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Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy re...
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Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy re...
------------------------------------------------------------------
Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy re...
Download the FREE 'The Best of All I Wanted to speak about CAT' ebook, a compendium of the best posts on this thread.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy reading. Hope it helps all CAT aspirants out there.
During my engineering second year I have decided to take CAT. Basically I dont know why i wanted to go that way. but some reasons I could think of are,
1. a very decent pay 4-5 lpa
2. comfortable life for me and my family
3. the challenge the CAT poses
4. I am tired with my tryst with technical courses
So, I have started gaining information regarding management education in India. Soon, I figured out the need to crack CAT to have any chances of entering into a b-skool. After some more investigation found that, lots of reading and good maths/calculation skills are necessary for cracking CAT. I have decided to improve my verbal abilty, communication skills and business knowledge to considerable levels before i can attend any coaching classes.
Subscribed to BW 3 year offer in late second year. then started reading reader's digest, India today and other books. All the while also tried to do reasonably well in my acads.
Came december 2001 and I have decided to go for coaching. There is no choice available in vizag at that time. So, joined in TIME for cat 2002 coaching. Daily in the morning 6-8 used to attend those classes and used to feel proud for doing something extra.
In the first 4 months nothing improved. just classes and some sectional tests. Never ever we were tested with actual papers. Then came the summer vacation. Convinced my parents and stayed back in vizag so that, i can attend classes as well as take some tests. But I have absolutely no plan or no idea of the amount of work to put in to crack CAT. Neither i am sure about what colleges i want to apply and what is it i am looking for in the whole ordeal. 2 months were a breeze At the end of 2nd month, I took my first ever real-mock cat and believe me, it was a shock for me. Whatever practise i have done so far seemed to be useless. and the results also turned out to be bad. At once i have realized the importance of doing mocks and practising cat-like questions.
Then the academic session started. not that i study for the exams, but we have to do 2 projects in final year, and the pressure is building up. Basically i like to do my work for myself. so, slowly i started takin my project seriously and by the time it was september, i had lost my position in mocks. ranks in AIMCATs camedown to 300+ and settled there. But I have always maintained them below 500. somehow i had a strong feeling that, i can crack cat if i maintain my ranks belwo 500. Apart from CAT, I have considered other options such as FMS, IIFT, XLRI, IRMA, NITIE and JMET. That is a cross section of colleges. But I was desperate to do mba right after graduation and applied to this many colleges.
Apart from the regular TIME Material, I have xerox'd some IMS papers and did them off and on.
Well, at last the d-day came.
as usual started of with verbal. But since my verbal is the weakest link of the chain, i spent considerable amount of time in that section and did almost 40 questions. By the time i am done with it, i was already 50 mins into the test.
quickly rushed to quant section. And if any one of you seen the CAT 2002 Quant paper, you know what i am talking here. that section was tough. But Quant is always my streangth. So, did it for full 40 mins and attempted some 27 questions there.
only 30 mins left. Started doing small DI sets. Again if you look at CAT 2002 DI paper, you know what are these small sets are. They have some 7-8 sets each with 3-5 questions. on any day, one can attempt 30+ there and get away with a score above 25 easily. But since i have managed to mis-manage my time, i could do only 19 in 30 mins. But, i thought that, i can score well there, because, in TIME AIMCATs 19-20 was always a very good attempt rate. Very less did i know that TIME AIMCATs DI/VA is very differant from original CAT DI/VA.
After the exam i felt that, i can get atleast 2-3 calls. All this illusions are result of my poor understanding of cat and lack of overall perspective. I have assumed that, i can get a score above 58 which is what TIME predicted as cutoff. Again this is due to my poor analysis of mocks/aimcats. I dunno what my accuracy is, what my strike rate is usually like....
... Contd in next post
------------------------------------------------------------------
Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy reading. Hope it helps all CAT aspirants out there.
CAT 2002 and aftermath.
During my engineering second year I have decided to take CAT. Basically I dont know why i wanted to go that way. but some reasons I could think of are,
1. a very decent pay 4-5 lpa
2. comfortable life for me and my family
3. the challenge the CAT poses
4. I am tired with my tryst with technical courses
So, I have started gaining information regarding management education in India. Soon, I figured out the need to crack CAT to have any chances of entering into a b-skool. After some more investigation found that, lots of reading and good maths/calculation skills are necessary for cracking CAT. I have decided to improve my verbal abilty, communication skills and business knowledge to considerable levels before i can attend any coaching classes.
Subscribed to BW 3 year offer in late second year. then started reading reader's digest, India today and other books. All the while also tried to do reasonably well in my acads.
Came december 2001 and I have decided to go for coaching. There is no choice available in vizag at that time. So, joined in TIME for cat 2002 coaching. Daily in the morning 6-8 used to attend those classes and used to feel proud for doing something extra.
In the first 4 months nothing improved. just classes and some sectional tests. Never ever we were tested with actual papers. Then came the summer vacation. Convinced my parents and stayed back in vizag so that, i can attend classes as well as take some tests. But I have absolutely no plan or no idea of the amount of work to put in to crack CAT. Neither i am sure about what colleges i want to apply and what is it i am looking for in the whole ordeal. 2 months were a breeze Then the academic session started. not that i study for the exams, but we have to do 2 projects in final year, and the pressure is building up. Basically i like to do my work for myself. so, slowly i started takin my project seriously and by the time it was september, i had lost my position in mocks. ranks in AIMCATs camedown to 300+ and settled there. But I have always maintained them below 500. somehow i had a strong feeling that, i can crack cat if i maintain my ranks belwo 500. Apart from CAT, I have considered other options such as FMS, IIFT, XLRI, IRMA, NITIE and JMET. That is a cross section of colleges. But I was desperate to do mba right after graduation and applied to this many colleges.
Apart from the regular TIME Material, I have xerox'd some IMS papers and did them off and on.
Well, at last the d-day came.
as usual started of with verbal. But since my verbal is the weakest link of the chain, i spent considerable amount of time in that section and did almost 40 questions. By the time i am done with it, i was already 50 mins into the test.
quickly rushed to quant section. And if any one of you seen the CAT 2002 Quant paper, you know what i am talking here. that section was tough. But Quant is always my streangth. So, did it for full 40 mins and attempted some 27 questions there.
only 30 mins left. Started doing small DI sets. Again if you look at CAT 2002 DI paper, you know what are these small sets are. They have some 7-8 sets each with 3-5 questions. on any day, one can attempt 30+ there and get away with a score above 25 easily. But since i have managed to mis-manage my time, i could do only 19 in 30 mins. But, i thought that, i can score well there, because, in TIME AIMCATs 19-20 was always a very good attempt rate. Very less did i know that TIME AIMCATs DI/VA is very differant from original CAT DI/VA.
After the exam i felt that, i can get atleast 2-3 calls. All this illusions are result of my poor understanding of cat and lack of overall perspective. I have assumed that, i can get a score above 58 which is what TIME predicted as cutoff. Again this is due to my poor analysis of mocks/aimcats. I dunno what my accuracy is, what my strike rate is usually like....
... Contd in next post
@ prem_ravi
Thats why they say nothing is impossible! Great job done prem_ravi..
But I request you to give your full effort to the next stage...as I am sure yours is going to be an inspirational story and a story which we can fall back on when in problems..
No doubt you have to convert t...
Thats why they say nothing is impossible! Great job done prem_ravi..
But I request you to give your full effort to the next stage...as I am sure yours is going to be an inspirational story and a story which we can fall back on when in problems..
No doubt you have to convert t...
5
5
@ prem_ravi
Thats why they say nothing is impossible! Great job done prem_ravi..
But I request you to give your full effort to the next stage...as I am sure yours is going to be an inspirational story and a story which we can fall back on when in problems..
No doubt you have to convert this call for yourself and your wife...but please convert this call for puys as well...and be a role model for CATers to come..we are really expecting this one from you...
Wish you all the good luck!!
Thats why they say nothing is impossible! Great job done prem_ravi..
But I request you to give your full effort to the next stage...as I am sure yours is going to be an inspirational story and a story which we can fall back on when in problems..
No doubt you have to convert this call for yourself and your wife...but please convert this call for puys as well...and be a role model for CATers to come..we are really expecting this one from you...
Wish you all the good luck!!
Hear hear!!!
This coming from one who has been there and done that. We arent going to forget you in a hurry Anupam. Look back through the pages and peek into a certain post that you posted.
People looking up to folk who have stuck on like barnacles to their dreams, wouldnt have any better ...
This coming from one who has been there and done that. We arent going to forget you in a hurry Anupam. Look back through the pages and peek into a certain post that you posted.
People looking up to folk who have stuck on like barnacles to their dreams, wouldnt have any better ...
1
1
Dear prem_ravi,
Unarguably the most inspiring journey towards CAT in this thread. I've always believed that any goal in this world is achieveable provided we persevere and work with a phenonmenol zeal towards achieving the goals. Your example has just strengthened my belief. Kudos to you for your efforts!
You personify what others may call "dogged determination to succeed no matter what the obstacles are", I've always yearned for stories like yours, today am priviledged to read a post from you.
I wish you the very best with your call.
May success touch you soon.
Best regards,
-Anupam will Return
Hear hear!!!
This coming from one who has been there and done that. We arent going to forget you in a hurry Anupam. Look back through the pages and peek into a certain post that you posted.
People looking up to folk who have stuck on like barnacles to their dreams, wouldnt have any better example than Prem Ravi. But the firmament holds other bright twinklers as well. Reaffirms your faith in human ability.
People have built lives having made it through. And then there are those who have built their pillars having not being able make it through. Its hard not to be awed by the lot.
cheers!!!
Thanks friend for such a wonderful inspiring story for people like us who scored poorly in CAT.It reminded me"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall".Best of luck for future
1
1
Here comes a middle aged 30 year Old man with his own story behind CAT....
Well as most us here I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates life till Standard 12 is confined only to my town & I was no exception...When I finished my Standard 12 believe me I didn't knew that there is something called as JMET, there is something called as REC...Those days all I wanted to do is an MBBS from Madras Medical College which I lost by just 3 marks...I still remember that day when I sat in a corridor of MMC & literally broke down to tears..My Ignorance costed me a lot..For REC other state quota during those days one needed 98 marks in Physics, Chemistry & Maths & I had a 99.5..& this I came to know after joining a DOTE II college..Alas, Time went by & I too finished Engg with 58.4% inspite of so many family issues...
Even with a paltry 58.4%, I could win myself a Job through Campus Placement & joined an IT company as Software Sales Executive..Believe me the 1st 2 years of my career were the impetus for what Iam today..Toiling in Hot Chennai Sun with a Hero Puch..Going as far as 50 Kms in that to do Sales Calls..Sometimes forced to take lunch sitting on the sordid roadsides of PetroChemical refineries...Cant describe much as every Sales Guy knows this....
In 2002 wanted to write CAT, but as my Sister was getting married I was forced to drop..
Then in 2003 I got married & became a parent in 2004...But those Dreams about CAT & IIM were still there in my mind & were searching for a reason to come out & I got the reason in July 2005, when I lost IBM intw to an IIMB guy...
There started my journey towards CAT...
It was never easy to compete with young & fresh minds.....
Many a times, I had to take my book late in the night after my daughter went to bed...
There had been days, when I was awake through out the night, Go to office the next day morning...
For about 1 & 1/2 years it was like an academic cum official life..........a focussed & targetted life...
Jan 2, when I saw my percentile I was almost broken with disappointment & it was my wife as usual who supported me by saying, wait u may get a call
Jan 3, her words came true..I got a call from IIMA....As many said it was for this moment I had fought hard for about 1 & 1/2 years...
Now I whole heartedly Thank my Wife without whom I wouldn't have reached so far, my parents who had been motivating, my friends who stood by me whenever i needed & still helping me in converting this call & most of all my Daughter who had been my inspiration & GOD's wonderful gift to me...
For people taking CAT 2007:-
I have seen so many posting in PG saying that Iam in college final year cant focus on CAT or Iam working in a MNC cant focus on CAT....Take this from me if you work hard & determined, nothing is impossible..At the age of 30, with loads of responsibilities & a family to take care when I can, why cant you??????????.
Thanks friend for such a wonderful inspiring story for people like us who scored poorly in CAT.It reminded me"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall".Best of luck for future
Looking at a star, I realised that once I wanted to become an astronomer. Then I realised I have not looked up and around for last 2 years. CAT is the word, CAT is the disease and I am sure, CAT is the love.
I have been an avg student all through my school and IIT life. I still remember the da...
I have been an avg student all through my school and IIT life. I still remember the da...
97
97
Looking at a star, I realised that once I wanted to become an astronomer. Then I realised I have not looked up and around for last 2 years. CAT is the word, CAT is the disease and I am sure, CAT is the love.
I have been an avg student all through my school and IIT life. I still remember the day when I got selected in JEE. I was very sure of my selection. And nowtodayI was extremely nervous to enter my CAT detailsjust to find I have 11 in VA L
But hey! Coaching instis told me to be sure of 31+.looks like I have got the intersection of all the keys.I was very sure of few calls till Jan 1.this is CAT..
My CAT journey started in July 2005. I did everything what was supposed to be done. Once got an AIR 2.basically everything was on track. Was sure to do well on the D-Day.D-Day arrived. Got nervous (don't know why)did not use my set strategymessed up the exam in shortstill managed IIMB and FMS (FT). Then came FMS gd.messed up completelyhad a horrible extempore (spoke for 20 sec instead of 60 sec) thought I am gonebut I got selected (surprisingly). I went in IIMB gd/pi with full confidence.had a good gd and a very good PI..was sure on IIMB.but here againsurprise!!...IIMB said "No Entry".SoI had two choices, either to join FMS or join a consulting job. I chose the later and thought I will write CAT this year.
Life is afterall all about uncertainties. Here again I did well in mocks. CAT went well. Though made some stupid mistakesbut I thought I did what I had in my mind. I was satisfied with my performance. Was expecting a few calls this time.
But iim verbal keys proved me wrong!
It is all over for me.
Last year I learned to accept failure.what should I take home this time!! How to accept repeated failures?
I was wondering and cursing myself for having not filled up any other exam forms. But the next very moment I realised that MBA need not follow the graduation.
And if I keep feeling this, I am being a part of the rat race. Isnt it a rat race afterall! How many of the CAT takers know for sure why they want to go for MBA? No, the answers which we have to memorise during the GD/PI do not count. And for me, yes I do not have much idea as why MBA!
I think I just want to avoid the confusion about my job and dreams.and I assume that I will be happy forever after the MBA..which is wrong as there is nothing like that after IIT!!
I think now I have to work hard and see for myself what I really want to do..I was running away from all thisnow I think I have to.and deep inside I know that this will be better for long term
And afterall, it really doesn't matter if you are earning 50k or 70k pm.. if I think I'll be very happy having these gadgets n all.I bought an ipod 2 weeks agoand now its in the boxthe charm is no more there..
But I still remember the piece of help I did to a poor 2 months backit brings me a smilewhile the ipod doesn't..it does for a minute or two.not more than thatafterall we are not kids anymore!!
So, the money is not and should not be the driveand I guess many of us are interested in MBA just for the money.I am sure this is not the correct direction
I have a dream of free medical treatment for the poor.and I want to achieve this. I am an engineer from IIT Delhicurrently in a consultancybut still my dream is neither the engineering ..nor consultancy..and for sure, not the I Bank.
I was not born for earning loads of money..and there is no intention that I should be remembered for agesbut yes, it will be better if my life can be of some inspiration for the generations to come.
I am not sure what I will be doing for the livingbut yes, for sure, the extra time I'll be using to pursue my main dream. And if possible I will make a career in that onlymoney is no more a drive but yes, the dream is.
People might say "Whoever said, it's not whether you win or lose that counts, probably lost". But for me the game is not CAT for sure!
All the best everyone!
But give it a thought as why are you appearing for CAT..a clear and focussed mind gives more inspiration and drive...and when you know the reason...then think why you cant get into the iims...work on the obstacles if there are any...but I am sure there is no reason why u should not....Give it your best and leave the rest to God...trust me, God has decided something really good for all of us!
Cheers!!!
Edit: And 1 year later, I convert IIM Bangalore. PGP 2008-2010!!
I have been an avg student all through my school and IIT life. I still remember the day when I got selected in JEE. I was very sure of my selection. And nowtodayI was extremely nervous to enter my CAT detailsjust to find I have 11 in VA L
But hey! Coaching instis told me to be sure of 31+.looks like I have got the intersection of all the keys.I was very sure of few calls till Jan 1.this is CAT..
My CAT journey started in July 2005. I did everything what was supposed to be done. Once got an AIR 2.basically everything was on track. Was sure to do well on the D-Day.D-Day arrived. Got nervous (don't know why)did not use my set strategymessed up the exam in shortstill managed IIMB and FMS (FT). Then came FMS gd.messed up completelyhad a horrible extempore (spoke for 20 sec instead of 60 sec) thought I am gonebut I got selected (surprisingly). I went in IIMB gd/pi with full confidence.had a good gd and a very good PI..was sure on IIMB.but here againsurprise!!...IIMB said "No Entry".SoI had two choices, either to join FMS or join a consulting job. I chose the later and thought I will write CAT this year.
Life is afterall all about uncertainties. Here again I did well in mocks. CAT went well. Though made some stupid mistakesbut I thought I did what I had in my mind. I was satisfied with my performance. Was expecting a few calls this time.
But iim verbal keys proved me wrong!
It is all over for me.
Last year I learned to accept failure.what should I take home this time!! How to accept repeated failures?
I was wondering and cursing myself for having not filled up any other exam forms. But the next very moment I realised that MBA need not follow the graduation.
And if I keep feeling this, I am being a part of the rat race. Isnt it a rat race afterall! How many of the CAT takers know for sure why they want to go for MBA? No, the answers which we have to memorise during the GD/PI do not count. And for me, yes I do not have much idea as why MBA!
I think I just want to avoid the confusion about my job and dreams.and I assume that I will be happy forever after the MBA..which is wrong as there is nothing like that after IIT!!
I think now I have to work hard and see for myself what I really want to do..I was running away from all thisnow I think I have to.and deep inside I know that this will be better for long term
And afterall, it really doesn't matter if you are earning 50k or 70k pm.. if I think I'll be very happy having these gadgets n all.I bought an ipod 2 weeks agoand now its in the boxthe charm is no more there..
But I still remember the piece of help I did to a poor 2 months backit brings me a smilewhile the ipod doesn't..it does for a minute or two.not more than thatafterall we are not kids anymore!!
So, the money is not and should not be the driveand I guess many of us are interested in MBA just for the money.I am sure this is not the correct direction
I have a dream of free medical treatment for the poor.and I want to achieve this. I am an engineer from IIT Delhicurrently in a consultancybut still my dream is neither the engineering ..nor consultancy..and for sure, not the I Bank.
I was not born for earning loads of money..and there is no intention that I should be remembered for agesbut yes, it will be better if my life can be of some inspiration for the generations to come.
I am not sure what I will be doing for the livingbut yes, for sure, the extra time I'll be using to pursue my main dream. And if possible I will make a career in that onlymoney is no more a drive but yes, the dream is.
People might say "Whoever said, it's not whether you win or lose that counts, probably lost". But for me the game is not CAT for sure!
All the best everyone!
But give it a thought as why are you appearing for CAT..a clear and focussed mind gives more inspiration and drive...and when you know the reason...then think why you cant get into the iims...work on the obstacles if there are any...but I am sure there is no reason why u should not....Give it your best and leave the rest to God...trust me, God has decided something really good for all of us!
Cheers!!!
Edit: And 1 year later, I convert IIM Bangalore. PGP 2008-2010!!
the IIM's need more guys like you... to teach people who groan about the CAT paper what difficulty in life is all about, and how to still persevere and succeed.
a lot of people out here have got things very very very easy, compared to you...
here's wishing you all the success in life!
q...
a lot of people out here have got things very very very easy, compared to you...
here's wishing you all the success in life!
q...
7
7
Here comes a middle aged 30 year Old man with his own story behind CAT....
Well as most us here I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates life till Standard 12 is confined only to my town & I was no exception...When I finished my Standard 12 believe me I didn't knew that there is something called as JMET, there is something called as REC...Those days all I wanted to do is an MBBS from Madras Medical College which I lost by just 3 marks...I still remember that day when I sat in a corridor of MMC & literally broke down to tears..My Ignorance costed me a lot..For REC other state quota during those days one needed 98 marks in Physics, Chemistry & Maths & I had a 99.5..& this I came to know after joining a DOTE II college..Alas, Time went by & I too finished Engg with 58.4% inspite of so many family issues...
Even with a paltry 58.4%, I could win myself a Job through Campus Placement & joined an IT company as Software Sales Executive..Believe me the 1st 2 years of my career were the impetus for what Iam today..Toiling in Hot Chennai Sun with a Hero Puch..Going as far as 50 Kms in that to do Sales Calls..Sometimes forced to take lunch sitting on the sordid roadsides of PetroChemical refineries...Cant describe much as every Sales Guy knows this....
In 2002 wanted to write CAT, but as my Sister was getting married I was forced to drop..
Then in 2003 I got married & became a parent in 2004...But those Dreams about CAT & IIM were still there in my mind & were searching for a reason to come out & I got the reason in July 2005, when I lost IBM intw to an IIMB guy...
There started my journey towards CAT...
It was never easy to compete with young & fresh minds.....
Many a times, I had to take my book late in the night after my daughter went to bed...
There had been days, when I was awake through out the night, Go to office the next day morning...
For about 1 & 1/2 years it was like an academic cum official life..........a focussed & targetted life...
Jan 2, when I saw my percentile I was almost broken with disappointment & it was my wife as usual who supported me by saying, wait u may get a call
Jan 3, her words came true..I got a call from IIMA....As many said it was for this moment I had fought hard for about 1 & 1/2 years...
Now I whole heartedly Thank my Wife without whom I wouldn't have reached so far, my parents who had been motivating, my friends who stood by me whenever i needed & still helping me in converting this call & most of all my Daughter who had been my inspiration & GOD's wonderful gift to me...
For people taking CAT 2007:-
I have seen so many posting in PG saying that Iam in college final year cant focus on CAT or Iam working in a MNC cant focus on CAT....Take this from me if you work hard & determined, nothing is impossible..At the age of 30, with loads of responsibilities & a family to take care when I can, why cant you??????????.
the IIM's need more guys like you... to teach people who groan about the CAT paper what difficulty in life is all about, and how to still persevere and succeed.
a lot of people out here have got things very very very easy, compared to you...
here's wishing you all the success in life!
qwiky.
@prem_ravi
Really inspirational.
Every IIM is filled with two classes of people. One those who get through naturally, and the other who toil, put in a lot of hardwork and get through.
Wishing you the very best!
Really inspirational.
Every IIM is filled with two classes of people. One those who get through naturally, and the other who toil, put in a lot of hardwork and get through.
Wishing you the very best!
4
4
@prem_ravi
Really inspirational.
Every IIM is filled with two classes of people. One those who get through naturally, and the other who toil, put in a lot of hardwork and get through.
Wishing you the very best!
Really inspirational.
Every IIM is filled with two classes of people. One those who get through naturally, and the other who toil, put in a lot of hardwork and get through.
Wishing you the very best!
Dear prem_ravi,
Unarguably the most inspiring journey towards CAT in this thread. I've always believed that any goal in this world is achieveable provided we persevere and work with a phenonmenol zeal towards achieving the goals. Your example has just strengthened my belief. Kudos to you for y...
Unarguably the most inspiring journey towards CAT in this thread. I've always believed that any goal in this world is achieveable provided we persevere and work with a phenonmenol zeal towards achieving the goals. Your example has just strengthened my belief. Kudos to you for y...
15
15
Here comes a middle aged 30 year Old man with his own story behind CAT....
Well as most us here I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates life till Standard 12 is confined only to my town & I was no exception...When I finished my Standard 12 believe me I didn't knew that there is something called as JMET, there is something called as REC...Those days all I wanted to do is an MBBS from Madras Medical College which I lost by just 3 marks...I still remember that day when I sat in a corridor of MMC & literally broke down to tears..My Ignorance costed me a lot..For REC other state quota during those days one needed 98 marks in Physics, Chemistry & Maths & I had a 99.5..& this I came to know after joining a DOTE II college..Alas, Time went by & I too finished Engg with 58.4% inspite of so many family issues...
Even with a paltry 58.4%, I could win myself a Job through Campus Placement & joined an IT company as Software Sales Executive..Believe me the 1st 2 years of my career were the impetus for what Iam today..Toiling in Hot Chennai Sun with a Hero Puch..Going as far as 50 Kms in that to do Sales Calls..Sometimes forced to take lunch sitting on the sordid roadsides of PetroChemical refineries...Cant describe much as every Sales Guy knows this....
In 2002 wanted to write CAT, but as my Sister was getting married I was forced to drop..
Then in 2003 I got married & became a parent in 2004...But those Dreams about CAT & IIM were still there in my mind & were searching for a reason to come out & I got the reason in July 2005, when I lost IBM intw to an IIMB guy...
There started my journey towards CAT...
It was never easy to compete with young & fresh minds.....
Many a times, I had to take my book late in the night after my daughter went to bed...
There had been days, when I was awake through out the night, Go to office the next day morning...
For about 1 & 1/2 years it was like an academic cum official life..........a focussed & targetted life...
Jan 2, when I saw my percentile I was almost broken with disappointment & it was my wife as usual who supported me by saying, wait u may get a call
Jan 3, her words came true..I got a call from IIMA....As many said it was for this moment I had fought hard for about 1 & 1/2 years...
Now I whole heartedly Thank my Wife without whom I wouldn't have reached so far, my parents who had been motivating, my friends who stood by me whenever i needed & still helping me in converting this call & most of all my Daughter who had been my inspiration & GOD's wonderful gift to me...
For people taking CAT 2007:-
I have seen so many posting in PG saying that Iam in college final year cant focus on CAT or Iam working in a MNC cant focus on CAT....Take this from me if you work hard & determined, nothing is impossible..At the age of 30, with loads of responsibilities & a family to take care when I can, why cant you??????????.
Dear prem_ravi,
Unarguably the most inspiring journey towards CAT in this thread. I've always believed that any goal in this world is achieveable provided we persevere and work with a phenonmenol zeal towards achieving the goals. Your example has just strengthened my belief. Kudos to you for your efforts!
You personify what others may call "dogged determination to succeed no matter what the obstacles are", I've always yearned for stories like yours, today am priviledged to read a post from you.
I wish you the very best with your call.
May success touch you soon.
Best regards,
-Anupam will Return
Here comes a middle aged 30 year Old man with his own story behind CAT....
Well as most of us here, I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates even today life till Standard...
Well as most of us here, I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates even today life till Standard...
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191
Here comes a middle aged 30 year Old man with his own story behind CAT....
Well as most of us here, I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates even today life till Standard 12 is confined only to my town & I was no exception...When I finished my Standard 12 believe me I didn't knew that there is something called as JEEE, JMET, CAT, XAT etc, there is a college known as REC...Those days all I wanted to do is an MBBS from Madras Medical College which I lost by just 3 marks(Still fresh in a corner of my heart)...I still remember that day when I sat in the corridor of MMC & literally broke down to tears..My Ignorance costed me a lot..For REC other state quota during those days one needed 98 marks in Physics, Chemistry & Maths & I had a 99.5..& this, I came to know after joining a DOTE II college..Alas, Time went by & I too finished Engg with 58.4% inspite of so many family issues...
Even with a paltry 58.4%, I could win myself a Job through Campus Placement & joined an IT company as Software Sales Executive..Believe me the 1st 2 years of my career were the impetus for what Iam today, those days were the real starting point for my theoretical journey towards CAT..Toiling in Hot Chennai Sun with a Hero Puch..Going as far as 50 Kms in that Hero Puch to do Sales Calls..Sometimes forced to take lunch sitting on the sordid roadsides of PetroChemical refineries...Cant describe much as most of the Sales Guys face this in the beginning of their career....
In 2002 I wanted to write CAT, but as my Sister was getting married I was forced to drop..
In 2003 I got married & became a parent in 2004...But those Dreams about CAT & IIM were still there in my mind & were searching for a reason to come out & I got the reason in July 2005, when I lost my IBM interview to an IIMB guy...
There started my actual & practical journey towards CAT...
It was never easy to compete with young & fresh minds, the way my mock CATs went.....
Many a times, I had to take my book late in the night after my daughter went to bed...
There had been days, when I was awake through out the night, Go to office the next day morning...
For about 1 & 1/2 years it was like an academic cum official life..........a focussed & targetted life...
Jan 2, when I saw my percentile I was almost broken with disappointment & it was my wife as usual who supported me by saying, wait u may get a call
Jan 3, her words came true..I got a call from IIMA....As many said it was for this moment I had fought hard for about 1 & 1/2 years...
Now I whole heartedly Thank my Wife without whom I wouldn't have reached so far, my parents who had been motivating, my friends who stood by me whenever i needed & still helping me in converting this call & most of all my Daughter who had been my inspiration & GOD's wonderful gift to me...
For people taking CAT 2007:-
I have seen so many people posting in PG saying that Iam in my college final year so its difficult to focus on CAT or Iam working in an MNC so its difficult to focus on CAT, I have alow academic marks - will I get a call, Iam scoring very less in MOCK CATs - Do I stand a Chance....Take this from me if you work hard & determined, nothing is impossible ..At the age of 30, with loads of responsibilities & a family to take care when I could do it, why cant you??????????.
Well as most of us here, I hail from a rural Back ground, a very very small town in interior Tamilnadu where it is very hard to find even a Good State Board School..For most of my Townmates even today life till Standard 12 is confined only to my town & I was no exception...When I finished my Standard 12 believe me I didn't knew that there is something called as JEEE, JMET, CAT, XAT etc, there is a college known as REC...Those days all I wanted to do is an MBBS from Madras Medical College which I lost by just 3 marks(Still fresh in a corner of my heart)...I still remember that day when I sat in the corridor of MMC & literally broke down to tears..My Ignorance costed me a lot..For REC other state quota during those days one needed 98 marks in Physics, Chemistry & Maths & I had a 99.5..& this, I came to know after joining a DOTE II college..Alas, Time went by & I too finished Engg with 58.4% inspite of so many family issues...
Even with a paltry 58.4%, I could win myself a Job through Campus Placement & joined an IT company as Software Sales Executive..Believe me the 1st 2 years of my career were the impetus for what Iam today, those days were the real starting point for my theoretical journey towards CAT..Toiling in Hot Chennai Sun with a Hero Puch..Going as far as 50 Kms in that Hero Puch to do Sales Calls..Sometimes forced to take lunch sitting on the sordid roadsides of PetroChemical refineries...Cant describe much as most of the Sales Guys face this in the beginning of their career....
In 2002 I wanted to write CAT, but as my Sister was getting married I was forced to drop..
In 2003 I got married & became a parent in 2004...But those Dreams about CAT & IIM were still there in my mind & were searching for a reason to come out & I got the reason in July 2005, when I lost my IBM interview to an IIMB guy...
There started my actual & practical journey towards CAT...
It was never easy to compete with young & fresh minds, the way my mock CATs went.....
Many a times, I had to take my book late in the night after my daughter went to bed...
There had been days, when I was awake through out the night, Go to office the next day morning...
For about 1 & 1/2 years it was like an academic cum official life..........a focussed & targetted life...
Jan 2, when I saw my percentile I was almost broken with disappointment & it was my wife as usual who supported me by saying, wait u may get a call
Jan 3, her words came true..I got a call from IIMA....As many said it was for this moment I had fought hard for about 1 & 1/2 years...
Now I whole heartedly Thank my Wife without whom I wouldn't have reached so far, my parents who had been motivating, my friends who stood by me whenever i needed & still helping me in converting this call & most of all my Daughter who had been my inspiration & GOD's wonderful gift to me...
For people taking CAT 2007:-
I have seen so many people posting in PG saying that Iam in my college final year so its difficult to focus on CAT or Iam working in an MNC so its difficult to focus on CAT, I have alow academic marks - will I get a call, Iam scoring very less in MOCK CATs - Do I stand a Chance....Take this from me if you work hard & determined, nothing is impossible ..At the age of 30, with loads of responsibilities & a family to take care when I could do it, why cant you??????????.
Success retained me as a boy, but failure(s) made me a man
IIM Calcutta - Class of 2012
Alright , I have been getting so many messages every day about tips and strategies for CAT 2006 followed by me ....
Disclaimer : these are prely my views with no offences meant to anyone. Its like Blind ppl describing an elephant, so be wary. :D
So here goes :
Verbal :
only remedy is...
Disclaimer : these are prely my views with no offences meant to anyone. Its like Blind ppl describing an elephant, so be wary. :D
So here goes :
Verbal :
only remedy is...
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37
Alright , I have been getting so many messages every day about tips and strategies for CAT 2006 followed by me ....
Disclaimer : these are prely my views with no offences meant to anyone. Its like Blind ppl describing an elephant, so be wary. :D
So here goes :
Verbal :
only remedy is To read , read and more read.
Disclaimer : these are prely my views with no offences meant to anyone. Its like Blind ppl describing an elephant, so be wary. :D
So here goes :
Verbal :
only remedy is To read , read and more read.
- Firstly use what is called as RSS feeds heavily. Now if u dunno what is RSS feeds , plz search for it. I had taken Hindu opinion RSS feeds , NYT technology and NYT opinion RSS feeds. Even Guardian RSS feeds are good. As a result I had read one of the three passages that came , but still managed only 3 of the 5 answers in CAT 2006.
- Next read following treads on pg : they are an absolute life savers !!
- Sentence correction ( particularly Rajat_nda posts)
- All and I mean all of Subodh Kant's threads.Also answer his qns.
- Read posts by VA gods of PG such as constantine and Shrutz, they r good motivators.
- Believe me , no teacher can "TEACH" for Verbal , esp after CAT 2006. Trust your instincts and read without getting bored. And try and read faster without losing content as you become an expert.
- Read Number Systems thread on PG religiously. It is like a temple of knowledge about numbers.
- Try to be regular with the QQAD feature on pagalguy which starts in feb - march. Heres what Aarav Sir said about my participation in QQAD , which remains by far my proudest moments on PG :D
- Try and follow posts of Maths Gods on this forum ... amar_kashyap , vineet.nitd , ashish banaya , varun_nakra , hanuman , tatimatla were the users whom I followed :D
- If possible try and find a good teacher for Quant . In VJTI a professor called BYJU sir came to teach , whose classes I attended . They were of a great help.
- See all threads started by warrior. Plz note that For Di on pg I havent seen a better mind than warrior.
- Follow DI marathon thread. Try and see if those questions can be solved. Even I could not crack all problems , but it enriched my speed of thought process.
- Solve 2 books fully : Shakuntala Devi and Puzzles By summers.
Check my blog- http://strat.in and http://trait.in
Rajat sir , I beg to differ ... Infact this is the only reservation I sincerely support ... u thoroughly deserve IIM A if u lost ur hand while fighting for my country .... also u never mentioned that earlier ...during sentence correction days ...u r simply gr8 sir ....
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16
ciao everybody...
I don't like the reservation criteria for disabled students...it should only b need-based...
i.e. as per reqmt , like GMAT....
Tk my example, I lost my right hand in Army....decide to call it shots!!...broke sweat.... prepared for GMAT (which gave me some more time since i used my modified left hand...) got well deserved 98 percentile...got thru into ISB...
Thn I gave CAT half-heartedly, n now...for obvious reasons even after geettin a casual 93, call from IIM A,C, et al...
doesn't mk sense, I didn't need a quota for it, I wud've studied if i wanted to join...newayz...
With my exp, I wud go for ISB, but the sys is makin a mockery out of it...I didn't need this resvn, maybe 5mins more for such a case wud've been sufficient...
Newayz, hope my givin way will mk place 4 others...n hope tht in future, necessary changes will b incorporated
ATB ppl!!
ciao
.
Rajat sir , I beg to differ ... Infact this is the only reservation I sincerely support ... u thoroughly deserve IIM A if u lost ur hand while fighting for my country .... also u never mentioned that earlier ...during sentence correction days ...u r simply gr8 sir ....
Check my blog- http://strat.in and http://trait.in
Eons. That's what it has been since I last posted anywhere in PG. And all this when PG was all it took to get through the days, the weeks, the months and years in between one CAT season and the next.
I've been on the forums for more than 2 years now and never ever had the gumption to pen a po...
I've been on the forums for more than 2 years now and never ever had the gumption to pen a po...
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55
Eons. That's what it has been since I last posted anywhere in PG. And all this when PG was all it took to get through the days, the weeks, the months and years in between one CAT season and the next.
I've been on the forums for more than 2 years now and never ever had the gumption to pen a post out here. And given the lack lustre year I have had as far an MBA goes, I havent a clue whether now is when I should say anything about it. For the road still stretches out : ))
The blokes around here who hopped into one school or the other have left their marks all over. Paths to be followed, paths to beat out further into territories normally one wouldnt touch. How does all of this fit in anywhere? I have inklings, floating around in the mist. I might be rambling through wilderness here, but I would finally like to put down a few words about the fantastic journey that we have had.
CAT was something to be aspired for when I was about to graduate. And with a less than satisfactory four years of milling around in an engineering school, nothing mattered more than a couple of years of "meaningful" education. What could be better for a bloke than making it into an IIM? As it turns out, loads. I might not have made into a school or program of my choice, but the very act of writing the accursed test thrice has led me through places, paths and adventures of a lifetime. People, places, lives; all thrown into a big, ugly, beautiful, sore, wonderful couldron to be stewed. The stew bubbles still.
The first time was for a lark and a big surprise, the second to save several lives and the third just to stay alive. The next time will be to go ahead and get it done at long last. I have seen scores out here who despair about not being able to barge into an old dump for a couple of years. Praise the benevolent chap upstairs for it being so. I have found the means to be more exciting than the end, as far as a career is concerned, now. The markers by the wayside make for a more interesting read than stuffy texts in a school Its folly not to soak them up before nipping off to school. Does it become personal for folk who keep hammering at it for ages and are not able to make it? Might be. It did for me this year and I paid the price. But how. I am now hacking away at a job in a firm I love. At the cost of CAT. And a rather more conducive path for me than anything MBA for the next year and years to come.
PG is not short of people who start out late and blink past almost anythng in their path. Through them we have a glimpse into what we are all striving for out here. To smoke the peace pipe with that niggling old burr in our side; CAT.
It took me years. I have had to pay some rather steep prices at unsvaoury terms. But I have made peace with the life-fuddler. Peace with the fact that life through an MBA from an IIM or an FMS or an SPJain or an MDI or an XL is not, never is, what lays your corner stone. These are not what we build our lives upon. Not even what we should dream, our lives away, about. They are what you use as stepping stones. The failures teach you almost as much as do the successes. Boulders, which when you leap across, teach you about that mountain goat like magical grip on slippery stones.
An old, battered Dragon unfurls his wings at long last I sorely miss the Gang though. The halycon days of months gone not too long ago seem to be truly gone.
I have learnt that CAT is but a fleeting moment, just a few hours long, which can teach you volumes about toil, patience, humility, enterprise, give you friends and love for life and most importantly, wake you up to the fact that we need not live out our lives on the basis of what is thought about or percieved of us. We live because we do. For what we are.
Hail the bug-bear. The burr, the thorn. The builder of destinies.
cheers!!!
I've been on the forums for more than 2 years now and never ever had the gumption to pen a post out here. And given the lack lustre year I have had as far an MBA goes, I havent a clue whether now is when I should say anything about it. For the road still stretches out : ))
The blokes around here who hopped into one school or the other have left their marks all over. Paths to be followed, paths to beat out further into territories normally one wouldnt touch. How does all of this fit in anywhere? I have inklings, floating around in the mist. I might be rambling through wilderness here, but I would finally like to put down a few words about the fantastic journey that we have had.
CAT was something to be aspired for when I was about to graduate. And with a less than satisfactory four years of milling around in an engineering school, nothing mattered more than a couple of years of "meaningful" education. What could be better for a bloke than making it into an IIM? As it turns out, loads. I might not have made into a school or program of my choice, but the very act of writing the accursed test thrice has led me through places, paths and adventures of a lifetime. People, places, lives; all thrown into a big, ugly, beautiful, sore, wonderful couldron to be stewed. The stew bubbles still.
The first time was for a lark and a big surprise, the second to save several lives and the third just to stay alive. The next time will be to go ahead and get it done at long last. I have seen scores out here who despair about not being able to barge into an old dump for a couple of years. Praise the benevolent chap upstairs for it being so. I have found the means to be more exciting than the end, as far as a career is concerned, now. The markers by the wayside make for a more interesting read than stuffy texts in a school
Its folly not to soak them up before nipping off to school. Does it become personal for folk who keep hammering at it for ages and are not able to make it? Might be. It did for me this year and I paid the price. But how. I am now hacking away at a job in a firm I love. At the cost of CAT. And a rather more conducive path for me than anything MBA for the next year and years to come. PG is not short of people who start out late and blink past almost anythng in their path. Through them we have a glimpse into what we are all striving for out here. To smoke the peace pipe with that niggling old burr in our side; CAT.
It took me years. I have had to pay some rather steep prices at unsvaoury terms. But I have made peace with the life-fuddler. Peace with the fact that life through an MBA from an IIM or an FMS or an SPJain or an MDI or an XL is not, never is, what lays your corner stone. These are not what we build our lives upon. Not even what we should dream, our lives away, about. They are what you use as stepping stones. The failures teach you almost as much as do the successes. Boulders, which when you leap across, teach you about that mountain goat like magical grip on slippery stones.
An old, battered Dragon unfurls his wings at long last
I sorely miss the Gang though. The halycon days of months gone not too long ago seem to be truly gone.I have learnt that CAT is but a fleeting moment, just a few hours long, which can teach you volumes about toil, patience, humility, enterprise, give you friends and love for life and most importantly, wake you up to the fact that we need not live out our lives on the basis of what is thought about or percieved of us. We live because we do. For what we are.
Hail the bug-bear. The burr, the thorn. The builder of destinies.
cheers!!!
ciao everybody...
I don't like the reservation criteria for disabled students...it should only b need-based...
i.e. as per reqmt , like GMAT....
Tk my example, I lost my right hand in Army....decide to call it shots!!...broke sweat.... prepared for GMAT (which gave me some more time sinc...
I don't like the reservation criteria for disabled students...it should only b need-based...
i.e. as per reqmt , like GMAT....
Tk my example, I lost my right hand in Army....decide to call it shots!!...broke sweat.... prepared for GMAT (which gave me some more time sinc...
45
45
ciao everybody...
I don't like the reservation criteria for disabled students...it should only b need-based...
i.e. as per reqmt , like GMAT....
Tk my example, I lost my right hand in Army....decide to call it shots!!...broke sweat.... prepared for GMAT (which gave me some more time since i used my modified left hand...) got well deserved 98 percentile...got thru into ISB...
Thn I gave CAT half-heartedly, n now...for obvious reasons even after geettin a casual 93, call from IIM A,C, et al...
doesn't mk sense, I didn't need a quota for it, I wud've studied if i wanted to join...newayz...
With my exp, I wud go for ISB, but the sys is makin a mockery out of it...I didn't need this resvn, maybe 5mins more for such a case wud've been sufficient...
Newayz, hope my givin way will mk place 4 others...n hope tht in future, necessary changes will b incorporated
ATB ppl!!
ciao
.
I don't like the reservation criteria for disabled students...it should only b need-based...
i.e. as per reqmt , like GMAT....
Tk my example, I lost my right hand in Army....decide to call it shots!!...broke sweat.... prepared for GMAT (which gave me some more time since i used my modified left hand...) got well deserved 98 percentile...got thru into ISB...
Thn I gave CAT half-heartedly, n now...for obvious reasons even after geettin a casual 93, call from IIM A,C, et al...
doesn't mk sense, I didn't need a quota for it, I wud've studied if i wanted to join...newayz...
With my exp, I wud go for ISB, but the sys is makin a mockery out of it...I didn't need this resvn, maybe 5mins more for such a case wud've been sufficient...
Newayz, hope my givin way will mk place 4 others...n hope tht in future, necessary changes will b incorporated
ATB ppl!!
ciao
.
CAT results are out . There have been surprises. While 99 + in earlier years with 90+ in all sections assured 1+ call there have been lot of cases who have got no calls.
My own take on this is that IIMs and all other business schools go for class profile. ie ...% freshers ..% engineers ...% g...
My own take on this is that IIMs and all other business schools go for class profile. ie ...% freshers ..% engineers ...% g...
3
3
CAT results are out . There have been surprises. While 99 + in earlier years with 90+ in all sections assured 1+ call there have been lot of cases who have got no calls.
My own take on this is that IIMs and all other business schools go for class profile. ie ...% freshers ..% engineers ...% girls .... % CA etc and in each category you will further have sub categories such Computer science / civil / mechanical . So if your friend has got a lower scores than you and still got a call its just that the competition was less severe in his profile. Your class 10 / 12 / your institute also carries weightage but far less compared to your CAT scores. So if you are a boy and an engineer and majored in Comp Science you can expect the max competition and your CAT scores will have to be very good to get a call though work ex can rescue you to a certain extent .. In other words the IIMS just feed in the class profile and press the key and zip comes the call list . Yes there will be heart burns ... neighbours envy ...
case
As a foot note, even if you don't make it to ABC but get selected in LIK just take it for two reasons . 1) Years down the line there will hardly be a diff between these institutes in terms of Placement / prestige or whatever . You will be a guy from IIMs. Mind you in majority of the cases the diff between IIM A student and IIM K student is a better CAT performance on that particular day. This is beeing slowly realised by the recruiters .
2) With the CAT score for the IIM call getting more unpredictable below 99.8 percentile it may not be worth taking the chance
case
My own take on this is that IIMs and all other business schools go for class profile. ie ...% freshers ..% engineers ...% girls .... % CA etc and in each category you will further have sub categories such Computer science / civil / mechanical . So if your friend has got a lower scores than you and still got a call its just that the competition was less severe in his profile. Your class 10 / 12 / your institute also carries weightage but far less compared to your CAT scores. So if you are a boy and an engineer and majored in Comp Science you can expect the max competition and your CAT scores will have to be very good to get a call though work ex can rescue you to a certain extent .. In other words the IIMS just feed in the class profile and press the key and zip comes the call list . Yes there will be heart burns ... neighbours envy ...
case
As a foot note, even if you don't make it to ABC but get selected in LIK just take it for two reasons . 1) Years down the line there will hardly be a diff between these institutes in terms of Placement / prestige or whatever . You will be a guy from IIMs. Mind you in majority of the cases the diff between IIM A student and IIM K student is a better CAT performance on that particular day. This is beeing slowly realised by the recruiters .
2) With the CAT score for the IIM call getting more unpredictable below 99.8 percentile it may not be worth taking the chance
case
Well for the past 1 year and 2 months since I joined Pagalguy , I was a silent spectator over here on this thread . Even for the past 45 something days , I thought my posting here will most probably be delayed by an year.Things were simply not coming together !! Something or the other was just no...
46
46
Well for the past 1 year and 2 months since I joined Pagalguy , I was a silent spectator over here on this thread . Even for the past 45 something days , I thought my posting here will most probably be delayed by an year.Things were simply not coming together !! Something or the other was just not right with the answer keys of IMS , CL and TIME ... And I knew it. ( As it turned out their score on 24 is 15 , 16, 14 respectively - as documented by warrior)
You see the thing I revere most in life is achievement , nothing else. But alas, till yesterday I simply had not achieved anything worthwhile , something I could be proud of. All I had was a JEE MAINS rank of 3987 which wasn't even enough to clinch a place in ISM Dhanbad mining. Fortunately , I had performed well enough to get /sneak into VJTI IT class ... Ask any of my fellow VJTI colleagues , I was THE LAST OPEN SEAT IN VJTI IT.Basically for 21 years 11 months and 12 days of my life , I was a bloddy ALSO RAN , a phrase I hate from the bottom of my heart!
Really , LIFE was simply not worth living , till JAN 2 , 2007 that is :D
Well lemme tell u that GDPI still beckons.... but one thing is for sure - call it lottery , call it Super Lotto , call it luck , but the bottomline is that I got 25/100 in that cruel VA paper , and hence have cracked a 99.61 , as well as a call in IIMA .
You see , there are life stories I know that are tougher than my life , but this CAT was my last serious attempt at any competitive exam. Had things not turned on this time , I probably would have taken up some job and stayed happy with it for the end of days. It was like ,academically , I reached my breaking stress point.
But life indeed is worth living my friends ,because cracking CAT is the most beautiful thing in life.
On Jan 2007 , @4.25 pm when I finally got IIMA call , I sat on my chair and simply cried !!I just let my emotions , which are a closely guarded secret, out !!! All I did for the past one year came right before my eyes !! All the decisions I made ,all the risks I took ,all the mock CATs I wrote , all the articles I read , all the websites I saw , all the tables , cubes , squares I mugged , all the Sentences I solved , all the grammar I practised , it all seemed to bear fruit , yes , it all seemed to help !!!!!!!
As of now my reading is AC without a B as far as calls are concerned, but all I care about is that I was among the top 1000 students who appeared for CAT 2006 !!!!
Thanks to my parents , my teachers , my friends, all my well wishers and thanks to pagalguy.com for giving me space to write what I want to !!:satisfie:
You see the thing I revere most in life is achievement , nothing else. But alas, till yesterday I simply had not achieved anything worthwhile , something I could be proud of. All I had was a JEE MAINS rank of 3987 which wasn't even enough to clinch a place in ISM Dhanbad mining. Fortunately , I had performed well enough to get /sneak into VJTI IT class ... Ask any of my fellow VJTI colleagues , I was THE LAST OPEN SEAT IN VJTI IT.Basically for 21 years 11 months and 12 days of my life , I was a bloddy ALSO RAN , a phrase I hate from the bottom of my heart!
Really , LIFE was simply not worth living , till JAN 2 , 2007 that is :D
Well lemme tell u that GDPI still beckons.... but one thing is for sure - call it lottery , call it Super Lotto , call it luck , but the bottomline is that I got 25/100 in that cruel VA paper , and hence have cracked a 99.61 , as well as a call in IIMA .
You see , there are life stories I know that are tougher than my life , but this CAT was my last serious attempt at any competitive exam. Had things not turned on this time , I probably would have taken up some job and stayed happy with it for the end of days. It was like ,academically , I reached my breaking stress point.
But life indeed is worth living my friends ,because cracking CAT is the most beautiful thing in life.
On Jan 2007 , @4.25 pm when I finally got IIMA call , I sat on my chair and simply cried !!I just let my emotions , which are a closely guarded secret, out !!! All I did for the past one year came right before my eyes !! All the decisions I made ,all the risks I took ,all the mock CATs I wrote , all the articles I read , all the websites I saw , all the tables , cubes , squares I mugged , all the Sentences I solved , all the grammar I practised , it all seemed to bear fruit , yes , it all seemed to help !!!!!!!
As of now my reading is AC without a B as far as calls are concerned, but all I care about is that I was among the top 1000 students who appeared for CAT 2006 !!!!
Thanks to my parents , my teachers , my friends, all my well wishers and thanks to pagalguy.com for giving me space to write what I want to !!:satisfie:
Check my blog- http://strat.in and http://trait.in
Then came THE moment, tryst with destiny may be: September 2005:happened to spot an article in outlook,abt a certain website run by a bunch of well, it appeared like similar-minded folks, happened to log on. Rather log in. log whatever, and well, just couldnt let go of it. This was it, all that I...
4
4
Then came THE moment, tryst with destiny may be: September 2005:happened to spot an article in outlook,abt a certain website run by a bunch of well, it appeared like similar-minded folks, happened to log on. Rather log in. log whatever, and well, just couldnt let go of it. This was it, all that I needed, and all of whom I needed to speak to; all under the same roof, err...in the same bandwidth. I was a restrained newbie there, mind you,cos it seemed I was never going to post anything on the site at all, all that I needed to know, was already there, in some post, some thread or the other. I missed a big point back then itself, which cost me dear two Sundays back, which I hope will alert at least a single person after reading this: there are thousands others who are having the same blue eyed gaze as we have, never ever underestimate their capabilities along with having confidence in ourselves.
I scrutinized cat 2005 on pg with an hawk eye, analyzing how the freshers like me fared in comparison to the work-ex folks, how did the insti-s judge different criteria, how did the seniors react, I analyzed how low could the cut-offs go in each section for freshers and work ex ppl, i analyzed what pencil did someone carry, I analyzed which insti. Did most blacki-s prepare from, all in all, I OVER-ANALYZED. End of story.:neutral:
Feb-march 2006-I am giving one scholarship test after another in the various insti-s,all announce handsome discounts, I am still floating,man,this is awesome, If am performing such without any prep-s,then imagine the effect the prep-s will have..Etc etc...Add to that the buzz in college and friends circle that he is taking cat, preparing so well, a 99 percentiler for sure.basically, I float a bit higher. Ultimately got admitted in march in IMS.started off with some pace, finished off the di, English brm-s in record time, maths was always the one little thing that troubled me, but alwaz had the idea, that will do this thing and that. And manage it in the end. No prob with that. my insti sessions were rushing thru real fast, neglected engg.studies real badly,sem suffered yet again, only saving grace was the campussing session, thankfully converted the zero slot itself,tcs it was gonna be, again Mr. analysis was back, next thing I know, I was back to pg,checkin how many ex-tcs-ers had scaled the iim barrier!!
The mocking mocks-all in all, I had hardly finished my quant brm-s and was neglecting my engg.course, my project et al, when the mock-sim etc season arrived. I had decided in true cat-taking style to experiment as much as possible in the mocks initially till I found a strategy that worked for me. I had the chandoo bhaiyya-style excel sheet ready since as long that I can remember , the first mock was the pg-cav one, did pretty well apart from the di section. Made notes in the sheet, I marked on the poster in my room as to what I should do, asked seniors, concluded: I needed to get my basics right! Man what a conclusion! As if I didnt know that! see folks, I can utter loads of proverbs to define my cat story, but I guess none of them could be so apt as: making a mountain out of a mole hill.continuing,then came the sim-s,sim-1 was torrid to say the least a sub-4000 air for me. Same story in sim-2 too, I was alarmed, whats happening. I didnt take sim-3...yes, .i was back to analyzing, I thought about first studying what I had to rectify, rather than having a half-shot at it.sim-4 onwards, things started 2 look up, in the remaining 5.the lowest I had was a 95 percentile, highest being in the much hyped 7th simcat, where I had a 98.xx%le, the bubble was back, this time it was about peaking at the right time. I was speaking the cat-speak alright.i did everything right na? Then how on earth could it go wrong??well,deep inside I had that answer too, but I didnt pay heed to it at all, may be I need to pay attention to my basics a bit more,rather than paying too much attention to these extraneous details, may be I need to focus a bit more, you never know what you will get on that fateful day. honestly speaking, barring a less than adequate prep for quant., I did most of it right, I relaxed properly, I learnt what I just had to, I analyzed my mocks, learnt from them, discussed with previous cat-takers, I concentrated on what I knew more, (read English) and sharpened my without pen on paper approach, I think I am good at it, but then..Ok more on that later...
Next:d day..
I was a restrained newbie there, mind you,cos it seemed I was never going to post anything on the site at all, all that I needed to know, was already there, in some post, some thread or the other. I missed a big point back then itself, which cost me dear two Sundays back, which I hope will alert at least a single person after reading this: there are thousands others who are having the same blue eyed gaze as we have, never ever underestimate their capabilities along with having confidence in ourselves.I scrutinized cat 2005 on pg with an hawk eye, analyzing how the freshers like me fared in comparison to the work-ex folks, how did the insti-s judge different criteria, how did the seniors react, I analyzed how low could the cut-offs go in each section for freshers and work ex ppl, i analyzed what pencil did someone carry, I analyzed which insti. Did most blacki-s prepare from, all in all, I OVER-ANALYZED. End of story.:neutral:
Feb-march 2006-I am giving one scholarship test after another in the various insti-s,all announce handsome discounts, I am still floating,man,this is awesome, If am performing such without any prep-s,then imagine the effect the prep-s will have..Etc etc...Add to that the buzz in college and friends circle that he is taking cat, preparing so well, a 99 percentiler for sure.basically, I float a bit higher. Ultimately got admitted in march in IMS.started off with some pace, finished off the di, English brm-s in record time, maths was always the one little thing that troubled me, but alwaz had the idea, that will do this thing and that. And manage it in the end. No prob with that. my insti sessions were rushing thru real fast, neglected engg.studies real badly,sem suffered yet again, only saving grace was the campussing session, thankfully converted the zero slot itself,tcs it was gonna be, again Mr. analysis was back, next thing I know, I was back to pg,checkin how many ex-tcs-ers had scaled the iim barrier!!
The mocking mocks-all in all, I had hardly finished my quant brm-s and was neglecting my engg.course, my project et al, when the mock-sim etc season arrived. I had decided in true cat-taking style to experiment as much as possible in the mocks initially till I found a strategy that worked for me. I had the chandoo bhaiyya-style excel sheet ready since as long that I can remember
, the first mock was the pg-cav one, did pretty well apart from the di section. Made notes in the sheet, I marked on the poster in my room as to what I should do, asked seniors, concluded: I needed to get my basics right! Man what a conclusion! As if I didnt know that! see folks, I can utter loads of proverbs to define my cat story, but I guess none of them could be so apt as: making a mountain out of a mole hill.continuing,then came the sim-s,sim-1 was torrid to say the least a sub-4000 air for me. Same story in sim-2 too, I was alarmed, whats happening. I didnt take sim-3...yes, .i was back to analyzing, I thought about first studying what I had to rectify, rather than having a half-shot at it.sim-4 onwards, things started 2 look up, in the remaining 5.the lowest I had was a 95 percentile, highest being in the much hyped 7th simcat, where I had a 98.xx%le, the bubble was back, this time it was about peaking at the right time. I was speaking the cat-speak alright.i did everything right na? Then how on earth could it go wrong??well,deep inside I had that answer too, but I didnt pay heed to it at all, may be I need to pay attention to my basics a bit more,rather than paying too much attention to these extraneous details, may be I need to focus a bit more, you never know what you will get on that fateful day. honestly speaking, barring a less than adequate prep for quant., I did most of it right, I relaxed properly, I learnt what I just had to, I analyzed my mocks, learnt from them, discussed with previous cat-takers, I concentrated on what I knew more, (read English) and sharpened my without pen on paper approach, I think I am good at it, but then..Ok more on that later...Next:d day..
Let me make it clear at the very outset that I cant help folks who will sigh at the sight of this piece(both in terms of size and matter)thinking on the lines of, here we go, yet another chandoo wanna-be..,cos,well,I dare say, I am one such wannabe and in addition to that, this piece is being wri...
2
2
Let me make it clear at the very outset that I cant help folks who will sigh at the sight of this piece(both in terms of size and matter)thinking on the lines of, here we go, yet another chandoo wanna-be..,cos,well,I dare say, I am one such wannabe and in addition to that, this piece is being written with the very essence for which pg exists in the web world, being the everything of mba .thus I will try to collate as much ,of what I suppose I did right:satisfie: , and more of what I shouldnt have done:( , as possible in here. And on a very selfishly personal front: man, do I need to shout out loud, yaar!!
I clearly fall in the category of those engineers, who reluctantly took up engineering from a college of their 2nd, 3rd or may be no choice at all, having missed the IIT-bus at the plus two level. so back then, it was the natural thing to do: that I do need the II tag in my life, what if the IIT-s are out of question now, the IIM-s were the next one on the horizon..And it seemed all the more possible to achieve, cos higher level mathematics was never was never my forte, and with Gods grace I had a pretty good grab of the English language. All in all, I was in a bubble from the very beginning of enginnering.kept track of the seniors around in my college and other places, who were aspirants in the same field, collected all kinds of information regarding the dream insti-s that served well to cement my belief once and forever, the iim-s were the place to be. And man did I forget the salary bit, needless to say, the media.pre and post the 2003-paper leak fiasco, did its fare bit to give more wings to my dream.:
Happened to emerge topper in the first year in my department, comp.sc. if any of you are interested in that, surprise surprise, next thing I know, I think of myself as some kinda genius, if I am first in my year with so little studies, so be it, will do all the things that are extra-curricular from now on..Ha! Man proposes
Nearly flunked in the next two sem-s...Imagine having had the topper tag and then this! Any engineering guy/gal knows this feeling I guess, the burden of the topper tag, and how difficult it is to hold on to it...newaz, from then on, it was all about salvaging some bit of pride in my DGPA.alongside, my quizzing hobby brought me in close proximity to the glitterati in the Calcutta circuit, most of them iim grad-s, I listened to them with rapt attention, watched them enthralled. And the blue eyed gaze just deepened. Here we go again
.thus I will try to collate as much ,of what I suppose I did right:satisfie: , and more of what I shouldnt have done:( , as possible in here. And on a very selfishly personal front: man, do I need to shout out loud, yaar!! I clearly fall in the category of those engineers, who reluctantly took up engineering from a college of their 2nd, 3rd or may be no choice at all, having missed the IIT-bus at the plus two level. so back then, it was the natural thing to do: that I do need the II tag in my life, what if the IIT-s are out of question now, the IIM-s were the next one on the horizon..And it seemed all the more possible to achieve, cos higher level mathematics was never was never my forte, and with Gods grace I had a pretty good grab of the English language. All in all, I was in a bubble from the very beginning of enginnering.kept track of the seniors around in my college and other places, who were aspirants in the same field, collected all kinds of information regarding the dream insti-s that served well to cement my belief once and forever, the iim-s were the place to be. And man did I forget the salary bit, needless to say, the media.pre and post the 2003-paper leak fiasco, did its fare bit to give more wings to my dream.
: Happened to emerge topper in the first year in my department, comp.sc. if any of you are interested in that, surprise surprise, next thing I know, I think of myself as some kinda genius, if I am first in my year with so little studies, so be it, will do all the things that are extra-curricular from now on..Ha! Man proposes
Nearly flunked in the next two sem-s...Imagine having had the topper tag and then this! Any engineering guy/gal knows this feeling I guess, the burden of the topper tag, and how difficult it is to hold on to it...newaz, from then on, it was all about salvaging some bit of pride in my DGPA.alongside, my quizzing hobby brought me in close proximity to the glitterati in the Calcutta circuit, most of them iim grad-s, I listened to them with rapt attention, watched them enthralled. And the blue eyed gaze just deepened. Here we go again
starting problems, eh? :satisfie:
my two cents. dunno if it'll work, but try...
as i said before, there are a few easy questions in each CAT. by easy, you basically mean questions the same type of which you've done before... and which you're reasonably sure you can crack. try to find out th...
my two cents. dunno if it'll work, but try...
as i said before, there are a few easy questions in each CAT. by easy, you basically mean questions the same type of which you've done before... and which you're reasonably sure you can crack. try to find out th...
@no_speed_limit and Kamal B
query:
whenever i take a test the first question i attempt usually consumes a lot of time no matter what i choose. due to this i become nervous and then my comprehension power drops down drastically. all the figures, charts, numbers, words everything makes no sense. maybe i dont have the temprament. as the test progresses i accelerate fairly well but this start and loss of intial concentration really pulls my marks down. what should i do? i have had to pay heavily due to this. please help.
thanks in advance,
Deepak
starting problems, eh? :satisfie:
my two cents. dunno if it'll work, but try...
as i said before, there are a few easy questions in each CAT. by easy, you basically mean questions the same type of which you've done before... and which you're reasonably sure you can crack. try to find out those first and attempt them. that should give you some more confidence for the rest of the questions.
and if you can't get the answer for a question before your allotted time (say 1.5 or 2 nins) then leave it and go to the next one. no point wasting time over it. you can get back to it later if you have the time.
stick to the time limits strictly. if not, you'll end up making a mess of sectional cutoffs.
best,
qwiky.
@no_speed_limit and Kamal B
query:
whenever i take a test the first question i attempt usually consumes a lot of time no matter what i choose. due to this i become nervous and then my comprehension power drops down drastically. all the figures, charts, numbers, words everything makes no se...
query:
whenever i take a test the first question i attempt usually consumes a lot of time no matter what i choose. due to this i become nervous and then my comprehension power drops down drastically. all the figures, charts, numbers, words everything makes no se...
@no_speed_limit and Kamal B
query:
whenever i take a test the first question i attempt usually consumes a lot of time no matter what i choose. due to this i become nervous and then my comprehension power drops down drastically. all the figures, charts, numbers, words everything makes no sense. maybe i dont have the temprament. as the test progresses i accelerate fairly well but this start and loss of intial concentration really pulls my marks down. what should i do? i have had to pay heavily due to this. please help.
thanks in advance,
Deepak
query:
whenever i take a test the first question i attempt usually consumes a lot of time no matter what i choose. due to this i become nervous and then my comprehension power drops down drastically. all the figures, charts, numbers, words everything makes no sense. maybe i dont have the temprament. as the test progresses i accelerate fairly well but this start and loss of intial concentration really pulls my marks down. what should i do? i have had to pay heavily due to this. please help.
thanks in advance,
Deepak
first of all, stop being so scared of quant. practise as much as you can in it... that should help... and check for the simple questions first in each mock... there are always a few in each mock. crack those first, and that should give you some confidence before you try the rest.
why is it tha...
why is it tha...
2
2
a really helpful post....
well,i have a query..... n it may sound foolish.but mi problem is whether i give 10 min to quant or 1 hr i never manage to clear the cutoffs in quant... in the mocks. other wise i m consistently above 95 percentile in the mocks.....!!
what should i do??? will th s quant virus. eat up mi chance at cat????
can sum1 help me please? what should i do???
first of all, stop being so scared of quant. practise as much as you can in it... that should help... and check for the simple questions first in each mock... there are always a few in each mock. crack those first, and that should give you some confidence before you try the rest.
why is it that you're not clearing cutoffs? is it coz you're making mistakes or coz you're not able to do the sums?
if its coz of not being able to do sums....
whats your time splitup for each section? give a little less time for both the other sections if you're clearing the cutoffs consistently in them and with good scores... even if you spend a little less time on them, you should be able to clear the cutoffs in them, i guess. give the extra time to your weakest section - quant, in your case. also, if you're not sure how to tackle the problems, ask a prof or someone from the coaching insti you go to. i guess it should help.
if its making mistakes.....
first check for the simple questions. crack them. and never put an answer in by guesswork, or if you're not sure about it... no matter how tempting it is... after that, go for the tougher questions. and if you don't manage to get them in about a minute of two, or however much time you give for each question, leave it and go on to the next... you can come back to them later if you have the time.
and don't be scared of quant. if you find the sections tough, everyone else would have found it tough as well...
and don't worry about the questions... we're here to answer them... as one of my profs here says... there's no such thing as a stupid question.
hope this helps.
best,
qwiky.
don't try to understand the reading in the first shot itself... if the readings are as tough as they were for the last CAT, you'll waste a lot of time trying to understand the thing first up, and it may not even help you in the end.
first go through the questions. make a mental note of what th...
first go through the questions. make a mental note of what th...
Great post yaar, really inspiring. I appreciate it.
I have problem with my RC and DI. My reading speed is around 160 if I try to understand the passage fully. What r the strategies to improve. And also my DI score in SIMCATS are very low(single digits)...
any body plzzzzzzzzz help me out
Rajpal
don't try to understand the reading in the first shot itself... if the readings are as tough as they were for the last CAT, you'll waste a lot of time trying to understand the thing first up, and it may not even help you in the end.
first go through the questions. make a mental note of what the questions are asking. then skim through the reading, just marking with pencil or something the points you think are relevant to answering the questions. all this can be done in about 3 - 4 mins, max. then according to the question, find out the answers in the passage. already having marked the relevant points, you should be able to get through the questions and get the necessary answers faster.
again, this may/may not work for you, its not foolproof. but thats what i did, and it worked for me.
best,
qwiky.
Great post yaar, really inspiring. I appreciate it.
I have problem with my RC and DI. My reading speed is around 160 if I try to understand the passage fully. What r the strategies to improve. And also my DI score in SIMCATS are very low(single digits)...
any body plzzzzzzzzz help me out
I have problem with my RC and DI. My reading speed is around 160 if I try to understand the passage fully. What r the strategies to improve. And also my DI score in SIMCATS are very low(single digits)...
any body plzzzzzzzzz help me out
Hey All CAT 2007 ASPIRANTS
I am a first year student of IIM Calcutta. I have a work experience of IT Sales of 2.5 yrs. An electrical engineer. Not very extraordinary extracurriculars..
Here are my two cents on your CAT Preparation..I dont want it to be very long post,
1. Am I late : No trust me, u are not. Sept and oct are good enough to see u thru..
2. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for GD/PI calls: Very little in gd/pi calls..even if you have 3 yrs+work ex, u have to have 99%ile atleast to see an IIM call.
3. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for final calls: Dont bother with this question now. Get a call first..then We ll answer this one.
4. Freshers: There's absolutely nothing to worry. Each IIM has a large no of freshers..If you have it in you, nobody can stop u just bcoz u are a fresher..however, since u have an advantage in terms of time available, put more time..as simple..
5. QA: the best thing is to start timing urself..get available last yrs papers of TIME,IMS,CL and so on..Dont bother too much aboput pattern..no body knows what surprises are going to unfold..just concentrate on content..the types of qs are not going to change, only the pattern of presentation..
6. VA: Yes, this is the section which makes all the difference..even if u are the best in quant, u cant possibly get 25 there..but if u are good here..u surely can get more than that here..which can raise ur percentile highly..
7. DI : do one puzzle everday..The last yrs CAT styles..that shd suffice..
8. I am bad in this or that section : no one is good in all the sections..trust me no one..clear the cutoff of weak section, maximize the good section..
9. I am bad in all the three sections : Give CAT this year as an experience, Target CAT 2008. u can surely do it..if not now, may be next yr..
10.What is the KEy to success in CAT..
I would say the key is Passion..Be passionate abour CAT till the last day..study hard..
CAT Is made up of 3 things:
C - concentration ( of effort, of strategy, of tactics)
A - attitude ( do whatever, if u dont have this, nothing can change ur luck)
T - Time management ( those 2 hrs, managing time is extremely crucial)..
11. Reading editorials of a good newspaper really helps..
12. Dont bother too much about building vocab at this point of time( just a personal opinion)..if u are already into it..or ur strategy permits, then go ahead..
13.shd i study 10 hrs a day? absolutely not..dont burn ur self out..probably 3-4 hrs is more than enough..if u are full time into CAT, then maybe 5-6 hrs..absolutely not more than that..
14. Chillax and enjoy at times..watching a weekend movie or sitting a night out with friends will not prevent u from claring CAT..
15. ANy further queries, shot up..
ATB guys..
I could do it..so can u..
Regards
Safal
Great post yaar, really inspiring. I appreciate it.
I have problem with my RC and DI. My reading speed is around 160 if I try to understand the passage fully. What r the strategies to improve. And also my DI score in SIMCATS are very low(single digits)...
any body plzzzzzzzzz help me out
Rajpal
i'll tell you what i'd done. no guarantees that it'll work for everyone.
1. do as many quant questions as you can in as many mocks that you can get your hands on.
2. if you have the material for any coaching... TIME / IMS / CL, make sure you're clear with the stuff given there.
3. DON'T ...
1. do as many quant questions as you can in as many mocks that you can get your hands on.
2. if you have the material for any coaching... TIME / IMS / CL, make sure you're clear with the stuff given there.
3. DON'T ...
1
1
vyjayanthi Sayswow!this post is really inspiring for me..can you suggest me few tips for cracking quant with high score?
i'll tell you what i'd done. no guarantees that it'll work for everyone.
1. do as many quant questions as you can in as many mocks that you can get your hands on.
2. if you have the material for any coaching... TIME / IMS / CL, make sure you're clear with the stuff given there.
3. DON'T EVER GO IN FOR GUESSWORK in the sims or mocks... what i've seen is that more people lose out by marking wrong answers then by not knowing how to solve....
all the best. will post later if i can come up with more.
Rather than noting the time taken to solve a particular sum note a range in which to solve a particular section depending on difficulty level. eg i used to take 35-45 mins for Quant which was my weakness. that way if the CAT is screwed then after 45 mins u have atleast a sorta confidence level t...
Thanks Kamal. After reading your post, i really feel motivated and feel myself to be Alexander ready to conquer the whole world.
I am aiming CAT 2007. I have a query that should i start solving quantitative section just now on the basis of time, i mean should i monitor how much time i take to solve a single sum.
Thanks
Regards
Rather than noting the time taken to solve a particular sum note a range in which to solve a particular section depending on difficulty level. eg i used to take 35-45 mins for Quant which was my weakness. that way if the CAT is screwed then after 45 mins u have atleast a sorta confidence level that if i m not able to attempt my standard attempts the whole population is having the same difficulty and its time to move onto the next section
Thanks Kamal. After reading your post, i really feel motivated and feel myself to be Alexander ready to conquer the whole world.
I am aiming CAT 2007. I have a query that should i start solving quantitative section just now on the basis of time, i mean should i monitor how much time i take to ...
I am aiming CAT 2007. I have a query that should i start solving quantitative section just now on the basis of time, i mean should i monitor how much time i take to ...
Thanks Kamal. After reading your post, i really feel motivated and feel myself to be Alexander ready to conquer the whole world.
I am aiming CAT 2007. I have a query that should i start solving quantitative section just now on the basis of time, i mean should i monitor how much time i take to solve a single sum.
Thanks
Regards
I am aiming CAT 2007. I have a query that should i start solving quantitative section just now on the basis of time, i mean should i monitor how much time i take to solve a single sum.
Thanks
Regards
Hey All CAT 2007 ASPIRANTS
I am a first year student of IIM Calcutta. I have a work experience of IT Sales of 2.5 yrs. An electrical engineer. Not very extraordinary extracurriculars..
Here are my two cents on your CAT Preparation..I dont want it to be very long post,
1. Am I late : No ...
I am a first year student of IIM Calcutta. I have a work experience of IT Sales of 2.5 yrs. An electrical engineer. Not very extraordinary extracurriculars..
Here are my two cents on your CAT Preparation..I dont want it to be very long post,
1. Am I late : No ...
31
31
Hey All CAT 2007 ASPIRANTS
I am a first year student of IIM Calcutta. I have a work experience of IT Sales of 2.5 yrs. An electrical engineer. Not very extraordinary extracurriculars..
Here are my two cents on your CAT Preparation..I dont want it to be very long post,
1. Am I late : No trust me, u are not. Sept and oct are good enough to see u thru..
2. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for GD/PI calls: Very little in gd/pi calls..even if you have 3 yrs+work ex, u have to have 99%ile atleast to see an IIM call.
3. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for final calls: Dont bother with this question now. Get a call first..then We ll answer this one.
4. Freshers: There's absolutely nothing to worry. Each IIM has a large no of freshers..If you have it in you, nobody can stop u just bcoz u are a fresher..however, since u have an advantage in terms of time available, put more time..as simple..
5. QA: the best thing is to start timing urself..get available last yrs papers of TIME,IMS,CL and so on..Dont bother too much aboput pattern..no body knows what surprises are going to unfold..just concentrate on content..the types of qs are not going to change, only the pattern of presentation..
6. VA: Yes, this is the section which makes all the difference..even if u are the best in quant, u cant possibly get 25 there..but if u are good here..u surely can get more than that here..which can raise ur percentile highly..
7. DI : do one puzzle everday..The last yrs CAT styles..that shd suffice..
8. I am bad in this or that section : no one is good in all the sections..trust me no one..clear the cutoff of weak section, maximize the good section..
9. I am bad in all the three sections : Give CAT this year as an experience, Target CAT 2008. u can surely do it..if not now, may be next yr..
10.What is the KEy to success in CAT..
I would say the key is Passion..Be passionate abour CAT till the last day..study hard..
CAT Is made up of 3 things:
C - concentration ( of effort, of strategy, of tactics)
A - attitude ( do whatever, if u dont have this, nothing can change ur luck)
T - Time management ( those 2 hrs, managing time is extremely crucial)..
11. Reading editorials of a good newspaper really helps..
12. Dont bother too much about building vocab at this point of time( just a personal opinion)..if u are already into it..or ur strategy permits, then go ahead..
13.shd i study 10 hrs a day? absolutely not..dont burn ur self out..probably 3-4 hrs is more than enough..if u are full time into CAT, then maybe 5-6 hrs..absolutely not more than that..
14. Chillax and enjoy at times..watching a weekend movie or sitting a night out with friends will not prevent u from claring CAT..
15. ANy further queries, shot up..
ATB guys..
I could do it..so can u..
Regards
Safal
I am a first year student of IIM Calcutta. I have a work experience of IT Sales of 2.5 yrs. An electrical engineer. Not very extraordinary extracurriculars..
Here are my two cents on your CAT Preparation..I dont want it to be very long post,
1. Am I late : No trust me, u are not. Sept and oct are good enough to see u thru..
2. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for GD/PI calls: Very little in gd/pi calls..even if you have 3 yrs+work ex, u have to have 99%ile atleast to see an IIM call.
3. Does work ex fetch extra advantage for final calls: Dont bother with this question now. Get a call first..then We ll answer this one.
4. Freshers: There's absolutely nothing to worry. Each IIM has a large no of freshers..If you have it in you, nobody can stop u just bcoz u are a fresher..however, since u have an advantage in terms of time available, put more time..as simple..
5. QA: the best thing is to start timing urself..get available last yrs papers of TIME,IMS,CL and so on..Dont bother too much aboput pattern..no body knows what surprises are going to unfold..just concentrate on content..the types of qs are not going to change, only the pattern of presentation..
6. VA: Yes, this is the section which makes all the difference..even if u are the best in quant, u cant possibly get 25 there..but if u are good here..u surely can get more than that here..which can raise ur percentile highly..
7. DI : do one puzzle everday..The last yrs CAT styles..that shd suffice..
8. I am bad in this or that section : no one is good in all the sections..trust me no one..clear the cutoff of weak section, maximize the good section..
9. I am bad in all the three sections : Give CAT this year as an experience, Target CAT 2008. u can surely do it..if not now, may be next yr..
10.What is the KEy to success in CAT..
I would say the key is Passion..Be passionate abour CAT till the last day..study hard..
CAT Is made up of 3 things:
C - concentration ( of effort, of strategy, of tactics)
A - attitude ( do whatever, if u dont have this, nothing can change ur luck)
T - Time management ( those 2 hrs, managing time is extremely crucial)..
11. Reading editorials of a good newspaper really helps..
12. Dont bother too much about building vocab at this point of time( just a personal opinion)..if u are already into it..or ur strategy permits, then go ahead..
13.shd i study 10 hrs a day? absolutely not..dont burn ur self out..probably 3-4 hrs is more than enough..if u are full time into CAT, then maybe 5-6 hrs..absolutely not more than that..
14. Chillax and enjoy at times..watching a weekend movie or sitting a night out with friends will not prevent u from claring CAT..
15. ANy further queries, shot up..
ATB guys..
I could do it..so can u..
Regards
Safal
I think what you need at the moment is a break from your desperation and frustration and little dose of self-confidence... it happened to me during preparation that my scores started going down, i got anxious, desperate and frustrated at not being able to change the course of things.... All i did...
Hi friends,
I am with pagalguy for 2 years. Last year I got 95 %ile. This year I am writing mock cats but my scores are not upto the mark. Earlier I used to score around 40-45. This year I've not been able to cross 35 in 6 mocks so far. Generally I score very less in DI (single digit). Maths I score around 10-12. My scores in EU/RC has gone down as well. Earlier I used to score around 16-18 but now I score around 12-13. I am an alumnus of IIT working in a software firm. I had some personal problems due to which I could not study well previously but since last two months I've been studying at my best. I am unable to concentrate in the exams at times. y number of attempts also go down. I am sad I am not able to exploit my potential to its fullest. Now I am thinking of writing mockcats every 3 days to accustom myself to the paper patttern. Please help me out. I am not a bad student but very poor at solving puzzles. I try at home but fumble at exam hall.
pssst pssssst
Please suggest me remedies.
I will be grateful to you
A prospective IIMite.
I think what you need at the moment is a break from your desperation and frustration and little dose of self-confidence... it happened to me during preparation that my scores started going down, i got anxious, desperate and frustrated at not being able to change the course of things.... All i did was take a break from Cat prep, recieved some peptalk from family members to boost my confidence.. Later when i approached with a fresh mind with no baggage, i was able to score well..
hey anupam
u truly epitomize"never say never" whatevr u call so ...determination, perseverance or persistence ...the attribute is more imp than the representation n u truly possess so ...
can u pl elaborate how did u go about cracking 5rcs in 25min....would be HELPFUL..
doing realy bad a...
u truly epitomize"never say never" whatevr u call so ...determination, perseverance or persistence ...the attribute is more imp than the representation n u truly possess so ...
can u pl elaborate how did u go about cracking 5rcs in 25min....would be HELPFUL..
doing realy bad a...
hey anupam
u truly epitomize"never say never" whatevr u call so ...determination, perseverance or persistence ...the attribute is more imp than the representation n u truly possess so ...
can u pl elaborate how did u go about cracking 5rcs in 25min....would be HELPFUL..
doing realy bad at mocks ....completely shattered and am looking for serious help//
intrested in forming a study group in hyd for cat-06 ...
i stay near kukatpally ..any one intrested pl contact :
u truly epitomize"never say never" whatevr u call so ...determination, perseverance or persistence ...the attribute is more imp than the representation n u truly possess so ...
can u pl elaborate how did u go about cracking 5rcs in 25min....would be HELPFUL..
doing realy bad at mocks ....completely shattered and am looking for serious help//
intrested in forming a study group in hyd for cat-06 ...
i stay near kukatpally ..any one intrested pl contact :
1. It varies fromm person to person as what might be good for me may not be good for you.For ex: Many people only prefer IIMs & dont apply for colleges like SP Jain,MDI etc.
So if you think that you have made it to the college which can add to your career, then go for it else if you have the ...
So if you think that you have made it to the college which can add to your career, then go for it else if you have the ...
1
1
1. How many times should someone be attempting CAT? Increasing Ive seen quite a few people doing much better in the 2nd or 3rd attempt. Comments.
2. What kind of work exp is ideally suited for an MBA in India. Does it really matter / help? For all those who got in without any work ex, did youll feel any difference. And esp. now is retrospective what would you have rather done?
1. It varies fromm person to person as what might be good for me may not be good for you.For ex: Many people only prefer IIMs & dont apply for colleges like SP Jain,MDI etc.
So if you think that you have made it to the college which can add to your career, then go for it else if you have the patience, then give one more shot.
2. Work ex of 15-35 months is ideally suited for MBA. Yes, it helps but there is nothing wrong in joining a good b-school as a fresher. People with work ex can add there experience in caste studies etc in the class!!
1. yes, there are people who do well in their 2nd or 3rd attempt but then there are people who clear it in the 1st go & also there are people who fail to clear it despite many attempts...so there's no such theory...all i can say is tht there can be case who become serious only aftr failing to cle...
1
1
1. How many times should someone be attempting CAT? Increasing Ive seen quite a few people doing much better in the 2nd or 3rd attempt. Comments.
2. What kind of work exp is ideally suited for an MBA in India. Does it really matter / help? For all those who got in without any work ex, did youll feel any difference. And esp. now is retrospective what would you have rather done?
Thanks,
Chinmaya Chitlangia
1. yes, there are people who do well in their 2nd or 3rd attempt but then there are people who clear it in the 1st go & also there are people who fail to clear it despite many attempts...so there's no such theory...all i can say is tht there can be case who become serious only aftr failing to clear it once or twice & prepare seriously & hence, succeed...
2. there are two schools of thought for this....some people say tht a fresher shud do MBA as u r in touch with acads & tht regular fresh minds r easy to mould stuff....others say tht u should hv at least 2 yrs of workex as u can grasp things more easily & things somehow make much more sense to u...personally, i think tht one shud hv 2-3 yrs of workex before joining because of the aforementioned reasons....
the final call is always urs!!!!
hey crisp
awesum post man.... loved it....
although u cudnt make it....but i vil tel u wat....
most important thing is tht u realised where u r laggin... and wat r ur weak points.... basically u know where u have to work upon for the next attempt... and i guess thts the most imp thing
awesum post man.... loved it....
although u cudnt make it....but i vil tel u wat....
most important thing is tht u realised where u r laggin... and wat r ur weak points.... basically u know where u have to work upon for the next attempt... and i guess thts the most imp thing
1
1
I came, I sawI purred!
CAT: How I ruined it?
June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a black-belt cracks the marble slabs. I wasnt kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and every which where. So it wasnt a far cry for me.
November 20th was the CAT DAY. And I was determined to say to myself (when the results are out) I came, I saw, I conquered!
I began my voyage.
I joined a coaching institute. Many kids and many of them not-quite-kids were catting. Catting? Yeah, thats the term for the designation you get for about six to eight months when you are preparing for CAT, and more specifically when you have joined a battalion (of coaching institute people) to go to the CAT war and fight right.
They gave us a handful of basic fundas books to begin with, to be mastered in a months time. I brought them home, kept them on the study table, admired the look of them, chalked out a schedule (to be strictly followed) to accommodate all the knowledge that they contained, and was too tired after a long day of doing all this. So I dozed off.
Came July. And I found myself blaming June. For being such a lazy hot month, that I could not even master the basics. I said to my self Its never too late.
I had come. I had seen. I was yet to conquer. How could I possibly have given up?!
I designed another schedule, a stricter one; one that was meant to make up for a months loss of studies. First few days were in parity with the same, outlined by a constant struggle in the quant section. Mathematics was never my cup of tea. And there was I trying to smell the coffee. And while juggling with it, Coke and irritation were my constant companion. DI/DS behaved like the monsoon that year. It came late to me; and sometimes the questions would happen, sometimes they just wouldnt. I couldnt understand the pattern of DI/DS for many days. Weatherman couldnt understand that of monsoon. I was not the one at fault as far as DI/DS was concerned. Its unpredictability was to be blamed. Plus the heat due to the delay in monsoons.
They say every dark cloud has a silver lining. For me, it was the Verbal section. Except that when I began doing the Reading Comprehension, I would start appreciating the passage rather than concentrating on answering the questions. Then one fine day it occurred to me that passages appear in the test paper so that the accompanying questions are answered, and speedily. The verbal trainer at the insti was good, the only person I liked there perhaps. So I bought her advice to concentrate on answering the questions, and leave the language appreciation part for the time after the 20th of November. I was on the right track.
By the day, my frustration curve grew steeper (thanks to maths) and learning curve flatter (thanks to maths again). Maths section tests were quantum disasters. DI/DS as unpredictable as ever. Sometimes way too good. At other times just as bad. My performance in DI/DS section on graphical representation would have looked like an ECG report.
And did I mention somewhere that it was August already. Time for mock tests. Needless to say, mock tests mocked at me really well. I checked the vital signs of my performance. Preparation - okay (okay?! I was trying hard to treat myself well!) Accuracy directly proportional to percentile (which never exceeded 75). Speed snails.
Now I had to work out a rescue plan. I could not have saved face. But saving grace was the need of the hour. I decided to limit the portion that I would focus on, to bypass the guys like trigonometry, progressions, advanced algebra, et al. and to give a go by to a lot of incomprehensible stuff in DI/DS. I was beyond them (or was it the other way round?) English was my forte. So I gave less time to it. It would just happen. And, then I started a race against time. The plan seemed to be working. My percentiles at the mocks improved. Still I was far, far away from Julius Caesar, from conquering. At the last but third mock test 80 percentile. I said to myself, Not bad. And then, Not good either!
80 percentile. And, in subsequent tests, I got stuck there. Weather changed. My CAT prep status didnt change much. Why? Because, you can only go so far when you have not polished your basics well. The coaching-insti people do not give you funda-books for decorating on the table and admiring their look. They are meant to be stirred well and digested.
The red letter day had arrived. By this time, I had become dispassionate. Thats what you do when the world looks materialistic with no meaning for existence! I went to the CAT center - feeling like a zombie. Found my place in the hall. Sunk in. My fate in the form of CAT question paper came. The invigilator gave a few instructions, which my mind did not register. Then he said, Start. I started.
I began with Verbal Section. Just to feel good. Handled the little ones first; sentence correction, contextual usage, parajumbles, and the like. Then I moved on to the RC; completed three passages in 17 minutes. Next took up the quant section. It did look bad in the beginning. Oh yes, there were a few suckers as expected. I took good care of them. Did not even care to take a peek at the questions which had their origin in my un-favorite and un-prepared topics. It was not a wise thing to do however. Because, suckers in a CAT paper are sometimes found in the most unlikely of places. After having a tough time there, I headed towards tougher times. The DI section. Time was flying, and I was almost crawling. Whatever I did in this section, I did it in 20 minutes. And, against anticipation, it was not all that bad. Decent, if not good.
Times up. And that was that. I had just wasted my first attempt at CAT. I wasnt devastated. Just then I had become a stoic. And asked myself, By the way, who was Julius Caesar?
I came, I sawI purred.
When I recovered after a week or so, I decided to reflect upon the whole drama. I could see clearly the mistakes that I had made, and the right things that I did not do. The list looked something like this:
Study schedule in one word - funny. It was downright unrealistic. Could have been more real and flexible.
Consistency nil. One day I studied for six hours. The next day I was partying. The third day, I dedicated to feeling guilty and making alternate study plans. Believing that the plan would work from the following day, I took a break that day (God knows from what?). Could have been consistent with three hours of studies everyday.
Basic concepts - far from satisfactory. Could have spared some time in memorizing those formulae, and doing the less-challenging questions and thereby gaining confidence. And, then the switch to the tough ones would have been easier.
Inability to identify my strong and weak areas. Consequently, inability to leverage on the strong areas and to convert the weak areas into comfortable ones.
Time-management or shall I say time-mismanagement. Lack of a strong conceptual foundation never allowed me to keep a check on my speed. I kept struggling for accuracy that speed never got its fair share. Hence, ended up spending almost an hour on Quant section, and 20 minutes on DI/DS. Time-management is indispensable. I should have known.
When it comes to CAT, practice or the lack of it makes all the difference. What more can I say?
And every one should have one strong area to hold on to. That instills the feel-good factor in the entire CAT scene. Mine was Verbal. It really did help.
Most importantly, never idolize Caesar. He never took CAT anyway. Do not try to conquer CAT. Just bell it. Be real. Make real plans in real time. Adhere. Adjust. Attempt.
All that matters is performance. And that depends on preparation and a good attitude.
When you take CAT, only two things happen. Either you make it or you dont.
I didnt. You can.
Crisp
PS.: I forgot to mention the result. 80 percentile.
hey crisp
awesum post man.... loved it....
although u cudnt make it....but i vil tel u wat....
most important thing is tht u realised where u r laggin... and wat r ur weak points.... basically u know where u have to work upon for the next attempt... and i guess thts the most imp thing
so no need to loose heart which im sure u havent... take a break(i also dont know the reason but to simply put it.. get ur head out of CAT)... and then
BANG ON!!!!!!!!....
life teaches lessons in different ways i vil say...
al the best
abhi
I came, I sawI purred!
CAT: How I ruined it?
June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a black-belt cracks the marble slabs. I wasnt kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and ev...
CAT: How I ruined it?
June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a black-belt cracks the marble slabs. I wasnt kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and ev...
23
23
I came, I sawI purred!
CAT: How I ruined it?
June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a black-belt cracks the marble slabs. I wasnt kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and every which where. So it wasnt a far cry for me.
November 20th was the CAT DAY. And I was determined to say to myself (when the results are out) I came, I saw, I conquered!
I began my voyage.
I joined a coaching institute. Many kids and many of them not-quite-kids were catting. Catting? Yeah, thats the term for the designation you get for about six to eight months when you are preparing for CAT, and more specifically when you have joined a battalion (of coaching institute people) to go to the CAT war and fight right.
They gave us a handful of basic fundas books to begin with, to be mastered in a months time. I brought them home, kept them on the study table, admired the look of them, chalked out a schedule (to be strictly followed) to accommodate all the knowledge that they contained, and was too tired after a long day of doing all this. So I dozed off.
Came July. And I found myself blaming June. For being such a lazy hot month, that I could not even master the basics. I said to my self Its never too late.
I had come. I had seen. I was yet to conquer. How could I possibly have given up?!
I designed another schedule, a stricter one; one that was meant to make up for a months loss of studies. First few days were in parity with the same, outlined by a constant struggle in the quant section. Mathematics was never my cup of tea. And there was I trying to smell the coffee. And while juggling with it, Coke and irritation were my constant companion. DI/DS behaved like the monsoon that year. It came late to me; and sometimes the questions would happen, sometimes they just wouldnt. I couldnt understand the pattern of DI/DS for many days. Weatherman couldnt understand that of monsoon. I was not the one at fault as far as DI/DS was concerned. Its unpredictability was to be blamed. Plus the heat due to the delay in monsoons.
They say every dark cloud has a silver lining. For me, it was the Verbal section. Except that when I began doing the Reading Comprehension, I would start appreciating the passage rather than concentrating on answering the questions. Then one fine day it occurred to me that passages appear in the test paper so that the accompanying questions are answered, and speedily. The verbal trainer at the insti was good, the only person I liked there perhaps. So I bought her advice to concentrate on answering the questions, and leave the language appreciation part for the time after the 20th of November. I was on the right track.
By the day, my frustration curve grew steeper (thanks to maths) and learning curve flatter (thanks to maths again). Maths section tests were quantum disasters. DI/DS as unpredictable as ever. Sometimes way too good. At other times just as bad. My performance in DI/DS section on graphical representation would have looked like an ECG report.
And did I mention somewhere that it was August already. Time for mock tests. Needless to say, mock tests mocked at me really well. I checked the vital signs of my performance. Preparation - okay (okay?! I was trying hard to treat myself well!) Accuracy directly proportional to percentile (which never exceeded 75). Speed snails.
Now I had to work out a rescue plan. I could not have saved face. But saving grace was the need of the hour. I decided to limit the portion that I would focus on, to bypass the guys like trigonometry, progressions, advanced algebra, et al. and to give a go by to a lot of incomprehensible stuff in DI/DS. I was beyond them (or was it the other way round?) English was my forte. So I gave less time to it. It would just happen. And, then I started a race against time. The plan seemed to be working. My percentiles at the mocks improved. Still I was far, far away from Julius Caesar, from conquering. At the last but third mock test 80 percentile. I said to myself, Not bad. And then, Not good either!
80 percentile. And, in subsequent tests, I got stuck there. Weather changed. My CAT prep status didnt change much. Why? Because, you can only go so far when you have not polished your basics well. The coaching-insti people do not give you funda-books for decorating on the table and admiring their look. They are meant to be stirred well and digested.
The red letter day had arrived. By this time, I had become dispassionate. Thats what you do when the world looks materialistic with no meaning for existence! I went to the CAT center - feeling like a zombie. Found my place in the hall. Sunk in. My fate in the form of CAT question paper came. The invigilator gave a few instructions, which my mind did not register. Then he said, Start. I started.
I began with Verbal Section. Just to feel good. Handled the little ones first; sentence correction, contextual usage, parajumbles, and the like. Then I moved on to the RC; completed three passages in 17 minutes. Next took up the quant section. It did look bad in the beginning. Oh yes, there were a few suckers as expected. I took good care of them. Did not even care to take a peek at the questions which had their origin in my un-favorite and un-prepared topics. It was not a wise thing to do however. Because, suckers in a CAT paper are sometimes found in the most unlikely of places. After having a tough time there, I headed towards tougher times. The DI section. Time was flying, and I was almost crawling. Whatever I did in this section, I did it in 20 minutes. And, against anticipation, it was not all that bad. Decent, if not good.
Times up. And that was that. I had just wasted my first attempt at CAT. I wasnt devastated. Just then I had become a stoic. And asked myself, By the way, who was Julius Caesar?
I came, I sawI purred.
When I recovered after a week or so, I decided to reflect upon the whole drama. I could see clearly the mistakes that I had made, and the right things that I did not do. The list looked something like this:
Study schedule in one word - funny. It was downright unrealistic. Could have been more real and flexible.
Consistency nil. One day I studied for six hours. The next day I was partying. The third day, I dedicated to feeling guilty and making alternate study plans. Believing that the plan would work from the following day, I took a break that day (God knows from what?). Could have been consistent with three hours of studies everyday.
Basic concepts - far from satisfactory. Could have spared some time in memorizing those formulae, and doing the less-challenging questions and thereby gaining confidence. And, then the switch to the tough ones would have been easier.
Inability to identify my strong and weak areas. Consequently, inability to leverage on the strong areas and to convert the weak areas into comfortable ones.
Time-management or shall I say time-mismanagement. Lack of a strong conceptual foundation never allowed me to keep a check on my speed. I kept struggling for accuracy that speed never got its fair share. Hence, ended up spending almost an hour on Quant section, and 20 minutes on DI/DS. Time-management is indispensable. I should have known.
When it comes to CAT, practice or the lack of it makes all the difference. What more can I say?
And every one should have one strong area to hold on to. That instills the feel-good factor in the entire CAT scene. Mine was Verbal. It really did help.
Most importantly, never idolize Caesar. He never took CAT anyway. Do not try to conquer CAT. Just bell it. Be real. Make real plans in real time. Adhere. Adjust. Attempt.
All that matters is performance. And that depends on preparation and a good attitude.
When you take CAT, only two things happen. Either you make it or you dont.
I didnt. You can.
Crisp
PS.: I forgot to mention the result. 80 percentile.
CAT: How I ruined it?
June of 2005. That was when I had made the brightest decision of my life (supposedly) - to take CAT. And, to crack it. Like a black-belt cracks the marble slabs. I wasnt kidding myself. I had always been a bright girl at school, in college and every which where. So it wasnt a far cry for me.
November 20th was the CAT DAY. And I was determined to say to myself (when the results are out) I came, I saw, I conquered!
I began my voyage.
I joined a coaching institute. Many kids and many of them not-quite-kids were catting. Catting? Yeah, thats the term for the designation you get for about six to eight months when you are preparing for CAT, and more specifically when you have joined a battalion (of coaching institute people) to go to the CAT war and fight right.
They gave us a handful of basic fundas books to begin with, to be mastered in a months time. I brought them home, kept them on the study table, admired the look of them, chalked out a schedule (to be strictly followed) to accommodate all the knowledge that they contained, and was too tired after a long day of doing all this. So I dozed off.
Came July. And I found myself blaming June. For being such a lazy hot month, that I could not even master the basics. I said to my self Its never too late.
I had come. I had seen. I was yet to conquer. How could I possibly have given up?!
I designed another schedule, a stricter one; one that was meant to make up for a months loss of studies. First few days were in parity with the same, outlined by a constant struggle in the quant section. Mathematics was never my cup of tea. And there was I trying to smell the coffee. And while juggling with it, Coke and irritation were my constant companion. DI/DS behaved like the monsoon that year. It came late to me; and sometimes the questions would happen, sometimes they just wouldnt. I couldnt understand the pattern of DI/DS for many days. Weatherman couldnt understand that of monsoon. I was not the one at fault as far as DI/DS was concerned. Its unpredictability was to be blamed. Plus the heat due to the delay in monsoons.
They say every dark cloud has a silver lining. For me, it was the Verbal section. Except that when I began doing the Reading Comprehension, I would start appreciating the passage rather than concentrating on answering the questions. Then one fine day it occurred to me that passages appear in the test paper so that the accompanying questions are answered, and speedily. The verbal trainer at the insti was good, the only person I liked there perhaps. So I bought her advice to concentrate on answering the questions, and leave the language appreciation part for the time after the 20th of November. I was on the right track.
By the day, my frustration curve grew steeper (thanks to maths) and learning curve flatter (thanks to maths again). Maths section tests were quantum disasters. DI/DS as unpredictable as ever. Sometimes way too good. At other times just as bad. My performance in DI/DS section on graphical representation would have looked like an ECG report.
And did I mention somewhere that it was August already. Time for mock tests. Needless to say, mock tests mocked at me really well. I checked the vital signs of my performance. Preparation - okay (okay?! I was trying hard to treat myself well!) Accuracy directly proportional to percentile (which never exceeded 75). Speed snails.
Now I had to work out a rescue plan. I could not have saved face. But saving grace was the need of the hour. I decided to limit the portion that I would focus on, to bypass the guys like trigonometry, progressions, advanced algebra, et al. and to give a go by to a lot of incomprehensible stuff in DI/DS. I was beyond them (or was it the other way round?) English was my forte. So I gave less time to it. It would just happen. And, then I started a race against time. The plan seemed to be working. My percentiles at the mocks improved. Still I was far, far away from Julius Caesar, from conquering. At the last but third mock test 80 percentile. I said to myself, Not bad. And then, Not good either!
80 percentile. And, in subsequent tests, I got stuck there. Weather changed. My CAT prep status didnt change much. Why? Because, you can only go so far when you have not polished your basics well. The coaching-insti people do not give you funda-books for decorating on the table and admiring their look. They are meant to be stirred well and digested.
The red letter day had arrived. By this time, I had become dispassionate. Thats what you do when the world looks materialistic with no meaning for existence! I went to the CAT center - feeling like a zombie. Found my place in the hall. Sunk in. My fate in the form of CAT question paper came. The invigilator gave a few instructions, which my mind did not register. Then he said, Start. I started.
I began with Verbal Section. Just to feel good. Handled the little ones first; sentence correction, contextual usage, parajumbles, and the like. Then I moved on to the RC; completed three passages in 17 minutes. Next took up the quant section. It did look bad in the beginning. Oh yes, there were a few suckers as expected. I took good care of them. Did not even care to take a peek at the questions which had their origin in my un-favorite and un-prepared topics. It was not a wise thing to do however. Because, suckers in a CAT paper are sometimes found in the most unlikely of places. After having a tough time there, I headed towards tougher times. The DI section. Time was flying, and I was almost crawling. Whatever I did in this section, I did it in 20 minutes. And, against anticipation, it was not all that bad. Decent, if not good.
Times up. And that was that. I had just wasted my first attempt at CAT. I wasnt devastated. Just then I had become a stoic. And asked myself, By the way, who was Julius Caesar?
I came, I sawI purred.
When I recovered after a week or so, I decided to reflect upon the whole drama. I could see clearly the mistakes that I had made, and the right things that I did not do. The list looked something like this:
Study schedule in one word - funny. It was downright unrealistic. Could have been more real and flexible.
Consistency nil. One day I studied for six hours. The next day I was partying. The third day, I dedicated to feeling guilty and making alternate study plans. Believing that the plan would work from the following day, I took a break that day (God knows from what?). Could have been consistent with three hours of studies everyday.
Basic concepts - far from satisfactory. Could have spared some time in memorizing those formulae, and doing the less-challenging questions and thereby gaining confidence. And, then the switch to the tough ones would have been easier.
Inability to identify my strong and weak areas. Consequently, inability to leverage on the strong areas and to convert the weak areas into comfortable ones.
Time-management or shall I say time-mismanagement. Lack of a strong conceptual foundation never allowed me to keep a check on my speed. I kept struggling for accuracy that speed never got its fair share. Hence, ended up spending almost an hour on Quant section, and 20 minutes on DI/DS. Time-management is indispensable. I should have known.
When it comes to CAT, practice or the lack of it makes all the difference. What more can I say?
And every one should have one strong area to hold on to. That instills the feel-good factor in the entire CAT scene. Mine was Verbal. It really did help.
Most importantly, never idolize Caesar. He never took CAT anyway. Do not try to conquer CAT. Just bell it. Be real. Make real plans in real time. Adhere. Adjust. Attempt.
All that matters is performance. And that depends on preparation and a good attitude.
When you take CAT, only two things happen. Either you make it or you dont.
I didnt. You can.
Crisp
PS.: I forgot to mention the result. 80 percentile.
Good efforts Maverick !
It is well written story & u are not alone facing such situations . There are many people appearing for CAT who face such situations in their life.
CAT is not just an exam , it means a lot to one's career !
It is well written story & u are not alone facing such situations . There are many people appearing for CAT who face such situations in their life.
CAT is not just an exam , it means a lot to one's career !
Good efforts Maverick !
It is well written story & u are not alone facing such situations . There are many people appearing for CAT who face such situations in their life.
CAT is not just an exam , it means a lot to one's career !
It is well written story & u are not alone facing such situations . There are many people appearing for CAT who face such situations in their life.
CAT is not just an exam , it means a lot to one's career !
hi ..
the tragedy of life doesnt seem to limit to one!!!
in came sixth sem of my B-tech (electrical)..
desperately awaited ...free frm coll for six months!!!
had ind. training in NTPC--- swoomed to delhi!!
independence!!! a PG..complete aish..freedom...
blossoming came the dream...
the tragedy of life doesnt seem to limit to one!!!
in came sixth sem of my B-tech (electrical)..
desperately awaited ...free frm coll for six months!!!
had ind. training in NTPC--- swoomed to delhi!!
independence!!! a PG..complete aish..freedom...
blossoming came the dream...
hi ..
the tragedy of life doesnt seem to limit to one!!!
in came sixth sem of my B-tech (electrical)..
desperately awaited ...free frm coll for six months!!!
had ind. training in NTPC--- swoomed to delhi!!
independence!!! a PG..complete aish..freedom...
blossoming came the dreams to crack CAT (atleast giv a shot!!)
joined IMS-- dated: 17th JAN..
...... ............
course commenced...
number system ... cool!!
seemed life was all abt CAT now!!
continue...........
sudden turn of fate...
a job offer (campus) -- HCL TECH..
went-- written (...Technical!!)-- rejected...
back to CAT business...
................ .................
still going..Geometry.. cool..
another offer-- SYNTEL TECH...
went-- written (aptitude)-- selected!! (came 3rd among 1200!!)
interview (HR)-- nerves!!--prepared!!
call--- 11:30 PM-- went..
a cool one ... confident (had cleared interview of NDA-SSB)..
a wait begins.... tons of expectations... loads of confinement..
wait finally over...!!-- after 10 days-- REJECTED!!
swooshed....!! bittered...!!! battered...!!
move on... for CAT..
more calls came..INFOSYS etc..--- dint bother to go..
for ME........................... its CAT...!!
maverick as i call myself.... defiant..
still walkin to tread my path to my dream.........
the tragedy of life doesnt seem to limit to one!!!
in came sixth sem of my B-tech (electrical)..
desperately awaited ...free frm coll for six months!!!
had ind. training in NTPC--- swoomed to delhi!!
independence!!! a PG..complete aish..freedom...
blossoming came the dreams to crack CAT (atleast giv a shot!!)
joined IMS-- dated: 17th JAN..
...... ............
course commenced...
number system ... cool!!
seemed life was all abt CAT now!!
continue...........
sudden turn of fate...
a job offer (campus) -- HCL TECH..
went-- written (...Technical!!)-- rejected...
back to CAT business...
................ .................
still going..Geometry.. cool..
another offer-- SYNTEL TECH...
went-- written (aptitude)-- selected!! (came 3rd among 1200!!)
interview (HR)-- nerves!!--prepared!!
call--- 11:30 PM-- went..
a cool one ... confident (had cleared interview of NDA-SSB)..
a wait begins.... tons of expectations... loads of confinement..
wait finally over...!!-- after 10 days-- REJECTED!!
swooshed....!! bittered...!!! battered...!!
move on... for CAT..
more calls came..INFOSYS etc..--- dint bother to go..
for ME........................... its CAT...!!
maverick as i call myself.... defiant..
still walkin to tread my path to my dream.........
@Denish:
Beautifully written dude. I can't help but admire your spirit and determination. Hats off to you.
As you rightly put it, keep walking.....Am sure suucees is waiting to touch your feet !!
All the best and keep rocking...You are an inspiration to many...
Beautifully written dude. I can't help but admire your spirit and determination. Hats off to you.
As you rightly put it, keep walking.....Am sure suucees is waiting to touch your feet !!
All the best and keep rocking...You are an inspiration to many...
@Denish:
Beautifully written dude. I can't help but admire your spirit and determination. Hats off to you.
As you rightly put it, keep walking.....Am sure suucees is waiting to touch your feet !!
All the best and keep rocking...You are an inspiration to many...
Beautifully written dude. I can't help but admire your spirit and determination. Hats off to you.
As you rightly put it, keep walking.....Am sure suucees is waiting to touch your feet !!
All the best and keep rocking...You are an inspiration to many...
Denish a perfect example for the saying TRY AND TRY TILL U SUCCEED.Even after his:neutral: expression seems to be quite determined.Amazing post.All the best.
Denish a perfect example for the saying TRY AND TRY TILL U SUCCEED.Even after his:neutral: expression seems to be quite determined.Amazing post.All the best.
An extremely well written post by denish. Clear concise and to the point But with failure, success, dejection, elation all in it.
denish you said keep walking right?
well I say yeah keep walking for sure and you will find us walking along with you and shouting ;)
Hope you become a grea...
denish you said keep walking right?
well I say yeah keep walking for sure and you will find us walking along with you and shouting ;)
Hope you become a grea...
1
1
An extremely well written post by denish. Clear concise and to the point But with failure, success, dejection, elation all in it.
denish you said keep walking right?
well I say yeah keep walking for sure and you will find us walking along with you and shouting ;)
Hope you become a great painter and they release Da denish code someday
-
Bugs
But with failure, success, dejection, elation all in it.denish you said keep walking right?
well I say yeah keep walking for sure and you will find us walking along with you and shouting ;)
Hope you become a great painter and they release Da denish code someday
-
Bugs
November
The CAT came and went ..
Funny paper Not sure ..
Full-Time work ..
Selling Cash cards Booking Railway tickets .. and don't ask what else ..
The Chariot wheel was stuck and Arjun was in front in me .. not with me
XAT disaster
CAT results :.
The CAT came and went ..
Funny paper Not sure ..
Full-Time work ..
Selling Cash cards Booking Railway tickets .. and don't ask what else ..
The Chariot wheel was stuck and Arjun was in front in me .. not with me
XAT disaster
CAT results :.
10
10
November
The CAT came and went ..
Funny paper Not sure ..
Full-Time work ..
Selling Cash cards Booking Railway tickets .. and don't ask what else ..
The Chariot wheel was stuck and Arjun was in front in me .. not with me
XAT disaster
CAT results :.
Laxmi Niwas Mittal
IIML
NITIE
MDI
on track .. don't .. don't lose hope .
Interviews
My Birthday: celebrated in NITIE
5 profs me .. and a rejection
Fact: I have never been late in my entire life .. never .. never ..
I was 10 mins late for my IIML interview
I h ate Mr. Fate
MDI twice bitten killed on the third attempt.
As expected (IIML was an excepction) NITIE and MDI rejects were announced.
Had some hopes resting on IIML
The Chariot has broken down the Curse strikes .. so does Arjun
The Death blow
No IIM-L wash-out ..
3 days of guzzling *Boost* and *Complan* and *Tea*
My Certificates come out again .. so does my resume
Job hunt begins
Continues ..
Still Continues ..
Frustration .. hunt .. frustration .. look .. search
Suggestions for going abroad .. go and do a PhD .. NO
Write CAT again??:
Interviewer "You are over-qualified"
Rejections from co's Rejecting co's
May 14
PG Meet
Goodlass Nerolac Interview
Exactly a year since I left IIT on 14th May 2005
Walk-in : You are over-qualified we will call you back
2nd Interview: Technical .. we will call you back
3rd interview: Welcome *Painter Babu*
The Renovation of the Chariot has begun
Will I write CAT again
Probably not .. but my love of PG remains ..
PG is still my home page ..
I will miss Mahip, Kool, Bugs, Aurkaa, Sandy, anandv
Or will I
Like I always say
Keep Walking
long live the beagles
a tribute to anandv and his bullocks .
for bugs and ananta
Thanks to Allwin .. for this great Portal
The CAT came and went ..
Funny paper Not sure ..
Full-Time work ..
Selling Cash cards Booking Railway tickets .. and don't ask what else ..
The Chariot wheel was stuck and Arjun was in front in me .. not with me
XAT disaster
CAT results :.
Laxmi Niwas Mittal
IIML
NITIE
MDI
on track .. don't .. don't lose hope
.Interviews
My Birthday: celebrated in NITIE
5 profs me .. and a rejection
Fact: I have never been late in my entire life .. never .. never ..
I was 10 mins late for my IIML interview
I h ate Mr. Fate
MDI twice bitten killed on the third attempt.
As expected (IIML was an excepction) NITIE and MDI rejects were announced.
Had some hopes resting on IIML
The Chariot has broken down the Curse strikes .. so does Arjun
The Death blow
No IIM-L wash-out ..
3 days of guzzling *Boost* and *Complan* and *Tea*
My Certificates come out again .. so does my resume
Job hunt begins
Continues ..
Still Continues ..
Frustration .. hunt .. frustration .. look .. search
Suggestions for going abroad .. go and do a PhD .. NO
Write CAT again
??:Interviewer "You are over-qualified"
Rejections from co's Rejecting co's
May 14
PG Meet
Goodlass Nerolac Interview
Exactly a year since I left IIT on 14th May 2005
Walk-in : You are over-qualified we will call you back
2nd Interview: Technical .. we will call you back
3rd interview: Welcome *Painter Babu*
The Renovation of the Chariot has begun
Will I write CAT again
Probably not .. but my love of PG remains ..
PG is still my home page ..
I will miss Mahip, Kool, Bugs, Aurkaa, Sandy, anandv
Or will I
Like I always say
Keep Walking
long live the beagles a tribute to anandv and his bullocks . for bugs and anantaThanks to Allwin .. for this great Portal
Prologue
My dad always says this .. *Denish you are like Karan, you always fail at the end despite your skills*
I always proved him wrong .. Diploma Final Year .. BE Final Year GATE IIT CAT
Looked like I was Arjun.
Once upon a time
Something happened .
Then
...
My dad always says this .. *Denish you are like Karan, you always fail at the end despite your skills*
I always proved him wrong .. Diploma Final Year .. BE Final Year GATE IIT CAT
Looked like I was Arjun.
Once upon a time
Something happened .
Then
...
4
4
Prologue
My dad always says this .. *Denish you are like Karan, you always fail at the end despite your skills*
I always proved him wrong .. Diploma Final Year .. BE Final Year GATE IIT CAT
Looked like I was Arjun.
Once upon a time
Something happened .
Then
2002-03
Final Year BE I decide to write CAT and GATE
Took GATE in FEB thought I will buy my CAT form later on.
So much for CAT .. was not aware of exam date :|
Cleared GATE after a week's study.
I still had my *Arjun* luck.
IIT Madras called.
All the CAT material photo-copied .. was carried with my luggage.
IIMs can wait .. IIT here I come.
2003-04
Life passed I became the Lord of the Last bench and the Last rank as well
Losing my focus and interests
Looking for a way out .. CAT is sill lingering in my mind.
2004-05
Me, My Thesis and My Guide.
Campus placements TCS calling
Gave the interview .. got through and decided . I don't want to join :|
Campus season over for me in August 2004 a year to go :(
My CAT notes look at me with misty eyes :)
My Guide looks at me in anticipation (a publication on its way)
My Parents look at me rather look for me gone for a year now
August still time ..
September ahhh ..
October .. Panic Get my duster out .. some rough papers and a pencil
Amidst frequent visits to Bangalore for my project and regular mails from my Guide "praising" my *Lackadasiac* attitude towards the project .. despite having spent an average of 15 *productive* hours per day in the lab :(
I lose my focus sad and angry all my hard work was washed out when I took a day's leave .. without informing ..
Focus CAT
VA, Quant, DI, LR things start moving
Get a few TIME papers . (solved ones)
Had only 1 unsloved paper :|
Solved on the previous day having taken a week's sick leave from my project ("no visit to home this year") :(
8 days prep 96.18 %ile no hopes ..
Next came XAT ..
Another 7 days deducted from my leave period
97.25 %ile .. and a call . :D
Don't know what happened .. but it turns out . I had applied for HR
My friends know about my short-temper .. have a good time laughing
XLRI interview 1 question .. .35 mins .. TaTa XLRI
TaTa MBA
TaTa IIT
2005 - 06
Decision to be made . the buck usually stops in the middle of the road
TCS waiting pressure from Friends and family to join
I skip
Job hunt begins CAT prep Join IMS .. knew I will blast th rough it
Dad's always right, remember Karan
This period was the worst in my life
Jobs being offered .. but Bonds to be signed 3 years .. 4 years ..
Not ready to sign
Join my father selling Cash Cards happness and sorrow ..hand in hand.
Cash cards .. Mocks Stocks .. Mocks . And more mocks I am coming
My dad always says this .. *Denish you are like Karan, you always fail at the end despite your skills*
I always proved him wrong .. Diploma Final Year .. BE Final Year GATE IIT CAT
Looked like I was Arjun.
Once upon a time
Something happened .
Then
2002-03
Final Year BE I decide to write CAT and GATE
Took GATE in FEB thought I will buy my CAT form later on.
So much for CAT .. was not aware of exam date :|
Cleared GATE after a week's study.
I still had my *Arjun* luck.
IIT Madras called.
All the CAT material photo-copied .. was carried with my luggage.
IIMs can wait .. IIT here I come.
2003-04
Life passed I became the Lord of the Last bench and the Last rank as well
Losing my focus and interests
Looking for a way out .. CAT is sill lingering in my mind.
2004-05
Me, My Thesis and My Guide.
Campus placements TCS calling
Gave the interview .. got through and decided . I don't want to join :|
Campus season over for me in August 2004 a year to go :(
My CAT notes look at me with misty eyes :)
My Guide looks at me in anticipation (a publication on its way)
My Parents look at me rather look for me
gone for a year now August still time ..
September ahhh ..
October .. Panic Get my duster out .. some rough papers and a pencil
Amidst frequent visits to Bangalore for my project and regular mails from my Guide "praising" my *Lackadasiac* attitude
towards the project .. despite having spent an average of 15 *productive* hours per day in the lab :(I lose my focus sad and angry all my hard work was washed out when I took a day's leave .. without informing ..
Focus CAT
VA, Quant, DI, LR things start moving
Get a few TIME papers . (solved ones)
Had only 1 unsloved paper :|
Solved on the previous day having taken a week's sick leave from my project ("no visit to home this year") :(
8 days prep 96.18 %ile no hopes ..
Next came XAT ..
Another 7 days deducted from my leave period
97.25 %ile .. and a call . :D
Don't know what happened .. but it turns out . I had applied for HR
My friends know about my short-temper .. have a good time laughing
XLRI interview 1 question .. .35 mins .. TaTa XLRI
TaTa MBA
TaTa IIT
2005 - 06
Decision to be made . the buck usually stops in the middle of the road
TCS waiting pressure from Friends and family to join
I skip
Job hunt begins CAT prep Join IMS .. knew I will blast th rough it
Dad's always right, remember Karan
This period was the worst in my life
Jobs being offered .. but Bonds to be signed 3 years .. 4 years ..
Not ready to sign
Join my father selling Cash Cards happness and sorrow ..hand in hand.
Cash cards .. Mocks Stocks .. Mocks . And more mocks I am coming
anupthomas's post is a reflection of the fact that what good planning can lead to. though he started late he executed his plans efficently. thanks anup for that awesome post.hope you achieve whatever you set your eyes on
anupthomas's post is a reflection of the fact that what good planning can lead to. though he started late he executed his plans efficently. thanks anup for that awesome post.hope you achieve whatever you set your eyes on
CAT 2006: A six month strategy
The Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs is just six months away; it will be held on November 19, 2006.
If you are giving CAT this year, it's possible your studies have been derailed due to various controversies and ongoing debates -- reservations a...
The Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs is just six months away; it will be held on November 19, 2006.
If you are giving CAT this year, it's possible your studies have been derailed due to various controversies and ongoing debates -- reservations a...
4
4
CAT 2006: A six month strategy
The Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs is just six months away; it will be held on November 19, 2006.
If you are giving CAT this year, it's possible your studies have been derailed due to various controversies and ongoing debates -- reservations at the IIMs, introduction of CAT prelims and 50 percent minimum requirement at the graduation level to qualify for CAT.
Well, it's high time you got back to your books. Follow our six-month strategy to help you plan and prepare better for this all-important exam.
This article will be followed by subsequent articles that focus on each individual area and detail their preparation strategy.
May 19 -- July 19
Objective: Familiarise yourself with all CAT sub-sections as well as the variety of questions that feature in each of them.
This is probably the most crucial period. These two months have to be utilised so as to get a launch pad for the next four months of preparation.
In Date Interpretation, you should be thorough with every type of representation. There are about six to seven types of DI sets possible. Also, there are standard questions like percentage increase, percentage share, counting, etc, as well as questions that are specific to data representation.
In Quantitative Ability, you should go through the 15-20 chapters that are important for the CAT exam, giving special importance to Numbers, Number Theory and Geometry and Mensuration. At the end of these two months, you should know every formula, the concepts in each chapter of quant as well as the steps involved in solving these questions.
At the end of the first two months, you should have solved each type of question at least two to three times. It is not important as yet to solve the problem quickly. The focus is entirely on getting to know the variety of questions and developing the ability to solve them.
In an area like Reading Comprehension, you should have read at least about 100 articles (a minimum of two a day) in as many spheres as possible. In CAT, the passages maybe selected from Psychology, Philosophy, Medicine, Economics, Sociology, Art, Culture and Religion, Literature, Politics and other general topics. As we can see, there are about 10 subjects from which RC passages can be given. Hence, in the next two months, you should read at least 10 articles from each of these subjects/ areas.
Likewise, the other areas in CAT -- ie Data Sufficiency, Reasoning and Verbal Ability -- have to be taken up. At the end of two months, you must thoroughly know the types of questions that come in CAT as well as the methods to solve them.
July 20 -- September 19
Objective: Learn various methods to solve each type of question in the shortest possible time.
If the first two months go successfully, it will give you something very important -- the confidence that there are questions in CAT you can solve. Now, this confidence should be elevated a step higher so that you can aim for the IIMs.
By now, let's say you have gained the ability to solve all types of questions. You are also in a position to identify every question and know the possible ways to solve the same. Yet, you could be taking a lot of time to do so, making it impossible for you to see all questions given in the CAT paper in the given time. Hence, you have every chance of missing out on easy questions.
You have to, therefore, spend time analysing the exercises you have already solved and redo them. But, this time, you should look at shortcuts as well as intuitive methods of solving questions. The methods could have been taught in a coaching class too, but you will start understanding and appreciating them only when you know the traditional method of solving them.
Solve a number of exercises. Also take individual area tests to test your ability to grasp the fundamentals. Analyse every test paper you take thoroughly. You will start seeing that there are always better and easier ways of solving a question than the method you followed thus far.
Do a complete revision of all the areas while taking an All India MOCK CAT (AIMCAT) every Sunday. This will ensure you keep improving in each area. You can also check your progress through the results of your AIMCATs.
September 20 -- November 18
Objective: Get the best results from your preparation
This is the last leg of your preparation. Now, you must concentrate on maximising your scores. You will have to take two full CAT level tests every week, one on Sunday and one on a Wednesday/ Thursday.
The focus in the initial month should be on experimentation. You should adopt various strategies in each of the AIMCATs that you write and check which strategy is giving you the best results. It is possible that, despite a wrong strategy, you may have got good marks or, despite a correct strategy, you may have got fewer marks. To ensure you don't fall pray to such mistakes, check each strategy for at least two papers. If one strategy seems to be working, use the same for two more papers so that you are in a position to finalise the strategy you are going to use on the final day of CAT. Flexibility has to be kept to account for changes in the pattern of the exam.
This way, the last two months would be primarily used to give you the maximum returns on your preparation.
Gear up for the battle ahead!
Source - rediff.com
The Common Admission Test for admission to the IIMs is just six months away; it will be held on November 19, 2006.
If you are giving CAT this year, it's possible your studies have been derailed due to various controversies and ongoing debates -- reservations at the IIMs, introduction of CAT prelims and 50 percent minimum requirement at the graduation level to qualify for CAT.
Well, it's high time you got back to your books. Follow our six-month strategy to help you plan and prepare better for this all-important exam.
This article will be followed by subsequent articles that focus on each individual area and detail their preparation strategy.
May 19 -- July 19
Objective: Familiarise yourself with all CAT sub-sections as well as the variety of questions that feature in each of them.
This is probably the most crucial period. These two months have to be utilised so as to get a launch pad for the next four months of preparation.
In Date Interpretation, you should be thorough with every type of representation. There are about six to seven types of DI sets possible. Also, there are standard questions like percentage increase, percentage share, counting, etc, as well as questions that are specific to data representation.
In Quantitative Ability, you should go through the 15-20 chapters that are important for the CAT exam, giving special importance to Numbers, Number Theory and Geometry and Mensuration. At the end of these two months, you should know every formula, the concepts in each chapter of quant as well as the steps involved in solving these questions.
At the end of the first two months, you should have solved each type of question at least two to three times. It is not important as yet to solve the problem quickly. The focus is entirely on getting to know the variety of questions and developing the ability to solve them.
In an area like Reading Comprehension, you should have read at least about 100 articles (a minimum of two a day) in as many spheres as possible. In CAT, the passages maybe selected from Psychology, Philosophy, Medicine, Economics, Sociology, Art, Culture and Religion, Literature, Politics and other general topics. As we can see, there are about 10 subjects from which RC passages can be given. Hence, in the next two months, you should read at least 10 articles from each of these subjects/ areas.
Likewise, the other areas in CAT -- ie Data Sufficiency, Reasoning and Verbal Ability -- have to be taken up. At the end of two months, you must thoroughly know the types of questions that come in CAT as well as the methods to solve them.
July 20 -- September 19
Objective: Learn various methods to solve each type of question in the shortest possible time.
If the first two months go successfully, it will give you something very important -- the confidence that there are questions in CAT you can solve. Now, this confidence should be elevated a step higher so that you can aim for the IIMs.
By now, let's say you have gained the ability to solve all types of questions. You are also in a position to identify every question and know the possible ways to solve the same. Yet, you could be taking a lot of time to do so, making it impossible for you to see all questions given in the CAT paper in the given time. Hence, you have every chance of missing out on easy questions.
You have to, therefore, spend time analysing the exercises you have already solved and redo them. But, this time, you should look at shortcuts as well as intuitive methods of solving questions. The methods could have been taught in a coaching class too, but you will start understanding and appreciating them only when you know the traditional method of solving them.
Solve a number of exercises. Also take individual area tests to test your ability to grasp the fundamentals. Analyse every test paper you take thoroughly. You will start seeing that there are always better and easier ways of solving a question than the method you followed thus far.
Do a complete revision of all the areas while taking an All India MOCK CAT (AIMCAT) every Sunday. This will ensure you keep improving in each area. You can also check your progress through the results of your AIMCATs.
September 20 -- November 18
Objective: Get the best results from your preparation
This is the last leg of your preparation. Now, you must concentrate on maximising your scores. You will have to take two full CAT level tests every week, one on Sunday and one on a Wednesday/ Thursday.
The focus in the initial month should be on experimentation. You should adopt various strategies in each of the AIMCATs that you write and check which strategy is giving you the best results. It is possible that, despite a wrong strategy, you may have got good marks or, despite a correct strategy, you may have got fewer marks. To ensure you don't fall pray to such mistakes, check each strategy for at least two papers. If one strategy seems to be working, use the same for two more papers so that you are in a position to finalise the strategy you are going to use on the final day of CAT. Flexibility has to be kept to account for changes in the pattern of the exam.
This way, the last two months would be primarily used to give you the maximum returns on your preparation.
Gear up for the battle ahead!
Source - rediff.com
@Anupam
Awsome man.
It goes on to prove that CAT is much more than a competition.It's a passion which needs to be nurtured.
It shows a man's conviction,his character and his romanticism.
All this in right proportions makes a successful man.
No doubt u get some very good ppl at the ...
Awsome man.
It goes on to prove that CAT is much more than a competition.It's a passion which needs to be nurtured.
It shows a man's conviction,his character and his romanticism.
All this in right proportions makes a successful man.
No doubt u get some very good ppl at the ...
@Anupam
Awsome man.
It goes on to prove that CAT is much more than a competition.It's a passion which needs to be nurtured.
It shows a man's conviction,his character and his romanticism.
All this in right proportions makes a successful man.
No doubt u get some very good ppl at the IIMs.
Awsome man.
It goes on to prove that CAT is much more than a competition.It's a passion which needs to be nurtured.
It shows a man's conviction,his character and his romanticism.
All this in right proportions makes a successful man.
No doubt u get some very good ppl at the IIMs.
Brilliant Job ! Man
Its nothing less than a motivational fairy tale & i really appreciate the way u have put your heart out.
U really deserve accolades and a seat in IIMs.
I wish i would be able to extract something out of this story and sucessfully bell the CAT06.
Once Again, Great ...
Its nothing less than a motivational fairy tale & i really appreciate the way u have put your heart out.
U really deserve accolades and a seat in IIMs.
I wish i would be able to extract something out of this story and sucessfully bell the CAT06.
Once Again, Great ...
Brilliant Job ! Man
Its nothing less than a motivational fairy tale & i really appreciate the way u have put your heart out.
U really deserve accolades and a seat in IIMs.
I wish i would be able to extract something out of this story and sucessfully bell the CAT06.
Once Again, Great Job Man !
Its nothing less than a motivational fairy tale & i really appreciate the way u have put your heart out.
U really deserve accolades and a seat in IIMs.
I wish i would be able to extract something out of this story and sucessfully bell the CAT06.
Once Again, Great Job Man !
Epilogue
At the end of all these, this is what I want to suggest about CAT: It is just another exam. Dont be afraid of it. It is alright to be passionate about it. But dont think it is the End of the World if I come out of it not quite well. I need to have good strategy, customized to my stren...
At the end of all these, this is what I want to suggest about CAT: It is just another exam. Dont be afraid of it. It is alright to be passionate about it. But dont think it is the End of the World if I come out of it not quite well. I need to have good strategy, customized to my stren...
56
56
Epilogue
At the end of all these, this is what I want to suggest about CAT: It is just another exam. Dont be afraid of it. It is alright to be passionate about it. But dont think it is the End of the World if I come out of it not quite well. I need to have good strategy, customized to my strengths and weaknesses to take CAT. I need to put in enough preparation, depending on my comfort level in each of those CAT sections, in order to crack it. I need to remain confident to crack it. I need to understand that I need not solve the toughest question in the paper to crack it. I shouldnt put more than enough effort and burn myself out. I should optimize my efforts, and the parameter there is my current strength. I need to keep in touch with my fellow aspirant community to do my best. I cannot do it in isolation. I need to have a strong, reliable and practical plan-B to fall back on if I fail to make it. In order to perform my best, I should feel there is nothing going to happen even if I fail. I should be prepared to take anything. I should remain passionate about cracking it, yet I shouldnt be affected at all if I dont. And that is, according to me, the best mindset to adopt, if I want to crack CAT. Karmanye vaadhikaaraste ma phaleshu kadaachana!
Coaching institutes help. How much coaching I need is a question I should answer first. If I am Maurice Greene, I dont need steroids to run 100 meters in 9.79 seconds. If I am Ben Johnson, I need. In a race where steroids are not prohibited, it doesnt make sense to avoid it. But the dosage should be optimum.
Dont make CAT your only occupation. However hard I may try, I may fail on the D-Day. There is no prize for being good. Prize is for proving good. World Cup is given to the team which wins the final, not to the best team in the world. I might end up doing less than my best at CAT. Or worse, I may simply fall sick on the day of CAT. Such things shouldnt shatter me completely. If I am working, I shouldnt neglect my job for CAT preparations. CAT preparation should be an additional burden for me, not a substitute burden.
This is, all I wanted to speak about CAT
At the end of all these, this is what I want to suggest about CAT: It is just another exam. Dont be afraid of it. It is alright to be passionate about it. But dont think it is the End of the World if I come out of it not quite well. I need to have good strategy, customized to my strengths and weaknesses to take CAT. I need to put in enough preparation, depending on my comfort level in each of those CAT sections, in order to crack it. I need to remain confident to crack it. I need to understand that I need not solve the toughest question in the paper to crack it. I shouldnt put more than enough effort and burn myself out. I should optimize my efforts, and the parameter there is my current strength. I need to keep in touch with my fellow aspirant community to do my best. I cannot do it in isolation. I need to have a strong, reliable and practical plan-B to fall back on if I fail to make it. In order to perform my best, I should feel there is nothing going to happen even if I fail. I should be prepared to take anything. I should remain passionate about cracking it, yet I shouldnt be affected at all if I dont. And that is, according to me, the best mindset to adopt, if I want to crack CAT. Karmanye vaadhikaaraste ma phaleshu kadaachana!
Coaching institutes help. How much coaching I need is a question I should answer first. If I am Maurice Greene, I dont need steroids to run 100 meters in 9.79 seconds. If I am Ben Johnson, I need. In a race where steroids are not prohibited, it doesnt make sense to avoid it. But the dosage should be optimum.
Dont make CAT your only occupation. However hard I may try, I may fail on the D-Day. There is no prize for being good. Prize is for proving good. World Cup is given to the team which wins the final, not to the best team in the world. I might end up doing less than my best at CAT. Or worse, I may simply fall sick on the day of CAT. Such things shouldnt shatter me completely. If I am working, I shouldnt neglect my job for CAT preparations. CAT preparation should be an additional burden for me, not a substitute burden.
This is, all I wanted to speak about CAT
CAT 2005
The next quest began in July 2005. I called up a coaching institute in Mangalore and enquired about their Model CAT series. And I had a sweet surprise awaiting me. Since I scored above 95 percentile in CAT 2004, I would get a heavy discount. All I have to pay is Rs 1500 for 16 tests. ...
The next quest began in July 2005. I called up a coaching institute in Mangalore and enquired about their Model CAT series. And I had a sweet surprise awaiting me. Since I scored above 95 percentile in CAT 2004, I would get a heavy discount. All I have to pay is Rs 1500 for 16 tests. ...
6
6
CAT 2005
The next quest began in July 2005. I called up a coaching institute in Mangalore and enquired about their Model CAT series. And I had a sweet surprise awaiting me. Since I scored above 95 percentile in CAT 2004, I would get a heavy discount. All I have to pay is Rs 1500 for 16 tests. I thought it was a good value-for-money. I enrolled the next day. And then I charted the next 16 weekends to come. I was told I could take Mock CAT from centers other than Mangalore twice. So, I planned to go home only twice between August and November 2005. I considered everything and made sure that I appeared for all the 16 Mock CATs. I spent my valuable Sunday time, sometimes as many as 5-6 hours, in analyzing that days Mock CAT and my performance at it. I hardly found enough time during week days to prepare, but whenever I could come home early, I dedicated some time for preparation. My preparation was still far from organized but I believed my basics are strong enough to allow myself the luxury of a haphazard preparation. I tried, sometimes successfully too, to learn new problem solving methods. I never looked at the vocabulary building part, since I thought the returns were too low. Instead I concentrated on Reading Comprehension in my Verbal preparations. DI was a strong side for me and I felt Mock CATs and their analyses would be sufficient for that.
I had heard about pagalguy dot com earlier on, but had never visited it. Sometime in October, I registered at PG and found some great people here preparing for CAT 2005. I found it very useful, and I would say PG was the single largest contributor to my success, if I may use that adjective, in CAT later on.
By the time CAT was on, I had finalized the strategy I was going to adopt if the CAT continued to be a three section affair. 35 minutes each to the three sections and 15 minutes of floating time to be allocated through an on-the-spot decision. But the pattern of 10 one mark questions and 20 two-mark questions per section made me change the plan a bit. I decided that I am giving 10 minutes each to the one mark sub-sections and 30 minutes each to the two-mark sub sections. No floating time. I think it makes sense to divide the time among sub sections as well. I will ensure that I do not miss out sitters in one mark questions. And I will ensure that I will have some heavy scoring through easier ones among the two-mark questions.
I started off with QA this time. My Mock CAT experiments suggested that the order QA VA DI works the best for me. In the first 10 minutes, I answered 5 QA one markers and in the next 30 minutes solved seven 2 mark questions. Time allocated to QA was over. Although I was a bit careful about accuracy this time around, CAT 2004 had taught me that an attempt worth 19 marks might be far from enough in QA. But it had also taught me that I shouldnt overstay at any section. I moved on to VA.
Boy, what a section that was? I attempted all the 10 questions in Sub Section 1. It took me just 10 minutes, and I was happy that the things are going smooth. But once I landed in the two-mark section, all happiness went off. I struggled real hard to choose my answers. I swayed away from all the bouncers. CAT 2004 had taught me that if I take a chance, more often than not, I will be caught at the fence. I answered only those about which I felt absolutely sure. My attempts read: 10 questions in 35 minutes. But at the end, that worked well, I guess. I think I got 8 of them right. I was in the middle of Derrida passage when the allocated 40 minutes were over. Anyway, next is DI, I thought I could manage. So I overstayed to complete that one.
35 minutes is what I have left. So, I stayed in the one mark subsection of DI for eight minutes and attempted 7 questions. Then moved on to the two-mark subsection and solved one set. It took me some 9-10 minutes, and I was smelling trouble already. Went to the last page of the question paper and saw the Olympic Committee set. Thought it was solvable and spent around 12-13 minutes there without solving a single question. Suddenly, I woke up from my dream and realized I should drop that one. Turned to the previous page and what do I see there? Oh, my! Tennis set again? I quickly solved two questions and was solving the third when the invigilator told that the time was up. I was zeroing in on one option for that question and decided that I will mark that answer before I put my pencil down (As far as I can see, this was the only mistake I did in CAT 2005 and I paid 0.67 marks for that I got that one wrong. I violated my decision not to mark a question unless I am sure about it if it is still ends as a mistake; there is nothing that I can do about it).
But somehow, I felt I didnt do well enough to grab calls from IIMs. I had applied to SPJAIN as well this time, and thought they might give me a call. I was expecting a 98.xx percentile but the largely inconclusive VA keys given out by various institutes kept some part of the hope alive. Anyway, I was already into my plan B when the results were finally out, I found out that I have calls from all IIMs. I came back to my plan A, attended the interviews and got final calls from a couple of IIMs. Only time will tell if I had been right in my choice. I am ready to wait and watch anyway.
The next quest began in July 2005. I called up a coaching institute in Mangalore and enquired about their Model CAT series. And I had a sweet surprise awaiting me. Since I scored above 95 percentile in CAT 2004, I would get a heavy discount. All I have to pay is Rs 1500 for 16 tests. I thought it was a good value-for-money. I enrolled the next day. And then I charted the next 16 weekends to come. I was told I could take Mock CAT from centers other than Mangalore twice. So, I planned to go home only twice between August and November 2005. I considered everything and made sure that I appeared for all the 16 Mock CATs. I spent my valuable Sunday time, sometimes as many as 5-6 hours, in analyzing that days Mock CAT and my performance at it. I hardly found enough time during week days to prepare, but whenever I could come home early, I dedicated some time for preparation. My preparation was still far from organized but I believed my basics are strong enough to allow myself the luxury of a haphazard preparation. I tried, sometimes successfully too, to learn new problem solving methods. I never looked at the vocabulary building part, since I thought the returns were too low. Instead I concentrated on Reading Comprehension in my Verbal preparations. DI was a strong side for me and I felt Mock CATs and their analyses would be sufficient for that.
I had heard about pagalguy dot com earlier on, but had never visited it. Sometime in October, I registered at PG and found some great people here preparing for CAT 2005. I found it very useful, and I would say PG was the single largest contributor to my success, if I may use that adjective, in CAT later on.
By the time CAT was on, I had finalized the strategy I was going to adopt if the CAT continued to be a three section affair. 35 minutes each to the three sections and 15 minutes of floating time to be allocated through an on-the-spot decision. But the pattern of 10 one mark questions and 20 two-mark questions per section made me change the plan a bit. I decided that I am giving 10 minutes each to the one mark sub-sections and 30 minutes each to the two-mark sub sections. No floating time. I think it makes sense to divide the time among sub sections as well. I will ensure that I do not miss out sitters in one mark questions. And I will ensure that I will have some heavy scoring through easier ones among the two-mark questions.
I started off with QA this time. My Mock CAT experiments suggested that the order QA VA DI works the best for me. In the first 10 minutes, I answered 5 QA one markers and in the next 30 minutes solved seven 2 mark questions. Time allocated to QA was over. Although I was a bit careful about accuracy this time around, CAT 2004 had taught me that an attempt worth 19 marks might be far from enough in QA. But it had also taught me that I shouldnt overstay at any section. I moved on to VA.
Boy, what a section that was? I attempted all the 10 questions in Sub Section 1. It took me just 10 minutes, and I was happy that the things are going smooth. But once I landed in the two-mark section, all happiness went off. I struggled real hard to choose my answers. I swayed away from all the bouncers. CAT 2004 had taught me that if I take a chance, more often than not, I will be caught at the fence. I answered only those about which I felt absolutely sure. My attempts read: 10 questions in 35 minutes. But at the end, that worked well, I guess. I think I got 8 of them right. I was in the middle of Derrida passage when the allocated 40 minutes were over. Anyway, next is DI, I thought I could manage. So I overstayed to complete that one.
35 minutes is what I have left. So, I stayed in the one mark subsection of DI for eight minutes and attempted 7 questions. Then moved on to the two-mark subsection and solved one set. It took me some 9-10 minutes, and I was smelling trouble already. Went to the last page of the question paper and saw the Olympic Committee set. Thought it was solvable and spent around 12-13 minutes there without solving a single question. Suddenly, I woke up from my dream and realized I should drop that one. Turned to the previous page and what do I see there? Oh, my! Tennis set again? I quickly solved two questions and was solving the third when the invigilator told that the time was up. I was zeroing in on one option for that question and decided that I will mark that answer before I put my pencil down (As far as I can see, this was the only mistake I did in CAT 2005 and I paid 0.67 marks for that I got that one wrong. I violated my decision not to mark a question unless I am sure about it if it is still ends as a mistake; there is nothing that I can do about it).
But somehow, I felt I didnt do well enough to grab calls from IIMs. I had applied to SPJAIN as well this time, and thought they might give me a call. I was expecting a 98.xx percentile but the largely inconclusive VA keys given out by various institutes kept some part of the hope alive. Anyway, I was already into my plan B when the results were finally out, I found out that I have calls from all IIMs. I came back to my plan A, attended the interviews and got final calls from a couple of IIMs. Only time will tell if I had been right in my choice. I am ready to wait and watch anyway.
My First Time
Bad times have to end somewhere. A month later, I joined Infosys. Five years back, I was dejected that I cannot make it into computers. It didnt even matter in the end! Now, I am a part of one of the biggest software companies in the country. I enjoyed the training and unlike man...
Bad times have to end somewhere. A month later, I joined Infosys. Five years back, I was dejected that I cannot make it into computers. It didnt even matter in the end! Now, I am a part of one of the biggest software companies in the country. I enjoyed the training and unlike man...
10
10
My First Time
Bad times have to end somewhere. A month later, I joined Infosys. Five years back, I was dejected that I cannot make it into computers. It didnt even matter in the end! Now, I am a part of one of the biggest software companies in the country. I enjoyed the training and unlike many, I enjoyed the work when I was put in a project. I decided to stay on. I didnt think of anything else. CAT and management education still remained somewhere in a corner of my mind, but not as anything big enough to worry me. CAT 2003 was rescheduled for February 2004, and my module leader was appearing for the same. He was a very good friend, and at times, we talked briefly about his career plans. He didnt give me any spark, but he prompted me to have a re-look at the whole situation. I started browsing through websites of B-Schools and many online forums and slowly, it became clear to me that I have a better career there. The more I looked into it, the more I wanted it. And I decided to have a go at CAT 2004. I still didnt believe in Coaching Institutes and argued that they dont bring any value. I collected some material, a friend offered 3-4 Mock CATs (which he was given in 2003 but which he never cared to solve) and I was confident that I will be through. A software job will not allow much liberty for somebody who doesnt want to ignore his job, but I somehow managed my time well. I put in some effort, and wasnt shocked at all when I saw the new pattern of the paper. After all, my not having any real time mock CAT experience allowed me that I was not disarmingly used to the one-mark-one-fifty-question-three-section pattern.
I started off with VA as I had planned to, and I decided to be safe first. I attempted 7 of those 10 half-mark questions, playing it very safe (I got all of them right). Then I moved on to the two-mark section and answered all the five questions. It took a lot of time for me to arrive at each of those answers but still got two of them wrong. I went on to the one-mark section and attempted some questions. I suddenly realized that I have consumed 45 minutes already (I had planned for 40 minutes in each section). I went on to the quant, and greed still ruled me. I went to the two-mark questions straight away and tried each of those questions. Finally, in 25 minutes, I answered 7 of them (and to my dismay, I found out later that I got 3 of them wrong). I spent another 5 minutes, answered 4 one-mark questions and decided I might screw up DI if I stayed more in Quant.
Somehow, I believed I havent made any mistakes in any of those 11 questions I attempted in quant, and that should be enough. I never saw the first page of quant section while inside the exam-hall and it had as many as 10 questions, all of them solvable in a minute or so. This was my biggest mistake in CAT 2004, and my most valuable learning too! Try to look at all questions. Dont try to solve hard questions even if they are in areas of your comfort. There will be very easy questions from areas you are not quite comfortable with.
Anyway, I moved on to the DI section. I had 45 minutes at my disposal. And I enjoyed solving those sets. I had planned to come back to Quant and Verbal sections for 5 minutes each, but that never happened. I spent the whole of my time there. The lavishness paid of actually; I ended up at 98.57 percentile in DI. But not quite, because I had made 3 mistakes in the two-mark section. It was actually the one-mark section which came to my rescue in DI too. VA was a slight disappointment at 90.34, but Quant, as expected, spelled the doom. I ended up at 77.33 there, and overall 95.36 percentile. I had not applied for any non-IIM institutes and needless to say, I didnt get any call from IIMs.
Bu I took away some learning. I have to be disciplined while CAT, and should respect the time splits I set for myself. I shouldnt get carried away and keep on doing one section, and I should always keep a watch on the time. I should always assume that I might have made some mistake and therefore shouldnt feel that the questions I attempted are enough for a section. Be in a section till the time allocated for it runs out. Above all, I should try to have a look at all questions in the paper.
But the real learning came a few days after CAT. I, for the first time, understood that the coaching institutes can make a difference to my preparedness. A friend of mine took me to the website of a coaching institute and logged in with his user id, and showed me its post- Mock CAT analysis. I too understood that taking mock CATs in real-life-like situations (as opposed taking them within the confinement of the four walls of my room) and having an analysis of how well I did in comparison to thousands who take the same exam same time will help in the actual CAT.
I decided that I am going to have another go at CAT. I laid it down as my plan A, and kept my plan B and C also ready. I think this is also important, especially if one has made up the mind to pursue the management education. I might end up not successful at the CAT: may be because I am not as good as I thought, may be because I am not lucky, may be a combination of both. Should that happen, I shouldnt be in dire straits.
Bad times have to end somewhere. A month later, I joined Infosys. Five years back, I was dejected that I cannot make it into computers. It didnt even matter in the end! Now, I am a part of one of the biggest software companies in the country. I enjoyed the training and unlike many, I enjoyed the work when I was put in a project. I decided to stay on. I didnt think of anything else. CAT and management education still remained somewhere in a corner of my mind, but not as anything big enough to worry me. CAT 2003 was rescheduled for February 2004, and my module leader was appearing for the same. He was a very good friend, and at times, we talked briefly about his career plans. He didnt give me any spark, but he prompted me to have a re-look at the whole situation. I started browsing through websites of B-Schools and many online forums and slowly, it became clear to me that I have a better career there. The more I looked into it, the more I wanted it. And I decided to have a go at CAT 2004. I still didnt believe in Coaching Institutes and argued that they dont bring any value. I collected some material, a friend offered 3-4 Mock CATs (which he was given in 2003 but which he never cared to solve) and I was confident that I will be through. A software job will not allow much liberty for somebody who doesnt want to ignore his job, but I somehow managed my time well. I put in some effort, and wasnt shocked at all when I saw the new pattern of the paper. After all, my not having any real time mock CAT experience allowed me that I was not disarmingly used to the one-mark-one-fifty-question-three-section pattern.
I started off with VA as I had planned to, and I decided to be safe first. I attempted 7 of those 10 half-mark questions, playing it very safe (I got all of them right). Then I moved on to the two-mark section and answered all the five questions. It took a lot of time for me to arrive at each of those answers but still got two of them wrong. I went on to the one-mark section and attempted some questions. I suddenly realized that I have consumed 45 minutes already (I had planned for 40 minutes in each section). I went on to the quant, and greed still ruled me. I went to the two-mark questions straight away and tried each of those questions. Finally, in 25 minutes, I answered 7 of them (and to my dismay, I found out later that I got 3 of them wrong). I spent another 5 minutes, answered 4 one-mark questions and decided I might screw up DI if I stayed more in Quant.
Somehow, I believed I havent made any mistakes in any of those 11 questions I attempted in quant, and that should be enough. I never saw the first page of quant section while inside the exam-hall and it had as many as 10 questions, all of them solvable in a minute or so. This was my biggest mistake in CAT 2004, and my most valuable learning too! Try to look at all questions. Dont try to solve hard questions even if they are in areas of your comfort. There will be very easy questions from areas you are not quite comfortable with.
Anyway, I moved on to the DI section. I had 45 minutes at my disposal. And I enjoyed solving those sets. I had planned to come back to Quant and Verbal sections for 5 minutes each, but that never happened. I spent the whole of my time there. The lavishness paid of actually; I ended up at 98.57 percentile in DI. But not quite, because I had made 3 mistakes in the two-mark section. It was actually the one-mark section which came to my rescue in DI too. VA was a slight disappointment at 90.34, but Quant, as expected, spelled the doom. I ended up at 77.33 there, and overall 95.36 percentile. I had not applied for any non-IIM institutes and needless to say, I didnt get any call from IIMs.
Bu I took away some learning. I have to be disciplined while CAT, and should respect the time splits I set for myself. I shouldnt get carried away and keep on doing one section, and I should always keep a watch on the time. I should always assume that I might have made some mistake and therefore shouldnt feel that the questions I attempted are enough for a section. Be in a section till the time allocated for it runs out. Above all, I should try to have a look at all questions in the paper.
But the real learning came a few days after CAT. I, for the first time, understood that the coaching institutes can make a difference to my preparedness. A friend of mine took me to the website of a coaching institute and logged in with his user id, and showed me its post- Mock CAT analysis. I too understood that taking mock CATs in real-life-like situations (as opposed taking them within the confinement of the four walls of my room) and having an analysis of how well I did in comparison to thousands who take the same exam same time will help in the actual CAT.
I decided that I am going to have another go at CAT. I laid it down as my plan A, and kept my plan B and C also ready. I think this is also important, especially if one has made up the mind to pursue the management education. I might end up not successful at the CAT: may be because I am not as good as I thought, may be because I am not lucky, may be a combination of both. Should that happen, I shouldnt be in dire straits.
"Endaro Mahanubhavulu
Antariki Vandanamu"
My salutation to all great people on this thread. The postings are truly inspiring, and make good reading too. I too have a story, not very inspiring, and I am afraid can't put it in a great style either. Therefore, I didn't want to destroy the beau...
Antariki Vandanamu"
My salutation to all great people on this thread. The postings are truly inspiring, and make good reading too. I too have a story, not very inspiring, and I am afraid can't put it in a great style either. Therefore, I didn't want to destroy the beau...
17
17
"Endaro Mahanubhavulu
Antariki Vandanamu"
My salutation to all great people on this thread. The postings are truly inspiring, and make good reading too. I too have a story, not very inspiring, and I am afraid can't put it in a great style either. Therefore, I didn't want to destroy the beauty of this thread by posting it here. But I had some things to talk about CAT and finally, today, I thought I will put them in black and white.
Prologue
I think I should start from 9 years back - 1997. That was when I was introduced to the idea of IITs by a wonderful teacher of mine. And I was impressed, and decided to give it a go. Come December, and I saw the ad from IITs inviting application to the JEE. But because of various reasons, I didn't buy the form. And when I looked ahead, I thought of neglecting engineering altogether. I decided that I have two options in front of me.
i) Go for a B. A. /B. Sc. course after my 12th standard, crack the Bank PO examination (I had seen some model question papers with my sister and I knew I would crack that exam any day hands down), get into a job and think of a real career later
ii) Get into a research kind of education and be a scientists.
I deferred the decision to that waiting period after the board exams.
Three months later, my father brought to me an application form - that of Kerala Entrance Examination. Actually, I wasn't fascinated by engineering any more. But I had the application form already, so I filled it up and sent it. I didn't think of any coaching. Neither did I think it was necessary. I was so confident, may be I should say arrogant, about my own skills those days. I dedicated an hour or two everyday for one month, relied on some tips that came in "Vijayaveedhi" those days and appeared for Common Entrance Examination on 14th, 15th and 16th of May 1998.
I thought I did well, but it was not to be. Before the results came out, there were some elder friends with whom I talked about the prospects and they told me that Electronics is what the best branch is. And they also advised me that Computer is the hottest thing at the moment and I should look at that one too. But the result of CEE was a disappointment to me. I ended up at a rank of 2087. Those days, total engineering seats in Kerala were around 4000, and I knew I could entertain no hope of getting into Electronics or Computers anywhere in the state. I decided to go back to my old plan. I decided to pursue B. Sc. in mathematics and forget everything else. Then I had a chat with a friend, who insisted that I should take up Electrical or Mechanical. I looked up a bit about the two courses. All subjects I was interested in seemed to be in Mechanical Engineering - Thermodynamics, IC engines and Mechanics. A decision was made and I took up Mechanical Engineering at a little known college in Kerala.
I included this part to tell you how indecisive I was in those days. From IITs to B. Sc. to Banks to Electronics to Mechanical, I displayed total indecision. And I didn't like the way I got into the branch I chose. Not that I didn't like the branch. For a person of my mindset and my interests, I think that was the best branch to choose. I am thankful to the almighty to set up things so nicely to put me in there. Yet, the fact remained that I chose it because I wouldn't get Electronics or Computers. I thought it was ridiculous. Yet, I had to live with it. And I decided that I will not have this repeated in my life.
An option gets into the mind
Came 2001 and I entered the seventh semester of my B. Tech. The IT boom of the two previous years had started to die down. Companies which visited my college for Campus placement in 2000 didn't turn up this time. And a recruiting agency at Cochin through which a lot of my seniors got placed had ceased to be operational. And students of my batch faced a lot of uncertainty. College of Engineering Trivandrum, by far the best in the state recorded less than 50% placement that year. And I too wanted to decide, soon enough, what next.
It was September 2001. The World Trade Centre was standing still in its place and Osama Bin Laden didn't have to hide himself anywhere. I was traveling to Thiruvananthapuram by train and I bought this Outlook magazine to pass some time while in Train. The Cover Story was titled 'The Best Business Schools in India" and it ranked IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Bangalore as the first, second and third best in the country. Also, I got to know a lot about Management Education in General, and IIMs and NITIE in particular. A seed was thrown into my mind, but I knew I will not attempt it that year. There were some friends in college who were appearing for CAT 2001, and they gave me some general information about CAT. I decided to ignore CAT 2001. I set landing in a job as my first priority. Till April 2002, nobody came to my college recruit from Mechanical Branch. And my hopes for a placement before the course ended died out.
Meanwhile, the financial situation of my family was not the very best. I badly needed a job now. And boy, there was none available. CAT 2002 came and went, and I paid no attention to it. I came down to Bangalore, hoping to meet some luck there. I got into a job at a small production shop floor which paid me 3000 rupees a month. I didn't like the job and wanted to get out of it. Then a call-letter from Staff Selection Board for a short service commission in the Indian Navy came along. I used this as an excuse and left my job and went to Bhopal to attend the SSB interviews. I failed there again. Our group owner, an officer who was in charge of a group of attendees assured us that we might be better off at some other field. He told us that Amitabh Bachchan, APJ Abdul Kalam and Shahrookh Khan had appeared for SSB and failed. He asked us to consider what a sheer wastage of talent it would have been, had they been successful there. I knew he was right. But the fact remained - there I was; I threw away the job I had at a time of complete distress and back to square one. Anyway, what my group owner told remained in my mind as a quotable quote. I should find out what suits me best.
Antariki Vandanamu"
My salutation to all great people on this thread. The postings are truly inspiring, and make good reading too. I too have a story, not very inspiring, and I am afraid can't put it in a great style either. Therefore, I didn't want to destroy the beauty of this thread by posting it here. But I had some things to talk about CAT and finally, today, I thought I will put them in black and white.
Prologue
I think I should start from 9 years back - 1997. That was when I was introduced to the idea of IITs by a wonderful teacher of mine. And I was impressed, and decided to give it a go. Come December, and I saw the ad from IITs inviting application to the JEE. But because of various reasons, I didn't buy the form. And when I looked ahead, I thought of neglecting engineering altogether. I decided that I have two options in front of me.
i) Go for a B. A. /B. Sc. course after my 12th standard, crack the Bank PO examination (I had seen some model question papers with my sister and I knew I would crack that exam any day hands down), get into a job and think of a real career later
ii) Get into a research kind of education and be a scientists.
I deferred the decision to that waiting period after the board exams.
Three months later, my father brought to me an application form - that of Kerala Entrance Examination. Actually, I wasn't fascinated by engineering any more. But I had the application form already, so I filled it up and sent it. I didn't think of any coaching. Neither did I think it was necessary. I was so confident, may be I should say arrogant, about my own skills those days. I dedicated an hour or two everyday for one month, relied on some tips that came in "Vijayaveedhi" those days and appeared for Common Entrance Examination on 14th, 15th and 16th of May 1998.
I thought I did well, but it was not to be. Before the results came out, there were some elder friends with whom I talked about the prospects and they told me that Electronics is what the best branch is. And they also advised me that Computer is the hottest thing at the moment and I should look at that one too. But the result of CEE was a disappointment to me. I ended up at a rank of 2087. Those days, total engineering seats in Kerala were around 4000, and I knew I could entertain no hope of getting into Electronics or Computers anywhere in the state. I decided to go back to my old plan. I decided to pursue B. Sc. in mathematics and forget everything else. Then I had a chat with a friend, who insisted that I should take up Electrical or Mechanical. I looked up a bit about the two courses. All subjects I was interested in seemed to be in Mechanical Engineering - Thermodynamics, IC engines and Mechanics. A decision was made and I took up Mechanical Engineering at a little known college in Kerala.
I included this part to tell you how indecisive I was in those days. From IITs to B. Sc. to Banks to Electronics to Mechanical, I displayed total indecision. And I didn't like the way I got into the branch I chose. Not that I didn't like the branch. For a person of my mindset and my interests, I think that was the best branch to choose. I am thankful to the almighty to set up things so nicely to put me in there. Yet, the fact remained that I chose it because I wouldn't get Electronics or Computers. I thought it was ridiculous. Yet, I had to live with it. And I decided that I will not have this repeated in my life.
An option gets into the mind
Came 2001 and I entered the seventh semester of my B. Tech. The IT boom of the two previous years had started to die down. Companies which visited my college for Campus placement in 2000 didn't turn up this time. And a recruiting agency at Cochin through which a lot of my seniors got placed had ceased to be operational. And students of my batch faced a lot of uncertainty. College of Engineering Trivandrum, by far the best in the state recorded less than 50% placement that year. And I too wanted to decide, soon enough, what next.
It was September 2001. The World Trade Centre was standing still in its place and Osama Bin Laden didn't have to hide himself anywhere. I was traveling to Thiruvananthapuram by train and I bought this Outlook magazine to pass some time while in Train. The Cover Story was titled 'The Best Business Schools in India" and it ranked IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta and Bangalore as the first, second and third best in the country. Also, I got to know a lot about Management Education in General, and IIMs and NITIE in particular. A seed was thrown into my mind, but I knew I will not attempt it that year. There were some friends in college who were appearing for CAT 2001, and they gave me some general information about CAT. I decided to ignore CAT 2001. I set landing in a job as my first priority. Till April 2002, nobody came to my college recruit from Mechanical Branch. And my hopes for a placement before the course ended died out.
Meanwhile, the financial situation of my family was not the very best. I badly needed a job now. And boy, there was none available. CAT 2002 came and went, and I paid no attention to it. I came down to Bangalore, hoping to meet some luck there. I got into a job at a small production shop floor which paid me 3000 rupees a month. I didn't like the job and wanted to get out of it. Then a call-letter from Staff Selection Board for a short service commission in the Indian Navy came along. I used this as an excuse and left my job and went to Bhopal to attend the SSB interviews. I failed there again. Our group owner, an officer who was in charge of a group of attendees assured us that we might be better off at some other field. He told us that Amitabh Bachchan, APJ Abdul Kalam and Shahrookh Khan had appeared for SSB and failed. He asked us to consider what a sheer wastage of talent it would have been, had they been successful there. I knew he was right. But the fact remained - there I was; I threw away the job I had at a time of complete distress and back to square one. Anyway, what my group owner told remained in my mind as a quotable quote. I should find out what suits me best.
@Brishti
Time alloted for QA if u fear it shud be definetly more than wht u allot for other sections
say as u r devoting 6 hours a day for ur studies ideally its 2 hours 4 each subject .... but if ur comfortable wid english u can take half n our from english time n add it to maths schedule...
Time alloted for QA if u fear it shud be definetly more than wht u allot for other sections
say as u r devoting 6 hours a day for ur studies ideally its 2 hours 4 each subject .... but if ur comfortable wid english u can take half n our from english time n add it to maths schedule...
7
7
@Brishti
Time alloted for QA if u fear it shud be definetly more than wht u allot for other sections
say as u r devoting 6 hours a day for ur studies ideally its 2 hours 4 each subject .... but if ur comfortable wid english u can take half n our from english time n add it to maths schedule so equation becomes
QA = 40% of total time available for studies
Di n reasoning = 33% of total time available for studies
VA = 27% of total time available for studies
in case ur VA is very very gud u can devote 1 hour to QA
so new equation becomes
QA=50% of total time available for studies
DI n reasoning=33% of total time available for studies
VA=17% of total time available for studies
I guess reason y most f people fear MATHS is their childhood nightmarish dreams f maths exercises ..
First lesson forget tht dream .. fear wil only take u away frm ur success.. it was a dream when we were kids ... we dont fear GHOST now .. we should not fear MATHS now
lets begin from a basic level
when we study ENGLISH we start wid ALPHABETS, WORDS, GRAMMAR n den sentences and PARAGRAPHS.
now if we take MATHS we start wid
1.)NUMBERS .... evryone is comfortable wid it
2.)ARTITHMETIc.... again addition subtraction division n mulitplication gets lined in ...
folllowed by ratios, percentages, logarithms indices
3.)Algebra.....where variables start pitchin in n problem lies here ... wher v have to do lots f assumption to get close to a solution.
5.) Equations
6.) Functions
7.0 Graphs
8.0 Cordinate geo
9.) Geometry ....
10. trignometry
n then follows higher mathematics
Belive me if u have enough practice of first 3 topics... n have gud mental acumen u can beat MATHS like a sumo wrestler beatin his competitor
ONLY THING that can save u is PRACTICE ... n rightly put by some1 that PRACTICE RIGHT PRACTICE... to b expert .. take it as a challenge.....if a person near u can do it than u can also do it....
U can take up material provided my ur coachin or incase u have bought some material,
Once u have done wid this BASIC material ... take up some gud concepts building buk like Arun Sharma...
N then ur MOCK papers ...
BUT DONT FORGET its all PRACTIce will count wid ur success in MATHS ..
sO GET GEARED UP .. will all enthusiam... take ur basic BUK .. n i CHALLENGE u wid assurance if u complete ur BUK before 15th JUNE ... n follow ARUN SHARMA .. n complete it in another month .. MATHS will be like a SOFT CAKE PIE thing for u ...
WITH all regards .. n hoping best critical comments on this POST .. always there wid u guys preparin for CAt'06
GIANT
Time alloted for QA if u fear it shud be definetly more than wht u allot for other sections
say as u r devoting 6 hours a day for ur studies ideally its 2 hours 4 each subject .... but if ur comfortable wid english u can take half n our from english time n add it to maths schedule so equation becomes
QA = 40% of total time available for studies
Di n reasoning = 33% of total time available for studies
VA = 27% of total time available for studies
in case ur VA is very very gud u can devote 1 hour to QA
so new equation becomes
QA=50% of total time available for studies
DI n reasoning=33% of total time available for studies
VA=17% of total time available for studies
I guess reason y most f people fear MATHS is their childhood nightmarish dreams f maths exercises ..
First lesson forget tht dream .. fear wil only take u away frm ur success.. it was a dream when we were kids ... we dont fear GHOST now .. we should not fear MATHS now
lets begin from a basic level
when we study ENGLISH we start wid ALPHABETS, WORDS, GRAMMAR n den sentences and PARAGRAPHS.
now if we take MATHS we start wid
1.)NUMBERS .... evryone is comfortable wid it
2.)ARTITHMETIc.... again addition subtraction division n mulitplication gets lined in ...
folllowed by ratios, percentages, logarithms indices
3.)Algebra.....where variables start pitchin in n problem lies here ... wher v have to do lots f assumption to get close to a solution.
5.) Equations
6.) Functions
7.0 Graphs
8.0 Cordinate geo
9.) Geometry ....
10. trignometry
n then follows higher mathematics
Belive me if u have enough practice of first 3 topics... n have gud mental acumen u can beat MATHS like a sumo wrestler beatin his competitor
ONLY THING that can save u is PRACTICE ... n rightly put by some1 that PRACTICE RIGHT PRACTICE... to b expert .. take it as a challenge.....if a person near u can do it than u can also do it....
U can take up material provided my ur coachin or incase u have bought some material,
Once u have done wid this BASIC material ... take up some gud concepts building buk like Arun Sharma...
N then ur MOCK papers ...
BUT DONT FORGET its all PRACTIce will count wid ur success in MATHS ..
sO GET GEARED UP .. will all enthusiam... take ur basic BUK .. n i CHALLENGE u wid assurance if u complete ur BUK before 15th JUNE ... n follow ARUN SHARMA .. n complete it in another month .. MATHS will be like a SOFT CAKE PIE thing for u ...
WITH all regards .. n hoping best critical comments on this POST .. always there wid u guys preparin for CAt'06
GIANT
Chuck, at one point in time, I was telling one of my friends about "wanting CAT so badly that I could taste it.."
I have seen all kinds of people, those who made it easily, those that struggled in with solo admits, those who faltered at the first hurdle and those who couldn't get past the seco...
I have seen all kinds of people, those who made it easily, those that struggled in with solo admits, those who faltered at the first hurdle and those who couldn't get past the seco...
8
8
Chuck, at one point in time, I was telling one of my friends about "wanting CAT so badly that I could taste it.."
I have seen all kinds of people, those who made it easily, those that struggled in with solo admits, those who faltered at the first hurdle and those who couldn't get past the second.
Always, there is this one quality that ought to stand out... Desire. Everything else is secondary.
All the best.
I have seen all kinds of people, those who made it easily, those that struggled in with solo admits, those who faltered at the first hurdle and those who couldn't get past the second.
Always, there is this one quality that ought to stand out... Desire. Everything else is secondary.
All the best.
"Is God a Malayalee?"- Circa 2005
Well Chuck we have same kind of story Well i was not so badly and insalely in love with mica but tht was a past in jan when i applied to mica and talked to one of my friend in mica and others back home i realized that i have some skills which makes me diffrent from others and mica is the only pla...
Well Chuck we have same kind of story Well i was not so badly and insalely in love with mica but tht was a past in jan when i applied to mica and talked to one of my friend in mica and others back home i realized that i have some skills which makes me diffrent from others and mica is the only place for person like me so then and there i decided that i want mica .But mica kicked me and i didnt get through first list and i was filled with aginy and anger and i started thinking im good for nothing but then came day when i got letter from mica and i was in and was called for micat and the thoughts came into my mind that might be its my destiny to be there thats why i got call and started preparing for it read various magzines over adv did all i could do but still didnt get through .And i started hating myself for running one opportunity i had to convert mica and was depressed so was my family and friends
Now from here our story differs chuck
Well ofcourse iwas upset but i used it as my strength and will give cat-06 with 200% preparation not going for even work ex also although i have job in hand but im gonna leave that to chase my dream to be a part of some big institute like mica and iims and im very much sure this time i will make it
Remember dont stop if u fail ,failure is measure of your hard work
So use it to learn learn from past and use it for better future
Now from here our story differs chuck
Well ofcourse iwas upset but i used it as my strength and will give cat-06 with 200% preparation not going for even work ex also although i have job in hand but im gonna leave that to chase my dream to be a part of some big institute like mica and iims and im very much sure this time i will make it
Remember dont stop if u fail ,failure is measure of your hard work
So use it to learn learn from past and use it for better future
Was asked by a friend to post on this thread. Here goes.
Many of my friends in college, and here in PG especially, know that I am a one-institute aspirant. The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Seriously, it was all I ever wanted. I wanted it so freakin' badly.
I joined PG somet...
Many of my friends in college, and here in PG especially, know that I am a one-institute aspirant. The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Seriously, it was all I ever wanted. I wanted it so freakin' badly.
I joined PG somet...
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12
Was asked by a friend to post on this thread. Here goes.
Many of my friends in college, and here in PG especially, know that I am a one-institute aspirant. The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Seriously, it was all I ever wanted. I wanted it so freakin' badly.
I joined PG sometime in January... and really, the level of enthusiasm the people had on the MICA thread out here surprised me, made me realise there are others who want this as bad as myself, and made me raise my own bar.
Well, when I found out I was shortlisted to appear for MICAT, it was partial satisfaction. I knew I had a shot at my dream institute.
Went for MICAT.
Test : pretty good
GE : cataclysmic
PI : dream.
So there you have it. After a disastrous GE (yeah, it's an 'exercise', not a discussion) I knew I had bombed it. I seriously felt like kicking myself. I gad blown it, but an excellent interview had given me a faint... very faint glimmer of hope.
So speculation started. One long month passed... before I got a phone call from a fellow aspirant from Delhi. Let's call this person FA.. the conversation went like this...
FA : chuck... the MICA results are out
C : *shit* goodness... Is there any way you can check mine?
FA : yeah, I'm online now... tell me your number...
C : *****
FA : *checks* sorry boss... It didn't happen...
C : *silence* well... yeah... guess it was on the cards... you?
FA : no, Chuck... I didn't make it either...
C : well... thanks for calling, FA...
FA : no problem.. Sorry, Chuck...
C : 'sokay...
Was it okay? WAS IT FREAKIN' OKAY?!!! I'll tell you it wasn't okay! The place I wanted to get in over any other institute, and the throw me out like this?!
All that work, and all I get to show for it is an impersonal, "sorry, you have not been admitteed..." crap sorta message?!!!! I'LL TELL YOU THAT HURT!!!!
I was in a self-induced state of despondency for two days, random periods in which I broke down. Yes, I did. Why wouldn't I? Talk about a dream being freakin' shattered and blown to smithereens! I didn't freakin' now what to do, where my life was going to go, and what the f*** I was going to do. I had banked so much on this to happen, and it didn't. I was yelling profanities at the world and at myself.
You're right, I didn't take it very well.
Two months have passed from that horrible day and week.
The memory still haunts me. That telephonic conversation keeps playing itself over and over again in my head.
So I think to myself, I worked hard for it last year, got rejected. Now even if I work my @$# off for it THIS year, what's the guarantee I will be selected? It's all a lottery, innit?!
So now, I'm going off to a software company. But that's just for parking my jobless @#$ for a few months. MICAT 2007 still remains my top priority. I have realised all I can do is give it my best shot, and the rest will happen. There is still no guarantee that I will make it. This is not a game of street cricket where even if you lose you can satisfy yourself by saying, "ah, I played better... guess they got lucky"..
This is a game of careers, and dreams. And even if someone tells you you were good enough and should have made it, doesn't help. Because you're not in that institute. Oh, but I'm good enough to be there. Great morale-booster, that.
Okay, enough cribbing. That's CAT 2005 and MICAT 2007. In the past. Just wanted to let it all out. One final time.
New season has begun. A new thread for MICA has been started. I can only prepare as hard, or even better, and give MICAT a better shot this year. But on the suggestion of a friend, I am looking at another option : SIBM.
I've made a lot of friends during this CAT season. I've learnt that if you want something bad enough, you've got to be willing to give your everything for it (to quote my best friend, who's made it to IIMI, and a whisker away from A). I've met so many professional people, and have seen real quality and insanity on the best educational forum in India.
CAT '05 was bittersweet for me.
CAT '06, or rather, MICAT '07, will be nothing but sweet.
And here, I end this long-drawn, painful recollection of what this season held for me...
ChUcK
Many of my friends in college, and here in PG especially, know that I am a one-institute aspirant. The Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad. Seriously, it was all I ever wanted. I wanted it so freakin' badly.
I joined PG sometime in January... and really, the level of enthusiasm the people had on the MICA thread out here surprised me, made me realise there are others who want this as bad as myself, and made me raise my own bar.
Well, when I found out I was shortlisted to appear for MICAT, it was partial satisfaction. I knew I had a shot at my dream institute.
Went for MICAT.
Test : pretty good
GE : cataclysmic
PI : dream.
So there you have it. After a disastrous GE (yeah, it's an 'exercise', not a discussion) I knew I had bombed it. I seriously felt like kicking myself. I gad blown it, but an excellent interview had given me a faint... very faint glimmer of hope.
So speculation started. One long month passed... before I got a phone call from a fellow aspirant from Delhi. Let's call this person FA.. the conversation went like this...
FA : chuck... the MICA results are out
C : *shit* goodness... Is there any way you can check mine?
FA : yeah, I'm online now... tell me your number...
C : *****
FA : *checks* sorry boss... It didn't happen...
C : *silence* well... yeah... guess it was on the cards... you?
FA : no, Chuck... I didn't make it either...
C : well... thanks for calling, FA...
FA : no problem.. Sorry, Chuck...
C : 'sokay...
Was it okay? WAS IT FREAKIN' OKAY?!!! I'll tell you it wasn't okay! The place I wanted to get in over any other institute, and the throw me out like this?!
All that work, and all I get to show for it is an impersonal, "sorry, you have not been admitteed..." crap sorta message?!!!! I'LL TELL YOU THAT HURT!!!!
I was in a self-induced state of despondency for two days, random periods in which I broke down. Yes, I did. Why wouldn't I? Talk about a dream being freakin' shattered and blown to smithereens! I didn't freakin' now what to do, where my life was going to go, and what the f*** I was going to do. I had banked so much on this to happen, and it didn't. I was yelling profanities at the world and at myself.
You're right, I didn't take it very well.
Two months have passed from that horrible day and week.
The memory still haunts me. That telephonic conversation keeps playing itself over and over again in my head.
So I think to myself, I worked hard for it last year, got rejected. Now even if I work my @$# off for it THIS year, what's the guarantee I will be selected? It's all a lottery, innit?!
So now, I'm going off to a software company. But that's just for parking my jobless @#$ for a few months. MICAT 2007 still remains my top priority. I have realised all I can do is give it my best shot, and the rest will happen. There is still no guarantee that I will make it. This is not a game of street cricket where even if you lose you can satisfy yourself by saying, "ah, I played better... guess they got lucky
"..This is a game of careers, and dreams. And even if someone tells you you were good enough and should have made it, doesn't help. Because you're not in that institute. Oh, but I'm good enough to be there. Great morale-booster, that.
Okay, enough cribbing. That's CAT 2005 and MICAT 2007. In the past. Just wanted to let it all out. One final time.
New season has begun. A new thread for MICA has been started. I can only prepare as hard, or even better, and give MICAT a better shot this year. But on the suggestion of a friend, I am looking at another option : SIBM.
I've made a lot of friends during this CAT season. I've learnt that if you want something bad enough, you've got to be willing to give your everything for it (to quote my best friend, who's made it to IIMI, and a whisker away from A). I've met so many professional people, and have seen real quality and insanity on the best educational forum in India.
CAT '05 was bittersweet for me.
CAT '06, or rather, MICAT '07, will be nothing but sweet.
And here, I end this long-drawn, painful recollection of what this season held for me...
ChUcK
A Mallu Accent is just a Hyundai made in Kerala.
www.facebook.com/ChucksComicsAndStuff
As I promised, I will surely write about HOW TO CRACK THE CAT here. But before going to it always remember CAT is not the end of life. I feel the luck factor was my side that helped me to emerge victorious if it was not there I might have found myself on the other side. So always remember my quot...
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As I promised, I will surely write about HOW TO CRACK THE CAT here. But before going to it always remember CAT is not the end of life. I feel the luck factor was my side that helped me to emerge victorious if it was not there I might have found myself on the other side. So always remember my quote for CAT preparation GIVE YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST.
When to start?
I told is always better to start when you are in graduation. The initial preparation should start from 18 Months to 2 years before the date of the test.
The Prerequisite
You should be good in calculations, logic and average English reading speed is must. You should take a diagnostic test which tells you which are the areas you are good in and which are the area of concerns for you.
You need to have a strong driving force that always keep you fighting against all odd to reach your destination. This driving force can be anything like money, good spouse, impressing your girl friend or high flying career ambitions but make sure you have your own reason. Also one needs to have some inclination towards the business and related happenings. This will not help you to crack the test but surely add value when you will be there in second step that is GD/PI.
Classes How Much You Need Them?
I strongly recommend the classes for the first timers because it will help to structure your preparation and also provide you with the environment to maintain your tempo.
For someone like me they can also prove as inspiration by impressing the fellow classmates in your batch with your scores and speedy class responses. For the second timers or third timers I will strongly advice not to waste time in classes if they already done it once. They should utilize their time for identifying the holes remained and work on to remove them.
Action Plan
After taking a diagnostic and analyzing the scores one get fair idea of where one stand and how much improvement one requires to hit the bulls eye.
Dont rely on the coaching institute to make an Action Plan for you. Made it of your own and try to follow it. Tracking the progress in the area wise always helps.
Test Series
This is a very crucial part of your CAT preparation. I still remember the famous quote about the test series
Practice tests are like mirror to tell you how beautiful you looks but definitely its one you to decide how much makeup you need to put on!!
A good test series helps in identifying the areas you need to improve in and also tells you where you are standing comparing with the others in race. Take the feedbacks positively and use them to build your preparation.
Take every test as a new challenge and always try to beat the test rather than allowing it to beat you. This way it become fun to give n number of tests and you will find the final encounter nothing other than one of it only.
Some Sectional Tips
VA
Build your vocabulary. Barons wordlist is sufficient for the CAT aspirant but make sure you just dont mug the words but get used to their meaning by doing some daily reading.
For grammar part you need basic knowledge of English grammar and you can improve your expertise by doing intensive practice.
Priority of, which questions to solve and which to leave is very important for this area. You can learn it by extensive practice of sectional papers on VA.
Book: Objective English by R.S.Awarwal (S Chand Publication)
RC
I rate this as the most critical section of all the CAT paper as it make or break your CAT dream.
Most of the non convent background students found this section tough due to lack of practice. I assure you how much bad reading speed you have you can surely improve it and only one thing you need is some patient and lot of sincerity. You should made reading as part of your life.
Make reading your daily habit like you take your lunch and dinner. I recommend Hindu and Business Standard newspapers and Business World magazine for daily read. About the other books dont pick the any book just because you want to improve your reading. Pick the book of your taste that helps you to fall in love with reading
Book: How to Read better and faster..Norman Lewis
DI + Logic
This is the section where you dont need much effort to master. Selection of question is very critical in this section.
About the calculation part try the habit of not using your pencil much and try some approximation methods to choose best fit answer.
About logic I say a basic logical bend of mind plus some practice is sufficient.
QA
This is the scariest section for almost all the CAT aspirants. I will suggest you to be familiar with some basic formulae and dont just mug the short cuts because it is difficult to remember n number of short cuts taught to you and use it. Make a habit of answering by SMARTNESS rather than by CALCULATION.
When 4 options are given to you it is not always expected to solve every problem. You just need to cull out the unnecessary options and select the right one out the rest. You will learn this art after practicing lot for this section.
This is what I can share with you after spending my last three years with CAT. Feel free to get back to me if you have any queries and I will try my best to resolve them. I wish a very best luck to all of you!!!
PS: About the GD/PI part you can find the details and tips on my BLOG
When to start?
I told is always better to start when you are in graduation. The initial preparation should start from 18 Months to 2 years before the date of the test.
The Prerequisite
You should be good in calculations, logic and average English reading speed is must. You should take a diagnostic test which tells you which are the areas you are good in and which are the area of concerns for you.
You need to have a strong driving force that always keep you fighting against all odd to reach your destination. This driving force can be anything like money, good spouse, impressing your girl friend or high flying career ambitions but make sure you have your own reason. Also one needs to have some inclination towards the business and related happenings. This will not help you to crack the test but surely add value when you will be there in second step that is GD/PI.
Classes How Much You Need Them?
I strongly recommend the classes for the first timers because it will help to structure your preparation and also provide you with the environment to maintain your tempo.
For someone like me they can also prove as inspiration by impressing the fellow classmates in your batch with your scores and speedy class responses. For the second timers or third timers I will strongly advice not to waste time in classes if they already done it once. They should utilize their time for identifying the holes remained and work on to remove them.
Action Plan
After taking a diagnostic and analyzing the scores one get fair idea of where one stand and how much improvement one requires to hit the bulls eye.
Dont rely on the coaching institute to make an Action Plan for you. Made it of your own and try to follow it. Tracking the progress in the area wise always helps.
Test Series
This is a very crucial part of your CAT preparation. I still remember the famous quote about the test series
Practice tests are like mirror to tell you how beautiful you looks but definitely its one you to decide how much makeup you need to put on!!
A good test series helps in identifying the areas you need to improve in and also tells you where you are standing comparing with the others in race. Take the feedbacks positively and use them to build your preparation.
Take every test as a new challenge and always try to beat the test rather than allowing it to beat you. This way it become fun to give n number of tests and you will find the final encounter nothing other than one of it only.
Some Sectional Tips
VA
Build your vocabulary. Barons wordlist is sufficient for the CAT aspirant but make sure you just dont mug the words but get used to their meaning by doing some daily reading.
For grammar part you need basic knowledge of English grammar and you can improve your expertise by doing intensive practice.
Priority of, which questions to solve and which to leave is very important for this area. You can learn it by extensive practice of sectional papers on VA.
Book: Objective English by R.S.Awarwal (S Chand Publication)
RC
I rate this as the most critical section of all the CAT paper as it make or break your CAT dream.
Most of the non convent background students found this section tough due to lack of practice. I assure you how much bad reading speed you have you can surely improve it and only one thing you need is some patient and lot of sincerity. You should made reading as part of your life.
Make reading your daily habit like you take your lunch and dinner. I recommend Hindu and Business Standard newspapers and Business World magazine for daily read. About the other books dont pick the any book just because you want to improve your reading. Pick the book of your taste that helps you to fall in love with reading
Book: How to Read better and faster..Norman Lewis
DI + Logic
This is the section where you dont need much effort to master. Selection of question is very critical in this section.
About the calculation part try the habit of not using your pencil much and try some approximation methods to choose best fit answer.
About logic I say a basic logical bend of mind plus some practice is sufficient.
QA
This is the scariest section for almost all the CAT aspirants. I will suggest you to be familiar with some basic formulae and dont just mug the short cuts because it is difficult to remember n number of short cuts taught to you and use it. Make a habit of answering by SMARTNESS rather than by CALCULATION.
When 4 options are given to you it is not always expected to solve every problem. You just need to cull out the unnecessary options and select the right one out the rest. You will learn this art after practicing lot for this section.
This is what I can share with you after spending my last three years with CAT. Feel free to get back to me if you have any queries and I will try my best to resolve them. I wish a very best luck to all of you!!!
PS: About the GD/PI part you can find the details and tips on my BLOG
This That and All About Cracking The CAT
After my CAT results I was getting requests from people asking for some CAT tips. I promised all of them that I will write one post which will comprise my experiences with CAT and some tips based on that.
Some of the requests I received was how I im...
After my CAT results I was getting requests from people asking for some CAT tips. I promised all of them that I will write one post which will comprise my experiences with CAT and some tips based on that.
Some of the requests I received was how I im...
27
27
This That and All About Cracking The CAT
After my CAT results I was getting requests from people asking for some CAT tips. I promised all of them that I will write one post which will comprise my experiences with CAT and some tips based on that.
Some of the requests I received was how I improved from mere 77 percentile to 99.7. I will try to cover this part also but before that let me tell you something. CAT is exam for which you cant generalize something based on others performances and many things changes as per individual and his capabilities. So before giving gyan on the CAT, I would like you to walk through my journey.
My Journey
THE FOUNDATION
I came across CAT in year 2002 while studying in 3rd year of my engineering. Initially I was very much worried about the English section as my English was beyond improvable (as I studied in Marathi medium up to my HSC). So I gave up my preparation and concentrated on my engineering studies.
After my campus placements I was exploring the higher studies option and that time I thought I should give CAT a chance. I found myself more suitable for career in management and for that I was ready to prepare at any level. That time last date of application for CAT already passed so I had only option left and that was to apply for other B-Schools. Hence I decided to write NITIE exam (that time NITIE used to conduct separate exam which looked less frightening than CAT). With 1 month of study I wrote NITIE and unfortunately messed up in one section badly. It was not a shock for me when NITIE decided not to give me a final call.
The kick I got from NITIE done some good things to me. First it created confidence in me that I can crack any B school test and to take revenge of my defeat, I decided not to settle anywhere apart from IIMs. I attended Career Forum for 3 months which further boosted my confidence in QA and DI area. Unfortunately my first employer Bajaj gave me joining in Aurangabad instead of Pune and I didnt have any other option other than joining it. My decision to continue with Bajaj was based on calculated risk to gain some valuable time to prepare for CAT. In Aurangabad there were no coaching available so I decided to prepare for CAT on my own. That year I wrote CAT, JMET, XAT, IIFT and FMS but not able to crack any of them. Every time I had some excuse for not able to crack the exam. These excuses kept my confidence going.
After spending (I can say wasting also) my very important 09 months in Bajaj Auto I was getting a feeling that I am loosing a lot for the CAT. If it is not the CAT then I should have a good career to bank on. I realized that Bajaj no where fit in my career path. I decided to switch into IT industry. I had only one name in front of me those days that was TCS but somehow I was not getting a chance to give their test. 14 Feb in 2004 proved lucky day for me. I was there in Pune for ReCAT and found myself standing in queue for TCS test. My preparation for ReCAT paid off. I missed the bulls eye by huge margin of 23 percentile but my preparation helped me to sail through TCS walk-in.
One more try
With my MBA dreams shattered I join TCS in April 2004. Initial 2 months I was in great dilemma to give the CAT or not. I found TCS Mumbai and my project good to settle down and even I decided to forget my MBA dream. But after 3 months of thinking on this line I decided to give one more try to CAT. It was too late again so I was in no position to join full length class hence decided to join TIME Test series. My test scores never crossed 92 percentile. I thought I can do it in the final test but my declining health in those days created some more problems for me. I wrote CAT, XAT, IIFT, JMET, FMS again but no good news from any of these. I also applied for IRMA with the view of doing career in NGO consulting. I got short listed by IRMA but failed to prove them that I am joining it by choice rather than by chance so kicked away in interview.
Final CAT of my Life
I was loosing greatly due to my CATaholic habits. I was loosing not only on in professional front but also in personal life a lot of things. I thought enough is enough now. I decided not to write CAT henceforth as it is too much demanding exam. People convinced me that GMAT and global MBA is good deal for person like me. But the big worry here was how to finance my education expenses. I thought I would gain some valuable international experience in TCS and earn in dollars and then think about my MBA abroad. In those days TCS also lured me with onsite assignment in US for 11 months and I thought I am going in right direction. Even I took my diagnostic GMAT but thanks to software error I didnt able to view my score and that prolonged my decision to choose between CAT and GMAT. I had no energy left to give again the diagnostic GMAT. Meanwhile my TCS onsite dreams got shattered due to VISA problems and I came to know next that 1 year I will not able to go to onsite.
Next few days were really bad for me. I feel somehow things are not working well for me. One by one my friends were going to US and I was going to say them good bye on airport. The idea of my GMAT dream getting shattered in front of my eyes was sinking me badly. In those days someone suggested me to prepare for GMAT get the score and side by side give my CAT as last try and then decide one of these options. I liked this option because and started working on it also. But thanks to Simbas article on PG I decided to concentrate only one of these exams. I thought which to choose between these two and finally decided if I forget the CAT all my preparation till date get wasted so I should give one sincere try to CAT. I realized though I had given it last 2 times those were not full fledged attempts. I decided to fully concentrate and focus on my CAT preparation. I joined IMS for intensive CAT course and started preparing for the last CAT of my life.
My initial rigor depleted as days passed. It was August and still I had not finished the basic part of course. The IMS SimCAT test series was around the corner and I yet not finished with my basic part of course. The first SimCAT result was positive for me and I scored 94 percentile. Though it was not that great I thought after preparation it will surely go in upwards direction. I started preparing but in next few months my score decreases instead of increasing. It varied in range of 88-95 which was not a good sign. Every time while going for SimCAT I used to decide this time I will touch magic figures of 99 but always found myself below 95. My IIM dream was becoming hazy day by day. But I never lost my confidence in those days. I used optimization approach. Every time when I was performing well I used to appreciate myself and when my performance declined instead of blaming I used to learn from my mistakes. I told me 100 times that this is last CAT of my life and anyhow I have to crack it. I thought last 3 years I had done all possible mistakes so if I learn from all of them there will be no other mistake left that I can commit on D-Day.
The D-Day
The day before D day was not good for me. My health was not that good and I am bit worried that the situation should not become worse on D-Day. I prayed god for that and same time prepare me mentally so that even I will get 105 degree temperature I will have to crack the CAT. I spend the day watching movie and then had dinner with my friend.
On the D-Day I didnt found any negative signs about my health to worry about. With full of confidence, blessings from my family members and wishes by friends I entered the exam hall and decided to rock the CAT.
When I came out of the exam hall my first reaction was the show was not that great for me. I know my attempts were not good enough to get secure percentile. I called at home and told there were no hopes this year also. With dejected mood I spend my next 3-4 hours waiting for any answer keys to get out. The first one came on rediff at 5.00 PM and when I checked my answers I was getting poor 28 marks. I became very upset with my bad performance but after some time made my mind to accept it. Next 2-3 hours I spent time calling some people and telling them that it all ended for me. But meanwhile I thought the test was not good for me but was that not that bad to score only 28? I suspect the correctness of keys and decided to crosscheck with other keys. I again hooked at net and found the CL guys ready with their answers. When I checked my answers with CL keys I was getting 50 marks with decent break up in each section. As per their prediction this score will fetch me at least 4 IIMs calls. I couldnt believe this. I crosschecked again and realized it was the fact. Though my attempts were less my accuracy that day was awesome. I made one round of calls again and told my near and dear that I almost cracked the CAT.
Next 1 Month 12 days
After checking my answers with the all keys available somewhat hazy picture of my IIM future was in front of my eyes. Some keys were telling me that I will end up with 6 calls and some told me I will be lucky if even I can get bottom two. These days were quite difficult for me to handle. I was no mood to study for the other exams of the season like XAT, FMS. Every day I found myself on PG forums discussing which answer keys were correct and which were wrong. Again at the end of day I used to count my score and slept with some more anxiety. Even sometimes I found myself waking at night and checking my score again and doing the predictions of calls. Now you might feel this is too much but for someone whose 3 years of hard work on stake it was unavoidable. Finally I dumped my CAT paper and decided to get rid of all worries. The results were not coming as expected 1 month after the exam. It added some more worries and anxiousness. The last week of DEC I forget I appeared for CAT and enjoyed all New Year dance parties with friends, Then it was announced that results will be come out on 2nd Jan midnight and the final countdown began. The rest of the story you can find HERE and about the FINAL VICTORY here.
My IIM dream came true after 3 years of dedication, hard work and commitment. I am sharing this all here so that people will not loose their faith and learn from my example that CAT is hard but not unbeatable.
After my CAT results I was getting requests from people asking for some CAT tips. I promised all of them that I will write one post which will comprise my experiences with CAT and some tips based on that.
Some of the requests I received was how I improved from mere 77 percentile to 99.7. I will try to cover this part also but before that let me tell you something. CAT is exam for which you cant generalize something based on others performances and many things changes as per individual and his capabilities. So before giving gyan on the CAT, I would like you to walk through my journey.
My Journey
THE FOUNDATION
I came across CAT in year 2002 while studying in 3rd year of my engineering. Initially I was very much worried about the English section as my English was beyond improvable (as I studied in Marathi medium up to my HSC). So I gave up my preparation and concentrated on my engineering studies.
After my campus placements I was exploring the higher studies option and that time I thought I should give CAT a chance. I found myself more suitable for career in management and for that I was ready to prepare at any level. That time last date of application for CAT already passed so I had only option left and that was to apply for other B-Schools. Hence I decided to write NITIE exam (that time NITIE used to conduct separate exam which looked less frightening than CAT). With 1 month of study I wrote NITIE and unfortunately messed up in one section badly. It was not a shock for me when NITIE decided not to give me a final call.
The kick I got from NITIE done some good things to me. First it created confidence in me that I can crack any B school test and to take revenge of my defeat, I decided not to settle anywhere apart from IIMs. I attended Career Forum for 3 months which further boosted my confidence in QA and DI area. Unfortunately my first employer Bajaj gave me joining in Aurangabad instead of Pune and I didnt have any other option other than joining it. My decision to continue with Bajaj was based on calculated risk to gain some valuable time to prepare for CAT. In Aurangabad there were no coaching available so I decided to prepare for CAT on my own. That year I wrote CAT, JMET, XAT, IIFT and FMS but not able to crack any of them. Every time I had some excuse for not able to crack the exam. These excuses kept my confidence going.
After spending (I can say wasting also) my very important 09 months in Bajaj Auto I was getting a feeling that I am loosing a lot for the CAT. If it is not the CAT then I should have a good career to bank on. I realized that Bajaj no where fit in my career path. I decided to switch into IT industry. I had only one name in front of me those days that was TCS but somehow I was not getting a chance to give their test. 14 Feb in 2004 proved lucky day for me. I was there in Pune for ReCAT and found myself standing in queue for TCS test. My preparation for ReCAT paid off. I missed the bulls eye by huge margin of 23 percentile but my preparation helped me to sail through TCS walk-in.
One more try
With my MBA dreams shattered I join TCS in April 2004. Initial 2 months I was in great dilemma to give the CAT or not. I found TCS Mumbai and my project good to settle down and even I decided to forget my MBA dream. But after 3 months of thinking on this line I decided to give one more try to CAT. It was too late again so I was in no position to join full length class hence decided to join TIME Test series. My test scores never crossed 92 percentile. I thought I can do it in the final test but my declining health in those days created some more problems for me. I wrote CAT, XAT, IIFT, JMET, FMS again but no good news from any of these. I also applied for IRMA with the view of doing career in NGO consulting. I got short listed by IRMA but failed to prove them that I am joining it by choice rather than by chance so kicked away in interview.
Final CAT of my Life
I was loosing greatly due to my CATaholic habits. I was loosing not only on in professional front but also in personal life a lot of things. I thought enough is enough now. I decided not to write CAT henceforth as it is too much demanding exam. People convinced me that GMAT and global MBA is good deal for person like me. But the big worry here was how to finance my education expenses. I thought I would gain some valuable international experience in TCS and earn in dollars and then think about my MBA abroad. In those days TCS also lured me with onsite assignment in US for 11 months and I thought I am going in right direction. Even I took my diagnostic GMAT but thanks to software error I didnt able to view my score and that prolonged my decision to choose between CAT and GMAT. I had no energy left to give again the diagnostic GMAT. Meanwhile my TCS onsite dreams got shattered due to VISA problems and I came to know next that 1 year I will not able to go to onsite.
Next few days were really bad for me. I feel somehow things are not working well for me. One by one my friends were going to US and I was going to say them good bye on airport. The idea of my GMAT dream getting shattered in front of my eyes was sinking me badly. In those days someone suggested me to prepare for GMAT get the score and side by side give my CAT as last try and then decide one of these options. I liked this option because and started working on it also. But thanks to Simbas article on PG I decided to concentrate only one of these exams. I thought which to choose between these two and finally decided if I forget the CAT all my preparation till date get wasted so I should give one sincere try to CAT. I realized though I had given it last 2 times those were not full fledged attempts. I decided to fully concentrate and focus on my CAT preparation. I joined IMS for intensive CAT course and started preparing for the last CAT of my life.
My initial rigor depleted as days passed. It was August and still I had not finished the basic part of course. The IMS SimCAT test series was around the corner and I yet not finished with my basic part of course. The first SimCAT result was positive for me and I scored 94 percentile. Though it was not that great I thought after preparation it will surely go in upwards direction. I started preparing but in next few months my score decreases instead of increasing. It varied in range of 88-95 which was not a good sign. Every time while going for SimCAT I used to decide this time I will touch magic figures of 99 but always found myself below 95. My IIM dream was becoming hazy day by day. But I never lost my confidence in those days. I used optimization approach. Every time when I was performing well I used to appreciate myself and when my performance declined instead of blaming I used to learn from my mistakes. I told me 100 times that this is last CAT of my life and anyhow I have to crack it. I thought last 3 years I had done all possible mistakes so if I learn from all of them there will be no other mistake left that I can commit on D-Day.
The D-Day
The day before D day was not good for me. My health was not that good and I am bit worried that the situation should not become worse on D-Day. I prayed god for that and same time prepare me mentally so that even I will get 105 degree temperature I will have to crack the CAT. I spend the day watching movie and then had dinner with my friend.
On the D-Day I didnt found any negative signs about my health to worry about. With full of confidence, blessings from my family members and wishes by friends I entered the exam hall and decided to rock the CAT.
When I came out of the exam hall my first reaction was the show was not that great for me. I know my attempts were not good enough to get secure percentile. I called at home and told there were no hopes this year also. With dejected mood I spend my next 3-4 hours waiting for any answer keys to get out. The first one came on rediff at 5.00 PM and when I checked my answers I was getting poor 28 marks. I became very upset with my bad performance but after some time made my mind to accept it. Next 2-3 hours I spent time calling some people and telling them that it all ended for me. But meanwhile I thought the test was not good for me but was that not that bad to score only 28? I suspect the correctness of keys and decided to crosscheck with other keys. I again hooked at net and found the CL guys ready with their answers. When I checked my answers with CL keys I was getting 50 marks with decent break up in each section. As per their prediction this score will fetch me at least 4 IIMs calls. I couldnt believe this. I crosschecked again and realized it was the fact. Though my attempts were less my accuracy that day was awesome. I made one round of calls again and told my near and dear that I almost cracked the CAT.
Next 1 Month 12 days
After checking my answers with the all keys available somewhat hazy picture of my IIM future was in front of my eyes. Some keys were telling me that I will end up with 6 calls and some told me I will be lucky if even I can get bottom two. These days were quite difficult for me to handle. I was no mood to study for the other exams of the season like XAT, FMS. Every day I found myself on PG forums discussing which answer keys were correct and which were wrong. Again at the end of day I used to count my score and slept with some more anxiety. Even sometimes I found myself waking at night and checking my score again and doing the predictions of calls. Now you might feel this is too much but for someone whose 3 years of hard work on stake it was unavoidable. Finally I dumped my CAT paper and decided to get rid of all worries. The results were not coming as expected 1 month after the exam. It added some more worries and anxiousness. The last week of DEC I forget I appeared for CAT and enjoyed all New Year dance parties with friends, Then it was announced that results will be come out on 2nd Jan midnight and the final countdown began. The rest of the story you can find HERE and about the FINAL VICTORY here.
My IIM dream came true after 3 years of dedication, hard work and commitment. I am sharing this all here so that people will not loose their faith and learn from my example that CAT is hard but not unbeatable.
My tryst with CAT
This writeup won't be as engaging as those of anupam, vinz and shrutz. But should be helpful nonetheless.
I thought of writing CAT at the beginning of my 5th semester.
Wrote the IMS diagnostic test(cat 2k2 paper) with zilch prep in Oct 2k3, in which I scored 50, with o...
This writeup won't be as engaging as those of anupam, vinz and shrutz. But should be helpful nonetheless.
I thought of writing CAT at the beginning of my 5th semester.
Wrote the IMS diagnostic test(cat 2k2 paper) with zilch prep in Oct 2k3, in which I scored 50, with o...
7
7
My tryst with CAT
This writeup won't be as engaging as those of anupam, vinz and shrutz. But should be helpful nonetheless.
I thought of writing CAT at the beginning of my 5th semester.
Wrote the IMS diagnostic test(cat 2k2 paper) with zilch prep in Oct 2k3, in which I scored 50, with over 25 in verbal
Scoring inordinately in the verbal section is very natural for most students who're good at words and not in touch with math.
This should not be construed as a weakness in math or DI.
That's the mistake that I was guilty of, in those early days.
Since then, I always felt deep inside me that to crack CAT, i had to score 35 in verbal. As a result of such a mindset, I was always on the defensive while attempting QA or DI, the intent being to clear the cutoff rather than to crack the section.
Took up the IMS Simcat test series for CAT 2004.
Percentiles were generally in the 98-99 range. The breakups were pretty ordinary, with va/rc accounting for over 60% of my net score.
Surfing PG was great fun in the aftermath of a simcat. Benchmarking oneself against the likes of tdubey, suzyq, mamman, rohit anand was something that all of us on the simcat threads looked forward to.
I can recollect scores of threads in the yr 2004 where we used to endlessly speculate on the degree of correlation b/w simcat %iles and cat %iles.
In retrospect, all those discussions were futile and superfluous. I would urge all aspirants to desist from such mindless chatter and do something worthwhile instead.
CAT 2004 was a flop. net %ile - 96.65 with <90 in qa and di.
Was disappointing, given the promising simcat scores.
Didn't think about CAT after that debacle till July 2005.
Registered for the Aimcat series.
Was disappointed with IMS the previous year. I thought the simcats were too verbal-heavy and the %iles were skewed in favour of those good at va.
Aimcats were good. Far more CAT-like.
My percentiles improved considerably and the breakups were less skewed compared to the previous year's simcats.
Average percentile - 99.2-3.
Featured in the top 100 on 7/8 occasions.
Quant remained a bugbear throughout, with the %ile slipping below 90 on at least a half a dozen occasions.
The breakup was pretty good in the last 4-5 aimcats.
Sadly, things didn't work out when it mattered most.
CAT 2005
net - 99.41
va - 99.57
di - 98.7
qa - 72
Guess what....I spent the first 35 mins of the paper on qa.
ROI - 6 marks.
Attempted for 25 marks and got 8 two-markers wrong.
I didn't deserve a call.
Nov 20th was one of the most melancholy days of my life.
Felt really low after checking the time keys.
Lessons - Never make educated guesses in the quant section. They can hurt you badly.
CAT QA tests your Problem-solving skills per se, and not your reasoning skills.
Reasoning out the answer, instead of actually solving the problem can be a very dangerous habit.
CAT QA is a test of your willingness to persevere and get your hands dirty.
Period.
Got a call thanks to the munificence of IIMK.
XAT was much better. 99.95.
xat quant was more of a test of concepts, unlike cat qa which was a veritable test of one's problem solving skills.
got calls from xlri(bm) and spjain.
GD/PI's
K interview was like a rapidfire quiz.
Panelists looked out for intellectual honesty in the candidates.
XL - the panelists sought opinions from the candidates on various issues, probably with the intent of testing the clarity of one's thought process.
SP looked out for blokes with great conversational skills.
A few tips -
- Always be willing to acknowledge your ignorance of a subject.
- Don't use convoluted expressions in your speech, i.e avoid the
usage of metaphors, idioms, quotes and other rhetorical devices.
- Take up atleast a couple of mock interviews. They're very helpful.
I attended a couple at TIME. Got virtually disembowelled at both
interviews. It was a chastening experience. They made me more
introspective, conservative and more conscious of my strengths
and weaknesses.
In fact, in contrast to the TIME sessions, the actual GD/PI's
seemed like child's play.
- Keep smiling.
Eventually converted both K and Xl.
SPJ ditched me.
Joining K after much deliberation.
This writeup won't be as engaging as those of anupam, vinz and shrutz. But should be helpful nonetheless.
I thought of writing CAT at the beginning of my 5th semester.
Wrote the IMS diagnostic test(cat 2k2 paper) with zilch prep in Oct 2k3, in which I scored 50, with over 25 in verbal
Scoring inordinately in the verbal section is very natural for most students who're good at words and not in touch with math.
This should not be construed as a weakness in math or DI.
That's the mistake that I was guilty of, in those early days.
Since then, I always felt deep inside me that to crack CAT, i had to score 35 in verbal. As a result of such a mindset, I was always on the defensive while attempting QA or DI, the intent being to clear the cutoff rather than to crack the section.
Took up the IMS Simcat test series for CAT 2004.
Percentiles were generally in the 98-99 range. The breakups were pretty ordinary, with va/rc accounting for over 60% of my net score.
Surfing PG was great fun in the aftermath of a simcat. Benchmarking oneself against the likes of tdubey, suzyq, mamman, rohit anand was something that all of us on the simcat threads looked forward to.
I can recollect scores of threads in the yr 2004 where we used to endlessly speculate on the degree of correlation b/w simcat %iles and cat %iles.
In retrospect, all those discussions were futile and superfluous. I would urge all aspirants to desist from such mindless chatter and do something worthwhile instead.
CAT 2004 was a flop. net %ile - 96.65 with <90 in qa and di.
Was disappointing, given the promising simcat scores.
Didn't think about CAT after that debacle till July 2005.
Registered for the Aimcat series.
Was disappointed with IMS the previous year. I thought the simcats were too verbal-heavy and the %iles were skewed in favour of those good at va.
Aimcats were good. Far more CAT-like.
My percentiles improved considerably and the breakups were less skewed compared to the previous year's simcats.
Average percentile - 99.2-3.
Featured in the top 100 on 7/8 occasions.
Quant remained a bugbear throughout, with the %ile slipping below 90 on at least a half a dozen occasions.
The breakup was pretty good in the last 4-5 aimcats.
Sadly, things didn't work out when it mattered most.
CAT 2005
net - 99.41
va - 99.57
di - 98.7
qa - 72
Guess what....I spent the first 35 mins of the paper on qa.
ROI - 6 marks.
Attempted for 25 marks and got 8 two-markers wrong.
I didn't deserve a call.
Nov 20th was one of the most melancholy days of my life.
Felt really low after checking the time keys.
Lessons - Never make educated guesses in the quant section. They can hurt you badly.
CAT QA tests your Problem-solving skills per se, and not your reasoning skills.
Reasoning out the answer, instead of actually solving the problem can be a very dangerous habit.
CAT QA is a test of your willingness to persevere and get your hands dirty.
Period.
Got a call thanks to the munificence of IIMK.
XAT was much better. 99.95.
xat quant was more of a test of concepts, unlike cat qa which was a veritable test of one's problem solving skills.
got calls from xlri(bm) and spjain.
GD/PI's
K interview was like a rapidfire quiz.
Panelists looked out for intellectual honesty in the candidates.
XL - the panelists sought opinions from the candidates on various issues, probably with the intent of testing the clarity of one's thought process.
SP looked out for blokes with great conversational skills.
A few tips -
- Always be willing to acknowledge your ignorance of a subject.
- Don't use convoluted expressions in your speech, i.e avoid the
usage of metaphors, idioms, quotes and other rhetorical devices.
- Take up atleast a couple of mock interviews. They're very helpful.
I attended a couple at TIME. Got virtually disembowelled at both
interviews. It was a chastening experience. They made me more
introspective, conservative and more conscious of my strengths
and weaknesses.
In fact, in contrast to the TIME sessions, the actual GD/PI's
seemed like child's play.
- Keep smiling.
Eventually converted both K and Xl.
SPJ ditched me.
Joining K after much deliberation.
Well, what can I say !!
Am truly amazed to see so many responses from all of you......I am really overwhelmed. Never knew the post would generate so much enthusaiasm. My sole motive of inspiring others seems to be working and am so glad for that.
amitnsitian, gautam, idream, bhargs, panky82...
Am truly amazed to see so many responses from all of you......I am really overwhelmed. Never knew the post would generate so much enthusaiasm. My sole motive of inspiring others seems to be working and am so glad for that.
amitnsitian, gautam, idream, bhargs, panky82...
Well, what can I say !!
Am truly amazed to see so many responses from all of you......I am really overwhelmed. Never knew the post would generate so much enthusaiasm. My sole motive of inspiring others seems to be working and am so glad for that.
amitnsitian, gautam, idream, bhargs, panky82: Thank you all so much for you wishes.
@vaghar: In fact, my prof had called me yesterday and I have forwarded him this link. He had told me long before to write my CAT experience..
@Rohit: Hey buddy, Thats really nice of you to say that about me. In fact I myself felt so honoured when u called me up..never expected such eminent people at PG to call people personally Thanks so much.....and well, I have left my office and there wasnt really much fan following as such ....Hope things look up for me in the future Yaar, I am leaving for Cochin on 13th...So will just miss the meet by one day...am alredy feeling so upset coz of that....So sorry !! Hope we do meet soon
@panchya: Thanks doude and all the best to u too for ur stay at Rau :)
Edited: Amit, thanx so much. You have put it very well there, all about oppurtunities...very ture. All the best to u...just do it.
Am truly amazed to see so many responses from all of you......I am really overwhelmed. Never knew the post would generate so much enthusaiasm. My sole motive of inspiring others seems to be working and am so glad for that.
amitnsitian, gautam, idream, bhargs, panky82: Thank you all so much for you wishes.
@vaghar: In fact, my prof had called me yesterday and I have forwarded him this link. He had told me long before to write my CAT experience..
@Rohit: Hey buddy, Thats really nice of you to say that about me. In fact I myself felt so honoured when u called me up..never expected such eminent people at PG to call people personally
Thanks so much.....and well, I have left my office and there wasnt really much fan following as such ....Hope things look up for me in the future Yaar, I am leaving for Cochin on 13th...So will just miss the meet by one day...am alredy feeling so upset coz of that....So sorry !! Hope we do meet soon@panchya: Thanks doude and all the best to u too for ur stay at Rau :)
Edited: Amit, thanx so much. You have put it very well there, all about oppurtunities...very ture. All the best to u...just do it.
Hi Vinz !
It was really a great post and it seems as u have put your heart out on this post. It acts as an great inspirational post for CAT 06 aspirants like me that life gives you many opportunities and it is just all about choosing those opportunities and get going !Q
Once again , congrat...
It was really a great post and it seems as u have put your heart out on this post. It acts as an great inspirational post for CAT 06 aspirants like me that life gives you many opportunities and it is just all about choosing those opportunities and get going !Q
Once again , congrat...
Hi Vinz !
It was really a great post and it seems as u have put your heart out on this post. It acts as an great inspirational post for CAT 06 aspirants like me that life gives you many opportunities and it is just all about choosing those opportunities and get going !Q
Once again , congrats to you for making it to IIMA , u really deserve it ^^
:popcorn:
It was really a great post and it seems as u have put your heart out on this post. It acts as an great inspirational post for CAT 06 aspirants like me that life gives you many opportunities and it is just all about choosing those opportunities and get going !Q
Once again , congrats to you for making it to IIMA , u really deserve it ^^
:popcorn:
It is not.
It is just an exam because it is definitely not the end of the road for you; your career or your personal life or anything related to you at all. All people who have taken CAT and have had burnt their fingers, will tell you about the folly of banking too much on CAT or any other MBA...
It is just an exam because it is definitely not the end of the road for you; your career or your personal life or anything related to you at all. All people who have taken CAT and have had burnt their fingers, will tell you about the folly of banking too much on CAT or any other MBA...
And then is the clincher- its just an exam!
Surely...its more than just an exam?!
It is not.
It is just an exam because it is definitely not the end of the road for you; your career or your personal life or anything related to you at all. All people who have taken CAT and have had burnt their fingers, will tell you about the folly of banking too much on CAT or any other MBA entrance. An MBA augments. It never beats out new paths. That is for the graduation.
It is only when you truly get over the looming presence of the exam and what it could do to your life, do you appreciate what it is really about.
But yes, CAT with all its related activities teaches you lots of valuable lessons about yourself, people and your dreams. Lessons learnt for a life time.
Moral? It is just an exam!
cheers!!!
@anupam:
yaar, main kya boloon mere samajh mein nahi aa raha hai.....I think we both should start a mutual admiration group.....
You have written very high words there for me, am not sure how much of that I deserve. But yes, reading it has certainly made me feel such an integral part of th...
yaar, main kya boloon mere samajh mein nahi aa raha hai.....I think we both should start a mutual admiration group.....
You have written very high words there for me, am not sure how much of that I deserve. But yes, reading it has certainly made me feel such an integral part of th...
2
2
@anupam:
yaar, main kya boloon mere samajh mein nahi aa raha hai.....I think we both should start a mutual admiration group.....
You have written very high words there for me, am not sure how much of that I deserve. But yes, reading it has certainly made me feel such an integral part of this PG family......You are an idol for everyone and such words coming from you really makes it so special. Thanks so much dude I am honoured to say the least.
@mancee:
Thanks a lot sir. Am glad u found the post interesting and inspirational. I had to no option but to put in that meticulous planning that u mentioned coz I have seen how uncertain CAT and GD/PI results can be and hence didnt want to leave any stone unturned. I just got lucky finally.
Am glad the post is at least inspiring people. That was the intention. Thanks once again mancee.
yaar, main kya boloon mere samajh mein nahi aa raha hai.....I think we both should start a mutual admiration group.....
You have written very high words there for me, am not sure how much of that I deserve. But yes, reading it has certainly made me feel such an integral part of this PG family......You are an idol for everyone and such words coming from you really makes it so special. Thanks so much dude
I am honoured to say the least.@mancee:
Thanks a lot sir. Am glad u found the post interesting and inspirational. I had to no option but to put in that meticulous planning that u mentioned coz I have seen how uncertain CAT and GD/PI results can be and hence didnt want to leave any stone unturned. I just got lucky finally.
Am glad the post is at least inspiring people. That was the intention. Thanks once again mancee.
@Vinz,
I am tempted to apprecita your post. 'Brilliant' wud be an understatement. After reading vinz's story on top of Anupam's, I dont think there would be anyone who wont have a fire in his belly to crack the CAT.
The meticulous preparation and strategy that you planned is just amazing. ...
I am tempted to apprecita your post. 'Brilliant' wud be an understatement. After reading vinz's story on top of Anupam's, I dont think there would be anyone who wont have a fire in his belly to crack the CAT.
The meticulous preparation and strategy that you planned is just amazing. ...
@Vinz,
I am tempted to apprecita your post. 'Brilliant' wud be an understatement. After reading vinz's story on top of Anupam's, I dont think there would be anyone who wont have a fire in his belly to crack the CAT.
The meticulous preparation and strategy that you planned is just amazing. This is what I would call Management in its real sense. You deserved each and every institute you converted!
Kudos to posts and posters like Anupam and you!!
I am tempted to apprecita your post. 'Brilliant' wud be an understatement. After reading vinz's story on top of Anupam's, I dont think there would be anyone who wont have a fire in his belly to crack the CAT.
The meticulous preparation and strategy that you planned is just amazing. This is what I would call Management in its real sense. You deserved each and every institute you converted!
Kudos to posts and posters like Anupam and you!!
Year 2005: What different did I do
My existing coaching insti offered me free coaching as I had an IIM call last year. Apart from that, I joined a postal course of another coaching class to get some added variety.
My prep this time was much more focussed and full of strategy. You can say ...
My existing coaching insti offered me free coaching as I had an IIM call last year. Apart from that, I joined a postal course of another coaching class to get some added variety.
My prep this time was much more focussed and full of strategy. You can say ...
131
131
Year 2005: What different did I do
My existing coaching insti offered me free coaching as I had an IIM call last year. Apart from that, I joined a postal course of another coaching class to get some added variety.
My prep this time was much more focussed and full of strategy. You can say that it was more of smart work than hard work. Based on my prev years exp, I realized that there are 3 things I need to keep in mind this year :
1. In Quants, there will always be sitters. Picking up those sitters is the key to cracking this section. I dont need to be a maths don to clear the cut offs. I knew my limitations and I was in no ways a maths genius. But I also knew that by careful selection of questions, I can definitely clear the cut offs.
2. I dont want to burn out by November. Thats what happened to me last year. My prof always used to say that u should "Peak at the right time". I used to think its all jargon n nothing else. But now I realized how true it was. I had to be at my best during November.
3. I need to make separate notes for all new formulaes/shortcuts/new fundaes that I come acroos while solving problems. There are always things that no book will directly state. But once u solve a problem, u will see it uses few shortcuts and other fundaes. So I started making notes of important types of problems and other shortcuts. This also gave me tremendous confidence.
4. I need to analyze all the papers I solve in the truest sense, which I didnt do last year. it really doesnt matter the amount of test I solve. Without analysis, its a waste. And by analysis, I mean solving all the questions without time limit, seeing where I went wrong and why and analyzing why am I missing sitters.
The mocks start........
Come aug end and I was ready to take on the battle. I had decided that in every paper I solve till CAT, my sole focus in Quants would be to select the sitters. I would make a note after every paper stating the no. of sitters I missed and why did I miss those.
My first mock fetched me 99 %ile for the first time ever in my life and I was ecstatic. I was more so happy coz this time, I cleared all cut offs, even Quants.
Furhter mocks followed......I cleared the VA cut offs in all.....miseed the DI cut offs someitmes.....and again missed the quant cut offs few times, but much less than last year.
I was gaining in confidence. I could clear Quant cut offs more regularly now compared to last year. I kept the above 4 points in mind continuously. Since I was solving papers of 2 coaching instis contonuously apart from my office work, life got extremely hectic and I had no time for anything else.
One interesting thing I noted. I always scored around 98 %ile consistently in the mocks of one coaching class.......however, in the other i never crossed 98 and the avg was around 96. But I didnt let this worry me and continued with confidence, refining my prep after every paper I solved.
I had started practicing breathing excercises and used to meticulously do them for 10 min everyday one month before CAT. I hoped that would keep my nerves in check during the exam. Took a week off from office before CAT and in the final days, did one paper a day along with the analysis.
Finally after months of crazy prep, analysis, self motivation and what not, the D-Day arrived, the moment was here. My centre was the same as last year's. I tried hard to forget last year's experience and was determined to change my fortune this year.
CAT 2005: The D-Day
I was mentally prepared for any kind of paper. I had a basic strategy in mind though. Paper was distributed, and after filling out the OMR, sat back comfortably to read the instructions. 90 Questions..ummm....interesting i thought. Apart from that, there was no major change from last year.
Now my forte had always been my accuracy, not speed. I used to attempt the minimum no. of questions among all the high scorers during mocks, but rarely went wrong in maths and DI and very less in Eng. So u can say that whatever I attempted, in all probabilties it was correct. My total no of wrong answers in any paper rarely went above 5-6.
And hence after reading the instructions, I knew the paper suits me. It would surely be tough with emphasis on accuracu and not speed.
As usual, I started with VA. but to my surprise, it was anything but simple. In the first go, I left almost all questions and then realized that in my second scan, I have to do lotsa questions before I can proceed to the next section. There were lots of questions that had very close options. Moreover the stakes were high as they were all 2 markers. I thought a lot and finally followed my gut feel, marked the OMR sans any guesses and moved ahead. I had attempted about 30 maks in VA and had left the Derrida RC. However I knew if my accuracy does not ditch me, I had done a good job with the section. But since the options were so damn close, I wasnt very comfortable.
Anyways, moved on to DI/LR. Finished the seemingly decent 1 markers and went for the 2 markers. Cracked one set and I knew if I get all 4 right in that set ( 8 marks ), I would be more or less safe in that section. Finally spent alot of time in the Tennis caselet and then could do only 1 question, that too an intelligent guess. I knew the section was pretty tough but having solved one caselet completely, I felt a bit relaxed. However, the time I spent for just 1 question of the tennis caselet worried me and I felt like kicking myself. Couldnt do that as I had to maintain decorum in the classroom
Finally came down to Quants, the one that has always let me down. But today i was determined to put the past behind me. I brought all my sitter-selection skills to play, which I had worked on endlessly for past few months. And I guess it payed. I picked few 1 markers and 2 markwers that I thought were simple and successfully solved them,. Though I did make an intelligent guess in a 1 marker, but rest all were certain answers. Started working on another 2 marker which I knew how to solve, but unluckily I ran out of time and the stupid bell signalled the end of 2 years of toil and sweat.
I came out and calculated my rough score. If all goes as i perceive, I should be scoring somewhere about 45-46. Ummm...not a very good score I thought. And my initial reaction after coming out and discussing was that I have missed the bus to IIMs yet again. :(
In the coming week, all analysis and solutions were out. With trembling hands, I checked my score from al the coaching instis websites. Due to ambiguity in VA answers, I wasnt certain of my scores, but all in all I started feeling happy. :)
I got only one 1 marker wrong in Quants (yeah, the intelligent guess one ), one 2 marker wrong in DI and only two queestions wrong in VA. I knew my accuracy has finally born fruits and felt glad that my strength didnt leave me in those crucial two hours.
Now even at this score, I expected a max of 2 IIM calls, not more than that. However, I was mentally prepared for the worst.
Results 2005
They say bhagwaan deta hai to chappar phad ke deta hai.......Never knew god would be kind and reward me in such a manner that I would be left speechless. One by one the results poured in. My CAT score read:
QA: 93.3 ( My efforts in this specific area finally payed off )
DI: 93.3
VA: 99.5
Net: 99.41 :)
I had never got a score of above 99 apart from once in my 2 years of mocks. I was so glad that my strategy worked to the fullest. Do sufficient enought to clear cut offs in Quant and DI and blast the section of ur strength, VA.
With all 6 IIMs calling me for GD/PI, to say that it was a dream come true would be an understatement. Little did I know even this achievment would be bettered by me in the days to come.
Apart from IIMs, I got calls from all other top colleges. I took a revenge on JMET as well, getting a rank of 102. SJMSOM called me and I felt nostalgic when i did not apply to VGSOM. Even IIFT, where I had a horrible written, called me. I knew this was my year.
The GD/PI prep
I always knew that for me, the written was the main hurdle. I was confident about GD/PIs, but left no stone unturned for the prep. I had been collecting news articles since september and made loads of notes and analysis on events spanning all fields. I finally had a notebook and a file that contained articles and self notes/analysis on things ranging from the Budget to E-choupal to Jet/Sahara deal to the court dimesions of a badminton court.
Now when I see my file and notebook, I feel mighty satisfied. I had indeed done a neat job of my prep and felt very confident going into any interview. I knew I have given my best shot in my prep and theres really not more that I could have done in the given time. I spent endless hours on Wikipedia, and TOI, ET, India Today and Business Worlds at my house were reduced to shreds. You can say I had created a mini collection, which I would revise before any interview. And the colection kept on growing till my last interview.
Can you imagine, I had even made notes on how a photocopier works !!!!
Apart from that, I always used to do a 2 page analysis on the college whose interview i was going for.
All said and done, I was quite satisfied with all my interviews and expected to convert at least 1 IIM call.
Rest is history. By god's grace, I converted all 6 IIMs, MDI, NITIE, SJMSOM, IMT, IIFT (K), SIBM. Infact, I converted every interview that I gave . :)
In the Hindsight
Now when I look back over my past 2 years, I realize that one evening with my prof changed my entire future. It wasnt that I didnt have faith in my abilities. It was just that my vision had narrowed and my ambition diminished. I needed someone to show me the path and thats what transpired that evening.
CAT is not about intelligence alone. Its also not true that a so-so college at grad is a major setback. I am a living proof of that. CAT has taught me things about life that I never knew existed.
I sacrificed a lot during these 2 years. I am a very social person by nature. But I genuinely ran short of time to keep up my social life. People would often tell me that I have forgotten them and dont give them time. I knew I was guilty, but I had my ambitions clearly laid out and could not afford to compromise on them.
Toil, pain and frustration were my constant companions for these two years. But I lived with them. Coz I knew they are the keys to a glorious future. In a way I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders. People around me always expected me to be the best and though I tried hard not to let that effect me, I agree it was always on ther back of my mind, what will others think if I dont make it !!
Before I end....
I was fresh out of a personal depression before I started preparing for CAT. In a way, it stoked the fire in my belly to put all my sorrows behind and go all out to prove to the world and myself that I am the best. Yes, I now have done that, overcoming innumerable personal setbacks.
But I have also realized that CAT is not the end of the world. Neither is the fact that you are an achiever. All these are avenues that you explore to finally feel content and happy about urself. CAT is one exam that has been hyped beyond imagination, thus turning a normal maths and english aptitude test into a monster. Dont fall into the trap. Treat it as a normal exam and you will fare much better.
And even if you do not, hell with it yaar. There are 101 other avanues in life that u can explore and finally be happy and content. :)
People are there to comment and u cant stop them. What you can though do is to listen to your heart and not bother aboput what others say. They are no going to lead ur life, its u who has to do it. So if you feel CAT is what u want, go ahead with full force without looking behind. If you feel you are not upto it, then forget it and do whatever u feel good doing. Give a damn to what the world says. Live ur life on ur own terms. :)
CAT or no CAT, life goes on.....
My existing coaching insti offered me free coaching as I had an IIM call last year.
Apart from that, I joined a postal course of another coaching class to get some added variety.My prep this time was much more focussed and full of strategy. You can say that it was more of smart work than hard work. Based on my prev years exp, I realized that there are 3 things I need to keep in mind this year :
1. In Quants, there will always be sitters. Picking up those sitters is the key to cracking this section. I dont need to be a maths don to clear the cut offs. I knew my limitations and I was in no ways a maths genius. But I also knew that by careful selection of questions, I can definitely clear the cut offs.
2. I dont want to burn out by November. Thats what happened to me last year. My prof always used to say that u should "Peak at the right time". I used to think its all jargon n nothing else. But now I realized how true it was. I had to be at my best during November.
3. I need to make separate notes for all new formulaes/shortcuts/new fundaes that I come acroos while solving problems. There are always things that no book will directly state. But once u solve a problem, u will see it uses few shortcuts and other fundaes. So I started making notes of important types of problems and other shortcuts. This also gave me tremendous confidence.
4. I need to analyze all the papers I solve in the truest sense, which I didnt do last year. it really doesnt matter the amount of test I solve. Without analysis, its a waste. And by analysis, I mean solving all the questions without time limit, seeing where I went wrong and why and analyzing why am I missing sitters.
The mocks start........
Come aug end and I was ready to take on the battle.
I had decided that in every paper I solve till CAT, my sole focus in Quants would be to select the sitters. I would make a note after every paper stating the no. of sitters I missed and why did I miss those.My first mock fetched me 99 %ile for the first time ever in my life and I was ecstatic.
I was more so happy coz this time, I cleared all cut offs, even Quants.Furhter mocks followed......I cleared the VA cut offs in all.....miseed the DI cut offs someitmes.....and again missed the quant cut offs few times, but much less than last year.
I was gaining in confidence. I could clear Quant cut offs more regularly now compared to last year. I kept the above 4 points in mind continuously. Since I was solving papers of 2 coaching instis contonuously apart from my office work, life got extremely hectic and I had no time for anything else.
One interesting thing I noted. I always scored around 98 %ile consistently in the mocks of one coaching class.......however, in the other i never crossed 98 and the avg was around 96. But I didnt let this worry me and continued with confidence, refining my prep after every paper I solved.
I had started practicing breathing excercises and used to meticulously do them for 10 min everyday one month before CAT. I hoped that would keep my nerves in check during the exam. Took a week off from office before CAT and in the final days, did one paper a day along with the analysis.
Finally after months of crazy prep, analysis, self motivation and what not, the D-Day arrived, the moment was here. My centre was the same as last year's. I tried hard to forget last year's experience and was determined to change my fortune this year.
CAT 2005: The D-Day
I was mentally prepared for any kind of paper. I had a basic strategy in mind though. Paper was distributed, and after filling out the OMR, sat back comfortably to read the instructions. 90 Questions..ummm....interesting i thought. Apart from that, there was no major change from last year.
Now my forte had always been my accuracy, not speed. I used to attempt the minimum no. of questions among all the high scorers during mocks, but rarely went wrong in maths and DI and very less in Eng. So u can say that whatever I attempted, in all probabilties it was correct. My total no of wrong answers in any paper rarely went above 5-6.
And hence after reading the instructions, I knew the paper suits me. It would surely be tough with emphasis on accuracu and not speed.
As usual, I started with VA. but to my surprise, it was anything but simple. In the first go, I left almost all questions and then realized that in my second scan, I have to do lotsa questions before I can proceed to the next section. There were lots of questions that had very close options. Moreover the stakes were high as they were all 2 markers. I thought a lot and finally followed my gut feel, marked the OMR sans any guesses and moved ahead. I had attempted about 30 maks in VA and had left the Derrida RC. However I knew if my accuracy does not ditch me, I had done a good job with the section. But since the options were so damn close, I wasnt very comfortable.
Anyways, moved on to DI/LR. Finished the seemingly decent 1 markers and went for the 2 markers. Cracked one set and I knew if I get all 4 right in that set ( 8 marks ), I would be more or less safe in that section. Finally spent alot of time in the Tennis caselet and then could do only 1 question, that too an intelligent guess. I knew the section was pretty tough but having solved one caselet completely, I felt a bit relaxed. However, the time I spent for just 1 question of the tennis caselet worried me and I felt like kicking myself. Couldnt do that as I had to maintain decorum in the classroom
Finally came down to Quants, the one that has always let me down. But today i was determined to put the past behind me. I brought all my sitter-selection skills to play, which I had worked on endlessly for past few months. And I guess it payed. I picked few 1 markers and 2 markwers that I thought were simple and successfully solved them,. Though I did make an intelligent guess in a 1 marker, but rest all were certain answers. Started working on another 2 marker which I knew how to solve, but unluckily I ran out of time and the stupid bell signalled the end of 2 years of toil and sweat.
I came out and calculated my rough score. If all goes as i perceive, I should be scoring somewhere about 45-46. Ummm...not a very good score I thought. And my initial reaction after coming out and discussing was that I have missed the bus to IIMs yet again. :(
In the coming week, all analysis and solutions were out. With trembling hands, I checked my score from al the coaching instis websites. Due to ambiguity in VA answers, I wasnt certain of my scores, but all in all I started feeling happy. :)
I got only one 1 marker wrong in Quants (yeah, the intelligent guess one ), one 2 marker wrong in DI and only two queestions wrong in VA. I knew my accuracy has finally born fruits and felt glad that my strength didnt leave me in those crucial two hours.
Now even at this score, I expected a max of 2 IIM calls, not more than that. However, I was mentally prepared for the worst.
Results 2005
They say bhagwaan deta hai to chappar phad ke deta hai.......Never knew god would be kind and reward me in such a manner that I would be left speechless. One by one the results poured in. My CAT score read:
QA: 93.3 ( My efforts in this specific area finally payed off )
DI: 93.3
VA: 99.5
Net: 99.41 :)
I had never got a score of above 99 apart from once in my 2 years of mocks. I was so glad that my strategy worked to the fullest. Do sufficient enought to clear cut offs in Quant and DI and blast the section of ur strength, VA.
With all 6 IIMs calling me for GD/PI, to say that it was a dream come true would be an understatement. Little did I know even this achievment would be bettered by me in the days to come.
Apart from IIMs, I got calls from all other top colleges. I took a revenge on JMET as well, getting a rank of 102. SJMSOM called me and I felt nostalgic when i did not apply to VGSOM. Even IIFT, where I had a horrible written, called me. I knew this was my year.
The GD/PI prep
I always knew that for me, the written was the main hurdle. I was confident about GD/PIs, but left no stone unturned for the prep. I had been collecting news articles since september and made loads of notes and analysis on events spanning all fields. I finally had a notebook and a file that contained articles and self notes/analysis on things ranging from the Budget to E-choupal to Jet/Sahara deal to the court dimesions of a badminton court.
Now when I see my file and notebook, I feel mighty satisfied. I had indeed done a neat job of my prep and felt very confident going into any interview. I knew I have given my best shot in my prep and theres really not more that I could have done in the given time. I spent endless hours on Wikipedia, and TOI, ET, India Today and Business Worlds at my house were reduced to shreds. You can say I had created a mini collection, which I would revise before any interview. And the colection kept on growing till my last interview.
Can you imagine, I had even made notes on how a photocopier works !!!!
Apart from that, I always used to do a 2 page analysis on the college whose interview i was going for.
All said and done, I was quite satisfied with all my interviews and expected to convert at least 1 IIM call.
Rest is history. By god's grace, I converted all 6 IIMs, MDI, NITIE, SJMSOM, IMT, IIFT (K), SIBM. Infact, I converted every interview that I gave . :)
In the Hindsight
Now when I look back over my past 2 years, I realize that one evening with my prof changed my entire future. It wasnt that I didnt have faith in my abilities. It was just that my vision had narrowed and my ambition diminished. I needed someone to show me the path and thats what transpired that evening.
CAT is not about intelligence alone. Its also not true that a so-so college at grad is a major setback. I am a living proof of that. CAT has taught me things about life that I never knew existed.
I sacrificed a lot during these 2 years. I am a very social person by nature. But I genuinely ran short of time to keep up my social life. People would often tell me that I have forgotten them and dont give them time. I knew I was guilty, but I had my ambitions clearly laid out and could not afford to compromise on them.
Toil, pain and frustration were my constant companions for these two years. But I lived with them. Coz I knew they are the keys to a glorious future. In a way I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders. People around me always expected me to be the best and though I tried hard not to let that effect me, I agree it was always on ther back of my mind, what will others think if I dont make it !!
Before I end....
I was fresh out of a personal depression before I started preparing for CAT. In a way, it stoked the fire in my belly to put all my sorrows behind and go all out to prove to the world and myself that I am the best. Yes, I now have done that, overcoming innumerable personal setbacks.
But I have also realized that CAT is not the end of the world. Neither is the fact that you are an achiever. All these are avenues that you explore to finally feel content and happy about urself. CAT is one exam that has been hyped beyond imagination, thus turning a normal maths and english aptitude test into a monster. Dont fall into the trap. Treat it as a normal exam and you will fare much better.
And even if you do not, hell with it yaar. There are 101 other avanues in life that u can explore and finally be happy and content. :)
People are there to comment and u cant stop them. What you can though do is to listen to your heart and not bother aboput what others say. They are no going to lead ur life, its u who has to do it. So if you feel CAT is what u want, go ahead with full force without looking behind. If you feel you are not upto it, then forget it and do whatever u feel good doing. Give a damn to what the world says. Live ur life on ur own terms. :)
CAT or no CAT, life goes on.....
This post has been long overdue....But anyways, better late than never.
My CAT story would not be as inspiring as Anupam's nor as well written as Shrutz's. However, its a story nevertheless, a story of dreams, of pain, of sacrifice, of risk, of toil and finally, of glory !!! Read on.....if it...
My CAT story would not be as inspiring as Anupam's nor as well written as Shrutz's. However, its a story nevertheless, a story of dreams, of pain, of sacrifice, of risk, of toil and finally, of glory !!! Read on.....if it...
34
34
This post has been long overdue....But anyways, better late than never.
My CAT story would not be as inspiring as Anupam's nor as well written as Shrutz's. However, its a story nevertheless, a story of dreams, of pain, of sacrifice, of risk, of toil and finally, of glory !!! Read on.....if it inspires even 1 person to go all out for CAT, I would consider my job done. :)
Year 2000:
This was the year I had passed 12th. Appeared for JEE but could not make it. I was quite disappointed, needless to say. I had always been a topper throughout and hence thought that I have the potential to make it to IIT. Anyways, joined an average college in Pune Univ, at least the branch was of my choice (Computers). I could have got into a better college on payment seat but I didnt want that after scoring so well in 12th. And hence compromised on the college. I prepared for IIT again during my first year at engg. I cleared the screening but cudnt get through the mains. And thats where my dream of getting an IIT tag was buried. :(
Fast Forward to 2003:
I had done well till now, being the topper. Though I had never had an inclination for pursuing masters in technical field, still had a liking to go abroad and it being in fashion, I too decided to take GRE. Got a 1460/1600 but then realized that am not gonna go in technical field and hence didnt apply anywhere. This was the time I decided that I am better suited for mgmt and thats what I will try for next year. Didint give CAT in my final year of college as I was busy with my project work and didnt want to sacrifice on my academics.
Result: I topped the college and scored very high in final year. :)
Year 2004: My first tryst with CAT preparation
The IIT debacle still hurt me and I had decided that if not the IITs, then IIMs it should be for me, coz I knew I had the potential to study at country's best institutes. I think what drove me more initially towards CAT was not MBA, but the desire to be at country's best known colleges...ones in the same category as IIT...and what better than the IIMs.
Yes, so college rather than MBA was my initial aim...Wrong I know, but then I was a novice then, with a sole desire to make it to a top college.
I had joined an IT MNC close to my home so that I get time to study. I took the prelim test at a coaching class and got a score of 42, which acc to the people there, was excellent. Its a diff matter though that I had barely touched maths section. I joined a long 1 year batch, the one begining in Jan. My basics were good, but I wanted to study at my own pace and hence joined so early. I was always very comfortable with English, probably coz the GRE preparation had given me tremendous confidence, specially for vocab. I knew I was good in Maths as well (I had 800/800 in GRE, but then thats so simple compared to CAT) but also knew I needed loads of practice.
I finished the basic prep in time and was ready to take on my first ever mocks starting Aug end.
My First Ever Mock....and then further mocks till CAT
I had absolutely no exposure to CAT and the kind of percentiles u need to get into top colleges. I also had very less idea about the top 15 colleges of the country. After some research, I dunno why I had decided that if I make it to any of the top 15 institutes, I will go for it. Somehow IIMs did not remain my sole aim. I thought I will settle for less as well. I still dont know why I thought that ways. May be I presumed theres not much to chose between IIMs and other, which I later realized was a big mistake.
First mock was a very pleasant surprise. I came out of the exam hall thinking this was the worst paper of my life. I had hardly attempted anything and was very cross with myself. However, I scored a 97 percentile and I was absolutely elated. Though my percentile in Quant was somewhere in 70s, I still was happy as a 90 + score was a good begining. :)
I then realized that even if your paper goes bad, its all relative finally and you should never lose hope. Others out there are also as bad as you.
Mistake #1: I attempted the quant questions serial wise and hence could not even read half of the questions in the section. Didn't realize this mistake until the next couple of mocks.
After few mocks, I had a chat with my prof at the coaching centre and he told me that strategy is as important or even more crucial than intelligence in CAT. I got tips about how to go about allocating time and attempting questions and tried to implement them in my furhter mocks.
I would clear the VA and DI cut offs in every mock but miss quant always, at times by a whisker, other times by a huge margin. I never realized that I was making a big tactical mistake in all my mocks. Sadly this dawned on me much later after CAT.
Mistake #2: I often got stuck on tougher questions. Always thought I can do a question on the first glance. However midway through it, used to realize I am reaching nowhere. Hence I wasted lots of time. After the paper, my prof used to make me realize that I missed a lot of sitters. I would kick myself for missing out on the easy questions. But still I would continue making the same mistake in future mocks.
My percentiles hovered around the 97-98 mark, except for the last 2 mocks where it dipped to early 90s. This was the danger sign which I did not heed. I was at my peak during October, having solved lots of papers and gaining confidence. However, come November, somehow that enthu started waning. I was not tensed but was not very comfortable as well.
Mistake #3: I put in so much of endless effort right from april-may to october that by the time Nov came, I felt kind of burnt out. Again, I realized this only after the CAT.
Anyways, come 21 Nov 2004 and I was ready to take on my first ever CAT.
21 Nov 2004.......My first ever CAT
My basic strategy was set. Start with VA, my strongest area, then move to DI/LR and finally to Quants, where I should manage to solve just enough questions to be safe to cross the expected cut offs.
The paper was given to us and to my dismay (along with that of Lakhs of others across the country), I found that the pattern was completely changed. What the heck is this 1 mark and 2 mark thing, I thought :wow:. Anyways, I quickly formulated a strategy:
I will first finish off with the easy 1 markers and then move onto the 2 markers, and solve as many as I can. Sounded simple enough.
Started with English, but somehow got stuck in the half marker fill in the blanks itself ...Anyways somehow proceeded but finally managed only 2 RCs. So far so good, I thought.
Next came DI and the section which paralyzed me I thought that I would first try out the 2 markers...High risk high gain stuff u know....But fate had other ideas. I got completely bamboozled by the 2 markers and could not attempt even one.
So finally went to the 1 markers. Thankfully, there were few that i could do and once 40 min were up, I decided enough is enough, jitna kiya so kiya, lets move on now.
Finally arrived at Quants. Again went straight away for the 2 markers and here finally I had a smile on my face. The section which was supposed to be my nemesis finally got me smiling. I spotted few easy 2 markers and went ahead with them. After that, went to the 1 markers and here again there were few dollies waiting to be devoured
The bell rang and that was the end. I felt pretty happy coz I had done about 20 marks in maths which I knew was good enough to carry me home. Only DI was a disappointment.
Results 2004: CAT and others
I checked the GD/PI calls first and saw that IIMB had called me. My joy knew no bounds and I was sure my percentile would be 99+. But then reality stuck. My CAT result was sort of a mini shock to me. It read:
QA: 89.3
DI: 91.xx
VA:96
Net: 96.3
Nothing great. QA shocked me coz I was expecting a homerun here. At this percentile, I was surprised how IIMB called me. My only other GD/PI call was VGSOM, with a JMET rank of 886.
I wont go into the details of the GD/PI here. In the end, I did not convert IIMB but got though VGSOM.
I dont know why, even though I missed all the top colleges in taking CAT scores, I was very happy and pleased with myself for clearing VGSOM. I thought that finally I will get an IIT tag. After all, IIT Kgp is indeed a very good college. I paid the fees, went on a holiday, told my relatives about my success and was getting ready to quit my job when suddenly my life changed.
My life changes....a 180 degree turn !!!
I had seen this only in films. I had heard about it only from others. It was something I never expected would happen to me.
There are times in life when one single meeting with someone for a short span of time completely revolutionizes ur life, changes ur outlook and awakens you to a new reality, new dreams. I never knew this would happen to me personally.
Just days before leaving my job, I was loitering around on FC road, when suddenly I thought lets go to my coaching insti, tell them the good news about VGSOM and thank them for all they have done for me. I went in and met the same prof there who was my mentor during CAT prep. I told him about my success/decision and expected a hug and celebrations from him. To my utter surprise, all I got from him was a wry smile and concern written all over his face. He signalled me to sit down.
And for the next 1 hour, I had a discussion with him that, I can now say confidently, changed my entire life !!! He told me that he personally feels I have the potential to make it to the IIMs, so why am I compromising. No doubt VGSOM was a good college, but lets face it, IIMs are different league. He said he knows me well enough to see an IIM material in me. One attempt at CAT is nothing to give it all up. Plus, I have a great job and I would only gain in experience. Theres nothing I will lose by giving CAT another shot. And worst come worst, I still would have the potential to convert VGSOM again, if nothing better happens. :)
It was an awakening. I dont know why was I happy and comfortable with my so called success and never thought of giving the IIMs another shot. But now it dawned on me that what he said makes a lot of sense.
I reached home and summoned my parents for a talk. I explained them the entire thing and told them I intend to take CAT again, dropping my VGSOM admission offer. My mom nearly fell off her chair. But both mom and dad also understood that my reasoning is good enough and if I am ready to slog it out for another year and aim for the best, they have no problems. It was a heart to heart chat with my parents and they supported me fully.
In the next few days, I sent my regret letter to VGSOMand had to forfeit an amount nearing Rs 30,000 ..Only because of my late decision of not joining.
And so started another year of toil, in a quest for the best, with the added burden of having forfeited an admission offer from a pretty good college.
Continued in next post....
My CAT story would not be as inspiring as Anupam's nor as well written as Shrutz's. However, its a story nevertheless, a story of dreams, of pain, of sacrifice, of risk, of toil and finally, of glory !!! Read on.....if it inspires even 1 person to go all out for CAT, I would consider my job done. :)
Year 2000:
This was the year I had passed 12th. Appeared for JEE but could not make it. I was quite disappointed, needless to say. I had always been a topper throughout and hence thought that I have the potential to make it to IIT. Anyways, joined an average college in Pune Univ, at least the branch was of my choice (Computers). I could have got into a better college on payment seat but I didnt want that after scoring so well in 12th. And hence compromised on the college. I prepared for IIT again during my first year at engg. I cleared the screening but cudnt get through the mains. And thats where my dream of getting an IIT tag was buried. :(
Fast Forward to 2003:
I had done well till now, being the topper. Though I had never had an inclination for pursuing masters in technical field, still had a liking to go abroad and it being in fashion, I too decided to take GRE. Got a 1460/1600 but then realized that am not gonna go in technical field and hence didnt apply anywhere. This was the time I decided that I am better suited for mgmt and thats what I will try for next year. Didint give CAT in my final year of college as I was busy with my project work and didnt want to sacrifice on my academics.
Result: I topped the college and scored very high in final year. :)
Year 2004: My first tryst with CAT preparation
The IIT debacle still hurt me and I had decided that if not the IITs, then IIMs it should be for me, coz I knew I had the potential to study at country's best institutes. I think what drove me more initially towards CAT was not MBA, but the desire to be at country's best known colleges...ones in the same category as IIT...and what better than the IIMs.
Yes, so college rather than MBA was my initial aim...Wrong I know, but then I was a novice then, with a sole desire to make it to a top college.
I had joined an IT MNC close to my home so that I get time to study. I took the prelim test at a coaching class and got a score of 42, which acc to the people there, was excellent. Its a diff matter though that I had barely touched maths section. I joined a long 1 year batch, the one begining in Jan. My basics were good, but I wanted to study at my own pace and hence joined so early. I was always very comfortable with English, probably coz the GRE preparation had given me tremendous confidence, specially for vocab. I knew I was good in Maths as well (I had 800/800 in GRE, but then thats so simple compared to CAT) but also knew I needed loads of practice.
I finished the basic prep in time and was ready to take on my first ever mocks starting Aug end.
My First Ever Mock....and then further mocks till CAT
I had absolutely no exposure to CAT and the kind of percentiles u need to get into top colleges. I also had very less idea about the top 15 colleges of the country. After some research, I dunno why I had decided that if I make it to any of the top 15 institutes, I will go for it. Somehow IIMs did not remain my sole aim. I thought I will settle for less as well. I still dont know why I thought that ways. May be I presumed theres not much to chose between IIMs and other, which I later realized was a big mistake.
First mock was a very pleasant surprise. I came out of the exam hall thinking this was the worst paper of my life. I had hardly attempted anything and was very cross with myself. However, I scored a 97 percentile and I was absolutely elated. Though my percentile in Quant was somewhere in 70s, I still was happy as a 90 + score was a good begining. :)
I then realized that even if your paper goes bad, its all relative finally and you should never lose hope. Others out there are also as bad as you.
Mistake #1: I attempted the quant questions serial wise and hence could not even read half of the questions in the section. Didn't realize this mistake until the next couple of mocks.
After few mocks, I had a chat with my prof at the coaching centre and he told me that strategy is as important or even more crucial than intelligence in CAT. I got tips about how to go about allocating time and attempting questions and tried to implement them in my furhter mocks.
I would clear the VA and DI cut offs in every mock but miss quant always, at times by a whisker, other times by a huge margin. I never realized that I was making a big tactical mistake in all my mocks. Sadly this dawned on me much later after CAT.
Mistake #2: I often got stuck on tougher questions. Always thought I can do a question on the first glance. However midway through it, used to realize I am reaching nowhere. Hence I wasted lots of time. After the paper, my prof used to make me realize that I missed a lot of sitters. I would kick myself for missing out on the easy questions. But still I would continue making the same mistake in future mocks.
My percentiles hovered around the 97-98 mark, except for the last 2 mocks where it dipped to early 90s. This was the danger sign which I did not heed. I was at my peak during October, having solved lots of papers and gaining confidence. However, come November, somehow that enthu started waning. I was not tensed but was not very comfortable as well.
Mistake #3: I put in so much of endless effort right from april-may to october that by the time Nov came, I felt kind of burnt out. Again, I realized this only after the CAT.
Anyways, come 21 Nov 2004 and I was ready to take on my first ever CAT.
21 Nov 2004.......My first ever CAT
My basic strategy was set. Start with VA, my strongest area, then move to DI/LR and finally to Quants, where I should manage to solve just enough questions to be safe to cross the expected cut offs.
The paper was given to us and to my dismay (along with that of Lakhs of others across the country), I found that the pattern was completely changed. What the heck is this 1 mark and 2 mark thing, I thought :wow:. Anyways, I quickly formulated a strategy:
I will first finish off with the easy 1 markers and then move onto the 2 markers, and solve as many as I can. Sounded simple enough.
Started with English, but somehow got stuck in the half marker fill in the blanks itself ...Anyways somehow proceeded but finally managed only 2 RCs. So far so good, I thought.
Next came DI and the section which paralyzed me I thought that I would first try out the 2 markers...High risk high gain stuff u know....But fate had other ideas. I got completely bamboozled by the 2 markers and could not attempt even one.
So finally went to the 1 markers. Thankfully, there were few that i could do and once 40 min were up, I decided enough is enough, jitna kiya so kiya, lets move on now.
Finally arrived at Quants. Again went straight away for the 2 markers and here finally I had a smile on my face. The section which was supposed to be my nemesis finally got me smiling. I spotted few easy 2 markers and went ahead with them. After that, went to the 1 markers and here again there were few dollies waiting to be devoured
The bell rang and that was the end. I felt pretty happy coz I had done about 20 marks in maths which I knew was good enough to carry me home. Only DI was a disappointment.
Results 2004: CAT and others
I checked the GD/PI calls first and saw that IIMB had called me. My joy knew no bounds and I was sure my percentile would be 99+. But then reality stuck. My CAT result was sort of a mini shock to me. It read:
QA: 89.3
DI: 91.xx
VA:96
Net: 96.3
Nothing great. QA shocked me coz I was expecting a homerun here. At this percentile, I was surprised how IIMB called me. My only other GD/PI call was VGSOM, with a JMET rank of 886.
I wont go into the details of the GD/PI here. In the end, I did not convert IIMB but got though VGSOM.
I dont know why, even though I missed all the top colleges in taking CAT scores, I was very happy and pleased with myself for clearing VGSOM. I thought that finally I will get an IIT tag. After all, IIT Kgp is indeed a very good college. I paid the fees, went on a holiday, told my relatives about my success and was getting ready to quit my job when suddenly my life changed.
My life changes....a 180 degree turn !!!
I had seen this only in films. I had heard about it only from others. It was something I never expected would happen to me.
There are times in life when one single meeting with someone for a short span of time completely revolutionizes ur life, changes ur outlook and awakens you to a new reality, new dreams. I never knew this would happen to me personally.
Just days before leaving my job, I was loitering around on FC road
, when suddenly I thought lets go to my coaching insti, tell them the good news about VGSOM and thank them for all they have done for me. I went in and met the same prof there who was my mentor during CAT prep. I told him about my success/decision and expected a hug and celebrations from him. To my utter surprise, all I got from him was a wry smile and concern written all over his face. He signalled me to sit down.And for the next 1 hour, I had a discussion with him that, I can now say confidently, changed my entire life !!! He told me that he personally feels I have the potential to make it to the IIMs, so why am I compromising. No doubt VGSOM was a good college, but lets face it, IIMs are different league. He said he knows me well enough to see an IIM material in me. One attempt at CAT is nothing to give it all up. Plus, I have a great job and I would only gain in experience. Theres nothing I will lose by giving CAT another shot. And worst come worst, I still would have the potential to convert VGSOM again, if nothing better happens. :)
It was an awakening. I dont know why was I happy and comfortable with my so called success and never thought of giving the IIMs another shot. But now it dawned on me that what he said makes a lot of sense.
I reached home and summoned my parents for a talk. I explained them the entire thing and told them I intend to take CAT again, dropping my VGSOM admission offer. My mom nearly fell off her chair.
But both mom and dad also understood that my reasoning is good enough and if I am ready to slog it out for another year and aim for the best, they have no problems. It was a heart to heart chat with my parents and they supported me fully.In the next few days, I sent my regret letter to VGSOMand had to forfeit an amount nearing Rs 30,000 ..Only because of my late decision of not joining.
And so started another year of toil, in a quest for the best, with the added burden of having forfeited an admission offer from a pretty good college.
Continued in next post....