“Hey, I can’t think of getting admission in IIM A or B or C. They are way above my league.” said these words to my friend when asked about my plans for CAT. And today i sit in front of my laptop writing this article after straight forward rejections from top IIMs.
While i was busying making money in my job, i was sparing some time for MBA prep also. But i started preparing seriously for CAT in june last year when i was transferred to a remote location. Then i realized it is now or never. So i quit my job without any second thought and stayed in PG for another 5 months burning midnight oil just to tame the mighty CAT. For those who haven’t had the experience of leaving the job and preparing, i must tell you that it is the hardest thing one can ever imagine to do in one’s life i.e to stay at abode all day along and do nothing but study. Somehow i kept myself calm and focused during these 5 months because u tend to get frustrated sitting all day at your domicile and watching your peers go to job. But i kept my nerve because stakes were really high at that time.
I remember after CAT, i was assure of my good attempt in Maths but was little skeptical about Verbal part. I attempted 21 in Maths with more than 90% accuracy and 26 in verbal (accuracy = unpredicatble). And then a shocker. I got 99.86 percentile in CAT 2013. I was overwhelmed with joy and happiness not for me but for my parents. They were so proud of me and my dad was undubitable that i am gonna get into either of top 3 IIMs and he even started telling his peers that i am going to IIM Ahmedabad for sure. At that point of time, I knew that pressure has been double folded this time and now i have to give my 200% for this once in life opportunity.
Then i moved to Delhi for GD/PI coaching. I used to stay all alone and prepare for GD/PI. And you people all know that for GD/PI prep you cant have a precise syllabus. You just have to get through your respective background’s subjects because u just cant predict what would come to you in your PIs. Staying alone for last 8 months just for getting into a good IIM wasn’t easy for me at all. Watching your friends go to work make u doubt yourself that why i couldn’t do it along my job. But that is a different story about why did i leave my job.
And finally Interview season began for me and guess what happened at my first interview. I was rejected after the first round in SP Jain just because i spoke anti congress. Ohh lord, i was dejected and upset after the results. You all might agree with me that whether u want to join or not, rejections always hurt. But one positive i took from that interview is that never say anything negative about anyone even if you feel so and don’t be effing honest. I thought i would be honest and it is the best policy. But for those people who are preparing for CAT 2014, portray yourself as someone who is pro Weaker section and pro social work. when i say pro weaker section, i mean to say that u have to favor the reservations even if u abhor them from the bottom of your heart. Simply, you have to fake in your interview sessions.
And the bad luck continued even after SP Jain rejection. Albeit after a nice PI in SIBM, i was waitlisted though converted SCMHRD. And then arrived the real tests. First went through IIMC , then IIMA and finally IIMB. And believe me, except A all other interviews were decent with me explaining most of the things asked. In IIMC, I was able to decipher all maths questions. But it was more of a psychometric test with questions like what do u think we all teach , what do u think if it is disadvantageous to be the last person to be interviewed etc. and at that time, don’t try to be honest like i did by saying ya my first thought was like i should have been on the top of the list …blah blah! Try to give the ideal answer like no that would be question on your selection procedure. And you know why you should give this answer because they want to listen this and if u try to be honest, they would chuck you out saying that you are a negative person. How on earth just one instance prove someone to be a pessimistic person. Never mind, in IIMA i was asked about Fluid mechanics because i had read that subject in my third semester. But i am an electrical engineer, that didn’t come in the picture. I mean i studied something in 2009 and that too not of my stream and you expect someone to remember that even after 6 years. God knows what these respected profs expect out of an MBA graduate. And in IIMB, just because i had done fashion show in my college once, all of a sudden whole conversation was on my personal life and how many GFs i had and blah. In all these sessions, i felt like a culprit being interrogated for a crime of getting a good decent percentile but not like a student. I had hopes from IIMC and IIML in which i had a good GD and PI, but to add salt to the wound, first rejected by B then A then C and yesterday by L.
And here i sit to pen down my dejection and despair and to share my thoughts with those who i think had gone through the same.