (I was yet to receive the final joining letter). Consequently, I became a part of the workforce that India has no dearth at all - software professionals ! (IAF did call after a few weeks, but by then I was already into a bond with TCS).


I joined TCS R&D; thereafter and began my technical career. I was being paid reasonably well, had a bike and roamed around the lively streets of Delhi. But at the end of the day, I always felt about doing something bigger and better ! Being into R&D;, I was often inspired by my colleagues preparing for GRE and planning for MS abroad. I reckoned that it was high time I thought seriously about what my aspirations were. It was then (around May 2009) that I zeroed upon CAT again. This time, seriously !


The CAT Chase:
I joined CL classroom coaching in July 2009. Classes were interesting and devoting around an hour or two everyday at home wasn't a tough call at all. I hardly missed classes @ CL (was always very concerned about the Return On my Investment) and ensured that I grasped the concepts well. Mock Tests started soon. Contrary to my expectations, in my first mock test, I could only fetch 75%tile ! Anyways, I reckoned that I still had sufficient amount of time and went ahead. I gave a number of mock tests with different strategies. With more focus on selective topics (like Number System, Algebra and Geometry in QA), I tried to maximize my score. On a number of occasions, I missed out on lollypop questions towards the end of the paper as I would have no time left. Somewhere, I read that going through the questions initially and selecting the ones to attempt is actually an investment of time, not a waste. This struck me well and I followed the same judiciously. Finally, I had a complete strategy.


Even with all this, the highest I could ever fetch in a CL mock exam was 91%tile. Some tutors even advised me to maximize my score in one subject rather than trying to balance the three (it was hardly a month left for CAT 09). Based on my past %tiles, CL B-School predictor had started showing B-grade colleges to me ! I used to get disappointed at times, but with the past experiences of test takers in mind, I knew that I could make it ! It was only a matter of correctly attempting a few more questions and my %tile would shoot ! My parents and a few friends played a pivotal role with the motivation and confidence that they instilled in me. Also, an experience that always helped me was that of Gaurav Jaiswal (IIMC, Class of 2011) on rediff:
CAT 2009: How I made it to IIM-C: Rediff.com Get Ahead

The last one month, I attempted mock tests very sincerely. Analyzing every question after the test, grasping concepts, rectifying silly mistakes and refining my strategy! Finally on the D-day (December 1, 2009), everything went perfect ! Selecting questions, finishing them off within the stipulated time and attempting more than the number I had planned - all went well. In short, I was confident that this was the best I could give....




Results:
Results came and I managed 98.14 %tile with 97.32, 96.22 and 89.7 in QA, DI and VA respectively ! I was shattered. If only I had managed two more questions in VA ! No call from IIM A or S the first day. Neither from C or L the subsequent days. With 90% + in 10th and 12th, I had a distant hope only on B (K & I gave more weight-age to CAT till last year). After a few days, IIM K announced its shortlist at around 10 pm. Uninterested, I checked the same around 1 am. And Wonder of Wonders ! I had a call !! -:D....I thanked God and was so excited that I called up my home that very moment ! Finally, I had one IIM call! In fact, the only one (IIMB ditched me too).


Another Round Of Preparation:
I realized that I had to convert the one call I had, or else, the trauma of preparation for one more year ! I judiciously started attending CL PDP classes. I felt that I was the only regular student who was continuing at CL since months ! No other face seemed familiar - all new ones ! Nevertheless, I attended the CL bootcamp. The mock interview and GD were disasters ! In no way, I could afford this. I went home, deeply analyzed my faults and refined the way I had to present myself (read my achievements, strengths, weaknesses, focus on job and Tata Group, etc). I made a checklist and studied extensively on IIMK, the Tata Group, economic affairs, current affairs...and so on. Though we were allowed to participate in only one bootcamp, I deliberately managed to participate again ! This time, I got great comments (with minor suggestions). My subsequent mock interviews went great - to such an extent that in my last interview the panelist said "we would be surprised if you are not selected". This was a great booster for me !


The D- Day:
I went for IIMK's GD, PI and essay writing. Here goes the experience :


http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51842-2010-2012-iimk-gd-pi-5.html#post2021862
Results Reloaded:
Final shortlist of IIMK was announced on May 6, 2010. I was one amongst the 155 general candidates to have been offered a seat. This was one of the happiest moments of my life, having washed away my parents' and my past regrets (not qualifying for IIT, not joining IAF, etc). I could now be at par with my school mates who had cracked IIT big time. I thanked God and my parents for the kind of support they gave me. Thereafter began celebrations galore ! :-)




In a nutshell, I would like future CAT aspirants to always keep in mind the following :

1. Never ever get demotivated by low %tiles or by anyone's comments ! Believe in yourself that you can do it. In fact, numerous people HAVE DONE IT !
   
2. Mock Tests are immensely important for CAT. Practise them wholeheartedly with deep analysis of each of them. They would help you build the perfect strategy for CAT.
   
3. There's a famous song in Bengali which goes like "walk alone if no one comes on hearing your call ". There would be many obstructions on your CAT journey, never succumb to them ! Only your dreams and determination can take you through ! Dream big and stay motivated...!
   
4. Nothing that you did ever in your life goes waste. They would turn to help you sometime in your future (read 10th marks, 12th marks, playing Tabla six years back, not missing my school for six consecutive years, robotics in college, etc..in my case ).
   

ALL THE BEST TO FUTURE ASPIRANTS ........! Hope this post helped..

cont from top........

CAT 09:
This year CAT turned online and a surprise was in store. The format was new and needed a different prep. Again I joined a test series, CL this time as I was fed up vid IMS. This time my initial mocks weren't so great, so I was forced to study sporadically. Some consistency started creeping in but again nothing concrete. One thing gud bout CL mocks was the analysis they provided online. I used to sit up late at nights in front of my PC and keep on analyzing my mocks. By the end of October I was pretty much sure how m gonna attempt. Quant DI VA and the idea was as simple as Kapil Dev's about batting, 'There is a ball and its meant be hit'. Mine was that there is a question and its meant to be done. So I focused a lot on speed.
The D-Day came and I attempted 45-46 questions with no clue bout accuracy or anything. But as it turned out, everyone worth his/her salt attempted >50. Again I thought another year gone down the drain. But this time I had filled a lot of forms like SNAP, IIFT, NMAT etc. IIFT I missed by 2 marks and for SIBM I missed VA by a cruel 0.25. I was disappointed to say the least. I thought it was all over. Got a call from SCMHRD and off I was to my 1st eva GD/PI. I thought I did well there, but I really cudnt convert that subsequently. Gave NMAT as the last hope but wasn't really sure bout it as it was online too.
Again I was resigned to another year of job. But surprisingly CAT results came and I scored 98.14%ile with minimum in DI at 87.xx. I was over the moon as finally I did what I felt I shud have a long tym ago. Finally I had done something in life which I had really wanted to do..you know..dil seThough as the initial euphoria subsided, I knew I had calls from MDI, IMT and IMI which I knew I had to convert. NMAT results came and I had again scored 98%ile. I was happy as I knew at last I will do an MBA this year surely. Moreover the happiness was that I able to prove to myself that I cud do vel in these 'simple exams of maths and english'. GD/PI phase was again where I prepared well and it went well too primarily as I had good quality of work ex to cover for average acads. Final result came and I got thru MDI - PGPIM and NM-Core along with IMI in 1st lists itself. Till now IMT IB is converted though I am not really interested nemore. NM was particularly sweet as I secured an overall 83 rank from my initial 700 rank after written. MDI, was a dream come true. I work in gurgaon and many times I have passed from there with a distant desire that one day I will come here.
I think I did well because I knew deep down that I had to do it. Also, I had a very good support system. My family never pressurized me for anything, so that was good in a way. Passion is undoubtedly the ultimate key to success, is what my father once casually told me during my prep and these lines somehow stuck. Whether you aim for any B-School, if you believe you can do it, there is no stopping you. Many a times during the last 4 years, I have been told to quit. But for me there was no other way. I had to simply do an MBA from a top 20 B School no matter what happened. I never thought about GMAT because I wanted to conquer my fear of CAT and not die in the hope that I cud do vel in it.
But one thing I have realized is that one should not make only one thing the whole and soul of their existence. I learnt it during my work which I enjoyed probably because it was different from what everyone else around me was doing. That made me relax during my prep time to an extent that I didn't take single day's leave for either CAT or GD/PI from office and still find a way for preparing for both. Having a passion is a good thing but enjoying you work, life and having an occasional good time friends and loved ones is equally important, because that gives us happiness which no amount of money can buy. And isn't happiness the butterfly which we are all trying to catch?
Lastly, no words can truly describe what PG means to true believers of CAT and MBA in general. Thanks pagalguy.

I read this thread once during my 1st year of attempt of the CAT. At that time somewhere deep down, I knew I will also post my experience, when, where, how..was the part that needed to be decided.
Well, at the outset , I will warn that this is not the story which ends in those hallowed portals of BLACKI. Although everyone aspires to be there, but the reality is that aspirations can help you only that much. What really matters is individual capability. I was never one of those ppl who used to come 1st in class or top subjects in college I was just a smartass who knew his numbers and pretty much sucked elsewhere. What I didn't lack was confidence and common sense which has always helped me in life.
CAT 2006:
I started my prep by joining IMS Noida in March. Like every other aspirant, I had starry eyed view of MBA. Big money and super campuses and lotsa fun and u get to smell the real business and what not. And CAT, they used to say was a simple exam of maths, English and calculations. All 3 in which I was confident. During the classes, I was doing well and gave answers quickly. My center head was pretty confident of me doing weel and I had already started dreaming of GD/PI. Even in mocks, I scored >95%ile which I was sure will improve to greater than 98/99 till the C-day. There were topics like geometry and PnC which were a pain in the neck but I decided not to pay much attention as I am not attempt them anyways. A line by my center head stuck in my mind - 'Jis galli me jaana nahi uska pata pooch ke kya fayda'. English was fine and DI was okayish, but inconsistent.
In Quant I had predecided that since cutoffs anyways are low, I will do only those questions from topics that are comfortable to me and leave the rest. It was working well in mocks as IMS mocks used to be tuf in quant and DI and I cud clear the cutoffs and maximize in English.
So the day arrived and I gave the CAT. I was under pressure as I had expectations, I knew this was one thing I could do well. For the first time in my life I had the opportunity to prove that I was good in smthng. This was certainly an ego trip for me. But after the exam I was shattered. I just knew I hadn't done well. To start off, there was a question in Quant that was incorrect and I wasted 10 mins on that. Plus smhw I lost track of time at the start. VA was super tuf and with that went out my hopes of maximizing. Till the time I came to DI I had lost all orientation of common sense. I came back, slept and then checked my attempts.
It was game over. PPL had banged quant and I had selectively done it! My frnds told me it ain't over till the results come but deep down I knew it was. Results came and it was a hopeless 80 %ile. 95%ile in VA being my only solace. in My frnd checked that for me and he didn't tell me til I started calling him incessantly coz he knew I wud be disappointed. That day I was with family in Ahemdabad. My dad used to work there. We went out for a nice dinner and he took me to an ice cream parlor near IIM-A. That day I realized what CAT personally meant to me. That's a disturbing pain I cannot forget. You know u can do well but somehow u cannot.
After that I forgot about CAT, literally. I was so shocked I used to avoid discussions on it. My future was some how secured as I was placed in Infy and TCS. I didn't give CAT next time and started working. But deep down, I knew I had to conquer it.
In 2008 again I started prep. One thing good that happened was that I never took my work lightly. I worked hard and took full interest and was doing well in my appraisals. This changed my outlook a bit and I became much more mature. But I wasn't serious on CAT. Only gave mocks in which again I was scoring well. But I was not studying and this thing again hurt me. Only 85%ile. But that was okay. I had already decided I have to work for 2-3 years and then leave for MBA as that was my so called ideal plan. This means that 2009 attempt was going to be crucial.

I write here at the risk of seeming out of place among a whole lot of IIM converts, but I'll go ahead, nonetheless I have already made a post here, just over a year back (Read it only if you are very bored ) The long and short of it is that I was terribly disappointed not to have got any IIM calls with what I thought was a very good score with a very decent split. Anyway, I'll start my story afresh here.

I was a very good student right through my schooling. I topped my school in Tenth Standard, and was among the top in Twelfth Standard too, with scores of well over 90% in both. I got admission in Anna University, one of the premier institutes in TamilNadu. Following this, I had four forgettable years at college. I don't mean that I didn't enjoy college life. I made great friends, hung around with them, had absolute fun, fell in love, and all that. I had a very pleasant time in general. But I faltered on the academic front. I was not competent in my field at all. After getting through a good college, I somehow got into myself a (false) feeling of accomplishment, and became very complacent.

Come final year, and the placement season started. I got placed very easily, in one of the big(?) IT firms. However, the firm recruited around thousand people from Anna University, and I was only one in that thousand. Somehow, I could not really celebrate having got placed. I could not look at it as an achievement in any way. I knew that I was capable of more, and at that point, I wished (too late) I had made better use of my 3 years of college. Nonetheless, I thought it was not too late yet (In retrospect, I realize I was deluding myself. You cannot make up in a few months for your mistakes spread over three years.). I knew that several top firms were yet to visit, and I could still get placed in one of them. I started preparing religiously, desperate to make the most of the opportunities on campus. Opportunities were all around. Several top firms(the likes of Microsoft,Symantec, Cisco,Oracle etc) visited our campus. I remember having sat for around twenty companies, and I didn't even clear the written test(all technical) of even a single company. It was a morale-shattering, devastating and forgettable phase in my life.

The only thing that kept me going in spite of my failures at college was CAT. Who cares for campus placements, I used to say to myself, when there is a much bigger opportunity through CAT. I started rather badly in AIMCATs. I used to get 80-85%le. I remember celebrating when I breached the 90%le mark for the first time. I celebrated even more when I first breached the 95%le mark(This was about half way through the test series). I was happy that I was able to improve with every AIMCAT, by putting in the requisite effort. Towards the fag end, I finally crossed the 99%le mark, and it did my confidence a whole world of good. I finally started believing that I had it in me to make it to an IIM. I took CAT coolly, and did well enough to expect calls. But then, I didn't get any. I was happy with my 99.36 percentile, but of what use is it without any calls? I was broken beyond words. I had messed up opportunities in college, and now I had messed up my other big opportunity too. I could not help but feel that my incompetence at college had cost me IIM calls as well. But then, I could do nothing about it. I had an XIMB call through XAT, but was not too keen on it. I had decided that it was CAT 2009 for me.

College got over in May 2009, and my employer dropped a bombshell by communicating that we would be required to join only in 2010. I was shattered. Things were going from bad to worse. My friends and family cheered me up by saying that it gave me time for CAT preparation, but I could never think of CAT preparation as a full time occupation. I enrolled in TIME and CL test series, and was doing much better this time, crossing 95%le in most of the mocks. But I somehow could not stand staying idle at home. I got desperate and tried for a lot of off-campus jobs, all in vain. Fortuitously, in August, I got an offer to teach part-time at TIME institute. I was very happy, as I could prepare for CAT and still earn some money. Things are looking up, I said to myself.

The test series continued, with the fluctuations which I was used to by then. Because of the uncertainty over my joining date, I filled many application forms, and decided to appear for 5 exams- IIFT, CAT, XAT, JMET and FMS.

The month of November brought some good news to me. I got my joining date in that month, much earlier than expected, thanks to the recovering economy all around. It was in a very happy frame of mind that I appeared for IIFT, and on checking the keys after the exam, I knew I would get a call. I was happy to have started well, and hoped to keep the momentum going. CAT was next. I attempted 45 questions, which was nothing compared to a what lot of people posted in these forums. I was hoping for a good split to save me, but quants appeared dicey all along. I did all the other exams well, and had hopes on them, with the exception of FMS.

The results started pouring in. Call from IIFT as expected. JMET- a good enough rank for the only 2 IIT's I was interested in. XAT- PMIR call, missed BM by an absolute whisker. FMS- ding as expected. The last and the most awaited one was CAT. I was in a movie at the time the results came, and my mind was hardly on the movie. I asked a friend to check results. I was told that the server was down, but my number wasn't there in the IIMA shortlist. That was enough for me though. It meant that I couldn't have made it to C shortlist either, and I knew I stood very little chance at the other IIM's. I was very disappointed. Later, I learnt that my percentile was 98.38, with quants letting me down as I feared. Again, good but not good enough. It was frustrating.

Meanwhile, I had my other calls to work on. CAT gave me NITIE and SPJIMR calls. So I had a total of six calls. IIFT and IIT-B went well. XLRI was bad. Before my other processes were due, IIFT results came out and I was dinged. It was quite shocking. I thought it had been my best GDPI.
Next was my IIT-D process. I went to it with a low morale, thanks to the IIFT result. The GDPI at IIT-D is best described when I say I nearly broke down after my interview. Here goes another reject, I said to myself. To make things worse, I got a reject from XLRI on the same day. I felt extremely low.

Things kept going badly. First round reject at SP Jain. Reject from IIT-B. Average interview at NITIE. It was a huge relief to me after my NITIE interview, not because it went very well, but because a long, gruelling and forgettable GDPI season had come to an end.

I was readying myself for another year at my not-very-enjoyable job, when the results of NITIE came out. Normally, a waitlist-153 is hardly a result to celebrate, but I did. Such was my desperation, such was my despondency. I was relieved to a great extent to have made it to atleast the waitlist. Atleast one institute has not rejected me outright, I said to myself. And then came the shocker of a result through IIT-D. I couldn't believe I had converted it after an interview which I thought could have had only one possible result. I kept checking the website for days, just to ensure it wasn't a database error or something like that. After finally assuring myself that I had indeed converted it, I now had to take a call on joining it, or going for one more CAT.
I got different pieces of advice from different people. My parents, teachers at TIME, and some friends wanted me to join, while some others told me I was capable of more, and should try atleast once more.

Finally, after considering carefully the merits of the institute, the potentially big risks involved in the written tests, and even more in the GDPI stages, and the fact that I simply did not belong in my organization and my job, I decided to play safe and join IIT-D, which I feel is rather underrated and is a very good institute in its own right.(Unless I convert NITIE, which looks difficult as of now.) Besides, from my experiences in college, I have learnt that it is far more important to make the best use of opportunities provided, than to just study at a reputed institute.

I have not written down my story here to be an inspiration. I have just written down my experiences, in the hope that someone might have something to take from them.

I am thankful to PG, in which I have been active since the last one year. It's a wonderful source for preparation, competition and inspiration as regards CAT and MBA preparation. I am thankful to many users here, particulary naga25french for all the company and support, rsriram84 for always giving the right advice, the_hate and vision-IIMACL for all the help, and the entire Chennai Dream Team for their support.

Thanks to everyone who has read through this post patiently.

It all started when TIME conducted its scholarship test back in 2006 and I was able to get 75% discount on the course fee.Attended all the classes religiously,even those that ppl generally call ''must not attend'' classes.and by the time the first aim cat arrived I was ready enough to get a city 3rd rank and a 99%ile in my first ever mock cat..

It was deja vu again!!it seemed exactly the same way when i started out with my IIT preparations(I was amongst the toppers in my class in my first ever Math IIT test.A small recap of the events that succeeded that.)

Rewind to 2002:
A sense of confidence which bordered on the 'higher' side crept in and the downfall started.I failed to clear the JEE.Got a good enough state rank in AIEEE, however my lack of information created a rather peculiar situation for me whereby i ended up in one of the lower NITs when people wth lesser ranks ended up in the higher ones.That i came out of it and went to a state government college is a different matter altogether.

Back to 2007:
I decided not to let the JEE fiasco happen to me again!!ever again.

3 things I would like to advise:
1) Never forget your past. The moment you do that you will end up doing the same mistakes again and again and again.
2) Never allow over confidence to creep in at any part of teh journey.. Over confidence is a disease and will destroy your journey completely
3) Be information-hungry. Try to know the inside out of whatever you are going to do. I was not and I did not end up studying from the top NITs atleast if not from the IITs

Moving on...
My 2007 mock cats with all its ups and downs ended on a rather high note and come Feb 2008 all my tests were over.My scores were:
CAT 2007 - 98.79
Xat 2008 - 98.24
I did not get any calls and I had not applied to any other college(Only time will tell if that was a mistake)
I spoke to a passout from IIMB and this was what he told me verbatim..''If you are able to get a 98% in both CAT and XAT it means you have some stuff.let me know how much you get in CAT 2008''

And i hit the road again.Only this time I started with negative thoughts. I had seen seemingly well off people with much much lower scores going thru and I started cribbing about the system.Never did i realise that there was still scope for me to improve.The fact that I was employed in a good company meant that CAT 08 came and went like a ''phooph''..


A few things I would like to advise:
1) To all the general category students.. pl go thru this..
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/3321-profile-people-who-have-converted-66.html#post2108349

May 2009 and I was in familiar territory again. For a change I had a nice set of dedicated friends in Bangalore. A few coaching sessions and I was ready and raring to go.Mock cats started and I as usual started with a bang. However this time I was able to sustain it. 3-4 consecutively high scores and I was as match ready as i ever was..
But life had other plans. I was shifted out of Bangalore and my initial few months in Mumbai was hectic to say the least. Throw in a few personal issues and I suddenly felt as if i was in some 'cast away' types island.
sample this
AIMCAT 1009 - 68%ile
AIMCAT 1004 - 60 odd %ile

Not very high in spirits I took my first ever IIFT test..And my score was 49.5 out of 100..

A few things to remember
1) Try to keep CAT completely insulated from your personal life
2) The season opener - IIFT exam is one of the most important exams. it sets the tone if it goes well..

Amidst all the drama I gave CAT on Dec 1. The paper turned out to be much worse than an AIMTEST paper and I simply couldnt believe that it was a CAT paper. and I was able to attend almost all of the questions.Contrary to CAT, XAT was a wonderful paper, one that tested a person's ability more than any other paper.
The results came. XAT was out and I dint make it because my LR score was low. XAT 2010-98.88
And when feb 28 happened, I was out of this world..A few calls trickled in.. I was still not sure IF i did deserve this score.. I thought if i could convert atleast one call then maybe I was good enough.. And I converted 4 out of the 5 calls I had got..
And there ends my story!!!

Post scripts:

1) This post is not intended to make any hero out of me..I am not..And I can provide no instance that will make you all go ''wooow''.. This is just a small recount of the journey of a 'boy next door' and a few suggestions to the future CAT takers based on it

2) If this post is able to help atleast one person then it has solved its purpose.

3) If you think that the IIMs are the be all and end all of your life then I would seriously advise you to read 'The Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell - the part on IQ and Nobel Prize winners.. IIMs , XLRI, SP, FMS etc are all special. One doesnt become great simply because he is from an IIM.

4) HArd work still pays and pl read Outliers to see this as a fact..

and as the saying goes and I quote again..

The race is long and in the end it is all with yourself!!

Cheers and all the best
Varun

Hi guys. I never thought i would post on this thread so soon. I think this post would help people who are not so big achievers, have some dreams and eventually land up in a better than average bschool.
Intro- I am defence kid. Father being in Airforce we travelled across the Nation. From places like Bhuj and far off places which even Google can't locate sometimesJ. Schooling was mainly in KVs and Airfoce schools. A normal middle class family in all sense.

Life after 10th-
When I was in class 9th, dad took a choice posting to Delhi. This was because we wanted to be in a good city because it might be good for my education and my engineering dreams. I had to shuffle between ICSE and CBSE every 3-4 years because of dad's posting. I came back from ICSE to CBSE in class 10th. This was a total culture shock for me. The methodology of exams and learning was totally different in both the boards. And more over it was 10th so i had to pay extra efforts. It literally took me 7-8 months to get the feel of CBSE. I was scoring 90% odd till my class 9th( in ICSE) and suddenly it dropped to 80% in class 10th. I and my parents knew this was because of a sudden change in board. Everyone asked me what was the reason and i as too tired in giving this long explanation to everyone and resorted to ignoring these questions.

I took up science as i wanted to be an engineer. Started preparing for IIT JEE. The coaching class took most of my time. School till 2.30 and then coaching from 4.30 to 8.30 totally exhausted me. I somehow managed my class 11th and 12th with it. Didn't pay any attention to my class 12th boards. Scored a meagre 84%. I somehow managed to get a seat in Computer Sci engineering in BVP Delhi. I left Civil in DCE because i just wanted Computer Science.

Year 2008: As i came in my 3rd year i planned to MBA. It was not because i was not interested in Btech. Till my 3rd year i didn't even think about "interest". It was just about doing it and getting a job. I joined CL for my CAT coaching in early 3rd year. Attended classes, practiced the funda books(religiously). But after 3-4 months i lost interest in them. The level 1,2,3 etc etc didn't make any sense to me. In classes the English fac told us to cram the grammar rules and i told her in her face that one doesn't learn grammar by mugging rules. That was the last VA class i did in CL(later got 99.81 in VA section in CAT !!) !. I just used to do Maths class and come back home .

It was late may(or starting june) when the test series started. In the first mock i got some 85%ile. I thought this is just the starting and i can improve if i work hard. I joined AIMCATs also. One by one mocks started coming along. I scored in the range of 65%ile to 99%(just once). Mostly it was around 75ish mark. I tried to analyze the mocks and found that i knew the questions but just got afraid of them(if they took more time) in mock and so left it. One good thing for me was i was getting consistent 98s 99s in VA(both in AIMCATs and CL). I never crammed a word ever and i am not good at vocab also. In my college people used to cram the entire barrons list but i never did.

I again thought that if it was mugging up words then it would not be called Verbal Ability. I might be wrong but then that was what i thought and said no to all these cramming and never did things which i never believed in.
Sept 2009: The mock saga continued till now and i was averaging 80s in my mocks. Filled various forms like IIFT,CAT,JMET,SNAP,FMS,XAT. I was never sure if i would get in top 20 colleges(because of my mock scores) and so filled a more about of forms. It was a time of recession and thus we all were very in secure of jobs. And more over i was less confident of bagging a job because of my less technical knowledge(all engineers say that ).
CAT went online. But it didn't make much of a difference for me. It hardly mattered. I thought the basics of the game are still the same and if i gave my best shot, i would get a good %ile.
The real exams started: The MBA exam season started with IIFT I was under so much pressure on the exam day that i forgot the sin 60 and cos 60 values. Came back home and i already knew i had messed it up. Tried to match the ans i marked with the ans key available online. I was getting around 28. I knew it was over for me.
Learning : I then realized that pressure kills. I made sure not to take any pressure in any of the next exams( and i made sure of this). Even if i am under prepared then also i had to be cool.
Next was CAT. I was uber cool now.Took the test on 6th dec. Amidst all the havoc created by prometric, my test was smooth. Did around 40 odd questions. Seeing people doing 57-60 questions, i thought that CAT is also over for me. 5th Dec was the last day i ever touched my CAT prep notes. I was so fedup of the same old things.. doing the same things again and again bored me.

Next was JMET( The IITs! ). Somehow IITs always fascinate engineers. It was on 13th Dec. I was having my semester exam on 12th Dec and next on 14th Dec. I had left preparing for entrance exams way way back !! I was concentrating on my sem exams because this was one of the toughest semester till now. On 14th I had DSP( also called as Degree Stopping paper).
On the JMET exam day, till 8.30 am i was mugging up DSP formulas. My dad had came till the center to drop me. He even suggested me to leave the JMET exam if my sem paper would suffer. Thank God i dint listen to him!

I had an idea about the last year cutoffs for IITs. It was somewhere around 75. I decided to give a full attempt at JMET. I had nothing at stake. I made up a plan to do more than 90 questions. Unless i do 90, i would never get 75( considering the accuracy i had in mocks). Deciding this i want into the exam hall.
Gave my best at JMET. Came home and started mugging up DSP again. After 2 days when i got over with my sem, i tried to match my ans with the key available. I did 94 questions and was getting 72 marks according to CL's key. I was happy .... i thought that i would now atleast get one IIT call.
Next was SNAP- Was least interested in writing this paper. Gave a half hearted attempt. Scored 95 marks in it. Didnt get a SIBM or SCMHRD call. So SNAP also over.

JMET result: I got a 735 AIR with 75 score. Applied to IIT D,K,R,Kgp,M. Got calls from K,R,M. Started preparing for GD PIs( at CL). Again got some absurd tips for GD PIs from CL. Never believed them and did what i felt was right. ( Ex- If asked which IIT will you join, IIT Kanpur or IIT delhi , say IIT Kanpur. I always thought one should be truthful ).
This year saw sky rocketing cutoffs in all the exams. I am sill not clear why this is so.. but i guess some strong reason has to be behind it.
Jan 2010: TCS came to campus and i made it . Was very happy that if not a b school this year then i would work and write CAT and likes next year. Atleast i have a job now !
Next week Aricent came on campus and magically i made into that company also. It was offering 4.2LPA and i was now surely going to join this firm.
Then came the CAT results. Scored a 97% with 99.81 and 99.89 in QA and VA and an awesome 32% in DI !. This was amazing.. just 32 in DI. I never believed i could get this low in DI. All MDI,NITIE,IIM dreams were broken. I got calls from IMT and TAPMI and K J Somaiya.

Meanwhile i gave my GD PIs for IIT R,Kanpur and Madras. Didnt get a IIT Kgp call. And i was asked this question in IIT Kanpur that if given a change IIT K or IIT delhi what will i join. I said IIT delhi and gave reason for that. When the seniors at IIT K gave us a presentation we were told that in the entire batch of 45 there were just 17% freshers... This was a rude shock for me. Just 17 % !! Are they kidding me.. this means less than 10 seats.. Some hopes died ..

After coming back, i thought what if i made this mistake, what if the CL faculty who told me stuff was right !! I couldn't sleep that night. With just 10 seats for freshers ... this might have costed me my seat !
I also gave IMT, KJ somaiya and TAMPI GD PIs. Met amazing people there and made some awesome friends. Slowly results started coming. I made it to K J(PGDM).

Then the IIT result day came. IIT R was the 1st one to come with the result. My friend called and informed that i am in the waitlist(112). According to last year's data, i would get a seat by all means but in 2nd or 3rd list.
Then was IIT Kanpur. I keyed in my roll number and saw a "congratulations" message !!! I checked my result more than 100 times to ensure if it was me or the right page i am seeing !! I was really very happy... finally my IIT dream would come true, even if its via a MBa and not Btech. Later that evening IIT madras came out with its list. I was again waitlisted(50). I had till then made up my mind to join IIT K.

I didn't bother to check my IMT and TAPMI result after this. !!!

Next few days were partying and giving some treats to friends... everyone was amazed to see results( even if they don't say .. i know !). Not may expected me to crack IIT !
Anways.. here are some of the learning which i would like the future CAT takers to keep in mind-
1. Mock scores are not the real indication of your caliber and talent. Even if you get less scores, don't worry... just don't give up and keep on practicing.
2. One mistake i did when i get low marks in mocks is that i stopped studying. I was very sad. Then of my seniors at college gave me a tip... she said... JUST DONT GIVE UP..!! After a bad mock.. Have a choc, take a shower and study again !! ... I cant say how thankful i am to her for this...
3. Just don't be under any pressure in the exam time. Pressure can make even the best fail.
4. Always have a backup plan.. In my case it was TCS/Aricent. This gives immense confidence for GD PIs !. One is more confident if one has a fall back option . And this confidence can take you through in any GD PI.
5. Make friends ... !! They are the people you would need when you are down. They can be a real source of motivation.
6. Dont give up your family LIFE because of CAT. It's just not worth it( I did and now regret it)
7. Just Don't give up !!
I would now be joining IIT Kanpur's MBA program. It might not be an awesome B school... not in top 10s but i think its a big achievement for me.

Wanted to write this so that atleast people can get some motivation and learn something from my mistakes
All the best to all of you !

It is hard to describe my feelings when I finally write in this thread! Satisfaction? Excitement? Success? I dont know. All I know is that I have been waiting for 2 years for this day!

CAT 2007 season

It all started at a chai shop in Ichchhanath, at NIT Surat, when I was in my third year. I was more than half of an engineer, and the question of future, career etc started raising its head. An IT job? No thanks. A career in electronics(my branch)? Not interested. I confess that I decided to try for CAT after eliminating the various other options!

Like everyone else, I joined IMS and wrote the SIM CATs. In a test or two, I scored high percentiles and suddenly everyone was talking about IIM calls and all. Somewhere, I believed that I had it in me, and prepared now and then. The D Day was nearing.

Come November 15, 2007(think that was the day berfore CAT) and I was on train with my friends to Ahmedabad. It felt like just another tour with my friends! The night before CAT, I had an asthma attack(I am allergic to dust). I could sleep only around 3 am and slept till 5 am. I remember lying in the bed and praying that I fall asleep soon!

On the D-Day, I was more or less ok, but I was tired and in no high spirits. In the exam, I started off with VA(my strongest section) and did well. Attempted 24/25 in an hour. Then DI. It went downhill from there. The very first set, I was stuck. And I was stubborn enough not to let it go. Maybe, the very good VA section contributed to the over confidence. After trying a couple of sets, I tried QA. No success there too. By this time, my confidence had touched an all time low. After the exam, I was sure that it was worse than even my mock tests.

Result- Overall 93.xx, VA-99.xx, QA-85.xx, DI-67.xx

What CAT 2007 taught me

1. If you are strong in a section, it doesnt mean you have to spend all your time in it.
   
2. Dont be stubborn and keep trying a question if you are unsure about the logic. The golden words are.LET GO.
   
3. Remember that if you get tense, you have to get back on track asap.
   

Then I wrote FMS, XAT. Got 95 odd percentile in XAT. By then, I was placed in IBM and BPCL. I decided to join BPCL as a management trainee, as by then, I had decided that I would be doing an MBA, and a managerial post will help in the long run.

CAT 2008 Season

I was too busy with my job to prepare hard for CAT 2008. So I decided I would write only CAT exam and that too just for the sake of attempting it. Lo and behold! Cat 2008 was like a cakewalk(well, almost!) Started with DI (which had let me down the previous year.) Was happy after finishing it in just over 40 mins and proceeded to Verbal. Which was again very good. After that came QA. I attempted those questions for which I knew the logic, and skipped the rest, just like that.

Result- Overall 98.97, VA-96.xx, QA-92.xx, DI-99.xx

After the results were declared, I was happy and sad. Happy because I did this without any preparation. And sad because QA let me down. If I had answered a couple of questions more in QA, I would have got atleast 2 IIM calls.

The day the results were announced was also one of the saddest days in my life. I was working, when I got a call from the TIME manager. He told me I had got a K call. I was ecstatic. I rushed to a caf, and there it wasYou have been selected for GD/PI at IIM K! I was on top of the world, and informed my closest friends, parents and a few relatives. I couldnt concentrate on my work, took a leave, and went back to the caf to see PG and the result once again.

You wont believe me, but this time, I got a regret message. I called up admissions, IIM K and spoke to the professor who was in charge of admissions. He said there might have been some error and confirmed that my name was not in the list. And said something about my name being in the first list of only CAT score people, and when they included work ex, I didnt clear the cutoff.

To say that I was disappointed would be an under statement. I messaged my friends to ignore my earlier message, and told them it was just a MISSED CALL from K! Totop it all, TIME centre had already published my photo with the other call getters, and I had to explain to some that I didnt have a call! The TIME director apologized, but said that he was seeing something like this for the first time in his life. Well, that left me in my company for one more year, and ample time to prepare for CAT 2009.

What CAT 2008 taught me

1.A major part of success in CAT depends on how cool you are on the D Day.
2.If you attempt only a few questions in one section, probe further, until you are sure about clearing the sectional cut off.
3.The last and most important, Dont be let down by failures. If you have a missed call from K one year, aim for an A call next year and convert it!!

CAT 2009 Season


I had sufficient time to prepare, and I utilized it well in the initial days(March-June). Then enthusiasm levels dropped, and work started getting more hectic. I wrote the online mock CATs of TIME and my scores were good. But I failed to perform consistently in all the sections. However, VA continued to be my strongest section.
Another important thing happened. My GF!!! She was the one inspiration and motivation, who never failed to encourage me. Most importantly, she believed in me and used to be angry when I was pessimistic at times. Some stressful days at work and some mock CATs later, I was ready to bell the CAT.

On the day of CAT, I had no strategy in mind. The idea was to remain cool and maximize the attempts, as the word was that online CAT 2009 was a cakewalk.
I was surprised to find that the exam was not as easy as it was hyped to be. DI was pretty doable. QA required logic and quick thinking, and was in no way a breeze. And the surprise was..VA was quite tough! My slot had the privilege of getting 3 abstract passages for RC, out of a total of 3 passages. And, the sentence correction and everything else was not easy, to say the least. In as much as 10 questions, I had to choose between 2 options, both of which seemed likely.

After CAT, I knew that my entire chances depended on VA. If I had done it well, I was through. Otherwise, it would be another year for the next CAT! The results were declared after a huge delay and I was disappointed when I saw this:

Result : Overall:98.82 QA:92.50 VA :94.50 DI:99.25

There, I thought, another year down the drain. I was sure that I would not get any IIM call, as last year, I had OA 98.97. Here again, it was my GF who was somehow sure that I would get atleast a lone call!! IIM A,B,C. No call. As expected. IIM L..SurpriseI couldnt believe my eyes! My registration number was there in the list. I was on top of the world! IIM KAgain..CALL!! IIM I.. No call. Oh, and a call from SP Jain too, after the CAT scores were declared(Second list)

After the initial days of frenzy and celebration, I realized I had to prepare for the interview. I decided to follow the current affairs closely, as it was my weak point. I also assured myself that I am already good, and PI depends on what you have been doing till now, and not only on the last few days before the PI! The only coaching I took was a GD/PI workshop in Bangalore conducted by TIME. The mock PI there was the worst PI in my life, and I thought I had no chance unless I drastically changed myself! Here goes my PI experiences at IIM K and IIM L.

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51842-2010-2012-iimk-gd-pi.html#post1985301
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51890-2010-2012-iiml-essay-gd-15.html#post2069904
Finally.. Both IIM L and K converted. SP Jain reject. Joining hel(L)!!!!!!

More than anything, I am relieved that I am finally chasing my dream. And I learnt many important lessons in the 3 years before I finally made it! The most important one is Dont succumb to failures, and try hard till the goal is achieved.

Have always wanted to put my story down here .
Finally ! .. i get a chance ..

My Background :
B.Tech CompScience
Class X - 90.0% Class XII-96.5% B.Tech - 7.5/10
31 Months IT experience ( as of Jan2010) with a Fortune500 company

2007 : 96% ... Expected awesome mark in VA as per TIME keys .. and it bombed. Attended TIME classes and Mock tests.
2008 : 98% ... Lone call : MDI .But they had no interested in 98% fellows . Wrote Mocks here and there . May be 5-6.
2009 : 99.3% with skewed sectionals .. No call . Didn't apply anywhere else apart from IIMs. Was looking at UPSC by then . Wrote 2 Mocks in all i guess.
2010 : 99.00% ..Calls IIM-L .. IIM-I .. MDI .. NITIE .. .. No mocks written . Total preparation done 10-12hrs.

Moral of the story : Don't attend coaching classes .
My mistake : I never took the test seriously never prepared properly .

I am not ashamed of the fact that i took so many attempts. I think it is a crazy exam and has really little correlation with IQ of the applicant

After my prev. attempts .. esp the last one in 2009 where i got 99.3% with no calls from IIMs .. i decided not to write CAT ever again . I was keen on writing UPSC 2010 . Hence decided not to try CAT and focus on UPSC. Afterall both are Administration only .. one is business administration .. one is junta administration .

This friend calls me on Oct 2nd-ish .. basically the last day before buying the CAT form .. he counsels me .. "Why not give another shot !" .. i tell him.. "Dude tomorrow last day .. forget it " .. Next day .. i learn IIMs extended the dates by some 10 days or so ( Can't remember exact details .. but it was due to some stretch of holidays in September end and Oct 2nd holidays .. some such) .. So i thought .. "Okie .. someone seems to want me in" ... :)

2 days before CAT .. i realised i left my hall-ticket in Pune and it is reqd for the test ( wat was tat thing called ?? .. voucher .. yeah ! ) .. My center was in Hyderabad .. If i wanted to write .. i would need to travel back and forth in a day .. again .. thoughts came to my mind .. "Forget CAT man .. try UPSC" (like hrithik roshan in lakshya .. "i think my country needs me yaar" ) . Then again ... decided .. "its okie .. this was also on the wishlist from sometime ... so do the Pune-Hyd trip .. and write CAT .. atleast lets fulfill that friend's advice in october" .. I did Hyd-Pune-Hyd trip a day before the exam and reached Hyd on the day of the exam . The test went well .. for once i knew .. this time i wouldn't be having skewed sectionals.

Quit the job that was giving me around 7LPA in Jan 2010 .. like Sachin .. pre-meditated shot .. had absolutely no clue what was in store .. i just wanted to quit that's all ... Joined a sales and marketing job after being interviewed by IIM-A&B; grads for it and quit it in 3 days .. Dunno why i took it up really .. perhaps just to assure myself that i can get a job anyday ... ... Sometimes over-confidence helps

Attended a slew of interviews in April 2010 (for details check my signature) .. All went on predictable lines .. i knew that my cv isn't all that bad and i can talk confidently enough about myself .. so if given an oppurtunity the chances of me converting the interview is more than 80-90% .. and so i finally made it .. Got through IIM-I IIM-L NITIE and MDI ..(Got through another institute too but the way the intrvw was conducted left me with a bad taste .. so wouldn't mention it here ... its in a place tat starts with G and in my interview they were campaigning for a sister institute that starts with N ) ..

Will be joining IIM-L ... Its a nice feeling .. but i am not very elated .. like my user name says .. i feel like a "War veteran" .. have seen so many wars .. for once i won .. will have to see many other wars in the future anyway ! .. why get excited

A lot of people say ... there is life beyond CAT .. cheer up so on .. but i think CAT matters a lot .. more so an MBA from a good BSchool matters a lot ..

There have been so many questions asked to me in this forum and I would like to answer all that today.
1.How do you feel after this convert????
If I have to answer in one line, I would say "This phase of my Life is called as Happyness". If I just turn back & see, in these 8 by gone years , onething which was an integral part of my life was/is CAT. Every step I took I always had buffered a provision for CAT first & then anything else. Every time I failed, I stood up with a feel that Iam close, I can do it & next year I would be in an IIM. Infact for these 8 years ie (365*24*6+ 366*24*2 hours), this feel was constant. I always believed during the beginning of the season, that next year by now, I will be sitting in a classroom of some IIM (especially IIMC). Today, that dream is true and you can feel, how Iam feeling..
2.what gave you the motivation to hang on for 8 years??????
The sheer love towards my passion/dream. I always believed in onething, "Its my dream, if I don't fulfill it, who will fulfill it for me". I never attached any monetary benefits to my dream, its just a plain, simple & sweet dream & I hope , you will agree that, we all love dreaming & some of us take one more extra step to make of our dreams come true. Iam not a super being, Iam like any one here except but I sustained my injuries, lived with my routines & still kept on dreaming.
3.Why not a one year programme????
An MBA, I don't know how much value addition it will be but, I wanted to go back to studies to do some justice. I was a good student till my 9th standard way back in 1992 & then disaster stuck in the form of our family issues & I could never do justice to my studies though I don't have any issues with that now. I want to feel the college life now, which I could not.
4.Do you see any value in doing an MBA now, when you are already in a goodjob???
Value is a perception, an IIM degree is not going to hurt me. It's the self satisfaction, its feel. When Iam in the death bed, I don't want to say that "I tried something, couldn't win over it, moved away with other things in life".For me the greatest value is ,"I believed in something & I tried tried & tried and then one day I achieved it"
5. How do you find time for preparation?????
People say, "When you have will, there is always a way". My complete struggle with preps & getting adjusted happened in 2005-2006-2007 (you can read it in my blog: http://www.catajourney.blogspot.com/). It wasn't easy , handling a family, job, studies, part time teaching etc etc etc, but it wasn't tough too. Mentally I was there, I was there , I was there in whatever role I played. Believe me,if some says, you need to sit down 2 hours every day & mug mug mug, that's when you can crack, I would say he or she may not be 100% true. For me, I believed that, how much ever I prepared let it be even 10 minutes, I should feel happy, when I go to bed that,"yes I have moved atleast a few inches closer to my dream". So don't pressurize yourself, don't feel bad if you cant prepare for sometime & please, don't quit your Job for CAT preps. Believe me, Cat doesn't need 8 - 10 hours a day & also quitting a Job would become an added pressure when you get into the exam hall. Secure your survival first & then think about doing justice to your dreams.
6.Whats your advice to future aspirants
Nothing, believe in yourself. Don't go by what others say, listen to your heart & if possible to your mind too. Never compare someone's profile who has aced CAT & please don't feel that you cannot crack CAT.
As you all know Iam 33 (first impediment), Married (second impediment), 58.4% BE, 61% 10th standard (third impediment), 10 years workex (fourth impediment), also not so great in Mocks -percentiles ranging from 12 to 99.9 (fifth impediment), not so great in english- Village background (sixth impediment) can convert an IIM call today, believe me - any one here can do so. All the above said are not actually impediments if you feel you can still ace & convince others about your dreams. Inspite of not having any of these impediments, you may not reach to your destiny just by one single thought that "I cant crack CAT". ITS ALL WITH IN YOU & YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN TILL YOU ACHIEVE. One or two or three failures should not change your thoughts & belief ie I was rejected by IIMA in 2007, still I believed, rejected by XLRI in 2008, I continued believing, rejected by IIML in 2009- I believed & converted XLRI-GMP in 2009, it added to my confidence that one day I can convert a 2 year programme. Finally in 2010, I have converted IIML, waitlisted at IIMC though I am rejected by IIMA.
Having said this don't make your dreams your master, don't get frustrated if it is delayed. Enjoy the process, go along the flow & believe, "ONE DAY IT WILL HAPPEN"
Use PG to make good friends (even for a life time).
Iam finally happy, because I used to preach & advice people a lot on the above said points (whoever comes to me), but there used to be an uneasy feeling that, yes Iam believing, Iam preaching but in reality Iam still a failure, I couldn't convert a call. Today, I have a point that I was & am right.
The primary reason for my existence in PG was to set an example to people who are married, who have lots of responsibilities in life, who are out of touch, who are from a vernacular back ground, but still have a dream & also have a doubt whether they can pursue their dreams ie can they compete with fresh , young, strong minds. Now, I have done it, so can you.."Guide your dreams to destiny & you can do so, if you want"
As I used to say, today if anyone of you who want to quit your dream halfway due to any reason, just stop for a second & think.
As the "Do not Quit" poem reads, "And you can never tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems so far, so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit, it's when things go wrong that you must not quit"
This is the story of a normal person from an unknown village to an IIM..
All the Best.

Update: converted IIMC on 19th June

I don't know where to start & where to end this postMy last post in this thread
Most of you would have read my posts
2007 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-23.html
2008 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-31.html
2009 post: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/2933-all-i-wanted-speak-about-42.html
After the L debacle & XL sacrifice, I was left with no other option, except but to continue with my work. I wasn't that sad because my JOB was very challenging indeed with lot of day to day problems which helped me as a professional to grow much more
But CAT 09 was already there in my mind. Now, mocks were going well. That was my only preparation last year & that too I was doing it without any emotional attachment.
I used to appear for the online Mocks & prepare from the hardcopy mocks. I never had the mood or patience to analyse online Mocks. This time around my partner was DonIIM an equally passionate guy. We use to solve papers & discuss over the phone.
Dec 6: for the first time, I felt I was under no pressure. 10 secs before the exam, I felt that whatever may happen to this exam Iam going to be happy. Started with Qa, moved to DI, then to VA & finally to Qa.
Total attempts: 53, QA - 16, DI-18, VA-19Time Spent - QA - 105 mins, DI- 20 mins, VA - 25 mins
After the exam, I forgot about CAT & was busy with lots of other things in Life.
Feb 28: Results were out & I couldn't check my scores. All I knew that time was I have a call from IIMA & I also felt that there is a high probability of an IIMC call as well as IIML call, which eventually turned out to be true.
IIMC came out with its GD/PI dates & I was called in on 22nd March. This time I didn't want to join any coaching institute, so worked on my own. I almost had a strong feeling on the set of questions to be asked & I introspected myself to get the answers. Also, started working on the current affairs, which I felt may play a role in essay/GD/PI too. That's the preparation I did for my next phase.
From March 16-21 , I had taken 6 PIs, 2 by Soham(IIMC), 2 by Prahalad (IIMB), 1 by Saini (IIMC) & the last one by Praveen Mantha(IIMC). By 21st evening, I was damn confident (unlike the previous here)
You can read my experiences here
IIMA: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51517-2010-2012-iima-pgp-essay-8.html
IIMC: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51812-2010-2012-iimc-pgdm-pgdcm.html
IIML: http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-and-related-discussion/51890-2010-2012-iiml-essay-gd-8.html

I am no role model here.

I didn't aspire for an IIM in the first place.

I didn't take mocks seriously. I never joined classes.

I never made 90+ in any of my mocks or CATs

I am no ST,SC, OBC, XBC, NBC

I was a MICA fanatic but never made a cut...

Still I made into IIM..heres how

For my family education is everything, I topped my Xth, XIIth, top 10 in BITS Pilani Mech, got into Mahindra Engines Development.
But my passion lay in product marketing

Every year I applied for dept change and turned down coz I didnt have an MBA

I applied for all best for Mkting schools in the country, didn't aimless apply to all colleges. Everyone told me that was a bad idea, I stood by my logic.

Year after yr, CAT was no where near what i wanted and I was lazy to prepare. I started developing my own marketing skills, there was one point where top bosses in PD asked for my opinions on marketing and stuff..

I got into a very tight project and i had no time to prepare for CAT 09. A new franchise of CL was opened in Nasik. I negotiated and got the package at 500/- only. It was just the online package, I had no peers to study with. I thought i needed flexibility and freedom in my preps. So i convinced my boss to give me a laptop, pre-emptively applied for BSNL wireless internet (2months waiting) and found a govt library to study.

Never did I get 90+ in any mocks and I thought if i get 85 odd in mocks i would clear the MICA cutoff of 90 in actual CAT. Luckily this year MICA scrapped CAT criteria and I didn't bother about my CAT results.

My CAT was also a disaster, it was postponed without my knowledge. Screens went blank many times. Didnt get a second chance after many follow-ups with prometric. Then I left it as MICA scrapped the criteria.

A day before MICAT, I went MICA and saw seniors and got the feel of the campus. After MICAT somehow the feeling was not there and I was very worried. Then MICA shortlist came and my name was not there and felt so dejected.

I always wanted to go alone on an India tour and the time came for that. We launched a new product and someone from our team reqd to travel the country for feedback. I volunteered and had the time of my life. Went to most parts of the country, stayed with strangers, learnt local customs..from deserts to himalayas..godavari to ganga I covered in a month...

While I was in Lucknow I got a mail telling I was shortlisted for IIM Indore PGP GD/PI. I passed it off as one of the phishing mail stuff and fwded it to my friend to confirm the authenticity. Later I found out the criteria for IIM indore was heavily based on work ex and past acads which I already have.

With my disbelief I approached my UG batchmates who are at IIMs and they helped me filling the form at the last moment. I traveled 200 Kms just for one GD and one PI session from TIME Dadar. Made lot of friends there.

The mock PI panelist coincidentally happened to be my friend and I told her I am not taking mock PI, instead I ll sit through all PIs u are going to take for the day. She agreed and I found a pattern of all answers people prepared for and now I was sure of what not to tell.

Then I camped with my college friends passed out from XL, they advised me only one thing, the "Tell me about yurself" question is the make or break question and asked me to master. I rehearsed the crucial points I thought was unique about me. I didnt bother about womens reservation blah blah, IPL etc etc...my only goal was I should be clear about me and my goals, if that is done everything else can be managed.

My PI was more like M.Tech Automobile than MBA, the panel knew so much on engines which even I didnt know. I was able to answer most of them. I didnt know how to react after the interview. Then I said to myself I had a different workex, my acads are good, I didnt mess the interview...so I was little confident...

All I realised in this journey was

1. Attitude comes first, knowledge 2nd.
2. See the bigger picture, the smaller ones will fall in place.

My attitude went into a transformation after my India trip. Met the rich, the poor, the shoe lickers, the genuine entrepreneurs etc. I learnt from each one of them,. This place is amazing and it taught me life.

Here I am now, waiting to join IIM..... the 90 percentiler who made it into the IIM...or rather...the guy who prepared for MICA and got into an IIM

I am a very lazy person so I focussed on only what mattered to me. The only take away for you is

ATTITUDE towards CAT and life...

I have seen many people who has put their jobs on jeopardy for CAT...I would advise that CAT is a very small thing in this life and just give sufficient importance before exam. That will do.

See beyond CAT and college. See also how you can support your family, are you ok to pay your loans and high rent in mumbai or delhi (where normal MBA grads go), are you joining just for the sake of joining or really the college will lead you to ur goals...

Packages will come and go. But your plan should be package-proof. If you want to be IT consultant, go ahead do whatever you want to be the master...packages will chase you...it is YOU that matters finally...not the college, not the package, not the blackstones or BCG's...

"In the blink of an eye, you ll finally see the light" - Aerosmith's 'Amazin'

Well my friends this is going to be one really long post so needless to say I am expecting groans.

It all began in august 2008 when 1 evening,drenched in rain, I went to IMS hungerford street in kolkata with dad to take admission.I had to appear for the preliminary test first,which, i was told by the IMS ppl,was pretty much on the lines of CAT 2007 paper.Now everything seemed Hebrew to me,be it the problems on number system or time and distance,the endless tables in the DI section or the parajumbles and RCs with options that seemed identical.Now as i think about it,having solved a few hundreds of them in the past 1 and a half year,i cant help smiling at my sorry state that day.

Classes began in October and I started kind of enjoying the lessons on Number system,Percentage,profit n loss(felt nostalgic and a little weird when i studied CP,SP all over again after 6th standard) the LR puzzles et al.The grammar classes were pretty boring though.

Come June 2009 and all my friends had joined M.Sc courses in reputed institutes.I was the only black sheep in the gang,deciding against an M.Sc and dropping a year to prepare for CAT.I realized that this was going to be one loong vacation staying at home all the time except for the occasional hanging out with friends.But i really didnt look forward to this one as much as I always had at the onset of the holidays.On the contrary, questions kept cropping up every now and then in my mind.Wouldnt it be demotivating to stay at home for 1 whole year while all my friends would be busy with their higher studies?What if i couldnt crack the exams?Not a single day passed when these disturbing thoughts didnt cross my mind. The road ahead was going to be very,very uncertain.But somewhere deep,down inside i had a feeling that i could make the cut.

Come August and application season began in full flow.The CAT notification was followed by application ads of the various institutes.One would find the application deadline of one institute or the other every day in the newspaper.I had decided that I would appear for all the major examinations and would apply to most,if not all the good institutes.One morning,I came across the ad of an insti i had never heard of before.It was called 'IMI delhi' and the application deadline was november 27th .Paid a visit to their website,did some research on PG and found out that it was a pretty good institute and the cutoff of 96 itself testified for it.I decided to fill the form,along with the others.
Mock season started on a disappointing note with SIMCAT 1 fetching me a meagre 83%ile.However it helped me 2 realize where i stood at that point of time and pushed me to start pluggging the loopholes in my preparation.I also registered for the CL test series.Simcat 2 onwards things started looking up and I started to score consistently in the 90's.However, I always managed to miss the quant cutoff,sumtyms by a whisker.:splat::splat:
I could never manage good scores in the CL mocks despite doing well in IMS simcats throughout,something that will always remain a mystery to me.At the end of the mock season,I had quite a few overall 93s,94s and95s to my name,a couple of 97s and 1 in the 80s.my CL mock tally was much worse though,would rather nt discuss it.:splat::splat:.neway at the end of it,though i was nt aiming for the IIMs,I felt that i was in pretty good shape to put up a good show on C-day and the other exams for that matter..

2nd of december.The day i had waited for so long.Fortunately I had a glitch free,peaceful exam and once it was over,my gut feeling told me that i had done a good job.I had focussed on accuracy more than the number of attempts,which had always been my stategy in mocks.With 43 odd attempts,i was prety confident of getting at least 40 correct.But afterwards, seeing countless people on PG attempting 50+,my confidence kept dwindling steadily.....

CAT was followed by SNAP,IBSAT,XAT,FMS and NMAT in order.except XAT and FMS,i felt that i had done well enough in all the exams to fetch me calls.Guess what,reject after reject awaited me everywhere,in many cases missing cutofffs by a couple of whiskers.By february,all the results had been declared and there i was,seriously doubting my abilities which i was counting so much on.All my confidence was in shambles and the thought of sitting at home for one more year sent frequent chills through my spine.Not only would it shatter me,but also my parents whom i had asssured right from the beginning with words oozing in confidence.But they kept supporting me all this while.Indeed,that was one phase in my life that taught me big time how painful failure can be.

I had a lone ICFAI call and was hell bent on converting ICFAI hyd coz it was the only option i had in hand.i felt ridiculous when i reminsced of the days when i had dreamt of taking admission at instis like XIMB,SIBM-P,SCMHRD etc.I went to hyderabad well prepared with d micrpresentatn topics and thankfully had a good microprez as well as PI.

In the meantime,CAT results had been postponed umpteen times and by now, i had no hopes watsoever on it.going by the other results and the fact that 50+ attempts were d order of d day,i was pretty sure i would land up somewhere in d mid 80's.

The results were declared at 3 pm on 28th feb,the fateful day.I was hardly upbeat about it as i was quite sure of d outcome.the servers were crying out for mercy and after a couple of attempts 2 chek d results,i gave up nd went 2 take a nap.i woke up at 4.30 and logged in to catiim.in . Fed in my DOB and cat regn no hit the enter key.Suddenly, i realised that this time i wud get to see my result,it wasnt goin 2 b a 'this pg cant be displayed' this time.And there it was!An overall 98.26%ile with decent sectionals!could have been far better had it nt been for quant.Well,finally something to cheer about after so many days spent in gloom!Evry1 in the house was ecstatic.

The next day,ICFAI results came out and i managed to convert ICFAI hyd.soon afterwrds, i got gd/pi calls from all the CAT instis i had aplied to-LBS,KJSOM,TAPMI,IMI,IMT and MDI.GD/PI preparation started full throttle.The months of April and May were busily spent,attending mock GD's,PI's at my coaching insti,trying to make sense of d union budget,womens reservatn bill,food security bill et al and then of course, facing evil creatures known as interviewers.Some of them were totally chilled out PI's,some were hardcore stress ones.In the end,i managed to convert all of them except MDI.And now,I am happily off to Delhi in June to join IMI.the journey has finally come to an end in a very satisfying fashion,though i had to wait a lot for d good things to happen.will embark on another journey very soon....
The CAT journey has helped me mature as a person in many ways and i feel i am better equipped now to face d challenges that life might throw at me in d days to come.This is one phase in my life that I'll cherish for a long time.:D:D:cheers:!!
That was all i wanted to speak about CAT.

This is my journey I know I committed many mistakes and there are many flaws in the way I prepared. But at the end of the day the faith in my abilities and the belief thato ne day i would study in a Top college sailed me through.
My advise for other cat aspirants would be
1) Never loose faith in ones own abilities
2) Don't get bogged down by the hoopla created by coaching centre's.
3) Never get bogged down by test series. These test series doesn't reflect and will never reflect your performance in the final cat exam. they will infact never simulate your actual performance. these exams should only be used to assess you strengths and weaknesses. these exams will help you to sit with full concentration for 2.15 hours. apart from this i dont find any uses from these examinations. I personally feel time aimcat series contain too tough questions which you would generally avoid if given in an exam. I cant speak about other test series as I never took them
4) Have a nice peer group which would motivate and encourage you
5) above all plan in advance and never ever over work

This part of my journey has been an experience in itself. i have seen the worst. Lost everything right from my love to all those little enjoyments. But at the end i kissed that elusive taste of success.
Finally I would like to thank all the people(especially Anvesh, Chakra and Vamsi) who have been part of this league of my journey.

MY cat journey has been very short to say. But I would like to start it the way others have started.
My dream has been only one right from the day I joined my engineering. Get a great score in GRE and join some Big US university. I tried every possible thing to achieve this goal. I Joined GRE coaching at the end of my second year and gave my GRE in my first semester of my 3rd year. I scored 1350(messed it up in verbal almost all my RC's went wrong as I was too tensed). Then at the end of my 3rd year I got placed in Infosys( I attended the interview just because all my friends attended it). That day I never knew that this organization would change my life.
Now here starts the real story. It was June. Yes to be precise June 26th that a long lost school friend replied to a post in Orkut. After initial exchange of scraps she mailed me her Phone number. And it was not long before we started having conversations which ranged from few minutes to 3 hours. And I met her for the first time after 8 years on October 23rd 2007. Our conversations continued and in the meanwhile I started with my application process for pursuing my dream. It was not much difficult as I have put in every effort that would ensure me an admission in top 20 college. By the end of December my application process came to an end and I started seeing our friendship in a different perspective. By end of Jan I knew that I was in love with this Girl and I subsequently proposed her on February 7th. She took her time and she accepted my proposal. Once the relationship got through the initial honeymoon period the emotional conflicts started. I started demanding and she started rebuking me. And by the end of may I had admissions to 2 top 20 universities But our relationship was strained. And it was during this period I had to take one of the toughest decision in my life. Should I go to US and forget all these or stay her for 6 months and set right the relationship. I thought the second option would be better and I promptly deferred my admission to next year( I thought 1 year is really a short period in a career span of 50 years). This is when my job at Infosys came to my rescue. I told my my parents that I wanted to get an year experience which would come in handy during my stay at US. They believed me e. And on June 9th I joined Infosys.
I really liked the environment there. And it was not long before I realized that this was not the thing I really loved doing. And the fact that I would be leaving Infy at any cost made me skip my classes in training. I just passed away my time at infy scoring B's and B+'s. Enjoyed every bit of my training and mean while I sorted issues in my relationship. By the time my training ended recession took over in US. With the fear of not finding Jobs there I Deferred my admission for another year(So That my date of Joining Penn state univ would be Jan 2010). It was during this period that a friend of mine brought application for CAT . The life at production was really tough. Added to that pressure of working on weekends and my laziness lead to conflicts with my manager. It was in these circumstances that I gave my First cat. People might think that I was crazy. But it is true that I attempted all the 90 question in the cat exam(I made good number of guesses). But when I checked out for the key, I realized that I would be scoring near to 95%. And true to those keys my percentile was around 95(D.A being 56). This is when I realized that I truly had potential for CAT. Till then I believed that CAT was not the exam meant for me.
At the end of march my manger released me from my project. Being in bench and Knowing that I would be leaving Infy at the end of 6 months I enjoyed every bit of my stay there. I played tennis, enjoyed splashes at the pool. And all those rides with my G.F. I can never forget those. During this period my Friends started taking classes for CAT. And suddenly my family's fortunes took a downturn and my plans of going to US. Took a severe beating. I was suddenly depressed and was left again with 2 options. Either go to US at any cost or live my life at infy until the situation gets better. I choose the second option and this is when I thought of giving a serious attempt for CAT. I talked to few of my friends who already have started with their preparation. It was already mid September and Most of them were of the opinion that it was too late and advised me to prepare for CAT 2010. But only one(Anvesh and for fellow puys it is anchun) among my N number of my friends advised me to give my best shot. suddenly I was put into a project in which the technology(SAP-PI) was completely alien to me. But luckily this project was one of the coolest projects in Infosys.(I got to work for only 10 days in the last 6 months).
Anvesh had been the best thing that happened to me at Infosys. He mailed me the Total Gadha Material for Number systems and Geometry. I started working on geometry as I have never dared to touch a problem in geometry during my school days. Slowly I started with basics. But in a short while I was in complete command with most of the problems in geometry(thanks to the material). In te mean time I mulled the idea of joining cat classess. But owing to the exorbitant prices for the classes I decided to join AIMCAT test series. I bought a set of time material at KOTI for 1000 Rupees and started working with my basics. By the time I gave my first AIMCAT, 10 of these tests have already been conducted.. I approached my first aimcat with a target to score at least 90%. But the result has been disastrous. I scored a meager 45%. After 2 days I gave my second AIMCAT and scores have been even disappointing. I scored "-3" marks in verbal which was supposed to be my strong area.( My overall percentile had been 19). I took a week to come out of this shock. And the next AIMCAT I gave proved to be even disastrous. I scored "-11" in DI.(over all percentile hovered around 17). This I took as a challenge. I now knew that something was seriously wrong with my preparation. And after thorough postmortem I realized the following lessons
1) I am wasting too much time solving the Basic material of Time
2) I have got only 50 days to appear for CAT so make use of the maximum time.
3) Stop going out with my GF on weekends.
4) Give sufficient time for solving verbal section in the exam
5) Give respect to difficult problems
I talked to friends who have been preparing for CAT and finally narrowed down that Anvesh and I had the similar attitude. I talked to him about the strategies that he has been following. And Finally I devised a strategy and now I solved a CRT in which I surprisingly scored 130( which according to time is 1 mark less to get a IIM Call). This gave me a lot of confidence. And I changed my approach of AIMCAT's I started solving only the easy problems and my scores started picking up.(usually varied from 60-85). I solved every MC and CRT available on TIME website. Scores here have been really good.( usually in the range of 130+).
It was almost first week of November. Now I was quiet comfortable with my project. I literally had no work to do in office. So I thought of utilizing my time at office. I started bringing my material to office and solved all TBP series in two weeks. Anvesh sent me all the previous year's CAT paper's. Following is the daily routine that I had followed.
1) Reach office at 9:30
2) Go through Total Gadha Material once
3) Answer a previous CAT/JMET paper.(Only quant and DI section) in 90 min
4) Take a break till 12
5) Have lunch at 12 and comeback at 1:30
6) Analyze the paper till 4
7) Go home at 6
Relax till 9 and work with the AImCAT's that have been left out.
9) Sleep at 1130
I followed this for the next 25 days. I discussed every bit of my preparation with Anvesh. He almost knew everything that I did. Finally I stopped this routine on November 26th. I thought I was ready for the D-DAY. I had my exam on 7th December. Most of my friends had it much before that. So speaking with them I realized that 44-50 would be good attempts. I finalized a strategy of 30 min for verbal
45 min for rest of the two sections and 15 min of Buffer time.
I approached the exam with a open mindset. I had not an Iota of tension. I finished my verbal section in exactly 22 min leaving a Comprehension. comprehensions here have been breezers as they were quiet similar to those given in GRE. finished quant section in next 50 min leaving 3 time taking problems. this gave me enough confidence that I had sufficient time for DI. DI paper was not that difficult but I got stuck up in two sets where the data was not sufficient enough. I attempted 13 problems here. So my total attempts have been around 45-47. And I was quiet confident that I have done reasonably well. This was the day my girlfriend called me and said enough has been enough and that I never really loved her. I somehow convinced her. But the next exam was JMET andI screwed it up.( I went to the exam without a pen pencil eraser and even watch). Now came the shocker. My girlfriend wanted a breakup. I was totally shaken. And life at this point seemed endless. Now I knew that everything has gone and the whole purpose of me not going to US has gone waste. I was depressed and at times irritable. To come out of this depression I started preparing for CAT 2010.( which left after a week). Meanwhile JMET results were out.( I scored 65 marks and my rank was something around 3000). Now my only hope was cat results. I started getting restless. And finally the D-day arrived. Seeing the result I could forget everything. The sacrifices I made and everything made sense . I have lost my love but I have won my Future. I always believed that interviews would be cake walk for me. I dint get any IIM CALL. But I had calls from MDI,IMI and IMT. My only thought was to convert the MDI call I had. And it was predecided that that if I failed to do that I would take up cat again.
Again I believed that coaching would get redundant and thought of preparing my own answers for interviews. I first started with all the possible question that would asked in an interview. Then I worked on answers for the question with which I had been uncomfortable. I discussed these answers with my friends and refined them further. Apert from this I didn't put in any other effort.
April 2nd:IMT interview
Essay was pretty easy and interview went fine just that I struggled a bit questions pertaining to nature of work
April 7th 2PM MDI interview with panel 2
I had the worst GD in the whole group. People ran out of points and started getting redundant so I sat silently and spoke only twice. But the interview was one of the best I had ever given
April 8th IMI interview
Good essay bad Extempore and again good interview
I now knew that I would make it to IMI. And believed that I would at least make it to MDI HR program at least in waitlist. But the result came as a shocker. I was selected for the first for PGPIM( I mistakenly gave PGPIM as my first option which I regret now).

Here's an account of my tryst with CAT
CAT 2007:
Joined a leading coaching institute in the final year of my college. The main motivation behind writing CAT at that point of time was to avoid a coding-job J . I got 99+% le in the first ever mock I took (without much preparation that too). In fact, during the course of 20 mocks (I guess I was one of the very few guys in my college who took all the mocks). I realized that the only hurdle in my path was the verbal section(missed clearing the sectional cut offs around 5 times). Unfortunately I never analyzed the AIMCATS. Mugging up word-list was never an option.
Had a sleepless night the day before the D-Day. My worst fears came true and had a not so good exam. (I didn't write any other exams)
Verdict:
Overall : 99.43% , Quant : 97.2 % , DI : 99.89% , Verbal : 79.85%

CAT 2008:
Joined TIME test series pretty early and took the mocks religiously as in the previous year. My scores in the verbal section were improving and I was in toppers' list approx 14 times out of 18 mocks. (Got less than 99%le only once). I was pretty confident of scoring 99+% in CAT with decent split. But God had something else in store for me.
Verdict:
Overall : 99.14% , Verbal : 97.36%, Quant : 99.3%, DI : 79.42% (DI was supposed to be my strength)
CAT 2008 made me realize that on a given day I can smash any section or can get screwed in any section. In fact I told my friend "Agle saal quant ki baari hai".
Wrote JMET , XAT and FMS too. Had a rank of 273 in JMET(didnt attend IIT-B interview), didnt get XL call (again blame DI section, overall - 99.21%) and couldn't convert my FMS call. (99.84%)

CAT 2009:
I decided that this would be my last attempt at CAT (aur kab tak likhte rahenge). Joined three test series and wrote most of the Proctered mocks (total number of mocks written this year: 36). Analysis of each mock used to take around 2-3 hrs. I followed BMR's strategy of attempting more questions and worrying a little less about the accuracy (this helps especially in the verbal section). I got lot of motivation from people like r11gupta (we both work in the same office, so I know him quite well). Took each mock seriously as if I was writing actual CAT. I started reading online versions of newspaper (The Hindu) so that I get accustomed to reading passages in computer (I guess this helps). Took mocks sometimes at 9 in the night (after working from 9-7 in the office). My performace in the mocks were pretty good this year too (worse than last year though, avg mock score this yr being: 98.95%).
Was pretty confident of cracking CAT. A night before the exam I got to know that my exam was rescheduled(Originally it was scheduled for 30th Nov). For next three days I had no idea when I'll be giving my exam and lost all the enthusiasm. Then on 4th I got a mail stating that i'll be having my exam on 7th dec in the same centre and that too in the same lab!!! (Till 3rd dec , not even a single person was able to write exam in that particular lab).
I attempted around 53-54 ques in CAT but was not sure how good that'll turn out to be. (After all every second person had attempted more than 50 questions).
Verdict :
CAT 2009 : Overall : 99.94% , DI: 99.99% , Quant: 96.95%, Verbal : 98.98% (Calls from IIM-A,B,C,L,K,S)
JMET : AIR-8
XAT: - 96.5% (Had an off-day)
FMS - 340/800
Converted IIM-C, IIM-B w/l30, MDI,IIT-B,IIFT

I waited a loooooong time for my turn to post here. Here it is
Disclaimer: Don't read this if you are a 99%iler in Mocks. Read this if you are an underdog and you still want to make it to an IIM

Preface:
This is for the underdogs who think CAT is beyound their skills. I myself was an underdog who did my UG in a not so-known college in a remote rural area in TamilNadu. There were only 2 CAT takers in my college at my time. Nobody was around to motivate me and to guide me. But I was determined to crack it and get into the IIM's and I did it. The key to cracking CAT for my kind of people is, i think - PERSEVERENCE. Never give up. I faced a lot of hurdles in terms of work, not good coaching, etc. But then, if you have a determined attitude, no one can stop you.
This is also for people who score pathetically in their first ever mock and who retrospect about their decision to take CAT.

September 2006:
It all started in September 2006 . I studied 3rd year Computer Science Engineering at Erode, TN. We went for an Industrial Visit to Bangalore (the intention was to enjoy in a metro with all our friends). I saw a guy with IIM t-shirt in Forum (famous mall there). All I knew about premier Indian Institutions was IIT's. I didn't even know that the brand IIM existed :P. Since I was regretting for not getting into an IIT, I thought I will try for this.
October - December 2006:
It was then I started analyzing about MBA education in India and it was then I came across a beautiful site called Pagalguy. I understood that there were 6 IIM's (at that time) and some Ivy League B-schools which are worth joining. I was stunned when I came to know the level of preparation needed to crack CAT (the monster).
January 2007:
I joined a coaching institute in Salem since it was my native. Every weekend, I used to go to Salem to attend classes and come back to Erode for my college. It was very hectic; moreover, I didn't have any good coaching there. My 9th standard Mathematics teacher used to come there to teach Quants (He doesn't know to teach even 9th standard Mathematics properly). He used to dictate a question and write down all the steps in the board and we used to copy. My notes were filled with steps, but my mind was emptyJ. On the contrary, I had a very good English faculty. She taught us entire grammar in 4 months span and we also were accustomed to its usage.
Mock Tests - Season 07:
I used to score 65%ile only. In spite of it, I would always be in top 5 in my city rankingsJ (Mine is not a very big city to have good exposure about all these things). I never used to come back and analyze the paper and my marks never improved. I stayed on in 65%ile till the end. In spite of all these, those were my happiest moments, because I found my girl in my instituteJ. I used to attend classes and exams, just to see her and talk to her. No other intentions:P
(the reason for my failures in CAT 07 was, my preparation was not streamlined. I was studying something randomly without any proper plan)
In the meantime, My college was also over. I whiled away my time happily, having nothing to do. I was in a mindset that I completed something great J.
Joined CTS Coimbatore:
Joined CTS for my fresher training on August 06, 2007. After around 3 months of loneliness in my home, I attended training program in Coimbatore. Back to Party :P. Wow! Beautiful girls! I had a really wonderful time in training. Started earning too J. Those were my happiest moments.
I was not at all focused and suddenly the D-day came. I went to exam hall and attended almost all questions. Want to know how I scored? Well, it was horrible. Scored 75%ile. I was dejected. I felt at that moment that CAT is not for me. It is only for IIT geeks.
Season 07 was over and it was a mega flop for me.
Season 08 begins:
Suddenly, I thought of an idea after coming out of exam hall. Why not join the rival institute here in Coimbatore and again start my preparation? Yes. I went to the institute and enrolled myself. But this time, I was serious and started preparing seriously. I divided the next one year into 3 phases. The first phase was 'Preparing Basics' and this was till end of March. I successfully completed the Basics of Quants. After this, I started working out problems in each chapter till June.
Now, to my bad luck, I was put into a worst project. I absolutely had no time to prepare. I used to work for 12 to 14 hours daily. Sometimes, I came back home the next morning 6 O'clock. All my preparations went in vain L. I started forgetting all what I learnt in the past. My job was mentally pressurizing. I even went to the extent of quitting my job and preparing for CAT. But my mentor in my institute told me to stay there. He motivated me to continue in Job.
It was October 2007. I did not buy any application form as I thought I would not do well this time also. I told my mentor that I will prepare next year.
Season 08: No show J
Season 09, the final chapter of my preparation:
By November, I was released from my horrible project and a breeze of confidence flowed in me. I started preparing with renewed vigor. Followed strict timelines. Finished revisiting basics once again in February. I got some additional books for Quants and started working out many problems. I was well equipped to face Mock tests.
At this juncture, I would like to add that I have never read any novel, right from my childhood. Contrary to what most people say, Verbal can also be cracked if you do ample examples and get accustomed to the usage of english. Read Newspapers at least.
I joined Career Launcher for additional Mocks. Started writing mock tests every week. One mistake which I avoided this time was - not analyzing the paper (oh sorry, this time, CAT was online). Every time I completed a mock test, I analyzed it for around 5 hours. By doing this, I could figure out the mistakes I did. I stopped spending time on Speed breaker problems and focused on easy doable ones. My scores improved every time. I scored in the range of 88 to 96%iles. I was confident that I would crack CAT this time (I was OK for any of the top 20 B-schools, as I could not score 99 even a single time).
D-day and the aftermath:
I was much tensed on the D-day. To such an extent that I got a mild fever L But CAT 09 was very easy compared to previous years and I did extremely wellJ. I was very happy and prayed that CAT should not be rescheduled (as many protests were going on).
Results were fruitful. Got BCLIK calls. Converted Lucknow and I am joining IIML J.
This is a gist of my 3 years of running after CAT. Groans and Thanks welcome!!!
My Tips for beginners:
1. CAT is not a monster. It is like the Ikran (bird) in the movie Avatar. Once you know how to maximize your performance in mocks, then you are almost done (though last minute fiascos may happenL). Tame it and it obeys you.
2. CAT is a game of selection. You should know which questions to select and which ones to reject. If you try to attempt the speed breaker questions, it will eat up your time, morale and your performance.
3. Even a 100%iler will not be able to answer all the questions in CAT. If you correctly answer even 50% of questions in CAT (not 2009 CAT of course, which was easy), you will be the 100%iler. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses and choose questions accordingly.
4. The most important thing is - Join a good coaching institute where there is real competition and a good coaching. Unless there is a healthy competition, it is very difficult for you to improve.

POST - 2
Continued from the last post...
Season 2009
To be honest and frank, I kinda started liking this change. I was able to plan my life in advance and was able to get the desired results in my work life. I don't hate software industry at all, in fact I love it so quite honestly it wasn't so bad for me working in my company. There was a good feeling wrt my NGO. We work in the field of child education and so the little interaction we had with school kids made me feel good that we were doing something good and bringing smiles on some faces atleast. We even celebrated Holi and other festivals with school kids. That was fun!!!
By this time I had got a really good feeling about B-school enterances and I was kind of confident that I can crack the exams this time around. I won't call it an over-confidence rather I'll call it "boredom got me" factor that I didn't join any coaching classes/test series. I was bored of repeated loops of test and analysis and so I decided not to join anything for this year. Instead, I joined CSIM course on NGO management and social entrepreneurship in Hyderabad to study about NGOs and how can we develop them. I spent my entire Saturdays for four months (Feb-June 2009) in this course. Subsequently, we raised over a lakh of rs for the education of 40 students in this year. Thanks to this course!!
Time passed by and I was getting better in my career and my confidence gained alot over time. My NGO reached a really good level and there was just one thing to fix i.e. MBA. With all this, I really didn't realize that CAT 2009 ws just aound the corner and I NEVER EVER studied for it in the entire year. Anyways, kya farak padhta hai!!!
This year I prepared for my CAT exam only on the D-day! My exam time was 3:30 pm on Dec 2nd and I revised my quant concepts in the cab while going to my center. I was pretty regular in reading news papers, editorials and magazines and was banking on them and my prior experience with CAT and GMAT. This year CAT changed to online format so I made sure to have gone through the UI portion well in advance in order to adapt myself for the exam. That was helpful. As I had already taken GMAT last year, this change wasn't big for me at all.
My prior encounters with CAT taught me to give some extra time to VA section as compared to the other sections and divide the total time based on the # of questions per section and not 45 mins / section that I did last year. Fortunately, CAT was straight forward in that aspect i.e. 20 questions / section. So I decided to give 30-35 mins to QA, 40 mins to DI and 55-60 mins to VA section and this time I made sure to stick to this timeline at all cost. I attempted 12/20 (35 mins) in QA, 15/20 (40 mins) in DI and a whooping 19/20 (60 mins) in VA. With absolutely no practice at all, some errors were expected but I was confident that I had nailed the exam this time. I was particularly satisfied with my VA performance which was a spoiler in every season and every exam. Results: QA-96.48%ile, DI-99.24%ile, VA-94.67%ile and OA-99.28%ile. I got two calls i.e. IIM L and I. I missed A and C by just one question in VA. Had I corrected one more question, I would have got A and C calls as well. B takes acads topper and so I was out of ques (X-78%; XII-81.2% and BTech-83.3%). Same was the case with K and S.
Interview Prep
Having got the calls from one of my dream colleges, IIM L, I was really excited. IIM L has some special place in my heart and personally I'll rate it above A/B and C. Note: It's a personal choice and the reasons are perfect ONLY for me. You might have some other parameters but for me, its focus on work-ex ppl with a focus on the overall profile of the candidate and not just his/her acads (read purane paap). I feel more suited here. There are many more reasons but let's not discuss them now.
My interview prep started with CL (again). I joined CL's GDPI prep course at Delhi, Canaught Place center. I attended 4-5 GDs which were good. I've seen Hyderabad's GDPI classes and quite frankly I didn't find them worth attending post Delhi-CL classes. I also attended the boot camp program of CL and trust me I really found it good. Although I was a little skeptical about the PI that those guys would take but I thought to attend just one for the sake of facing one before interview's D-day. They screwed me!!! Every single subject, every single place that I had been and even my stronghold i.e. Maths!... they just nailed me!!! They also proved that it was my biggest mistake to have opened an NGO when I already had an option to help the needy ones with the available resources / RTE act (although later I realized that whatever we were doing in our NGO wasn't at all a wastage because of some concrete points :P). That was an AWESOME experience!!! CL Delhi Boot Camp Rocks!!! For the first time in my B-school prep, I really understood the points where I was really weak (in PI only). I found out that I had to study in-depth about:

1. My acads esp Maths. I decided to say to IIML and I interview panel that I know only maths and you may ask me anything from this subject and so I had to prepare really well.
   
2. The places I have been (Delhi/Varanasi/Hyderabad). Not just from knowledge sake point of view but also historical importances, important places, main revenue earner fields, political scenarios blah blah. Literally anything and everything that I can.
   
3. RTE act... in depth as I had an NGO.
   
4. My work-ex through and through. My company, its rivals etc.
   
5. Generic things about NGOs and related discussions.
   
6. My Personal Data Form. The very first question in my boot camp was... tell us something that is not there in your form. I gave both L and I forms and it had literally everything about me. I was caught on wrong foot and I blabbered something that was definitely not my stronghold (stock market) and I was beaten quite badly on that.
   

So I compiled a list of ALL possible questions from "Introduce yourself" to "Why MBA" to my course and everything. Then I wrote down the answers to every single of those questions and re-confirmed it. I did a deep thinking on why I wanted to do an MBA and how do I see myself 5 and 15 and 25 years down the line. I wrote answers to all the questions (70 pages A4 size doc :grin:). After this exercise, I knew myself pretty well... pretty well!!!
BTW, boot camp at Delhi was the last GDPI I ever attended for CAT 2009 prep. I met the panel directly on the interview day after this. There were a lot of things that I followed for the preparation like purchasing a couple of interview dresses... stiched trousers/matching ties... all in a couple... it was a big deal for me, I agree. I got the interview call for the first time and I wanted to prove myself at any cost!!! Jidd thi to bas thi!
One more thing, I prepared for IIML and IIMI differently. For example, the answer to the question, "tell us something that is not there in your personal data form" would be different for different instis as the personal data forms are different. For IIML, I was really in contact with my mentors who had been really supportive. I asked them to review my essays and got really good feedbacks that helped me to improve myself!! Thanks Aditya, Siddhartha and IIML for such a fruitful partnership even when I wasn't a part of IIML family.
Anyway, D-day arrived and here is my interview experience for:

1. IIML
   
2. IIMI
   

IIML's result has come out some time back and I found that I have finally converted my first ever IIM interview call. Guess, all that hard work and planning finally paid off quite well. Looking back those 4 years (first year I didn't study for MBA though :P), I see that I've really grown well as a professional, got an NGO that is 2.5 years old and supports 40+ students for their education, got my salary doubled to what I started with and felt really good about all this. B-school prep has changed me a lot as a person. I wonder what would happen INSIDE a B-school. :)
You guys can PM me for any further details, if you wish. I'll be more than happy to respond back.
Cheers
PS: I joined and followed PG AFTER I was selected for the interview rounds and I found this site to be really helpful esp in knowing what's happening in the interviews with our peers/competitors. People are really enthusiastic to share their experiences and the whole experience was a great fun. Long live PG!

POST - 1
And here goes my version of this thread. Really! If I look just 3 months back, I wouldn't even have given a thought to write anything here but I guess the destiny had something else in store for me. :)
The whole MBA thing started for me way back in 2007 feb when I was about to complete my first year at my first company. Although MS was my first ambition but an average score (8.33/10) at college and practically no papers, I decided not to go for it. Moreover, I saw some of my seniors coming back to India after their MS to get the job that I was doing. So, I didn't find a value add in doing just an MS and NOT PhD which would anyways be too much for me. I am a little desparate about a post-grad and so the obvious choice was an MBA.
Btw, I have a pretty decent background, I guess... cleared IIT in first attempt and completed Comp Engg from a very reputed insti followed by a job in one of the software giant and have a pretty fat salary as of now. I am also running an NGO in Hyderabad for over two years now and it's doing great. So, I had a reasonable confidence to crack an interview, if given a chance.
CAT 2007
Coming back to the old story... after I decided that an MBA is what I really wanted to do, I joined CL regular classes at Ameerpet center in Hyderabad and started giving its mock CAT etc. Frankly, I believe in self-analysis. There are many coaching instis in business and I don't think joining every single of them is worth. Too many cooks spoil the broth! Join just one for practice and regularity sake... practice hard... do revice all your exams... every single question of it and see for yourself if the question that you picked was a correct choice or not... were there other questions that you should've picked first? was the time given / section correct? was the time given / question correct? etc etc. Do a thorough analysis!!! I did this exercise religiously in my first attempt (even till date). My mocks were okayish... I was scoring 90+ percentile everytime (got an occasional 66%ile too ) but was really not hitting 98+ at all... just once or twice may be... reason? I was taking things too seriously or probably was trying to do stuff too systematically. For ex., I wasn't giving more than a minute and a half, say, per question in quant... even though I was close to get an answer, I somehow used to move ahead.. this used to cost me those crucial 2-3 questions which creates the difference between a 96 and a 99 percentiler.
On the D-day, for the first time in my entire life, I really thought about results / post CAT stuff... thanks to my flat mate who, I guess, is paranoid about it... he'll eat curd / sugar on D-day as a good omen but will refrain from hiring a cab to go to the center saying that he doesn't want to make a big deal out of this exam... as if eating curd/sugar hasn't already made the exam a big deal. As per an old saying, don't touch any negative person on the D-day or else the electrons from his body will flow into yours and you'll screw what you are up to. I screwed my first CAT because of this post CAT tension. Got the following percentile...
OA-94.56 :lookround:
QA-96.76;DI-89.53;VA-66.10
Aftermath and Analysis
My DI wasn't so good and so I was expecting some 90-93 percentile only close to which I actually got. Quant was my strong hold and I was expecting really high percentile before CAT but my attempt was not so high but accuracy was high (100%) and so I got 96%ile. VA was definitely a set back. I always struggled with VA in my MBA journey. My strategy was to give 50 mins/section in CAT 2007. Ideally, I should have given close to an hour to VA but failed to do so and so flunked in the exam.
By the time the results were out, it was clear that I wasn't going to make it into any of IIMs in 2007. I filled option to get calls from other instis taking CAT score, XAT, NMIMS (wouldn't have joined for sure), FMS (might not have joined) and JMET and flunked in every single of them. In XAT, I did the biggest blunder of my life... I think I accidently filled wrong bubbles in DI section.. probably instead of filling question 31, I filled question 32 and so subsequent questions were filled wrongly which resulted in me getting a single digit percentile in DI section. I didn't go for a rechecking as I was confident that I wouldn't have cleared VA section anyways so it wouldn't have made any difference.
As if this wasn't sufficient, I did a blunder in my job in the same time frame as well which resulted in some sleepless nights at office and me trying desperately to save my job... probably my past performance and my managers confidence in me helped me sail through that difficult time but one thing was sure that I really had to do a loooooot for about a year to clean my image and get a good rankings in the subsequent reviews. All this lead to a little instability in personal life as well which was quite obvious. Gosh! That was a difficult time. :lookround:
Future Planning
So basically I had screwed up eveything that matters to me quite royally:

1. I screwed up ALL B-school exams.
   
2. I screwed up my professional life.
   
3. I screwed up my personal life.
   

Some of you may feel low and may stop trying, drink or do something negative in your life. I begged to differ here. I believe that there is some reason behind everything. Everything that happens in your life happens for something good. All this led me to become self-critical, taught me to understand myself and my strengths and weaknesses better, taught me to be a fighter and gave me a very strong reason to come back fighting.
Two things were clear. I can't quit my job in my current company at such a low point. I can't quit my MBA dream so easily in just one try. So, I planned my way out. It was already over a year work-ex for me and had I got selected in CAT 2007, I would have got 2 years of work-ex when the classes would start that season. I would have been eligible for ISB in next season (2008, that is) and I wasn't sure if the batch profile at IIMs would be good for a person with 3 years work-ex as IIMs were more inclined towards freshers at that time (totally my perception). So, I thought to go after the GMAT way (which in many ways was really a good decision). At the same time, I really planned my work at my company one and a half year ahead of time with a very strict timelines. As I was starting at a low at my company, I knew that I'll face criticism in the first six months atleast i.e. till April 2008 before I can really start to prove myself again.
Season 2008
So I planned a lot of things for 2008. I call it a year dedicated towards image and personality makeover. ISB and other international B-schools asks for a BALANCED profile with decent GMAT score (read 750/800), a good work-ex (good performer) and a social work angle (NGO work). I needed something big to change my life and so we (my friend and I) decided something big.
For MBA entrance, I decided to work for GMAT. Did a self study completely with no class-room course. I had had enough from CL's one year program and I didn't feel any need to repeat the same stuff for GMAT. Took a date in August and started preparations 4 months in advance. Main focus was verbal as I was really confident about maths. GMAT came. Scored close to 700 only (Maths 99%ile and screwed Verbal royally).
For work, planned a year and a half down the line and I tried to follow it as religiously as possible.
For NGO, I FOUNDED ONE!!!
There are too many details for all the above stuff but I am not gonna go deep into that... basically this was a super busy period and I was swamped with work left and right all through the year.
Anyways, I applied for ISB and got REJECTED!!! Upon asking the feedback, they said I need more work-ex and GMAT score and NGO was not THAT old. Anyways, CAT was approahing fast. Unlike last year, I didn't apply for any other colleges other than IIMs. I joined TIME test series this time just to get the feel of the exam. Attended a couple of tests only and I performed decently (98%ile) so decided NOT to take any more. On the D-day, I went with a cool mind and a flow only to discover that I had committed a new mistake this time.
CAT 2008 had 25 questions each in QA and DI and 40 in VA. This means nearly 44.44% paper was VA and so nearly at least 50% of my time should have gone for VA section only. I didn't do that and devoted 50 mins / section. Result: QA: 99.77%ile, DI: 98.xx%ile and VA-72.xx%ile. I had screwed VA again. Although I realized this mistake as soon as I reached VA section (I attempt it at the end always) but I couldn't do anything about it.
Another year went into the dustbin but this year wasn't as bad as last year. I look at positives. My company ratings improved and so were my CAT scores. I got an idea of GMAT and ISB and my NGO was already a year old. This wasn't that bad a year afterall.
To be continued in the next post (next page)....

5 years. That's what it took me to realize my dream. Right since my college days, I nurtured this dream to get into one of the top 3 IIMs. I took CAT first in the year 2005 with very minimal preparation, which in retrospection seems to be grossly inadequate. Attempting CAT for the first time was more of a passion. I scored 91.xx. I knew my prep was not good so didn't gruel much on my results as I always felt that I could do better next time. I now decided to put in real hard work. Left my job 2 months before CAT with enough confidence that I shall crack it. My prep was good this time but I never clocked 99+ in my mocks. Missed out again. I got 97.xx this time. Missed out in one section completely. Having left my job and with no job in hand and added frustration, things started getting difficult for me. By now, I had become an object of discussion amongst my friends and was quite renowned for my stupidity in leaving the job for CAT. I joined another company and decided to have a new start. CAT was always at the back of my mind and whatever I did, no matter what time of the year, it somehow boiled down to the D day. By this time, another development happened in my life. My first love happened. I fell in love with a colleague of mine in this company. Things were going great and I was very optimistic that everything would start falling in place. My preparation started. I took mock exams and was doing fairly well. It was around October-November that I realized that she is getting engaged and that nothing could work out. My world came crashing down. I didn't know what to do and my concentration level was dipping very dangerously. Spending sleepless night without any studies didn't do me any good. My third CAT score said 96.xx. Bad, I know. By this time, even my parents started getting worried about my performance and asked me to take GMAT instead so that I can join at least some college somewhere and finish off my studies. I used to get vague comments from people in my locality asking me about my exams and how many times will I keep giving them. More than getting tired, I was ashamed of answering their question. I used to ponder on this harsh reality of life which never gave me any happiness inspite of me putting in everything from my side. I used to spend time at home after my office hours, solving papers. Whereas, my friends used to hang out with their girl friends while I was busy solving some quant questions. It all happened. Now it was the fourth attempt. This time, I decided to give in my cent percent. Took two mocks every Sunday and solved papers regularly along with a hectic work life. With percentiles over 99 in my mocks, I was pretty confident. Again, as usual. The result came and it was a dismal 95. I no longer felt I was made for CAT or if I was worth it. More than the pain of failure I was ashamed at lack of my intellectual ability to clear CAT. It was real pain for me to live my entire life with this fact that I could not achieve my IIT dream and now I am about to forego my IIM dream. Can I do anything in my life? This question always haunted me in whatever I did. Now comes the fifth year, I had taken my GMAT and had applied to some colleges. I was pretty much sure and had decided to join any of the college, no matter where. I had no intention to take CAT this time. My Mom forced me to fill up the form and take it. As it is I was not going to prepare as I didnt have any time for the same and was busy in my college applications for US and Singapore. I escaped my manager and got the CAT form. Filled it up online and went back to my application essays. I got the date for my CAT and now there was another tension. I had a face to face interview lined up with a prof in the afternoon and my exam was scheduled in the morning. I was totally worried if I would miss my interview as I was not sure if the exam would go smoothly. Anyways, I went to the centre. Took the exam and then took my interview in the afternoon. Had got few admits early this year so I was not thinking about CAT results. It was Sunday and as I was surfing channels, I read this news that the CAT results were out. Checked it and found that the link was down. Again tried in the afternoon and still the links were down. But IIMA and IIMS had put their list. Checked in them and was not there. I thought if I am not in these then I can't be anywhere else. Tried it in another hour and this time the link opened. I was shocked to see my score, it was 99.22. I had attempted good number this time and with good accuracy. Just that I was not used to seeing this score on my CAT scorecard. Got calls from IIMB, L and K. I converted B and the excitement shall always remain. Finally, I achieved my dream. 5 long years, endless humiliation and sacrifices finally granted me my dream. They say patience pays. Here is how I would rephrase it.
Patience pays provided you keep working hard towards your goal.

Getting into IIM A was my dream since 2nd year of my IIT. The journey started in 2007 and finally ended in 2010.

CAT 2007

I never believed in solving books for preparation. I preferred giving as many mocks as possible. This was my first attempt and thank God I was blessed with wingies who were as dedicated to CAT as anyone could ever be. Some of you might have heard of one, Basilisk, he was an active PG user and a 100%iler in CAT 2007. None of us ever opened a book on DI, Quants or VA but we registered with 4 coachings TIME, CL, Erudite..(can't recall name of one). IMS had mocks at the same time as TIME so we used to get IMS papers from someone else.

Giving Mock at home wasn't that easy if we got that paper from someone else . It was filled with his calculations and tick mark against his answers. We had to erase whole paper but we couldn't do this ourselves incase while erasing, by mistake; anyone saw and remembered answer to a question. Yeah, we were that competitive. So we used to ask a fellow wingy who wasn't giving CAT or one of our juniors to erase everything . We used to get 4 photocopies of that erased paper and used those photocopies to remove even the slightest possibility of knowing correct answer by looking at the pencil pressure mark (which can't be erased). Even for evaluating the mocks that we gave at our room,classrooms we had rules like only those solution will be counted where you have filled the option like in OMR instead of a tick. As we calculated filling takes approx 3 secs more than a tick multiply it by 90 questions and that's whole extra 270 secs or approx 5 mins, that means extra 1-2 questions. Needless to say in any mock we submitted papers after 2.5 hrs even if the invigilator didn't ask us to stop.

I did this 5 paper a week and then their analysis every week till November 2007. Results came out I got a 99.31%ile but screwed up my VA with just 85%ile. Remaining 3 got into IIMs , 2 in A and 1 in C. Damn!!

CAT 2008

This time I didn't have anyone to compete with so I became an active member of PagalGuy. Subscribed in all VA threads and few quant, DI threads. After last year I was fairly good in Quants,DI but VA was my nemesis. And then I met this guy "Varun Khullar" on PagalGuy. I thank him for me being able to clear VA cutoffs. Every day he used to give practice questions on PJ, PC, RC, FIJ, LUDI etc and explained to me the solutions. This year I registered with Time and CL only . I even nominated myself for DT,UDT,NCR DT teams of PG but wasn't selected anywhere. So I just looked up to their scores, competed with them and tried to do better than them .

Got 99.81%ile with balanced scores in all 3 and calls from LACKI. In A interview I couldn't recall 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and I am a BTech Dual in Mechanical with specialization in Thermal. And then I couldn't answer place to visit in A (I didn't know about Sabarmati Ashram) and more than 2 places to visit in Kharagpur ,my college( forgot about army air base). So I pretty much screwed my A interview and in C I couldn't answer what are derivatves when I have been working for past 1 year as a derivatives trader. Since I was only interested in A,B,C I knew this season was pretty much over. Converted I but decided not to join and give A one more shot.

CAT 2009

This time I wasn't that eager to give CAT partly because it was online and I loved paper and pencil format but filled up the form any case and registered for TIME,CL mocks. First few pleasant surprises came when I got selected in DT and NCR DT which actually forced me to forget about last year and get good percentiles according to their standards. Didn't prepare much except for few mocks and following 4-5 threads on PG . I never filled any other forms except CAT and this time was no different.

Results came out in Feb, I had 99.61%ile and calls from A,C,K. Interview of A,C went fine. Results from C came out first and I was rejected, not even in the waiting list. And I started dreading a repeat of last year but then A results were out.and Finally I was selected in the institute getting into which was the only reason I gave CAT. Yataaa!!!! (Yesss!!! in Japenese)

First up, I didn't crack CAT, and to be honest, I am glad i didn't....
First a little bit about me, I am currently in my final year at Hansraj College, DU, studying Physics Hons, I had been a decent student in school, a 60%er till class 10, because i hated maths and hindi, i just didn't like numbers and was always poor wid hindi grammer...but i put in a lotta hardwork to get 93% in 10th, and 84% in 12th.....So, i knew i could begood with numbers, when i put in hard work, but never loved them as much as i loved words....
i loved physics though, so chose that as my graduation subject, turned out to be a huge mistake - physics in DU or for that matter anywhere in india, is the same-ratta-shit-to-get marks-in-exam thing, no scope for free thinking and asking questions, which was exactly what I came for, also picking a strenous course like physics hons meant I hardly had time for extra currics, but I managed to get some by joining clubs, nss, etc in 3rd year, as i result i expect to get 55% in my 3rd year exams, i had 72% agg in 1st two years, but i have no regrest as long as i pass....i have also worked as a freelance writer for the ic chip magazine and techtree.com......am an avid reader,gamer,movie critic,foodie and adventurer....
I decided to do an mba by the end of second year, so got a book on quant by arun sharma, an old CL package from daryaganj and made my mind to finish them...but that never happened, I ended up having too fun much in college, and could only do 10% of both the book and the study material.....It's a decision i do not regret, for I can do an MBA ant any point in my life, but these moments of college masti will not come back.
Also i didnt enroll for any coaching, as i've always held coaching centres in contempt, i've never liked the work they do, create an illusion of the exam being so hard that you can't do without them and then milking you for money.....But I joined up TIME aimcat series, so that i would have some practice.....it didnt help me much, i never scored about 85%ile overall, and 80% in qa, i generally scored arnd 60% in quant, over 90% in eng and 85% in di....i did make an effort to review the test and attempt the unattempted questions, id put in 2-3 hours a week.....soon the b school forms came out, and i quicky filled up CAT,IIFT,TISS,XAT,SNAP,FMS,MICA n MH-CET n NMAT........
first up was IIFT, quant went really bad in this 1, and I knew I'd never make it, and was later proven true. Now I felt an urge to work on my math, but everytime i tried, it felt like a chore.....CAT went okay, i thouught i had done okay, but i was mistaken, a 38%ile in QA sealed the fate for me quant, same story for XAT, but i still got a 90%ile XAT, which in addition to my orissa domicile, got me a call. I forgot to mark the OMR sheets in SNAP, so that was a waste....TISS was nice, cuz there were no sectional limits, and i knew Eng and DI might take me through....
FMS was the one i really wanted badly, probably because of my DU background, and also it had twice as many questions in eng as in maths, and there was a concept of having the sectional cutoff at 33%ile in each section....but unfortunately the invigalator gave the test paper early and some people started the test early, that really put me off, and i started with QA, a big mistake, i messed up QA and then messed up the entire paper....so my beloved FMS was out......MICA again was nice due to lack of sectional cut offs, NMAT was d usual QA-messes-me-up story, and i was bored by the time CET came along....
I got calls from TISS n MICA in addition to XIMB....
this is when it struck me, i was never ever gonna love numbers, so if i was stuck with finance in IIM A, and passed out with a huge salary, I'd still hate my job, so it was a good thing i didnt make it through all those exams, infact i see them as sorting through clothes, the ones i cleared were the ones which would fit me, the ones i didnt weren't my match.....A helluva lot of people, think not making it to a top b school as failure and spend a lotta time trying to beef up on stuff they're not naturally good at. be it QA,VA or DI.....they never think that you're life's pretty short and the world is too big to waste energy on trying to modify yourself so that you can become a manager, i wish they did something they were naturally good and loved, the money would come anyway.......
anyway, now i was really pumped up about TISS n MICA, not so much about XIMB, coz i got there not becoz of my merit, but becoz of the domicile quota...
my ximb interview was the worst, the profs asked my ques on my acads, i didnt remmeber a thing, but the GD was good.....when profs end up asking questions on physics in a B school interview, it shows how "smart" they really are!
TISS interview was great, it was my first time in Mumbai, i had a great time roaming around, the interview was more like a friendly discussion, they asked me a couple of HR related ques and I gave them as much as a logical answer I could think of....my GD was bad, no one had met each other before, so everyone was trying to hog the limelight, it was a bit of a fish market...
MICA again was good, a good GE and a PI on the lines of TISS
I cleared both MICA and TISS and am currently WL 9 (domicile) on XIMB, I am joining TISS and couldn't be happier the way things have worked out.
You can read my TISS n XIMB GDPI posts below, I'll post my MICA one too later on....
Oh and I got 65/70 in PI n 14/30 in GD n 44.6/70 in TISS.

TISS:
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/other-exams-xat-fms-jmet/49464-2010-12-discussion-thread-tiss-93.html#post1986398


XIMB:
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/other-exams-xat-fms-jmet/50566-2010-ximb-gd-pi-experiences-12.html#post1933216

A moment comes in everyone's life when he/she adorns the victorious throne meant for chosen few. It need not be an IIM seat or Forbes list of the Richest. It starts with winning that first spoon race in class 2nd, singing a song in front of a large gathering without letting the knees tremble, boldly facing the phenomenon of being a laughing stock just because you dont listen to Iron Maiden or Enrique and finally not accepting the fact that you cant solve that quants problem. All are rubbish. I have experienced each one of these.

I am not here to write my life story. I will concentrate only on one word - CAT. Since the past 3 years that I have known CAT, I have always experienced but have always failed to comprehend the aura that surrounds it. When you start thinking of topping that one exam,the rush of blood inside indicates that you are made for it. If the adrenaline starts flowing inside you and your legs are restless, it points to the fact that CAT beckons you. Not all get this feeling, some lose it before they start. Some lose it half way down. Some stand against that wall. If it will not be tumbled down, it will atleast be cracked.

Enough gyaan ? So have a look at this :

aimcat 1001 - 80.44
aimcat 1004 - 86.75
aimcat 1005 - 99.78
aimcat 1006 - 98.75
aimcat 1008 - 94.14
aimcat 1011 - 90.48
aimcat 1012 - 89.01
aimcat 1015 - 94.58
aimcat 1016 - 93.54
aimcat 1017 - 91.80

Each failure in mock made me wake up half an hour early and study. Visits to DT scorecards made my heart burn. Each <95%ile made me realize that I will lose it all by a whisker and I can win it all,again by a whisker. I realized that I need that ONE success which will bring out the best in me to everybody. Life consistenly demands proof of excllence....till you keep adducing it,you are the king. Light up the fire inside you, to prove yourself and the world that you ARE the person you think you are.

CAT 2009 - 99.99 with 99+ in all sections

So did PROMETRIC do it for me? I dont know. I only know that I did it for myself. My job involved travelling almost every day. I have never stayed in Chennai which is supposedly my base location. Even right now, with 10 days to go in Britannia, I am sitting in a hotel room in Patna and writing this. CAT was on 6th Dec and I was in Rudrapur (google if you dont know where) whole november. I woke up at 4 in the morning and studied till 8 before heading to factory. 24th march was IIMC interview in bangalore and I was in Gaziabad on 23rd afternoon in factory. IIMA on 5th April - I was in Pathankot on 1st, Jammu on 2nd, Kanpur on 3rd and finally in Banaglore on 4th april 12 midnight. I left banagalore for Kanpur only to be back within 2 days : IIML on 10th.

What keeps one going - seeing everybody around talking about byju sir's classes and boot camps while you are struggling with anemometer in 45 degree heat near the oven with an IIM interview next day? Determination.

I was advised by one and all, to apply for a medical, go on leave and sit and prepare and make notes and revive current affairs and attend mock GDs. Given the person that I am, running away from one job to finish other is the last thing I will think about. I faced it head on. Each interview attended without Prep,but surely with confidence. Because I had faith in the person that is inside me.

So last two questions:
1. Do you think you are better than what you are being treated like?
2. Do you belive that life is short and you are delaying the success that you deserve?

If any of the answers is a YES, get up, open the official quants thread for 2010 and start!

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and howmuchsoever tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!!

Hope I could enkindle the much needed fire inside.

Friends, I have been a "Jack of all trades, master of none" kind of a person all my life. I had never really achieved something big in one single domain. Small achievements were always there and they were across domains. To point out 2 of these:-

1.) I had heard of the IITs since standard 6th. Studied really hard in 11th and 12th, on the D day luck wasn't on my side and some silly mistakes in Physics(which was my favourite subject) did me in. Got a rank of 3157. I was amongst those who had "cracked the JEE" from the city of Amritsar but I hadn't really cracked it. Didn't get a respectable branch at the IITs and thus did my engineering from Thapar.

2.) I played cricket at the U-14, U-16 state level but never made it big. U-14, I played when I was in 6th, at the age of 11. The game was my passion, but when I played professionally, I knew I was good but I didn't think I was so good that I could make it really big. I remember some of friends who I played alongside at the U-14, U-16 levels, they were so determined. For them cricket was everything, they worked hard and gave their best. Some of them are playing Ranji for Punjab now and some have played for the Kings 11 in the IPL. Bharat Lumba, Karan Goel, Manish Bhatia, Sharad Lumba to name a few (just search for them on cricinfo).

When I was in engineering college and afterwards at job, seeing these folks I felt sad sometimes. Cricket was my passion and I felt those days when I used to play were the best days of my life. I'm a firm believer in the fact that hard work pays off and I started wondering if I had worked hard, really really hard, may be even I could have made it big someday.

So there was always this feeling in me given my JEE performance and my cricket, that I had under achieved, that I had never really made it big.
I started to yearn, I started to look up to people from the IITs/IIMs/cricketers with a bitter feeling. I just wanted to make it big somehow, somewhere.

So I thought let me try my hand out at the CAT and lets see if I can make it to the IIMs. 3 attempts in total:-

CAT '07:- This I gave without any preparation. This was when that feeling of making it big hadn't come in. My VA was pathetic, managed 68% in that with an OA of 92.7

CAT '08:- I moved to Bangalore in Jan '08 for my last semester internship. My job was also at Bangalore, was to begin in July. Decided to go in for coaching classes in March. Gave AIMCATs, performance was around 96ish average with less marks in VA everytime. Scored 99+ just once. I used to score heavily in DI and thus didn't prepare for DI for the CAT. I practised only VA and QA. As a result my CAT 08 scorecard read :- VA 96.67, QA 96.01 and DI 75.77, OA 97.56...What I noticed after the CAT was that in AIMCATs, it was always the DI questions that I had attempted in the LR and DI section. I had a disliking of sorts for LR. CAT 08 had 2 easy LR sets and I had not even looked at them. I spent a lot of time in DI and was able to attempt only 7 questions.
The results brought 2 surprises (which have a high impact in my L convert this year). One was Shillong call and the other was SPJIMR - finance call. I knew nothing about current affairs, my GK was extremely poor and I was an introvert. Luckily the interviews were 3 months away. I studied everything, everything that I could think of. Every damn term and it's implications in economics (my mom is a Phd in eco, so that helped), quite a lot about finance and a lot about politics. By the end of 3 months when the interviews were due, I was getting sense of the broader socio-economic landscape in India and around the world. I was confident going into the interviews. Converted the SPJIMR call and was rejected by SHillong (the results came out on the same day).
I had thought of joining SP when I was visiting PG threads about Life@ some IIM thread. Then and there I realised that this is what I had written the CAT for in the first place. No doubt SP is a good college, but If I join it this year, that feeling of being a "jack of all trades, master of none" and having never really made it big would always be there, for the rest of my life. I thought hard, I felt if I could manage calls from SP and Shillong with a low percentile this year, then God forbid, even if my CAT goes bad next year, I'll still get these 2 calls. That's when I decided to give another shot.

CAT '09 (May '09 and beyond):- Because of my good performance in VA in CAT '08, I got confidence and surprisingly, I was able to do well in VA in almost all mocks. That resulted in my AIMCAT average shooting up drastically from last year, since I had always scored well in QA and DI. I paid special attention to the LR section this year. I'll say I didn't really slog for studies, I believe in maintaining a balance and never over do anything. I studied 1 hour daily on weekdays. I didn't study on weekends since I had joined a cricket club in Bangalore (Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have played at the same club) and we had matches/practice on weekends. This way I was also close to something that I had loved. As far as my work is concerned, I'm not that much of a technical person and although I was performing really well at work, I wanted to get out of it. I'm more interested in finance/markets/economy etc and wanted to do something related to that. I felt, if I can't crack the CAT this year, it'll be trouble for me.
One big thing that I did this time, was reading the newspaper/magazine. From my interview experiences of last year, I had learnt that getting a call is one thing and converting it is totally another ball game. Anything that I didn't understand, I googled, for I knew at the IIM interview they can ask anything under the sky. I became so confident that I felt that even if I get one call, I'll convert it. To understand India's socio-economic scenario with a greater depth, I read Nandan Nilekani's Imagining India- Ideas for the new century. It's an amazing book, let me tell you that. Anything under the roof about our nation has been covered.

Come the week before CAT and I had a break up with my girlfriend. She wasn't just that, but had been my best friend since I was 13. I can't mention the reasons here, but the reasons were out of my control. I was depressed. Talked to prem bhai (prem_ravi) once and he said "You have to be bigger than this". I remember those exact words and they kind of stuck inside my brain. I realised that there are a few things in this world that you can be fully in control of, and doing well in the CAT was one of those. So I went in with a vengeance towards the CAT. Attempted 52, was happy with my performance and knew that the accuracy would have been Ok. Given my profile, I knew a 98.5 would still land me with 1-2 calls and like I mentioned before, I felt that was enough for me, for I was confident of converting.

The results came, I had got 98.72 OA (94.26 QA, 96.5 VA, 97.59 DI). B,L,S calls were there along with SP, MDI and IIFT. I had also decided till this point that I'll go to whichever college I convert this year, because If I can't convert this year, with this much prep, then it's not feasible to give the CAT again.

1.) IIFT interview/GD was good but I did badly in the essay (The topic was "Domestic animals are man's best friends. Didn't know what to write really). Given my bad written exam score, I wasn't expecting a convert. But got waitlisted in the K center.

2. ) IIM B was next and this was the biggie. This was what I had waited for.
I felt I had written a good essay and given a decent interview. But I had made a mistake in essay. There were 1.5 pages given, .5 to do the rough work and 1 page to write the essay. I didn't read the instructions carefully and ended up writing the essay on the entire 1.5 pages. This, coupled with an average PI and I wasn't very confident. Verdict--> Rejected.

3.) SPJIMR was next. Interviews were awesome to say the least. I felt I haven't given better interviews. Verdict --> Rejected. Was shocked and shocked, my friends would be an understatement.

4.) IIM L was next. Essay and GD were good and PI was awesome again. Nandan Nilekani's book helped here as I was asked lots of questions about the socio-economic scenario in our country. Verdict-->

5.) MDI was next. GD awesome, PI awesome. GD topic was deregulation of oil prices would lead to inflation and hence it shouldn't be done. Had read loads and loads of economic times articles on this during the past one year. It was a piece of cake. Verdict -->

6.) IIM S was next. Didn't really feel like giving the interview. Managed to do well both in the case study and in the PI. Verdict-->


PG and friends on PG have helped me a lot. Looking at the scores, getting motivated, making new friends was an experience for me. Made countless friends, people I had never met before. Prem bhai, Sriram, r11, Doc, Bmr, Assassin, Sammael, Madam G, naga, raghav507, anshuljain_iitd, prakhar, Don to name a few.

But the biggest entity that has helped me has been God. During the last 6 months, my belief in God has risen exponentially. I never asked anything from him during the last few years, but prayed daily, thanked him at the end of each day and studied seriously whenever I did. My grand mother always kept on telling me "Guru Ramdas da hath tere sir te hai, uh jo vi karega thik karega" (Punjabi) meaning "Guru Ramdas, the 4th Sikh Guru's, hand is on your head, whatever he does, will be right only." I also read a few chapters of Quran during this time and it had made me a better person. It mentions of the judgement day (Qayamat ka din), when an account of our doings will be taken by Allah and based on that we'll go to Jannat (Heaven) or Jahannum (Hell). So I try not to hurt anybody and before going to sleep I go over the things have done in the day and see if I have hurt someone.

Friends, hard work is the key to success, there's no doubting that, but luck is also there. Luck is decided by God. And if you're a good person, or even if you're not a good person but not a bad person, God and luck will be on your side. He will desert those who are arrogant, who are not true to themselves.

So my 2 cents in the end, work as hard as is required, maintain a good balance to your life, do not do bad things in life, thank God daily and be true to yourself. You'll get what you want, no one can stop you..


Thanks,
Gagan.