This post is my 3-year journey to the CAT exam, covering all the ups and downs, learning from my preparation, and the challenges I faced on this journey to SPJIMR. I hope this motivates some aspirants and help them build the right mindset required to crack a top B School.
Since childhood, I was fond of technology and computer science, which led me to pursue my B.Tech. in CSE from LNM IIT Jaipur. After the first year of my course, I became interested in volunteering and participating in various events and extracurricular activities in college, which led me to hold responsibility in various clubs. For example, I was the Chairperson of the ACM Student Chapter, and ViceChairperson of the CSI Student chapter was also on the Organising Committee of our annual cultural festival Vivacity. I was also a part of a cab service venture for a short while to solve the commuting problem in our college.
All this gave me a taste of management. I found myself happier in those activities than in my studies. A little guidance from some of my close seniors and professors led me to my first CAT attempt in 2018.
My First CAT Attempt
I spent a few weeks exploring B-schools in India, about the entrance exams and life after an MBA. This increased my interest in the management field by some bits. I started preparing for CAT seriously in August. When I saw the quant syllabus, I thought most of the topics were already clear, and I needed a brush-up on some of the chapters like geometry, statistics etc. For VARC, I found the VA questions tough and RC questions easy to attempt. LRDI was my favourite subject, It felt like solving puzzles, and I enjoyed solving those questions.
Reality hit me in September when I appeared for my first mock. I was not able to attempt questions in time. The result of that mock was devastating. My overall score was less than 25. After this mock, I determined to solve sectional mocks for practice. I realised that this exam is not just about knowledge but also about time management. Then I started practising and analysing only time-based practice questions. I also began giving mocks every Sunday. It was a great feeling to see my overall score improve throughout these mocks.
I managed to secure a 94.99 percentile CAT 2018. Later I realised that this was nothing for a GEM candidate who wants to target the top 20 B-schools in India. However, I still participated in all the interview calls and converted some new IIMs and some private tier-3 B-schools. I decided to give myself one more chance at CAT as I truly believed that I deserved to be in a top B school.
Life After B.Tech. & Second Attempt
April 2019, I was about to graduate from my college with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering but no job in hand. This was because I decide to focus on my CAT preparation and didn’t sit for college placements. But now, since I wasn’t going to join some college, I thought of getting a job with the objective of getting some work experience. Work experience had two positives- It would make me step into the industry, and It also will fetch me work experience points while applying for B-schools. So, with this in mind, I started searching and applying for jobs. I planned to get myself a job before July to start my CAT prep in August.
It was one of my toughest periods in life. As most of the companies had closed their recruitment processes, It was tough to get a job at that time. I was applying for anything and everything that could result in a job. Finally, after 3 harsh months and numerous interviews, I converted to my first job as a software developer in Pune.
Work Work Work!
The next six months were busy, learning, working and adjusting to a new city. I didn’t know how time flew so quickly, and it was already October. At work, I was working on a project whose peak was to come in the October-November timeline. So I was unable to find much time to study or to practice questions for CAT. It was really tough, and I started doubting my decision of re-attempting CAT instead of joining a tier-3 B school. I started getting these thoughts that what if work always will be this tiring and time consuming and I never get the chance of preparation next year. What if I didn’t get into a B school ever? What if I remain a developer and grow as a tech person in this industry? This was a tough call, but I decided to re-appear for CAT next year(just one last chance).
CAT 2019 led me to the 95.00 percentile. A XAT overall percentile of 97, but DM sectional was just 20 percentile.
Final CAT Attempt, Covid-19 & a bit of luck
By this time, I had learned an important lesson – Balance between work and personal life/goals. I decided to work on this balance in the initial few months of 2020. By February, I achieved that perfect balance which fetched me 2-3hrs every day for my CAT preparation without impacting my performance at work. This activity also taught me to prioritise my tasks in an efficient manner.
In March, I tried a different approach to my CAT preparation. First, I was aware of the Agile methodologies at work and how that helped us in managing the work efficiently. Then, taking inspiration from there, I decided to manage my CAT preparation with the help of Agile-scrum principles.
Agile Scrum Plan for CAT preparation
- First, I prepared a backlog of all the topics that needed a revision. I also added all my AIMCAT and SIMCAT mocks into the backlog board.
- I planned my sprints to be of 2 weeks, where the most productive days were weekends.
- I followed three agile ceremonies religiously-
- sprint planning; at the beginning of the sprint; (1-2hrs)
- daily stand-up; to record my progress/todo tasks; (10 mins)
- retrospective; at the end of the sprint to analyse my performance and to add any changes to approach in the next sprint; (1-2 hrs)
- These ceremonies helped me to keep myself on track and motivated till the very end.
- My retrospectives were basically analysis hours to refine my backlog and plan for any topic backlogs if I felt I needed some re-work.
Covid Happened
Honestly, Covid was the worst that could happen to our world, but personally, for me, some things turned out in favour of my CAT preparation. Let me explain that-
- First, WFH started. I went home to my Mom and Dad’s. This reduced my daily home management activities. Thanks to my awesome mom and dad, who gave me a suitable environment at home to study and work.
- Most days were spent inside my room for 18+ hrs, on my laptop—work, sectional mocks, revision, work, mocks, work etc.
- Lockdown gave me a disturbance, though, as now I had to invest a significant amount of my free time helping out mom-dad in household management, cleaning, sanitising stuff etc.
- But all this was manageable, and the more important fact was, I was getting more time to study at home than in Pune. And mom, dad and my sister were there to motivate me throughout my journey.
- Covid also meant No parties, No weekend plans, No birthdays, No dinners/lunches etc. All these accounted for a good amount of hours that I invested in my prep.
One Month to CAT
This was high time, and I had two thoughts at this time-
This will be my last attempt at CAT and other B school entrance exams, so I had to put in all my efforts, secure the best score, and convert to a top B school.
The second thought in my mind was, what If I couldn’t succeed this time? What will I do if I didn’t convert to a decent B school this time? What was my plan B?
That was the worst time to think about plan B. But I couldn’t resist planning out a Plan B, and It was to continue my career in the tech industry and increase my subject matter expertise in my core domain and grow in that industry. Well, the plan wasn’t bad enough as I was good at software development. It was just that I didn’t enjoy what I did because of the less exposure to business verticals of the industry in the developer profile.
After I had a backup plan, It was now easy to focus on CAT. Hardly 15 days were left, and now I was giving full-time mocks(2hrs, as the pattern, was changed this time due to covid) and analysing them.
CAT 2020 – Exam Day
I was giving a mock every 2 days and revising my notes regularly. So I was confident and afraid at the same time. Then, finally, on the day of the examination, I was confident as it was my third attempt, and I knew the pattern and what to expect, but at the same time, I had this fear of failure as I knew this was going to be my last attempt to CAT.
I messed up with Quant, could not attempt questions as per my expectations, and in LRDI, I was stuck with a set, and there was no time left when I had just solved the set and was about to mark my answer. All this was usual for a CAT aspirant. Yet, I was satisfied with my performance without any regrets. No matter what the results would have been, I knew that I did my best.
Interview Preparation
CAT results came, and I had secured a 98.23 percentile overall, with well-balanced sectionals (96.77, 97.26, 94.96 ). My XAT score was 99.0 percentile, again with balanced sectionals. I started preparing for my calls, as I knew I’d be getting calls from some good private colleges and new and baby IIMs.
Since my last shot, I wanted to leave no stone unturned and decided to take formal training on GD/PI preparations. Under Dr Anshu Kothari, Director, TIME Udaipur, I joined the GD/PI preparation batch. That one month of GDPI preparation was life-changing. I not only learned about how to attempt Group Discussions and Interviews, but I also discovered myself better. I learned a lot of new things about myself that I didn’t know before. That was an exceptional course on self-discovery, leadership, communication and self-grooming. My mentors were kind enough to help on each step with the right guidance and motivation. That course changed me to become a more self-aware and confident person.
Convert!
I got calls from CAP, IIM Rohtak, IIM Amritsar, MDI, NITIE, SPJIMR, XLRI, IIT B, IIT Kgp and XIMB. I had appeared for most of these interviews, and like every other aspirant, I also waited for the results, desperately checking their websites every day.
Finally, the day arrived when all my hard work has paid off. I had converted SPJIMR for PGDM in IM specialisation (which was my first and only preference for this school). After that, one by one, many results came out with success and rejections. And after considering all my converted options, I decided to join this dream college – SPJIMR Mumbai.
2 Cents From My Story
CAT is not just an ordinary exam. It is a test of various qualities of a true manager/leader. As far as I understood, this examination tests on the following abilities-
- Time management skills
- Prioritisation – balancing work & studies while preparation
- Logic and analytical skills
- Communication and command over the language
- Good sense of judgement – choosing which questions to attempt/skip
- Mental balance and stress handling skills
- Concentration
- Patience
I believe I still have a lot to learn from the above-mentioned pointers myself. But I suggest all CAT aspirants work on these qualities, enjoy the journey, and trust yourself, and the results will be in your favour.
Let me know in the comments below if you have something to share concerning my above experience.