i wud agree a bit wid rajesh.. but not totally.. Though CAT is a basic test, but the funda's are high, keeping in mnd the competition. May be u'll find the questions pretty easy as of one's standard but the time n strategy factors is wat one needs to practise on.
I will even stress upon minimum preparation of CAT, even i hardly prepared anythn, just went thru da basic quant techs before da test. But i scored a decent 90 percentile. But then ur preparation strategy will depend on u. One needs to identify where is one lackin or going strong..
Anyways all the best ppl
Arko
IMT- Nagpur
Well here is my take on CAT.
First time I appeared for CAT was 2006. Boozed big time the night prior to it. Was not serious at all & was appearing just for the heck of it. Still managed 95%ile. This boosted my morale for taking it seriously next time around. This helped me crack it next time i.e. 2007.
Got a lone call from IIMK and converted it. Here I am at IIMK.
My only advice to all CAT aispirants is that the day you start believing that you can make it to IIMs, 70% of the battle is won. Do not let that spirit die out at any moment, even if you score badly in mock CATs n all. Remember it is the boxing day that matters not the mock CATs.
Once you have that spirit, all that matters is your regularity. Believe me the most important factor is how you see yourself and not how you see CAT.
Wishing you success
Cheers
Mine is a different story.I was fiercely against CAT in my schooldays(with no specific reason,I didn't even know what CAT comprised or what an MBA carriculum demands).Maybe my inherent tendency to go against the norms led me to do so.Saw all my established cousins giving this CAT and walking out champs after two years.I had this antipathy for CAT till my college placements(I'm an engineer).We started to prepare jointly from November,our placements were in March 2007.I was amazed to find that I was much ahead of my friends in "apti",but when it came to technical,the three years of volleyball and football life took its toll.My friends knew so much and I was not even a novice in front of them.So I strengthened my strengths----apti and H.R.(by god's grace i can talk well).In the process of doing this apti stuff I rediscovered my love with basic maths and di/lr and grammar and rc.I got placed in the first company CTS but I realised I can't survive in the technoligal giants with just my nice smile,nicer words and love for apti.It was a fine monday,I found my friend Suhan sitting on the last bench and pondering over a fat book(which I later found out to be Arun Sharma Quant).I asked him what the matter was?He showed three sums of number system which he has got stuck with.It took me ten minutes to solve two of them and i couldn't do the third one too.He said said a polite "thanks".Later I thought if Suhan,who was preparing for CAT for 8 long months could not do two sums which I could do in 10 minutes,so why not try my hand at CAT?It was more like a "LET'S CHECK IT OUT" thing,not my dream.I got enrolled in IMS for 2008,filled up the form and gave CAT 2007 with just a week's training at the institute.I had attempted 12 questions in QA,12 in English and 11 in DI/LR.Everyone in the hall said after the exam they had attempted more than 16(some even said 25)So I was sure I would get maximum 60 percentile.On the day of the result,Suhan gave me the number where we had to send send the sms to know our results(I was least bothered to know even that as I was sure of my fate).To my utter surprise I managed 95 percentile DI being my flop show with just a meagre 78.That boosted my confidence and made me believe in myself and here I am in 2008,raring to go with full preparation at the toughest examination of the country,the gateway to my dreams.
Hi ,
Iv seen a lot of deliberations on Mock cats on PG.....nd all i wanna say is that put dismal performances, if any , in the mockcats , behind you and maintain a positive frame of mind . Generally positive deviations are seen between Mock cat and actual cat scores , and hence just remain confident and spend this one week wisely .
I had last time joined Time and IMS test series and my scores at IMS fluctuated between 81 - 99.2 percentile with a average of around 92 percentile .Time was mind-boggling . there my percentiles varied from 65 - 96 percentile with a average of around 84 .
My final cat percentile was 97.2 and also cleared cutoffs for FMS , IIFT , Narsee Monjee .
My final performances were much better than what my mock cat scores suggested and I have noticed the same with my friends . So I would again re-itirate that just stay confident and aim high .
ALL THE BEST
ANUJ NANGIA
FMS - MBA (M.S) 2008-2010
Hie,
Posting on PG after many months...have been dormant for last 15 months....but the thanks awarded to me have tripled....so probably my posts are still read! :)
Dono how many of you still remember me....I started the thread 'Concepts...total fundas!!!!' around 18 months back and became an occassional visitor just after three months of very active participation. Those three were very exciting months when I used to stay awake till early morning to put my concepts on the thread and solve the QQAD before sleeping.
I then got busy with my GMAT preparation. Then, applications. When I converted few big calls, had a surprise of getting a 100% schol in one of the decent US universities and knew that am gonna join the same. Hence, I got busy with having more savings and started working a lot to avoid taking any loan. Also worked on my long term goals and devised a correspondence course for GMAT. Then I got busy with preparing the study material of a US institute....then the joining date of MBA arrived and caught my flight almost running after it....then got busy with the MBA...in the process, one of my very dear activity suffered...posting on PG!! I cannot count number of requests I got to include P&C;, Probability in my thread...but just didnt get the time.
I owe an apology to everybody who anticipated my posts but couldn't find. Yes, I worked for three different organizations in three different capacities during last six months before my MBA started....yes, I am handling the life in a B school while working on my venture back home....and missing my country...still...I believe that I could have posted the concepts if I could have managed my time better.
After three months in the B school....am experiencing a great feeling...have clear goals in life as my passion and profession seem to be same....and it's a blissful state to be in....and what time can be better to make a come back to PG...than the CAT eve... :)
So now, let's talk about CAT. I gave mine in 2005. I did not prepare much and would say that I was lucky to get into IIM-L. The priorities were different....I wanted to defend the frontiers of the nation during the five most energetic years of my life...I topped Combined Defence Services...and joined the Short Service Commission. Destiny had something else in store as there was a technical problem during the training period and I chose the correct-yet-difficult path of quitting Army.
By the time I came back, next year's CAT forms were gone...I took up a job with one of the leading CAT prep institutes, where I had worked part-time previously and realized that I liked the work and the same was appreciated by others. Started taking my classes to a larger audience by posting on pagalguy....I made a team of geniuses and made as many friends in three months as people aspire to, in a lifetime...
marijuana_user, junoonmba, rockeezee, vyomb, mohit_ranka, vineet.nitd, gk1, sumi, rajat_nda, our great moderator rmbt....are only few to name....I hope you guys are reading it!!....It's always been an honor to be with you guys and I miss the old days...
The season is on...there will be so many entrance tests, interviews, GDs....it's a competitive world where titans would clash...
I often wonder how I made into an IIM when I wanted to get into Army and an CAT was a back up (with all due respect to the test that I LOVE so much...) and a success meant that it was going to be even more difficult to convince my parents for my decision to join the Indian Army.
The answer is very clear...I went to take my CAT with a nothing to lose spirit...I went in...to enjoy those 120 minutes...puys...you are even more lucky to have 30 extra minutes to enjoy....
It's going to be a very interesting test...something that no earlier CAT or mock-CAT has served...it's going to be a feast....so guys...feast!! If you're still studying...you're commiting a mistake...it's not a test of knowledge...it's a test of application....if you say, 'let me revise formulas'...there is no need...(unless you dont remember volume of a sphere...)...there are no formulas in CAT....you gotto play with numbers and words...so have a fresh brain....watch 'Dostana' and if you fear that it may suck, get DVD of a movie you love and watch it. Do anything that refreshes you....sleep well for 8-9 hours....and enjoy the CAT...
I wrote my CAT in the classroom for VI standard students. I cribbed for the small seats, but only for few minutes- as I learnt the lesson of my life soon....have shared it earlier on PG, wish to do so again...
A student's poster read the following...
Today is going to be a wonderful day....
Thank you god, for showing me this beautiful day...
I will do one great work....
One good thing is going to happen to me....
I will make one person smile...
I can get one step closer to my dream...
I can do more than what I think I am capable of...
Bonds, fighters, and underdogs....remember the last one...." I can do more than what I think I am capable of..."
So puys....go ahead....the most beautiful exam that world has ever witnessed, is waiting for you.....feast!!....not everybody is so lucky....sitting in Boston, am missing the kick...!!
And remember....
"I can do more than what I think I am capable of..."
All the best!!!!
Thanks for all the love and affection!!
Maxximus!!
Posting on PG after many months...have been dormant for last 15 months....but the thanks awarded to me have tripled....so probably my posts are still read! :)
Dono how many of you still remember me....I started the thread 'Concepts...total fundas!!!!' around 18 months back and became an occassional visitor just after three months of very active participation. Those three were very exciting months when I used to stay awake till early morning to put my concepts on the thread and solve the QQAD before sleeping.
I then got busy with my GMAT preparation. Then, applications. When I converted few big calls, had a surprise of getting a 100% schol in one of the decent US universities and knew that am gonna join the same. Hence, I got busy with having more savings and started working a lot to avoid taking any loan. Also worked on my long term goals and devised a correspondence course for GMAT. Then I got busy with preparing the study material of a US institute....then the joining date of MBA arrived and caught my flight almost running after it....then got busy with the MBA...in the process, one of my very dear activity suffered...posting on PG!! I cannot count number of requests I got to include P&C;, Probability in my thread...but just didnt get the time.
I owe an apology to everybody who anticipated my posts but couldn't find. Yes, I worked for three different organizations in three different capacities during last six months before my MBA started....yes, I am handling the life in a B school while working on my venture back home....and missing my country...still...I believe that I could have posted the concepts if I could have managed my time better.
After three months in the B school....am experiencing a great feeling...have clear goals in life as my passion and profession seem to be same....and it's a blissful state to be in....and what time can be better to make a come back to PG...than the CAT eve... :)
So now, let's talk about CAT. I gave mine in 2005. I did not prepare much and would say that I was lucky to get into IIM-L. The priorities were different....I wanted to defend the frontiers of the nation during the five most energetic years of my life...I topped Combined Defence Services...and joined the Short Service Commission. Destiny had something else in store as there was a technical problem during the training period and I chose the correct-yet-difficult path of quitting Army.
By the time I came back, next year's CAT forms were gone...I took up a job with one of the leading CAT prep institutes, where I had worked part-time previously and realized that I liked the work and the same was appreciated by others. Started taking my classes to a larger audience by posting on pagalguy....I made a team of geniuses and made as many friends in three months as people aspire to, in a lifetime...
marijuana_user, junoonmba, rockeezee, vyomb, mohit_ranka, vineet.nitd, gk1, sumi, rajat_nda, our great moderator rmbt....are only few to name....I hope you guys are reading it!!....It's always been an honor to be with you guys and I miss the old days...
The season is on...there will be so many entrance tests, interviews, GDs....it's a competitive world where titans would clash...
I often wonder how I made into an IIM when I wanted to get into Army and an CAT was a back up (with all due respect to the test that I LOVE so much...) and a success meant that it was going to be even more difficult to convince my parents for my decision to join the Indian Army.
The answer is very clear...I went to take my CAT with a nothing to lose spirit...I went in...to enjoy those 120 minutes...puys...you are even more lucky to have 30 extra minutes to enjoy....
It's going to be a very interesting test...something that no earlier CAT or mock-CAT has served...it's going to be a feast....so guys...feast!! If you're still studying...you're commiting a mistake...it's not a test of knowledge...it's a test of application....if you say, 'let me revise formulas'...there is no need...(unless you dont remember volume of a sphere...)...there are no formulas in CAT....you gotto play with numbers and words...so have a fresh brain....watch 'Dostana' and if you fear that it may suck, get DVD of a movie you love and watch it. Do anything that refreshes you....sleep well for 8-9 hours....and enjoy the CAT...
I wrote my CAT in the classroom for VI standard students. I cribbed for the small seats, but only for few minutes- as I learnt the lesson of my life soon....have shared it earlier on PG, wish to do so again...
A student's poster read the following...
Today is going to be a wonderful day....
Thank you god, for showing me this beautiful day...
I will do one great work....
One good thing is going to happen to me....
I will make one person smile...
I can get one step closer to my dream...
I can do more than what I think I am capable of...
Bonds, fighters, and underdogs....remember the last one...." I can do more than what I think I am capable of..."
So puys....go ahead....the most beautiful exam that world has ever witnessed, is waiting for you.....feast!!....not everybody is so lucky....sitting in Boston, am missing the kick...!!
And remember....
"I can do more than what I think I am capable of..."
All the best!!!!
Thanks for all the love and affection!!
Maxximus!!
16th November,2008.
For the moments that Ive lived till now,there was never an important Sunday more then this one in my life. Dreams of hundred nights,and that one chance to make it all come true,died within 150 minutes of struggle with the last generation of cat questions on the paper .it was drizzling in bhubaneswar when I woke up early in the morning around 6,thats what I thought of the time to be,but the fear,nervousness anxiety of mind had made me open my eyes at 4,calming myself down I went under the blanket telling to myself that its just another exam that u r goin to appearbut was that true??no,it wasnt,it might be an exam but it meant loads to me,for my parents,for everything that I wanted to achieve in life..formulaes were appearing in the darkness of the brain in my so called sleep, as the earth revolved,which lead the hour hand to move towards the north-western direction of the dial,strike 10,me standing in front of a small school,B.J.E.N high school,bhubaneswar.i didnt care for what was it really known as,nervous like a wet baby squirrel,I reached for the classroom which had been allotted to me.i had practiced hard for around 5 months,solvin aptitude questions which were always my nightmares,right from the start of my skuldays..my verbal part,well didnt concentrate much on that during my prepartions session,I thought English to be really my cup of tea/coffee..watever u prefer to read/drink..who knew the paper was all set to screw me down out der evenDI..well i couldnt ve ruined my dreams more better,all thankz to the section which I ignored the most(DI)..studyin chemical engg(final year),in a remote place of orissa(parlakhemundi) in a private engg college(JITM),with access to limited resources for CAT preparation,surrounded by guys for whom the word CAT,reflects billi,made things more difficult for me..but I had no excuse to make,I had to make it the very 1st attempt itself,harshad karandikars words kept echoin in my ears,he talked to me thru gtalk just the previous nite,for now is the time where u need to say that u r gud in all those 3 sections,the distance between u and ur dream is just U,its just u who can do it,the fight is between u and you,and not those many that sit with u for those 150 minutes.i recalled every positive aspects of me,I was the chemical topper(yeaa I do top it every year,with 13 students),I made into infosys in my very 1st attemptand ..hh ..and what else....hhhhh y had I to take them as my +ve aspects just before an xam were u deal with basic school mathematics(just telling to make things chillout..:( ),ur understanding,ur grasping power of wat u read,analyze datas and wat u perceive out of themy didnt I think of my mock percentileswell u guessed it right,I never enrolled for a coaching classes mock series,the reason I reside just next to the hill,where naxalites play with their guns ,yeaa I watched them oncethe nearest city was berhampur(unfortunately,it still is,GOD,wen m I gona get out of dis place?) (both TIMES&IMS; operate),I culdnt travel every Sunday morning a distance of 140km,tuk 4-5 hrs, for a mock.i had got AIMCATS 07,from a friend of mine,but culdnt attempt much of them,becoz my preparation of 6 months,from those TIMES material that I had borrowed never made me confident enough to attempt them,I used to pull one mock out,read those quant question and put it back in ..i used to tell myself,guess the time hasnt come yet for me to appear a mock,I need to clear my basics more better...and most probably my attempts to clear my basics(I dnt know if its clear even rite now or not,if had it been clear I must ve written something else under some other named forum this present moment) tuk me more then 4 months,one mornin of late October I realize that I need to get my hand onto those mocks,bravely,the next morning I somehow gather all courage to attempt my first mock,it was SIMCAT-1 downloaded from esnips..well gave it and disaster stuck,blow,the score said that all my 5 months of preparation was worth cow-dung,i cudnt really find out exactly where I landed(meant to say in terms of percentiles),but I knew I was really pathetic in quants,DI made me shiver every nite from then on,VA yess I was gud at thatbut thats compared to MY ability to solve DI&quants;(thats what cat 2008 paper made me feel,I wasnt gud at VA either)..it tuk me around 2-3days to make myself believe that those sacrifices(though small) that I ve made,toiled for my dream(woked up every morning at 4 to study for CAT),wnt go waste,I wuld play it safe,wuld crack CAT-08 gud..gatherin all my scattered courage particles I appeared for one of the AIMCATs 07(guess it was M-1058007) the result was the same,it gave me a severe beating at the time when I needed to gain more confidence,moreover it slapped me real hard when I scored almost a negative in the DI section,my aggregate 42/300..i asked hades.thehellraiser for the approx percentiles,he told me not to ask (he didnt want me to get underconfident,just before a week of D-day)..but wen he told me that I wuld land up somewhere around 55-65 percentiles,I was like m I really that bad??after so much of hard-work efforts(yess it was just towards quant and English section,never really concentrated on DI) I was scorin really less in quants,and even in va,not upto mark.the next day I planned not to appear for mocks till the D-day,becoz it was makin me more weak..the week rolled by,16th seemed wnt come ever...the last of week I just practiced simple basic sums from times,read my formulaes,tried to do something for DI(actually tried solvin DI sets from mocks)but all in vain,it wasnt in me I felt so.despite all these, my dad( an IIMA alumni) inspired me every second,I wnt let my dreams shatter this easily,m not goin to break down,I promised harshad karandikar that I wuld b his junior the comin summer..but on what basis did I tel him this,there was no time to improve,the time had past by and I had done what I had to,dnt know what went wrong..things that left me the moment the qpaper arrived was the seriousness in crackin it,I went careless for the startin few minutes,40q in VA,I made it my first prey for the morning,pounced on it,but somehow I felt little uneasy with the reading comprehensions,and those sentence correction,just a glance and was like hmmm this is goin 2 b interesting(hell, I meant it to b n a scary way)..moved on with the paper really consciously,20 minutes flew by,I just culd c 3 black dots over my answer sheet(that too not sure of),hhh a drop of sweat on my forehead(the temperature must b around 25, bloody it was so cloudy) had to gain momentum somehow scrambled thru,finally came the reading comprehensions,I chose the one of maya civilization,felt gud after attemptin it..then came to the language passage,cudnt deal with it,thought of tryin the other one,the cent one too made me feel sick,I wasnt concentrating well enuff as I was under pressure,I had to attempt more with just few min more n my allocated time for VAtuk some chances in the one-cent-2-cent pie comprehension..and left the VA part..hh I relied so much on my accuracy..the feelin of losin it all started from the moment I ticked the last answer of the VA section n the answer sheet..a review of a side of the answer sheet told me,that I had made very less attempts,wasnt sure of few,luck dsnt favour me much( I ve my reasons to tell that !!)..and the worst part,it was my strongest section..moved onto quants..with 85 minutes left to go for the dream to shatter(I know its now,partially then)..quants,ahh tried to identify the questions of the topic m most comfortable,TSD,TW,RPV,PPP..:(,not much to b found out.and the ones that were present,I had smashin my head for few minutes to solve it,with my ego hurt and without touchin the circle with the pencil,as if it were really holy for the quants section,I was almost n tears for startin minutes of quant section,still somehow tried solvin the geom.&mensurn; q,I got one correct which I was really assured of,the other one went wrong which I am really assured of now,after lukin the way it shuld ve been solved.20 minutes into the quant paper,I ve made three circles impure,I moved to the q which belonged to the most hated families of maths kingdom,but I found them to b a sitter,the permutn&combn; q,helped me get assured of another answer,then to the sequence question,askin the no of common terms,was happy to solve them,,,and began the terrible time for me..moved from a question to another question tryin to solve somehow just a few more,the steam of my brain was released til then,unable to solve anymore,I broke down with 6 attempts,with such an easy paper at hand(those questions were easy compared to prev cat papers,yeaa I had seen them ..)I culd never make it possible to reach the cut-offs,I took a deep breathe,no,I wuld solve it,I ve worked for itsomehow was able to solve another q,the other 2 were those were I was stuck between 2 options,ohhh shittt..the hour hands job was done,the minute just had to cover 45 minutes,and the game was over for me,with a heavy heart,I tuk my chances and ticked on those 2 q,which I was never sure of,and as most of the time it turns around,both were wrong..m all crushed.and I had to face the section that I never faced,and wen faced gave me the worst of time,I luked at the section,I searched for pie charts,nowherebarcharts,tried to solve it,got 3 q,circled it all black,went to the cut-off set,it was easy did that,and then to the employee ones,solved 2 of them,tried solvin the otherones,and it wasnt just happenin,10 min to go,9 min to go,8 min to go,m still there lukin blank,analyzing,tall house oppsosite the red house,so..(bull shit,I was never gud at such q,but I had to attempt becoz I wasnt sure of wat I had done n those previously attempted sets,and moreover I cudnt predict how much I had to attempt) the bell rang ttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrit wasnt to tell me that I had to return the answer sheet to the invigilator,it was tell to pack my dream inside myself for it cant be true for now,keep it safe till another November Sunday morning comes,I cant witness my dreams turn real this year,another opportunity given to me by my life,another failure added to my life,blew another set of expectations of my parents,raped my confidence (after scorin less in 10th,12th,failin to get n2 any IITs,NITs,which made him move from a city like Mumbai (yea cldnt score well n MHCET even) to orissa,parlakhemundi(got a rank of 6708 n OJEE) just to pursue an engg degree from a not so famous engg collegem struggling with myself to get n2 IIMA..certianly, THE DREAM IS SCATTERED BUT NOT DEAD
THE WAY I DID IT(did succeed n screwin myself up):-
1.before startin with the preparation,the first thing that I asked myself was y I wana do it??and wuld I b able to do it??the answer came out so quick,I m not really interested in wat m studying n chemical engg,which wuld finally make me deal with various operations and process that wuld help a factory to bring out its best-quality end products,moreover I dnt wana work out der morning 8 to nite 9,lukin after those machines,the atmosphere der sucks(I come to know,ve seen my dad,and many work like dat)..want to have a gud standard of living,climb the ladder of the success at an early stage of life where I can exploit all my skills at the fullest,e a gud leader(ve done things that make me tell so) ,ability to motivate others to acquire the goal,make justice to the calibre I possess as soon as possible.the second answer was yess I can make it,CAT,I wuld crack it,quant,yess y cnt I ?I scored 142/150 in 10th maths ,that was a gud thing for me tell it aloud ,wat if I scored 53/100 in 12th..so that really doesnt present the clear idea where I stand I n maths,va is my forte,I am a lover of novels,I like to read anythings thats at my hand,DI well never got acquainted with this section,and still havent,becoz I didnt have much chapters dedicated to it n my skuldays or college days.so there I set a positive frame of mind for cat 2008.
2. began with QUANT part of CAT,got TIMES material (07) borrowed,started preparing from it(last week of july),I used to sit with the materials ,read the q ,did the easy part,but whenever it came to a little twisted ones ,I was real quick at lukin at the solutions,I tried to avoid it ,and fight with the sum,but at the end most of the time,I wasnt able to get the correct ones.lukin at the solutions I was happy that I understood it,and move on.but whenever I used to face the sum after few days I wasnt able to solve it on my own,I had to luk at the solution again,and then recall yess yess I get it,kk I had to do it n dis wayI cud identify that I culdnt solve the sum that was little typical after few days gap,I didnt knew wat to do with them,whenever I tried them and cudnt solve them,I was like shhh I had solved this,know this,but rite now unable to solve them,guess my basics still r not correct,and there I used to start it all over again,which consumed time.i want u puys to SUGGEST ME wat to do n such situations,where do I lag??? I hated chapters like number system,SI-CI annuities,permutn&combn;,probability,functions rite from the beginning,so whenever I practiced I used to avoid these chaptersI guess need to work on them more,becoz that negligence has cost me so much n cat 08,most of the q belonged to them.need ur SUGGESTIONS.i just did sums haphazardly from arun sharma,and TIMES(revised the materials thrice n ll before CATday)..that was my way for quants,I knew wat were my strengths,but didnt knew how cud I improve the chapters that I named
3.never really did prepare for VA,wasnt really religious towards it,somewhere in back of mind it was there that I can do it anytime,anywhere I was confident,and today even,rite dis moment m confident for that..i used to occasionally solve few RC,go thru parajumbles..etc,was quite gud at it,my accuracy was always gud,and but sometimes overconfidence n this section lead me to incorrect answers, more of carelessness,and when I used to make myself aware that I wnt go attemptin everything,I got real conscious and that reduced my pace in cat 08 even.SUGGEST how do I know were to stop from getting careless,and from getting over conscious of wat m solving??
For the moments that Ive lived till now,there was never an important Sunday more then this one in my life. Dreams of hundred nights,and that one chance to make it all come true,died within 150 minutes of struggle with the last generation of cat questions on the paper .it was drizzling in bhubaneswar when I woke up early in the morning around 6,thats what I thought of the time to be,but the fear,nervousness anxiety of mind had made me open my eyes at 4,calming myself down I went under the blanket telling to myself that its just another exam that u r goin to appearbut was that true??no,it wasnt,it might be an exam but it meant loads to me,for my parents,for everything that I wanted to achieve in life..formulaes were appearing in the darkness of the brain in my so called sleep, as the earth revolved,which lead the hour hand to move towards the north-western direction of the dial,strike 10,me standing in front of a small school,B.J.E.N high school,bhubaneswar.i didnt care for what was it really known as,nervous like a wet baby squirrel,I reached for the classroom which had been allotted to me.i had practiced hard for around 5 months,solvin aptitude questions which were always my nightmares,right from the start of my skuldays..my verbal part,well didnt concentrate much on that during my prepartions session,I thought English to be really my cup of tea/coffee..watever u prefer to read/drink..who knew the paper was all set to screw me down out der evenDI..well i couldnt ve ruined my dreams more better,all thankz to the section which I ignored the most(DI)..studyin chemical engg(final year),in a remote place of orissa(parlakhemundi) in a private engg college(JITM),with access to limited resources for CAT preparation,surrounded by guys for whom the word CAT,reflects billi,made things more difficult for me..but I had no excuse to make,I had to make it the very 1st attempt itself,harshad karandikars words kept echoin in my ears,he talked to me thru gtalk just the previous nite,for now is the time where u need to say that u r gud in all those 3 sections,the distance between u and ur dream is just U,its just u who can do it,the fight is between u and you,and not those many that sit with u for those 150 minutes.i recalled every positive aspects of me,I was the chemical topper(yeaa I do top it every year,with 13 students),I made into infosys in my very 1st attemptand ..hh ..and what else....hhhhh y had I to take them as my +ve aspects just before an xam were u deal with basic school mathematics(just telling to make things chillout..:( ),ur understanding,ur grasping power of wat u read,analyze datas and wat u perceive out of themy didnt I think of my mock percentileswell u guessed it right,I never enrolled for a coaching classes mock series,the reason I reside just next to the hill,where naxalites play with their guns ,yeaa I watched them oncethe nearest city was berhampur(unfortunately,it still is,GOD,wen m I gona get out of dis place?) (both TIMES&IMS; operate),I culdnt travel every Sunday morning a distance of 140km,tuk 4-5 hrs, for a mock.i had got AIMCATS 07,from a friend of mine,but culdnt attempt much of them,becoz my preparation of 6 months,from those TIMES material that I had borrowed never made me confident enough to attempt them,I used to pull one mock out,read those quant question and put it back in ..i used to tell myself,guess the time hasnt come yet for me to appear a mock,I need to clear my basics more better...and most probably my attempts to clear my basics(I dnt know if its clear even rite now or not,if had it been clear I must ve written something else under some other named forum this present moment) tuk me more then 4 months,one mornin of late October I realize that I need to get my hand onto those mocks,bravely,the next morning I somehow gather all courage to attempt my first mock,it was SIMCAT-1 downloaded from esnips..well gave it and disaster stuck,blow,the score said that all my 5 months of preparation was worth cow-dung,i cudnt really find out exactly where I landed(meant to say in terms of percentiles),but I knew I was really pathetic in quants,DI made me shiver every nite from then on,VA yess I was gud at thatbut thats compared to MY ability to solve DI&quants;(thats what cat 2008 paper made me feel,I wasnt gud at VA either)..it tuk me around 2-3days to make myself believe that those sacrifices(though small) that I ve made,toiled for my dream(woked up every morning at 4 to study for CAT),wnt go waste,I wuld play it safe,wuld crack CAT-08 gud..gatherin all my scattered courage particles I appeared for one of the AIMCATs 07(guess it was M-1058007) the result was the same,it gave me a severe beating at the time when I needed to gain more confidence,moreover it slapped me real hard when I scored almost a negative in the DI section,my aggregate 42/300..i asked hades.thehellraiser for the approx percentiles,he told me not to ask (he didnt want me to get underconfident,just before a week of D-day)..but wen he told me that I wuld land up somewhere around 55-65 percentiles,I was like m I really that bad??after so much of hard-work efforts(yess it was just towards quant and English section,never really concentrated on DI) I was scorin really less in quants,and even in va,not upto mark.the next day I planned not to appear for mocks till the D-day,becoz it was makin me more weak..the week rolled by,16th seemed wnt come ever...the last of week I just practiced simple basic sums from times,read my formulaes,tried to do something for DI(actually tried solvin DI sets from mocks)but all in vain,it wasnt in me I felt so.despite all these, my dad( an IIMA alumni) inspired me every second,I wnt let my dreams shatter this easily,m not goin to break down,I promised harshad karandikar that I wuld b his junior the comin summer..but on what basis did I tel him this,there was no time to improve,the time had past by and I had done what I had to,dnt know what went wrong..things that left me the moment the qpaper arrived was the seriousness in crackin it,I went careless for the startin few minutes,40q in VA,I made it my first prey for the morning,pounced on it,but somehow I felt little uneasy with the reading comprehensions,and those sentence correction,just a glance and was like hmmm this is goin 2 b interesting(hell, I meant it to b n a scary way)..moved on with the paper really consciously,20 minutes flew by,I just culd c 3 black dots over my answer sheet(that too not sure of),hhh a drop of sweat on my forehead(the temperature must b around 25, bloody it was so cloudy) had to gain momentum somehow scrambled thru,finally came the reading comprehensions,I chose the one of maya civilization,felt gud after attemptin it..then came to the language passage,cudnt deal with it,thought of tryin the other one,the cent one too made me feel sick,I wasnt concentrating well enuff as I was under pressure,I had to attempt more with just few min more n my allocated time for VAtuk some chances in the one-cent-2-cent pie comprehension..and left the VA part..hh I relied so much on my accuracy..the feelin of losin it all started from the moment I ticked the last answer of the VA section n the answer sheet..a review of a side of the answer sheet told me,that I had made very less attempts,wasnt sure of few,luck dsnt favour me much( I ve my reasons to tell that !!)..and the worst part,it was my strongest section..moved onto quants..with 85 minutes left to go for the dream to shatter(I know its now,partially then)..quants,ahh tried to identify the questions of the topic m most comfortable,TSD,TW,RPV,PPP..:(,not much to b found out.and the ones that were present,I had smashin my head for few minutes to solve it,with my ego hurt and without touchin the circle with the pencil,as if it were really holy for the quants section,I was almost n tears for startin minutes of quant section,still somehow tried solvin the geom.&mensurn; q,I got one correct which I was really assured of,the other one went wrong which I am really assured of now,after lukin the way it shuld ve been solved.20 minutes into the quant paper,I ve made three circles impure,I moved to the q which belonged to the most hated families of maths kingdom,but I found them to b a sitter,the permutn&combn; q,helped me get assured of another answer,then to the sequence question,askin the no of common terms,was happy to solve them,,,and began the terrible time for me..moved from a question to another question tryin to solve somehow just a few more,the steam of my brain was released til then,unable to solve anymore,I broke down with 6 attempts,with such an easy paper at hand(those questions were easy compared to prev cat papers,yeaa I had seen them ..)I culd never make it possible to reach the cut-offs,I took a deep breathe,no,I wuld solve it,I ve worked for itsomehow was able to solve another q,the other 2 were those were I was stuck between 2 options,ohhh shittt..the hour hands job was done,the minute just had to cover 45 minutes,and the game was over for me,with a heavy heart,I tuk my chances and ticked on those 2 q,which I was never sure of,and as most of the time it turns around,both were wrong..m all crushed.and I had to face the section that I never faced,and wen faced gave me the worst of time,I luked at the section,I searched for pie charts,nowherebarcharts,tried to solve it,got 3 q,circled it all black,went to the cut-off set,it was easy did that,and then to the employee ones,solved 2 of them,tried solvin the otherones,and it wasnt just happenin,10 min to go,9 min to go,8 min to go,m still there lukin blank,analyzing,tall house oppsosite the red house,so..(bull shit,I was never gud at such q,but I had to attempt becoz I wasnt sure of wat I had done n those previously attempted sets,and moreover I cudnt predict how much I had to attempt) the bell rang ttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrit wasnt to tell me that I had to return the answer sheet to the invigilator,it was tell to pack my dream inside myself for it cant be true for now,keep it safe till another November Sunday morning comes,I cant witness my dreams turn real this year,another opportunity given to me by my life,another failure added to my life,blew another set of expectations of my parents,raped my confidence (after scorin less in 10th,12th,failin to get n2 any IITs,NITs,which made him move from a city like Mumbai (yea cldnt score well n MHCET even) to orissa,parlakhemundi(got a rank of 6708 n OJEE) just to pursue an engg degree from a not so famous engg collegem struggling with myself to get n2 IIMA..certianly, THE DREAM IS SCATTERED BUT NOT DEAD
THE WAY I DID IT(did succeed n screwin myself up):-
1.before startin with the preparation,the first thing that I asked myself was y I wana do it??and wuld I b able to do it??the answer came out so quick,I m not really interested in wat m studying n chemical engg,which wuld finally make me deal with various operations and process that wuld help a factory to bring out its best-quality end products,moreover I dnt wana work out der morning 8 to nite 9,lukin after those machines,the atmosphere der sucks(I come to know,ve seen my dad,and many work like dat)..want to have a gud standard of living,climb the ladder of the success at an early stage of life where I can exploit all my skills at the fullest,e a gud leader(ve done things that make me tell so) ,ability to motivate others to acquire the goal,make justice to the calibre I possess as soon as possible.the second answer was yess I can make it,CAT,I wuld crack it,quant,yess y cnt I ?I scored 142/150 in 10th maths ,that was a gud thing for me tell it aloud ,wat if I scored 53/100 in 12th..so that really doesnt present the clear idea where I stand I n maths,va is my forte,I am a lover of novels,I like to read anythings thats at my hand,DI well never got acquainted with this section,and still havent,becoz I didnt have much chapters dedicated to it n my skuldays or college days.so there I set a positive frame of mind for cat 2008.
2. began with QUANT part of CAT,got TIMES material (07) borrowed,started preparing from it(last week of july),I used to sit with the materials ,read the q ,did the easy part,but whenever it came to a little twisted ones ,I was real quick at lukin at the solutions,I tried to avoid it ,and fight with the sum,but at the end most of the time,I wasnt able to get the correct ones.lukin at the solutions I was happy that I understood it,and move on.but whenever I used to face the sum after few days I wasnt able to solve it on my own,I had to luk at the solution again,and then recall yess yess I get it,kk I had to do it n dis wayI cud identify that I culdnt solve the sum that was little typical after few days gap,I didnt knew wat to do with them,whenever I tried them and cudnt solve them,I was like shhh I had solved this,know this,but rite now unable to solve them,guess my basics still r not correct,and there I used to start it all over again,which consumed time.i want u puys to SUGGEST ME wat to do n such situations,where do I lag??? I hated chapters like number system,SI-CI annuities,permutn&combn;,probability,functions rite from the beginning,so whenever I practiced I used to avoid these chaptersI guess need to work on them more,becoz that negligence has cost me so much n cat 08,most of the q belonged to them.need ur SUGGESTIONS.i just did sums haphazardly from arun sharma,and TIMES(revised the materials thrice n ll before CATday)..that was my way for quants,I knew wat were my strengths,but didnt knew how cud I improve the chapters that I named
3.never really did prepare for VA,wasnt really religious towards it,somewhere in back of mind it was there that I can do it anytime,anywhere I was confident,and today even,rite dis moment m confident for that..i used to occasionally solve few RC,go thru parajumbles..etc,was quite gud at it,my accuracy was always gud,and but sometimes overconfidence n this section lead me to incorrect answers, more of carelessness,and when I used to make myself aware that I wnt go attemptin everything,I got real conscious and that reduced my pace in cat 08 even.SUGGEST how do I know were to stop from getting careless,and from getting over conscious of wat m solving??
1.DI I seriously never made attempts towards it.i used to get really bugged up while solvin this section,SUGGEST how can u make this section interesting?sets which r just based on calculations r solvable,but its tirin so the interest n getting the answer slows down,finally it leads me to shut the section itselfm really weak n the reasoning part,it never comes naturally to me,I hate it from the core of my heart,so the logical reasoning questions were never meant for me (I tuk it n that manner,sometimes didnt read questions even),even I attempt and I cnt solve the easiest of them,it demoralized me bad,so I never putin further attempts to improve n it.i had planned to start with DI after I cover up the quants part,but that never happened satisfactorily for me,and this another major reason y I left out DIsort of chain reaction,didnt feel gud with quant part,had to start with DI,delayed and delayed till it was too late even to luk at it
MISTAKES I COMMITED:-(u can tel me those which I missed out ,if u feel so,do PM me plss)
1.it wasnt a perfect strategy,concentrated on just one section,that too in the similar fashion rite from the start to end,just kept solvin the TIMES material over and over again,finally I made myself feel that I had mugged up all those typical sums..(plss read carefully, I never mugged up,i had gone thru it so many times) never put myself n2 test,with the fear that m not prepared,and scorin really less wuld make me underconfident, didnt wanted myself to know where I really stand???the reality was completely different,I wasnt solvin keeping the xam n mind,I was just goin from one to the other.
2. never worked on my weakness seriously,always tried to practice the chapters which I knew better then the rest,it was fun solvin them,it gave an feel-gud about- wat- u- doin feelin..the hatredness towards them has taken a permanent place n my heart,I need to change my attitude towards them,have to work more on it,guess need to start from the rootlevel for these chapters,have more patience,my motive being to learn it rather then b happy to get the answer of a specific question related to the chapter.
3. I never had such a company,or group who fought for a sole objective of being n2 an IIM,m surrounded by guys who just need a 10k job,eat & sleep,no dreams,no aspirations,no desire to live a different life,and even if they have,never tried for it whole-heartedly,even if they did,I missed them for their togetherness wuld ve at least made things little competitive,probably wuld ve made DI q little easy to solve together,someone who besides me cud inspire me,or whom I luk up2 wen m at doubt,let that b emotionally upset,or stuck with a q which is turns onto a thorn n my path.
2.never gave a mock like most of them do,I left solvin mocks just after I attempted few wen I scored really less,rather then thinking over it,analyzing it ,learnin from it,I luked at it otherwise,I wasnt able to solve easy q,cudnt identify q which I cud solve,becoz most of the times they belonged to the secn which were shit to me,and this slowly deteriorated my confidence,the decision to take no more mocks made me float into a fake world of mine,where I was happy with what I was doin,the real world was those results of mocks,which I denied to face as I thought better I b confident and happy with what I ve prepared rather then b underconfident and give CAT.so the timing of me appearin for mocks at my hostel room was a real wrong one,shuld ve taken it long back wen the mock-season started.
It would b really helpful of u puys to help me out,I need ur suggestions,ur feedback,where and how can I improve myself n this journey of crackin cat..regardless of whether its online next year,or damn n any means,it dsnt matter to me,m gona crack it,today mite not b my time,but for graspin the opportunity u need to create opportunity for urself,m really better then all that I performed n those 150 min,I need to fill up those holes n my preparation in the comin months,and dnt ve to live with pityin myself for wat I did ,for wat I achieved,as tonite the ones surrounding me seem the same as me,whereas the fact its not so,but wuld leave sayin that the war is within urself,not the ones who r around u,the war for me dsnt end till I achieve it ,Ill b back here with a different story to tell,but wnt forget that it wud b lessons from this story that lead to chapter of my dreams turned to reality,IIMA I wuld b der,
Cat u didnt let me thru u dis time,
I wuld decimate u the next season.
Vastrapur I wud b on ur path,ur red wall so sublime
Cat u not aware of teachings that I tuk from this lesson.
I ll be back..
Meet me,
Dipankar behera
10th-77 %
12th-67%
b.tech(7th sem)-7.43 cgpa
pgp-.the answer wuld b out here soon..around 363 days to go.
MISTAKES I COMMITED:-(u can tel me those which I missed out ,if u feel so,do PM me plss)
1.it wasnt a perfect strategy,concentrated on just one section,that too in the similar fashion rite from the start to end,just kept solvin the TIMES material over and over again,finally I made myself feel that I had mugged up all those typical sums..(plss read carefully, I never mugged up,i had gone thru it so many times) never put myself n2 test,with the fear that m not prepared,and scorin really less wuld make me underconfident, didnt wanted myself to know where I really stand???the reality was completely different,I wasnt solvin keeping the xam n mind,I was just goin from one to the other.
2. never worked on my weakness seriously,always tried to practice the chapters which I knew better then the rest,it was fun solvin them,it gave an feel-gud about- wat- u- doin feelin..the hatredness towards them has taken a permanent place n my heart,I need to change my attitude towards them,have to work more on it,guess need to start from the rootlevel for these chapters,have more patience,my motive being to learn it rather then b happy to get the answer of a specific question related to the chapter.
3. I never had such a company,or group who fought for a sole objective of being n2 an IIM,m surrounded by guys who just need a 10k job,eat & sleep,no dreams,no aspirations,no desire to live a different life,and even if they have,never tried for it whole-heartedly,even if they did,I missed them for their togetherness wuld ve at least made things little competitive,probably wuld ve made DI q little easy to solve together,someone who besides me cud inspire me,or whom I luk up2 wen m at doubt,let that b emotionally upset,or stuck with a q which is turns onto a thorn n my path.
2.never gave a mock like most of them do,I left solvin mocks just after I attempted few wen I scored really less,rather then thinking over it,analyzing it ,learnin from it,I luked at it otherwise,I wasnt able to solve easy q,cudnt identify q which I cud solve,becoz most of the times they belonged to the secn which were shit to me,and this slowly deteriorated my confidence,the decision to take no more mocks made me float into a fake world of mine,where I was happy with what I was doin,the real world was those results of mocks,which I denied to face as I thought better I b confident and happy with what I ve prepared rather then b underconfident and give CAT.so the timing of me appearin for mocks at my hostel room was a real wrong one,shuld ve taken it long back wen the mock-season started.
It would b really helpful of u puys to help me out,I need ur suggestions,ur feedback,where and how can I improve myself n this journey of crackin cat..regardless of whether its online next year,or damn n any means,it dsnt matter to me,m gona crack it,today mite not b my time,but for graspin the opportunity u need to create opportunity for urself,m really better then all that I performed n those 150 min,I need to fill up those holes n my preparation in the comin months,and dnt ve to live with pityin myself for wat I did ,for wat I achieved,as tonite the ones surrounding me seem the same as me,whereas the fact its not so,but wuld leave sayin that the war is within urself,not the ones who r around u,the war for me dsnt end till I achieve it ,Ill b back here with a different story to tell,but wnt forget that it wud b lessons from this story that lead to chapter of my dreams turned to reality,IIMA I wuld b der,
Cat u didnt let me thru u dis time,
I wuld decimate u the next season.
Vastrapur I wud b on ur path,ur red wall so sublime
Cat u not aware of teachings that I tuk from this lesson.
I ll be back..
Meet me,
Dipankar behera
10th-77 %
12th-67%
b.tech(7th sem)-7.43 cgpa
pgp-.the answer wuld b out here soon..around 363 days to go.
CAT...over the last one yr, I always thot tat wen i wud actually sit down to write this post, i wud have so much to say, but right now i dunno wer to start...
so i ll start from the beginning...
i have always been average wit studies, easily losing focus...
this over a period turned into a gradual tendency to shy away from studies at first chance given, like going out to play...
i messed up my 10th and 12th exams both, keeping first class somehow...
attempted JEE under parental pressure, but no real desire and motivation...even thou i hated preparing for it (main reason being the notion tat its damn enuf...tat its almost impossible to crack it), but tat prep paid off wen i fared reasonably well in AIEEE and managed to get into VNIT Nagpur, after a long time i felt good abt myself, tat i was somewhere i belonged, with like minded ppl...spent the best yrs of my life here...no parental supervision, nobody to answer to, absolute freedom...the downside i became more causal towards my studies...spent more time hanging around with friends...and this showed in my results...but i didnt really care at tat time...In 6th sem i realised tat i was just throwing away my life, decided to take control...sat for placements, got placed, fared slightly better in my last 3 sems...
Technical area was not really my forte, so turned my focus towards management...wrote xat and snap in final yr, no real effort, just went with the flow (evry1s writing, so even i shud), and well as expected nothing much to write home abt wen results wer out...Graduation done...
Y CAT:
Decided to give CAT a shot wen i was waiting for my joining date...filled up the form, joined CF test series, as thot Time was too costly (
) for an unserious attempt, wrote tests only on those sundays wen i didnt have anything better to do...
Decided to fill some forms (IMT, NITIE, SP Jain), as i thot i shud be able to get close to 96 with some effort from my end...decided to appear for snap, xat and fms...studied daily 1 hr at night, to keep dad off my back...only did QA, as solving QA was challenging, and fun...VA was not too much bcos of one time GRE aspirations...
My joining date came as oct end, so got busy wit tat, and then actual training, slogged a bit in last 10 days, in a desperate bid to fare decently in CAT...
went to b'lore, as had my center changed to b'lore...had fun with frnds on saturday...
D-Day...18 Nov 07...
reached my center (christ college) at 9 itself, had b'fast...bacame nervous wen i saw the crowd ther mostly evry1 studying formulae...
called my best frnd...tat guy is always able to make me feel at ease...talked to him till he and me both entered our respective exam halls...he basically calmed my nerves,...so went in there with no pressure, no expectations, just gave my best shot, and walked out contented...
150 mins (Take 1):
Had decided over some CF mocks, tat i shud start with QA, then DI, and then finally VA, with approx equal time distribution...
so started with QA, was too slow while attempting, so by the time i had done 14 attempts, it was almost 1hr 5 mins completed...a moment of panic...i screwed up...took a gulp of water, took a min to ponder over wat i shud do now...decided tat i shud do VA (vocab q's only) in say 20 mins and then proceed to DI for 40-45 mins (this was done so as to ensure i dont screw up VA by running out of time at the end)...did all VA in arnd 18-20 mins, told myself tat things are back in control and tat i can do it...moved to DI, with this confidence, attempted it for arnd 45 mins, but wrong choice of sets cost me some time...
then finished up the RC part, with just 1 qn left unanswered at the end...
and thus i got a contented feeling from CAT...:angel:
Aftermath:
calculated my scores acc to Time, was shocked with the scores tat i had managed, and tat it was acc to time arnd 98.5...thot Time was predicting too low...forgot all abt CAT becos of hectic training, appeared for snap, xat and fms also...fared decently well in first 2, and fms i didnt have much clue...
Jan 8 08: First blood:
Was in a training session wen i heard tat results wer out...so sent d sms, and biggest shock, i got 98.83...was dying to find out whether i had managed any calls...all my frnds wer saying tat i wud get 3 calls...
Got an IVRS nos for all IIMs from a frnd...finally got thru to L, it confirmed tat i had Indore, but ther was lots of disturbance and long pause, so i thot tat i might have more calls, after 3 calls, finally accepted tat i had I...
Birth of a little dream...
Since whenever I had known abt IIMs, never even in my wildest dreams had i ever thot tat someday i wud be fighting for a seat in the coveted IIMs...overnight my parents changed their perception from me being a gone case to i can get the job done...Infact so strong was my fathers belief tat i started to dream, tat i belong in an IIM, add to tat all my frnds, who kept on saying tat i belong ther, tat i can do it, its not beyond me...This is wen a dream was actually born, one tat wud one day be something tat wud change me frm easy going fellow to someone burning the midnight oil...
(To be continued)
GDPI season + Results:
Enrolled with Time mysore, but due to insufficient no of students, attended GDPI sessions in b'lore. Eventually the enthu started to dip as training got more hectic, with regular tests every monday. After flunking in one test, I couldnt attend the GDPI sessions every weekend, so eventually started skipping weekends, and couldnt even attend the bootcamp.
I had an I-call, NITIE and IMT calls...When the GDPI season started, I had attended 0 mock PIs, and arnd 3-4 mock GDs..
First up it was IMT in mid feb. A fish-market GD, followed by a so-so PI, meant my IMT selection was diff, but ppl kept on saying tat due to a high CAT score, i wud still get thru...
Next came the big 1, my indore interview...my best GD and PI to-date...
NITIE...so-so GD, followed by so-so interview, negligible hopes...
Got rejected by NITIE a week later, still IIM dream was there...pretty got waitlisted by IMT, so it was IIM dream alone..wait for IIM results kept getting longer as the results were delayed to OBC quota implementation issue...finally when the results I was rejected, not even a waitlist...felt like i could cry all day...felt like i have disappointed my father again...finally at night i called my parents tat i didnt get thru...They told me not to worry, as IMT waitlist was ther...which remained just tat...
When i visited home in early june, i found out tat my disappointment was nothing compared to my dad's disappointment...i realised how much he wanted me to get into an IIM...I was back to being a disappointment (he thot i blew a gr8 oppurtunity bcos i wasnt serious enuf)...tats when i made up my mind, tat i m gonna make his dream come true...tats wen it became my dream...to get into an IIM...
Mission MBA:
June:
Gave a bit of thot abt my course of action, shud i quit my job and prepare in mumbai, with better resources at my disposal...talked to my friends, took their opinion, was still pondering over whether i wud be able to prepare alone, with job in Trivamdrum, when i read this "A dream isn't something u see while ur sleeping, its something which keeps u awake to work towards achieving it". These words really inspired me...
I made up my mind, tat i wont backoff and take the easier route by quitting, plus i know myself by now, if i dont have something to keep me busy, ie if only purpose of my day was to sit and study for something, then it wud be highly likely, tat must probably the enthu will fizz out in a week or so, after tat things ll move at a sluggish pace...Made a pact with myself, tat no matter wat happens, i ll try my best to study close to 2 hrs daily...
Started preparing for CAT...enrolled TIME and IMS test series...
July - mid August:
office timings made it difficult for me to make much time to study...had visited PG during my IMT waitlist period to know wat was going on with IMT...started exploring PG...slowly i started discovering wat an abundant resource was here at my disposal...so decided to do all I can on PG during office hrs, and study QA or DI 1 hr daily @ night...
based my VA preps purely on PG threads...then MMDT happened and i made some like-minded friends, found some ppl i looked upto...these things acted as a motivating factor for me...
Mock performances were mix-bag, but when I worked on some topic, I was able to do its q's in mock...Came to a conclusion, tat accuracy was my way for QA...Time management was a big issue for me...there was an inherent fear of DI (bcos of CAT 2007)...eventually tackled it in one of the mocks,and found tat it can taken care of, provided i give it its due...a decent time distribution allowed me to get my 1st ever 99+ %ile in Time...this gave me the confidence...I realised tat the battle was won more in the mind, then on the paper...I decided to back myself...approached all mocks with lot of confidence...I faltered on many occasions...but the reason on most of these occasions was the lop-sided Time management...so still managed to keep my spirits high, and set abt my task...VA on PG, QA @ home, and DI only in mocks...
The fact i was still able to keep my pact, sometimes gave satisfaction...
August (end) - September:
Eventually things got difficult, and I cudnt get the motivation for night study...due to proj work i used to return home by 11-11.30 and too drained to do anything beside watch tv...
But the point tat i had covered most of QA topics by this time, didnt let the frustration creep in...
Time to start writing additional mocks was here now...Started writing mocks on saturday and analyse them (which actually got carried over, until there was a scary pile in corner of my small room)...so decided tat i wud atleast analyse the sunday Aimcat on the same day or by monday EOD, so tat i can get any doubts clarified on Aimcat discussion threads...
My friends, always where there by my side, albeit only on phone, as i was too far away in Trivandrum (stranger in a strange land...)
They never allowed me to take the disappointment of bad mocks to heart...Helped me stay sane, when things werent going my way and work was frustrating...
October:
By now PG legacy (UDT, DT) was back, and i nominated myself for UDT, and got to be a part of this legacy, with a lot of enthu UDT was kick-started...found my new abode on PG...felt like an achievement at tat time...
The interaction with fellow members, discussing strategies, regular confy's were immensely useful, as in providing the insight into wat shud be plan of action for last 1 month, and all...
Simultaneously, on seeing ppl write 3 mocks a week, I tried to write a mock on any off day tat i got...fortunately october was a generous month in terms of tat...
so i was able to manage on an average 2 mocks a week...
But my life had become way to monotonous, office till 9=10, then food, and tv...this was making it difficult to get any enthu into things, and i was starting to feel drained...decided tat i needed a break from all this crap...
decided tat i wud go home (mumbai) for diwali, this wud give me the break tat i desired...
November 1-10:
Decided to prolong my break to till after CAT, regretted giving Bangalore as my centre...spent some time with friends, watched some movies...planned my time, wrote 3 mocks a week, worked hard the night b4 Qunatum of Solace was releasing, as next day was gonna be my day out...enjoyed with friends, QoS was gud...
Pretty soon CAT was just 1 week away...
They say save ur best for the end...it looked like i was saving my worst for the end...managing less than 90 in Aimcats 902, 903...decided tat i m gonna do well in my last mock, take this as a feel gud mock b4 CAT...
But time had something else planned, they dished out a damn tuf paper, and man was i found wanting there...(eventually turned out to be my worst performance for the season...)
Came home disappointed, came to know tat IMS had dished out exactly wat i wanted, a feel gud mock...So went to IMS and collected the paper...
Last week to D-Day:
wrote the paper on tuesday morning (11 Nov)...paper lived upto expectations..calculated my scores, and voila...my first ever 150+ score...was the confidence booster i needed...didnt even check my %iles acc to IMS..cos it was just wat i needed b4 my D-Day...
(To be continued)...
Enrolled with Time mysore, but due to insufficient no of students, attended GDPI sessions in b'lore. Eventually the enthu started to dip as training got more hectic, with regular tests every monday. After flunking in one test, I couldnt attend the GDPI sessions every weekend, so eventually started skipping weekends, and couldnt even attend the bootcamp.
I had an I-call, NITIE and IMT calls...When the GDPI season started, I had attended 0 mock PIs, and arnd 3-4 mock GDs..
First up it was IMT in mid feb. A fish-market GD, followed by a so-so PI, meant my IMT selection was diff, but ppl kept on saying tat due to a high CAT score, i wud still get thru...
Next came the big 1, my indore interview...my best GD and PI to-date...
NITIE...so-so GD, followed by so-so interview, negligible hopes...
Got rejected by NITIE a week later, still IIM dream was there...pretty got waitlisted by IMT, so it was IIM dream alone..wait for IIM results kept getting longer as the results were delayed to OBC quota implementation issue...finally when the results I was rejected, not even a waitlist...felt like i could cry all day...felt like i have disappointed my father again...finally at night i called my parents tat i didnt get thru...They told me not to worry, as IMT waitlist was ther...which remained just tat...
When i visited home in early june, i found out tat my disappointment was nothing compared to my dad's disappointment...i realised how much he wanted me to get into an IIM...I was back to being a disappointment (he thot i blew a gr8 oppurtunity bcos i wasnt serious enuf)...tats when i made up my mind, tat i m gonna make his dream come true...tats wen it became my dream...to get into an IIM...
Mission MBA:
June:
Gave a bit of thot abt my course of action, shud i quit my job and prepare in mumbai, with better resources at my disposal...talked to my friends, took their opinion, was still pondering over whether i wud be able to prepare alone, with job in Trivamdrum, when i read this "A dream isn't something u see while ur sleeping, its something which keeps u awake to work towards achieving it". These words really inspired me...
I made up my mind, tat i wont backoff and take the easier route by quitting, plus i know myself by now, if i dont have something to keep me busy, ie if only purpose of my day was to sit and study for something, then it wud be highly likely, tat must probably the enthu will fizz out in a week or so, after tat things ll move at a sluggish pace...Made a pact with myself, tat no matter wat happens, i ll try my best to study close to 2 hrs daily...
Started preparing for CAT...enrolled TIME and IMS test series...
July - mid August:
office timings made it difficult for me to make much time to study...had visited PG during my IMT waitlist period to know wat was going on with IMT...started exploring PG...slowly i started discovering wat an abundant resource was here at my disposal...so decided to do all I can on PG during office hrs, and study QA or DI 1 hr daily @ night...
based my VA preps purely on PG threads...then MMDT happened and i made some like-minded friends, found some ppl i looked upto...these things acted as a motivating factor for me...
Mock performances were mix-bag, but when I worked on some topic, I was able to do its q's in mock...Came to a conclusion, tat accuracy was my way for QA...Time management was a big issue for me...there was an inherent fear of DI (bcos of CAT 2007)...eventually tackled it in one of the mocks,and found tat it can taken care of, provided i give it its due...a decent time distribution allowed me to get my 1st ever 99+ %ile in Time...this gave me the confidence...I realised tat the battle was won more in the mind, then on the paper...I decided to back myself...approached all mocks with lot of confidence...I faltered on many occasions...but the reason on most of these occasions was the lop-sided Time management...so still managed to keep my spirits high, and set abt my task...VA on PG, QA @ home, and DI only in mocks...
The fact i was still able to keep my pact, sometimes gave satisfaction...
August (end) - September:
Eventually things got difficult, and I cudnt get the motivation for night study...due to proj work i used to return home by 11-11.30 and too drained to do anything beside watch tv...
But the point tat i had covered most of QA topics by this time, didnt let the frustration creep in...
Time to start writing additional mocks was here now...Started writing mocks on saturday and analyse them (which actually got carried over, until there was a scary pile in corner of my small room)...so decided tat i wud atleast analyse the sunday Aimcat on the same day or by monday EOD, so tat i can get any doubts clarified on Aimcat discussion threads...
My friends, always where there by my side, albeit only on phone, as i was too far away in Trivandrum (stranger in a strange land...)
They never allowed me to take the disappointment of bad mocks to heart...Helped me stay sane, when things werent going my way and work was frustrating...
October:
By now PG legacy (UDT, DT) was back, and i nominated myself for UDT, and got to be a part of this legacy, with a lot of enthu UDT was kick-started...found my new abode on PG...felt like an achievement at tat time...
The interaction with fellow members, discussing strategies, regular confy's were immensely useful, as in providing the insight into wat shud be plan of action for last 1 month, and all...
Simultaneously, on seeing ppl write 3 mocks a week, I tried to write a mock on any off day tat i got...fortunately october was a generous month in terms of tat...
so i was able to manage on an average 2 mocks a week...
But my life had become way to monotonous, office till 9=10, then food, and tv...this was making it difficult to get any enthu into things, and i was starting to feel drained...decided tat i needed a break from all this crap...
decided tat i wud go home (mumbai) for diwali, this wud give me the break tat i desired...
November 1-10:
Decided to prolong my break to till after CAT, regretted giving Bangalore as my centre...spent some time with friends, watched some movies...planned my time, wrote 3 mocks a week, worked hard the night b4 Qunatum of Solace was releasing, as next day was gonna be my day out...enjoyed with friends, QoS was gud...
Pretty soon CAT was just 1 week away...
They say save ur best for the end...it looked like i was saving my worst for the end...managing less than 90 in Aimcats 902, 903...decided tat i m gonna do well in my last mock, take this as a feel gud mock b4 CAT...
But time had something else planned, they dished out a damn tuf paper, and man was i found wanting there...(eventually turned out to be my worst performance for the season...)
Came home disappointed, came to know tat IMS had dished out exactly wat i wanted, a feel gud mock...So went to IMS and collected the paper...
Last week to D-Day:
wrote the paper on tuesday morning (11 Nov)...paper lived upto expectations..calculated my scores, and voila...my first ever 150+ score...was the confidence booster i needed...didnt even check my %iles acc to IMS..cos it was just wat i needed b4 my D-Day...
(To be continued)...
Hello puys,This site just rocks..This is my first ever post in this site but have always kept track of things going around for a long time now..K the CAT08 results are going to be out in another 27 hours and hell i dont know what else to do and hence thought of living through my CAT journey..Though i havent got the results till now i think puys wouldn't mind me posting in this forum..K coming to my story, I am a guy from Madurai and after getting 89% in X std i was literally broke up and was crying all through the result day since most of my competitors (especially girls) got very good score. The neighbours who came for congratulating me were stunned after seeing me crying. I still laugh at that day now.Anyways i am telling this bcoz this was when i started building up my determination to excel above all in XII and in LIFE. The whole year i dint watch a single movie and almost forgot what is known as time pass. And finally when the results came i got 96% and only centum from our school in mathematics..i was completely elated and kept telling to myself hard work never goes waste. After this i literally wasted my time playing cricket bcoz of which i screwed up big time in engineering entrance.( My father always wanted me to become a doctor but i just hated the smell of it) Now after the results came, i wished doing aeronautical course in Anna University, chennai but all i could was to get into the best college in Coimbatore in BE mechanical thinking that i would do M tech in aeronautics just out of craze..But the college life truly changed me inside out.. As i was a very tall guy i got into NCC(C certificate holder now) and college hand ball team (national player now).. Our college is very famous for the student organizations.. and extra curricular activities, the very first day when i saw a mech student sitting in blazer in the podium during our induction day as the chairman of students body i got inspired and dreamt of a day when i can be sitting there. The college life was a roller coaster ride and i came out of college with a lot of friendships,and as the chairman of the students body. though its tempting to write much of it i am restricting myself and now starting my CAT story..During my third year some 4-5 of my classmates had joined ***** institute for CAT prep..One of my best friends also joined..I dint know wat was CAT wat was IIM but since my friends were speaking great about MBA and one fairer sex i too joined.. I attended something around 20% of the classes since i used to be held up very much bcoz of my college activities..There has been days when my college gets over at 4:15, going to NCC from 5:00 to 6:00 and playing hand ball from 6 to 7 coming back and again leaving to college from 8:30 to 2 AM taking volunteers for some work or the other..In the class though i was very lazy sometimes i was able to solve very difficult qns in the simplest of ways and in far lesser time than others.. the looks in the eyes of others initiated a spark within myself and it was something that i have always been nauseated with. I decided to give CAT my best efforts. Then comes CAT 06 wherein i attempted with just 1 week of prep(dint have much of a time since i was the chairman during that period). On the D day i felt good after finishing Quants and Verbal but due to over happinessi committed major blunders in solving DI qns and finally wen the result came i got97 percentile with>94 in verb and quants but a meagre 75 in DI. I cursed myself that day but it gave me the confidence that i can excel soon.After my engg i was placed in a software and another a core company in Nashik.I decided to take up the core job after my friends advice that it would help in mba. Anyways started prep for CAT 07 for 1 month since i had decided to have a go at CAT 08 and was determined not to let my percentile in the downside of 97.I prepared a solid 5 hrs a day after my working hrs. I was able to manage 99.53 percentile with 99.56 in quants, 99.36 in DI and another meagre 75 in verbal. I knew that it was difficult for me to clear english cutoff after the exam but was expecting some sort of miracle to happen but it dint. And finally i dint get a single call. I dint cry i dint repent i just took the lesson out of it never undervalue any section( i had given only 35 min for verbal that time) and that i can be an IIM graduate..So started preparing for CAT 08 like its my last try from february 08. I joined with correspondence course of another institute and on an average was prep for 4 hrs a day right from feb till nov 16 08 and a near 0 hrs during weekends ( i think u know what i would have done during that time, like every other guy i just used to -"sleep" nothing else, please believe me) In the mocks, i started with air 52, touched down earth and towards the end got air 56. My performance was perfect U shaped. The day before the D day i was just reading old novels( i was a fast reader) and hence finished off two. Then came the D day wen i was at the exam centre 2 hrs befor the exam. After seeing that 160 for verbal section and 100 max for DI and quants i felt butterflies in my stomach thinking back my poor performance in CAT 07 verbal. Anyways leaving my faith in GOD and started solving and sailed off smoothly. After the exam when i reviewed i came to know that i had attempted 12 each in DI and Quants out of 25 per section and 25 out of 40 in verbal. I thought after seeing the number of attempts of others ,and expected score i just felt my heart break and started ****ing that afternoon itself And after a good sleep woke up in the eve and checked out the keys wherein i got 11 out of 12 right in quants, 12 out of 12 right in DI and 17/18 right out of 25 in verbal. It was a wonderful feeling from then on waiting for the results, expected-DI-44, quants-43,verbal-60/65 and overall-147/152. I just pray to God that the results doesnt come as a shock for me tomorrow and puys please pray for the same.I was packing my bags yesterday since i have resigned my job and tomorrow(jan9th,09) is my last day in this company when i arranged all the books and papers that i have gone through in the last 10 months. when arranged vertically it rose above my knee and am 6'4"!! it gave me a smile on my face remembering the effort that i had put in. I just have a nostalgic feeling for writing CAT and would just say that it was an extremely good 3 years experience chasing CAT.Whatever turns out tomorrow i just want to say I love this wonderful earth, our country, the CAT and this addictive site. I started off this post thinking of nothing in my mind and have just posted my feelings and experience. I will again post in this forum soon if i make it(read IIM) for helping the future aspirants with some tips and if someone finds going through this post fruitful.
I just wanted to communicate that i have got 99.68 overall with BLACKI calls..
HOW CAN I MISS ALL CALLS WITH THIS????
TR Number 6250569 Application Number 157638
Name ANKIT SOOD Date of Birth 29/03/87
Test Section Score Percentile
Section - I Quantitative 44.00 (out of 100) 97.84
Section - II Logic & Data Interpretation 29.00 (out of 96) 86.65
Section - III Verbal 85.00 (out of 160) 99.79
Total 158.00 (out of 356) 99.78
Xth 93%
XII 86%
BE 67% (6 sems.)
Plus one more thing, I am running my own startup for the past 12 months, but I cannot include that as work ex. as it is not full time! F*** the IIMs It is rightly so that they are not included in any rankings of business schools all over the world, while ISB is ranked 20 in the worl on financial times. They take the overall eprspective. Students should be uploading individual applications to IIMs not like this.
Does the IIM mean to tell me, that I, as a student entrepreneur suck at work ex, while someone who worked 20 months at a company can be better than me? I am not saying they are not, But I never got a chance. This sucks, and no matter what any IIM student has to say, the admissions policy this year is very confusing, totally non transparent and not worthy of the tension of 2.6 Lakh candidates. Truly disappointed with the 'pinnacles of indian management education'
Ankit
P.S. -> One guy got a call from IIM-I at 99.7 oa, VA 99.1X QA 99.2x and DI 84.XX, no work ex, lower acads than me. Please justify that! NO 99.9X for him
TR Number 6250569 Application Number 157638
Name ANKIT SOOD Date of Birth 29/03/87
Test Section Score Percentile
Section - I Quantitative 44.00 (out of 100) 97.84
Section - II Logic & Data Interpretation 29.00 (out of 96) 86.65
Section - III Verbal 85.00 (out of 160) 99.79
Total 158.00 (out of 356) 99.78
Xth 93%
XII 86%
BE 67% (6 sems.)
Plus one more thing, I am running my own startup for the past 12 months, but I cannot include that as work ex. as it is not full time! F*** the IIMs It is rightly so that they are not included in any rankings of business schools all over the world, while ISB is ranked 20 in the worl on financial times. They take the overall eprspective. Students should be uploading individual applications to IIMs not like this.
Does the IIM mean to tell me, that I, as a student entrepreneur suck at work ex, while someone who worked 20 months at a company can be better than me? I am not saying they are not, But I never got a chance. This sucks, and no matter what any IIM student has to say, the admissions policy this year is very confusing, totally non transparent and not worthy of the tension of 2.6 Lakh candidates. Truly disappointed with the 'pinnacles of indian management education'
Ankit
P.S. -> One guy got a call from IIM-I at 99.7 oa, VA 99.1X QA 99.2x and DI 84.XX, no work ex, lower acads than me. Please justify that! NO 99.9X for him
HOW CAN I MISS ALL CALLS WITH THIS????
Its quite understandable that you are thuroughly disappointed at the turn of events. But, venting out your frustration on the forums with posts flavoured with a few f**ks and s**ks won't help, will it?
Like you pointed out in your post that you know of a guy getting a IIMI call at the below mentioned percentiles, try getting his TRNo. Then, write a mail to the admissions team and/or dean of IIMI with his and your TRNos. asking for their persusal on the discrepancy and what could they do in their capacity to resolve the same. Infact, why just IIMI, send a mail across to all IIMs, no harm in doing so.
I did the same a few years back when a top-notch institute didn't call me despite a 99.81%, and believe me, it helps.
PS: You choose the wrong thread to post your query.
sxjhbdjzssdfsed
Well, this is my first post on pagalguy. Never thought that I would be writing my first post with such a grim face and a remorse and grief-stricken heart. But then thats life. Not everything comes out the way we want it to. I always used to read this thread and get inspired. My preparation for CAT started way back in Dec 2007. Things began well and with a lot of enthusiasm and passion. Was well on course till March.
i like your jeal. make it next year.
But dude you did not deserve to get in this year and be happy that u did not. no offense meant. i teaches u a very imp lesson and the thing i wanna tell is only duds are so very dependent on girlfrnd and bf. you lost one yr of your life because of a girl who leaves u when u most need her. full proof that you are stupid and that u did not deserve to be a manager at dis point.
As I said earlier you are stupid for me and thats y i didnt thank u.but i hope that you realize that you were lucky to face it early in life. when you have the time 2 correct it. and when u can repair d damage without much loss. hope you get the Stupid tag off you by next cat.
P.S.- moderator- i may be abusive but this is my true feelings for ppl who are so very dependent on their partners. relationship r meant 2 go ahead not lag behind. If i am breaking any rules plz delete d post.
you lost one yr of your life because of a girl who leaves u when u most need her.
Excellent mgmt. lessons, dude. Very well written. But I would suggest some RC skill improvement lessons for yourself. Reason -
My girlfriend of 2.5 years left me( for dying).
Did you read this sentence carefully before posting the comment?
This thread is not for these kind of discussions, so I will stop here. But be a bit more careful before posting such remarks.
CAT...ahem...good old friend...good old old foe
My story started with CAT'03.I was in my final year of engineering,yet another IIT missed call case.Wanted to prove my mettle.Wanted to show everyone just how good I was.An M.Tech didn't look too glamorous.So embarked on the journey taken by umpteen engineering souls:CAT.
I knew I had my way with verbal.Not to say that I was particularly weak at logic and quant or something,but my logic/quant scores always followed a very famous trend:randomSo it was quant 99 and di 70 for me in one mock and just the reverse next time around...:rockedov:
Anyways,somehow practiced 1892829238 mocks to make sure that things fall into place.They worsened.
Someone advised me a time tested solution:booze and sleep.I gulped a litre of whiskey,slept for 7 hours,woke up,ate and slept for 13 more.When I woke up,I felt ten years younger.My mind started to race.My mock scores improved.
I did decently on D-day,scoring 62 odd as per keys.Quant however,played a small trick again.My coach,however,thought I'd land a call.I thought he was out of his mind.
Results:98.6 with 88 in qa..a call from L...no MDI no NITIE.I called them up and asked why?They said they didn't entertain less than 90%ile in quant.Gosh...I wonder why I hadn't taken care that a mod is always positive and that the angle in the figure sure looked obtuse
Attended L gd-pi.I had a cough problem and was on a drug that was also used to tame elephants in heatCould'nt speak a word in the gd.In my PI,they looked disgusted.I looked flabbergested.Sure as hell,I was kicked out of L.And it did happen.
Now the same story repeated for four more years,with only the institute that the panel represented changing each time.In the midst of it,I had been into four different projects in my company,had given a futile attempt to patao five girls,and six of my friends had passed out of IIMs.
I also participated in the CAT retest movement in 2006 when due to paper errors,I screwed up the test.We lost the case against L I also saw an FMS waitlist never converting itself.And the icing on the cake,I recieved AIR 19 in the All India category for MAH-CET.The All India seats in JBIMS were,well,18And yeah,IIFT had already rejected me twice,a feat I was to do an encore to soon
I said:the hell with MBA.I got myself into a client centric role in my company.Also did a lot of independent work with my friends who had succeeded in their entreprenial ventures.Had a hell lot of fun!!But somehow,that stupid bug in my cranium said:Write the exams one last time!!
"Okey wise guy" I said.I enrolled with a coaching institute where I basically enjoyed myself I was certain on one thing:I was not really gonna run after MBA now.
CAT came and went,and so did quant again.I didn't bother this time.I got some 95 odd in SNAP,the cutoff being 82.The only problem:I forgot to fill SIBM and SCMHRD formsDid really well in FMS and was sure of a call.Eventually missed it by 0.4 %ile Was sure of getting XL-PM and IR atleast.Had a 98.6,but not the call.
Fast forward a coupla months.I had converted XIMB,and had resigned from my job.Now the same old result awaited me that had ditched me by 1 rank last year:JBIMS.Had some serious unemployed fun till the results.And had fun when they came out too.I had topped the All India category this time,and had recieved a 39/40 in gd-pi.Well,I thought that the gods were always pushing me towards JB.Joined here,and have loved every moment here ever since.
As I look back,I identify two distinct things:
1.I could have done a few quant questions right and could have been a four year old IIM alumni for all you knowOr I could have gone into IIFT or FMS or JB itself a year ago,had a few things gone my way.But there sure is something called destiny,and I am too lazy to keep challenging it all the time
2.I could have gone for national level bodybuilding(I have competed at state level).I didn't.I could hve saved my relationships.I didn't.I could have made my college and job days more memorable.I didn't.Why??You all guessed it right..
Reflecting on all that,and seeing all this tension,stress,heartburn regarding %iles,calls,sectional cutoffs...blah blah blah that people face,I have a very simple advice:Enjoy what you genuinely do.Discover things you really love and practice them.Don't burn yourself out on what is,well,just a test.Don't buy too much into the "top institute","hallowed portals","lifetime achievement","proving your worth to the world" slogans.They might give you an adrenaline rush,but nothing is more satisfying than normalcy.
And yes,be wiser in your reason for aiming at an MBA.Learn about companies,their strategies,their marketing/finance/operations/hr....related plans and policies.You might do some entreprenial work if you want.Try and do some work with NGOs.Maybe trade on the stock market(It's a good time to buy).In the end,all your big B-shools are institutes that teach how to run a business.You might do well to have a first hand experience..
Ok... i know i am a bit (no, too) late to post here, but i never noticed this thread, i am a newbie pagal u see
So... where do i start from?
Flashback: 2005: (anytime u get bored reading this, skip to 2008 )
I am preparing for my engineering entrances, didnt work as hard as my mates... regularity required for IITs is missing, managed to clear screening but failed to qualify mains. AIEEE - rank 9k , where a 6-7k would have got me through to a good NIT atleast (i am a delhite, n 4yrs back, due to state reservations in all NITs, 9k wasnt good for a delhite, today, it is a decent rank), DCE - 1100, once again, missing something respectable by a whisker, i could have studied in DCE, but environmental engg as a discipline turned me off, 2 more ques correct, n i would have secured a seat in mechanical. The only thing i am left with ... Indraprastha University (IP) (i know many of u reading this havnt heard the name) n that is the very reason i am confused... should i drop a year, coz people around me say i have got the brains, i just need to work harder... or should i study in IP n save a year. :sad:
Then some expert feedback went like when u have to go for an MBA later, it is the mba college only that will matter after u passout from there, so dont waste a year.
After putting a lot of thought to everything, i decided to go with the 2nd option... fine for now i will compromise, but 4 years later, will come back with a bang... will show everyone around what i am capable of... wont take things lightly as i did in the past 2 years
so i am currently pursuing B.Tech in CSE from IP university
i am the topper of my batch, n have been a consistent performer in all 6sems so far :cheerio:
2008
I joined a coaching institute n worked hard (n smart :-)) was doing well in the mocks (sims) n i had already started dreaming of IIMs... L,K,I started to seem within reach
Vocab n grammar posed problems, but i managed to perform respectably well in VA through Jumbled paras, FIJ, RCs... quant was good n DI was great... n this made me fix my attempt order: DI, RC, VA, quant
D-Day (16th nov)
The instructions came as a shocker... more weightage to english!!! I am doomed... (I found out that 40ques, section 3 is english coz when i flipped the ques paper, i could faintly read the ques of the last page which were clearly from RC) n i decided to keep my strategy the same, 50min for VA, n wont give much time to RC... one of the poorest decisions of my life, when decision making mattered the most!
I started with DI, was overwhelmed by the changed pattern, n was nervous as it was my first attempt... my hands were ice cold... out of the first 6ques i attempted in DI, only 1 was correct... then i started to settle down slowly, after DI i moved on to VA... too many vocab questions, but i still tried to attempt as many as possible, attempted 2 RCs n was left with only 45min, so had to leave the other 2, (u know all 4 RCs were simple, especially for a guy with poor vocab, attempting the RCs was a better option). Quant went average, as always
I returned home, n was shocked to see the keys...
QA : 48 (13c, 4i)
DI : 63 (17c, 5i) yea, no incorrect ques after the first 6
VA : 33 - ims, time (11c, 11i)
28 - CL (10c, 12i) :banghead:
Total 139, 144
All IIM dreams seemed shattered after pathetic show in VA...
there were 2 controversial questions out of the ones i had attempted... 1 was a fill in the blank, 1 was based on multiple usage... according to ims, 1 was correct; n according to time, the other... CL said both were incorrect... in case both were correct, my score would rise to 38 n i could dream of IIM I,L, a far fatched one... n started literally praying for this...
CAT RESULT DAY
The cat answer keys were out (n i couldnt find the result)... scores in quant n DI were same... but... i was confused on seeing the VA answer keys... the score turned out to be 48!!!!
I didnt trust these scores, both the answers were correct, but the score should have been 38... i checked n rechecked... so did my brother (SP Jain alumni)... n then I carefully started comparing the answer keys... what i realised was that 2 other questions, which i assumed to be incorrect, as announced by all 3 dependable institutes, turned out to be CORRECT!!! :angel:
So here is what the actual picture turned out to be when i finally opened the results post midnight:
QA: 48 98.72%
DI : 63 99.95%
VA : 48 94.9% :1eye:
Total : 159 99.8% :2gunfire:
Calls: IIM A,B,L,I,K
I was overjoyed, woke up everyone at home... n we had a mini celebration!!! :cheers:
It was like a dream.... my first post was in the MDI thread after i checked the answer keys of the institutes, n i asked what chances do i have to get through (with 33 in VA), n the reply said that VA may play a spoilt sport... i had made plans of going for CAT 09... of course, they had changed in a matter of a few hours on the result day.
N the story aint over yet... i need to toil hard to convert these calls... but i have come a long way from zero to 5 IIM calls in a single day.
N my message to everyone reading this post is that dont be disheartened by ur past... work for ur future... take ur past failures as an inspiration... have the attitude that u can change everything.... and u will rock!!!
and those who are yet to begin preperations, plz dont ignore vocab... read a lot, mug up the word lists... remember, vocab is 1 of those areas where the improvement during preperation can be maximum
Will post after i get my gd-pi results... hope to get through
(to be continued)
Well i may not be the winner in the CAT race but i am really happy with my performance. i dont know whether this story will be an inspiration but this would be what i wanted to tell about CAT
2007 OCT
it all started as fun ,when i stared at my college notice board with alphabets resembling JMET..i never knew wht it was but just bcoz friend were filling up the form i thought of giving it a try for fun.. this was my final year of engg.. i was happy with my placement in wipro and a gold medal as a feather on my cap for my excellence in field of biomedical..
2007 DEC
i gave the exam in baffling two hours .. with a disastrous score which fetched me a far fetched rank of 10,000.
never bothered it... was seriously planning for filling up my pockets with the money i would earn from wipro.. days passed by finally i became a betech graduate with 9.53 CGPA this was the month of MAY 2008
2008 MAY
this is the most historic month when one of my friend who got admission in IRMA called me up to her hostel to share few things...
these things were none other than the most coveted T.I.M.E material and past2 yrs mock CAT papers.. she was the one who initiated spark in me and asked to make my life purposeful and not waste my talent off..
i came back home enrolled with T.I.M.E for mock cats.. and it was the first feeling when a sweat just rolled down my brow.. i scored -2 in DI ...
whole paper was greek and latin.. i was weak at 11th and 12th maths as biology was my major and took an year break for medical prep so quant was gone case too...
2008 JUNE
started up preparation haphazardly by solving one mock cat paper for 2/3 days as my concepts were weak
2008 july
then came the advertisement for CAT 2008.. and it was sunday my mock cat was worst of the season with mere 44.4 percentile score.. i decided to take formal crash course.. hence packed my bag for bangalore
2008 AUG
the classes started morning 7 to 9 am ..
i could see all aspirants with work -ex i was sorry for myself as till then there was no call from wipro and even i became lazy not looking out for a job.frustration was mounting up.. constant pressure was built up from family side as to perform it in this single shot else to look out for a job and get married .. second option i couldn dream of :-x so it began
1.7 to 9 am class
2. 10 to 12 quant from time material( i had to learn from basics .. even had to learn from my 11th std baby sis)
3. eating sleeping watching tv reading news paper
4. 3 to 5 pm DI/lr
5. night time used to be waste of time mostly with my cousins
could see improvement in quant score and di too both above 90 percentile
2008 oct
i could sense my two section beign stronger but my english going to the negative side.. it was late and my efforts to english were low... then started mugging up word power..no use though.... crramming grammer which didnt help... i lost confidence.. then got an idea of storing my daily performance in an excel sheet and it started to show up the lagging area ,the time i wasted ..everything... byt this month when everyone on prepared i was struggling with english
somehow i used to give as many mock test as possible to keep my confidence level up...
nov 16 D-DAY
pretty cool ..with my prep but was worried abt english.... looked at the paper hot a shock og 40 qs in english... became nervous and managed to score 104 with qa-96.53 pc di-90.2 pc va-86.7 pc oa-104(95.71 pc)
this would fetch me no calls but atleast i know where did i lack in... now i have applied for jobs rather than wiling away the time.. i know how to go ahead... we need proper planning and structure
please puys(newbies) if u happen to read this plan 2 months to grab all the concepts... better late than never
devote atleast 2hrs a day it will do... an excel sheet to log in ur daily studies will always help u in accessing ..never ever concentrate just on ur strength try to convert ur weakness into strength as i did for my DI.. never lose hopes... try and try... never give up under any circumstances... hard work will really win and i know i will win and next time i write here it wioll be a success story .... :snipersm::snipersm:
A disclaimer in the beginning, this is not an inspirational story of how I managed to crack CAT and get 5,6 or 7 IIM calls. There are many other such supremely inspritional stories on this, the most sacred thread of them all.
Instead, this is a story of a good performance and a case of so near, yet so far. Ideally, I would have posted this after the GD-PI are over but then, who knows- Kal Ho Na Ho :P
One more disclaimer, this could be long :P
Ok, enough of disclaimers, here I go.
My first serious conversation about "The" CAT was during my 1st or 2nd yr Engg (or so I think, anyway). This was when my dad told me about some collegue's son who was appearing for it and he asked me why dont I appear for it, given my penchant for Maths and English. He asked me to just find out about what its all about and see if it can be given a shot. I bought a Galgotia book and being the lazy bum that I am, duly consigned it to the topmost shelf of the cupboard.
Although I never took it seriously, I kept hearing of CAT and a managerial career via newspapers or my dad or tv or somewhere else. Ironically, it was the infamous paper leak incident which engaged my attention and made me ask "Whats the big deal?" Found out most o info about CAT and decided it most probably is not my cup of tea/coffee since it involves the dreaded "G"- of GD. Why was it dreaded? I was an in and in (as opposed to out and out) introvert and hence was hopeless when it came to any kind of public speaking. Result- it was again put on backburner. Some of my friends took it during final yr but not me. My thoughts: If I work for an yr or 2, maybe I will become good enough to clear a GD. First part of that plan got executed when I got recruited into a top IT firm.
Contd.
CAT 2005: All thought of CAT was forgotten till time to fill up the form. Filled it up just for the heck of it and with same thoughts, attended it. Fortunately or unfortunately, I had never seen a CAT paper or mock. Got the paper (the one with 2 and 1 markers), solved whatever I could, decided it was too low to be anything decent and marked blindly during last 5 mins. Results came and as expected, scored low (5x.xx). Silver lining was, whatever I had actually solved was good enough for high 80s in %ile. Decided it was not bad and vowed to do much better next time.
CAT 2006: Ditto Ditto Ditto and more Ditto apart from random marking. Result was low 80s. Since this too was an unprepared attempt, I gave myself more credit (I am a bad critic for myself) and vowed strongly to do better next time.
CAT 2007: There was no more dittos this time. I was frustrated with the top IT company where I was not getting what I deserved and was from the looks of things, had to either beg or blackmail to get my just desserts. Decided it was beneath me and armed with the fact that my public speaking (more like group speaking :P) had improved, I decided to get serious about CAT this time. Decided against enrolling in coaching or test series since I thought I could do it by myself. Managed to fall in love during this year as well and the lady gave lot of support and encouragement. More of it came from family so thought this was it. Applied for all the exams other than JMET and quite a few colleges as well. As (bad) luck would have it, got a project on crazy deadlines just as prep time came along and had to slog my rear end off to manage things. CAT came and went and result was as expected: 8x.xx. Other exams were srewed as well and all hopes were dashed. Frustration grew exponentially at work place and I had no options left. Then a school friend called and as we discussed, he asked me to give it my all and give it one last shot. I decided to take this feline creature on one last time but also decided that it wasnt just enough to prepare. I needed to make sure there would be no more deadlines, no more night-outs and no more distractions.
CAT 2006: Ditto Ditto Ditto and more Ditto apart from random marking. Result was low 80s. Since this too was an unprepared attempt, I gave myself more credit (I am a bad critic for myself
) and vowed strongly to do better next time.CAT 2007: There was no more dittos this time. I was frustrated with the top IT company where I was not getting what I deserved and was from the looks of things, had to either beg or blackmail to get my just desserts. Decided it was beneath me and armed with the fact that my public speaking (more like group speaking :P) had improved, I decided to get serious about CAT this time. Decided against enrolling in coaching or test series since I thought I could do it by myself. Managed to fall in love during this year as well and the lady gave lot of support and encouragement. More of it came from family so thought this was it. Applied for all the exams other than JMET and quite a few colleges as well. As (bad) luck would have it, got a project on crazy deadlines just as prep time came along and had to slog my rear end off to manage things. CAT came and went and result was as expected: 8x.xx. Other exams were srewed as well and all hopes were dashed. Frustration grew exponentially at work place and I had no options left. Then a school friend called and as we discussed, he asked me to give it my all and give it one last shot. I decided to take this feline creature on one last time but also decided that it wasnt just enough to prepare. I needed to make sure there would be no more deadlines, no more night-outs and no more distractions.