🐈 CAT Exam 2020-21 Preparation, Exam Dates, Results & Discussion – PaGaLGuY (Part 1)

[ramon21 (Frustrated GEM)]

imi delhi or baby iims for finance?

• poll check
• IMI Delhi pgdm core
• Baby IIMs

[sagarsingh24 (Sagar Singh)]

IIMA & IIMB converted. If there is any ..... group, please add me (9899373008) for discussion.

[sahilbh]

Is there any reliable b school ranking??

[sourabh412]

Can anyone help Bba fresher CAT was good but could not clear interviews now thinking to retake CAT with work ex But can't find a job anywhere everyone is saying that you should have prior work ex also college can't give placements

[kartikey_97]

Cat 2019 Aspirant X/XII/Grad- 85.5/61/65 Scored 88%ile in 2018. Planning to appear again. Graduating in 2019. Which colleges would be in my reach keeping in mind of my poor acads, and how much %ile is required to get in any of the top 15 colleges.

[eshanjaiswal22]

Which would be better?

• IIFT K
• IIM Trichy/Ranchi

[putrevu894]

Hi sir, Please suggestt on below. 95.43- overall. Varc-90.27 DILR - 74.97 QA - 98.51 Profile: GEM X - 86.67 XII - 88.10 B.tech - 80.00 Work experience -31 months by March 1st. Can I consider NTPC School of business , is it good. Cannot find placement statistics online

[linwoo343 (Akshay A)]

?

• IIM-K
• SJMSOM
• NITIE

[swap_iimsbp (Swapnil Jaiswal)]

Greetings from PR and Media Committee of IIM Sambalpur! 

We believe that you may have many questions about IIM Sambalpur and wish to ask us in person. Here's the opportunity!

We are hosting "City meet" in different cities across India on 19th of May. If you wish to meet us and will be able to make it, please fill this form at the earliest.

More details will be communicated via Whatsapp. Looking forward to meet you soon.

Form : https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDRMCzWrhWoIejTgrHKOvDGyqCQe8Ms-h27XjdyC29DUGCEw/viewform?usp=sf_link

[ravikant123 (Durga Satapathy)]

Hello everyone. My name is Durga Madhab Satapathy. I've been an inconsistent member at PG for the last 5 years. But the one thing that kept me pushing through my 4 attempts was stories of people and how they overcame their obstacles to achieve their dreams. I wanted to convert a Top 10 B School at any cost. This is the story of my pursuit of an MBA. This is not your typical story or redemption and its going to be quite long. So, my apologies to all who thought they would be reading a short write up. On a lighter note take it as a RC passage for CAT . The Failure – Having high expectations and not working hard to achieve your goals is a sure shot way to failure. I learned it the hard way. After getting decent marks in 10th , I got complacent and followed the pack in preparing for JEE. Without even weighing the options or what I had interests in, it was science and JEE for me. The pressure got to me. And from a 93% in 10th I fell to a 79.80% in 12th. I thought that was to be my lowest moment in life. But I still had some of that ego left. I took a year off and prepared yet again for JEE, this time failing even more badly. With time I’ve realised I never even once worked hard during those 3 years. I thought I was meant to go to a premier college and I was dead wrong. I still remember the night the results came and I didn’t make it to any of the colleges I wished on. I cried the whole night ,my mother’s words, “What will I tell to the neighbors” haunting me. Lastly I took admission at VSSUT. The Change and the beginning – VSSUT was a phase of my life where I truly changed as a person. VSSUT had a culture of ragging. Most of my friends from school were my seniors at VSSUT, and even though the ragging sessions were meant to be interactive and create bonds for life , I felt humiliated, guilty and sick. I felt as if I didn’t deserve to exist. The daily torture got to me and I decided to immerse myself in studies. When my friends were busy experimenting with beers and other “stuff” I was busy slogging it off. Things changed but I didn’t. I had only one goal make my parents proud whatever be the costs and continued my hard-work. I nearly topped my first year and changed my branch to Mechanical , the best branch at VSSUT. And it was in my 3rd year of Engineering when I decided I wanted to go for an MBA. 2 States had released back then. The red bricks of WIMWI and Alia Bhatt were enough to motivate me to study hard again for MBA entrance exams. I knew I couldn’t make it to the holy Trinity with my 12th scores and my intellect , but XL was possible. And so began the love affair. I started off with a CL summer course with my seniors of Burla. I easily used to be a 99%iler in VA but QA and DI LR were my Achilles heel. It was here at CL that I met Bharti ma’am. A person who has always believed in me and pushed me. She believed I belonged to a top B School. That I was meant for greater things. And this belief is very important friends, because believe me you’ll have a bad mock, a bad week and much more but having someone believe and have faith on you and take you miles. First Attempt , 2015 – I gave mocks religiously. IMS and CL mocks along with my college IT cell were my refuge for most of my final year. It was here that I became friends with Archit and Mitesh. We pushed each other and fought to better the other. Despite getting placed at Hindalco, I knew MBA was my calling. My favorite section was VA. I regularly scored 99+ in Mocks and loved reading RCs and solving them. DI LR and QA were painful as always but I was improving. But things seldom work out. I was going through a personal shit-storm (my fault) when I gave CAT 2015. I wasn’t at my best but I believed I had done Decent enough in my weakest sections of QA and DI LR. Fast forward to result day , QA 97.** , DI LR 98.** , VA 88.** OA 95.64%. Okay , so my strongest section took me down. I felt low but had the faith that I’ll come back stronger. In between my mom had a minor surgery. The doctors said it was nothing serious and only a cyst. That there was no danger of the “C” word. We believed them on face value. I joined Hindalco and began my corporate life. Second Attempt 2016– I was finding it tough to balance my work life and studies but, I kept going at it. I knew what my dreams were. But in October 2016 , a month before CAT , my family was dealt with a blow that would change our lives forever. My mother was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. The doctor who had performed the surgery a year early had screwed up and now it was back with a vengeance. My mother went to Pune and underwent treatment there with my brother in law and sister helping her through everything. And I was far away in Lapanga. These were the worst 2 months of my life. Far away from my family unable to help or do anything for my mother .But as they say , in the darkest you find the brightest stars. At Hindalco , I met a young man whom I always refer to as Naidu. He helped me become pragmatic. He didn’t give me false hopes but helped me understand what I needed to do. What I actually could do and why I felt guilty. Those sessions helped me through this terrible phase of my life and for that he’ll always be my sensei . I gave the exam and I knew I had bombed it. The results read as follows VA 99.94% , DI LR 67.** , QA 97.** OA 98.2. I never had felt so low in my life. With everything that was happening with my mom and the way she was fighting with cancer I really wanted to perform to my standards and give her something to cheer for. Sadly I couldn’t. The next few nights , my pillow continued to be wet with tears, thinking about my mom and how I had let her down again. But then life goes on. I requested Corporate HR as to if I could have Taloja Mumbai in order to help my sister with my mother’s treatment and Corporate helped me. I was treated with abuses from Mumbaikars (fellow GETs as well as Union guys, for whom I was a noob) who believed I had stole their seat in Mumbai and their plant ,but my family always will come first for me. I went to Taloja and started my role. On weekends I used to travel to Pune and be there with my mother. The side effects of Chemo were visible on mom. She had lost her hair, she was always irritated and cross with us and she was weak. My sister and brother in law were so brilliant in helping my mom cope , that recovered in no time. The levels had dropped to normal levels. My brother in law and sister had decided to go to Australia for better opportunities for their careers. And so my mother went back home and they to Australia. I was left all alone in Mumbai.. Third Attempt 2017- Everyone says third time’s the charm. Well I couldn’t find of a better example of proving them wrong. I was working with Unions and had been given the role of an OPS manager at Hindalco. The work was tough and demanding , but I loved it. I used to be available for calls and developed a geniune interest for OPS here only. My immediate and reporting managers helped me through the process and settle in at Hindalco. But as I had said before good things seldom last. Both of them were transferred and my new managers were rather difficult to work with. Preparing for CAT while working for them was very tough , but in the 15 SIMCATs that I took I had secured 99+ scores in 8 of them and was pretty confident about a good show despite all the shit at work. But CAT is not about how much you got in mocks or how many sectionals you ace, its about one day , the D day. CAT 2017 turned out to be a disaster ,OA 88.2%. I went numb. I didn’t know what to do. I beagn questioning myself and my abilities. It was here that I finding one of my best friends in Sumit. He helped me understand that an exam is not everything. That I had to take things easily. That not everything is black and white and that I should stand up for myself. He’s one the most geniune and helpful person you can find. He changed the way I think and go about in my life. But MBA was still a dream. Meanwhile back at home , mom wasn’t keeping well. She had some issues and my father is a diabetic. So , I thought and decided that it was time for me to quit Hindalco. That even though I loved my job, my parents and their health we’re my priority and I could prepare for MBA exams as well As a parting gift my manager decided to change my ratings and give me a Far Below rating from a EE rating so that I wouldn’t be eligible to a single rupee of my bonus. Even though I had won an award from the MD of Hindalco , a couple of other awards and had done everything that had been asked of me , he decided that I wasn’t worth it. He decided to take away my hard earned money out of spite, money I could have really used under the circumstances. Last attempt 2018– with a heavy heart I bid adieu to my friends and Hindalco. I returned home and started preparing alongside taking care of my parents. I prepared with all my heart and always believed that I was meant for a top 10 B school. During this phase I became friends with Moinack and Aryan. Two of my fellow competitors and geniune human beings. My mocks were going decently and I was hovering in the 98-99 range. I was hoping against hope to score a 99+ in CAT on my final attempt. In this season I first gave NMAT , ended up with 221. D Day came and I changed my strategy after talking with people from 1st slot knowing that QA was comparatively tougher than past years. After the exam , I knew I hadn’t given my best. A week later , I sailed through IIFT. In between preparing for XLRI, my mother had started complaining a bit about her health and how she wasn’t feeling a 100% but we disregarded it and I continued with my prep. I did more than decently in XAT and then we decided to go for my mother’s checkup. A couple days after , it was just another day for us, my IIFT results were announced I was shortlisted for IIFT with 99.879% and we were over the moon . Later in the evening my mother’s test reports came back. Her cancer had returned. The next couple of days were among the most miserable of my life. Our whole family was distraught. My mother inconsable and all of us at a loss of words. We as a family decided to fight with this disease as a family and my brother in law flew down from Sydney for the same. My mother spent days and nights crying and cursing herself for ruining her children’s lives. No matter what we told it didn’t matter to her. We went to Pune and started with her chemo sessions again. She has been responding better than most. She’s doing well currently and her levels are better than ever. In between this upheavel NM released the dates and I had my interview scheduled a couple of days after my mom’s chemo session. Thankfully I had Sarthak Rout to fall back on. He helped me with clothes and shoes for NM. I did well and returned home where we would continue my mother’s treatment. A somewhat happy end – 4 months down the line, my mother’s health is stable and well, despite chemo making her system weak. She still fights everyday for herself. I carved time out between her treatment and gave my interviews. In the limited preparation and time that I managed ,I converted NM, XL HRM and IIFT D till now. Each time I convert a college my mom is the one who’s more jubilant and happy than me. She wants to see me succeed and happy. But how can I tell her , how can I make her see that everything I’ve done , I have or will have is for her. She’s the only one that has ever mattered. That she’s my everything. Parting gyan – I’ve been a medicore student for most of my life. But I always had faith in my abilities. That one day I’ll be at a top 10 B School. That one day I’ll make my parents and sister proud. For that I traded partying, traveling and wasting time. Every day or moment that I got I tried to get better. Failure or settling for a lower tier B School was never an option for me. I still remember the day I opened pagalguy and read posts on , ” All I wanted to talk about CAT”. I remember tears trickling down my face when I saw people’s hardwork finally bearing results. I wanted to write something that tells you to not give up. That to keep believing in yourselves and keep working at it, till you achieve your dreams. Pagalguy has been a place where people with wild dreams come and find people with similar wild dreams. You compete and make friends for lifetime. My dear puys, my watch is over now its up to you now . Never give up and all the best for CAT 2019 .

[vaibh001]

please comment reason also

• dse
• iit roorkee
• poll check

[crazygenius (Pranav Arora)]

An ST in my college bought a super expensive car without having to work hard for a single day in his life. Was reading about reservation when I came to know that there is no f**king way to get your caste changed. You can get USA citizenship by marriage but your cast is determined by your father's cast for life. So, if a general person marries an ST, his/her cast will still be general till death. You cant become a member of the lower castes no matter what. What is worse is that even your son/daughter has to stay general all their lives if you stay in India even if you marry a ST girl. But, general girls again have the option to let their children become lower castes if the decide to marry a guy with reservation. So, your children again have to die competing for those IIT, IIM seats if you stay in this country with legal discrimination. Awesome!

[dozer001 (The Accidental CAT guy)]

Prove me wrong.

[kritisingh]

In how much time is a student entitled to get the refunded amount after informing the college about the withdrawal of admission as per the UGC guidelines? I had mailed for the withdrawal of admission to IBS on 2nd April and when I asked the counselor about the expected date, he said that it will be done by the end of May

[ayushman_cat (Ayushman Banerjee)]

Give Reasons also.

• IIM Nagpur
• XIMB BM

[monty666]

Hey guys! I could really use your inputs on something. I’m at crossroads here. Please read before voting! Please comment if you need more details or could add value to my predicament (would really appreciate inputs from PG legends)

My profile:
10/12/BBA(NMIMS): 75/82/71(2.9 gpa)
Almost 3 years of experience in consulting for Shared services
Offer from IMT-G (full time) with a CAT score of 97%ile (dilr:76, so didn’t get iim calls).
Recently took GMAT and scored 740

Goals:
5 year: Pursue CFA/FRM starting this year and look for a career in management consulting.
20-year: manage my own business

Other Considerations:

1. Resigned from my current job. But I have other offers with a appreciable hike. 2. Developed a professional network so job-hunting post-MBA would hopefully not be an issue
2. Gave up coveted admission offers last year in hopes of scoring better in cat this season (so taking a drop for CAT is not an option)
3. MBA abroad averages 5-7 years. on the higher side with my academic profile
4. No gap in profile
5. Would prefer to eventually come back to India

My options (select 1 or 2):

1. Take a leap of faith and join the college.
2. Not join the college and work for another year or two before applying abroad/exec MBA.

• 1
• 2

[queenofthenorth]

https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-IIM-interview-like-If-you-have-had-an-IIM-interview-what-is-your-profile-i-e-academic-record-CAT-percentile-etc/answer/Ruchika-Agrawal-19?ch=3&share=ac9ba7b2&srid=usOmt

[dubeyjhanvi (jhanvi dubey)]

Which one to choose?

• SJMSOM
• NITIE

[nimmishaji20]

Which is better for Finance?

• IMT GHAZIABAD
• IIT MADRAS (DoMS)

[sugoidesune]

Since the placement scenario of both SJMSOM and IIM K is similar, which college should one opt for?

• SJMSOM - IIT Bombay
• IIM Kozhikode