>If you could remember, I posted my CAT story from Pagalguy sometime back. That was the first part of my story. I am posting now the second part, which is by no means the final one, as I am yet to script my story. Will post the final part sometime next year when I am sure my war with CAT is over. Here is the post I wrote:-
Continued from
CAT’s a coffee shop on the highway (All I wanted to Speak about CAT)
Well… I had penned down my experience till 2007 season before, but thought of writing the things that happened thereafter as I have learnt new things during last one year. First of all my apologies to those who might find it rather long and unnecessary in first place, I just had to write it, if only for my own sake.
A job which keeps you engaged from 7 in the morning till 10-11-12 in the night is not the most optimum one to prepare for the MBA exams (especially CAT) side by side. Reasons? Well… you would not like it when its 1 am in the morning while you are munching ( or shall I rather say, swallowing) your dinner while reading the funda books or a novel. You keep studying till 3-4 am in the morning and wake up again at 7 in the morning, only to realise that the washroom is occupied and you will be again running after your company bus for the umpteenth time this week. You sure make good friends with the rickshaw wallahs and the driver and conductor of the bus this way though. I am sure you would like to spend your time in a better manner than this.
Well, the only one good thing Mumbai traffic has given me is the plenty of time in the bus to study and to sleep. Its really a bliss when the bus is stuck in the traffic and you are solving mathematics, the concentration you can create is AWESOME…I loved doing that. Besides, it also meant I would be spending less time in office and so the burden would be lesser than usual(or so I thought…lol).
Now comes the office part. One lesson. Never ever tell anyone in your office( unless they are completely harmless or are your bestest of friends) that you are preparing for MBA. Not at least when she/he is your PM/BDO/Senior Manager. It helps little to your already hectic schedule when you are reprimanded on not finishing the given task within the time frame(which of course is lesser than the life span of antimatter). Also, it is very much probable that you will be taunted that your work is getting affected due to your MBA preparations(They seldom think its the other way round). Huh.
Well…do not let your senior know of the MBA sites you have been surfing of late. She/He might as well stalk you there too and ask you to not to use these sites and rather concentrate on your work. USE LUNCH TIME FOR ALL READING(IF YOU CAN DO WITHOUT GETTING CAUGHT). HAVE LUNCH WHEN YOUR SENIOR RETURNS FROM THE LUNCH.
Get back on the first bus to home rather than waiting and working in the office till 10 pm in the night. It is really irritating when you have to do that as you know that you will not be getting enough time to study and sleep early and that you will be caught in the loop again.
Well… Now you know what I went through last 1 year. I enrolled into CL weekend classes and surprised myself by performing really good. I mean, I got 74%ile in the diagnostic mock. And thereafter I improved myself pretty good. I never felt like I was out of touch or something like that. But the real surprise came when I took the 1st mock. I got a pretty decent 95+%ile. It was really morale boosting. Thereafter I kept studying regularly.
NOTE:- DO NOT FALL FOR ANY (AND THAT MEANS ANY ANY ANY) GIRL IN YOUR COACHING CENTRE. YOU STOP CONCENTRATING ON YOUR STUDIES PROPERLY AND THE RESULTS ARE HAMPERED. I FELL FOR SOMEONE AND THEN FELL TO 80%ILE IN MY 4TH MOCK( OR MAY BE 5TH).
Practice regularly even if you think you are very good in some specific section. Do not become complacent. Also, give more time to your weak section and do not just ignore or believe your mock scores. They are like convex mirrors… “Images in the mirror are closer than they look” Remember na??I scored almost at an average of 96-97%ile….barring a few occasions, when I crossed 99.97%ile once and also 78%ile. Apart from those mocks…95-99 was my domain, and I thought I was pretty much on the track. At least I thought that….
NOTE:- DO NOT LET YOUR EX-GFS SPOIL YOUR LIFE AGAIN. THEY HAVE DONE THAT ONCE, SO THEY KNOW HOW TO DO IT AGAIN. YOU HAVE SUFFERED ONCE, SO YOU SHOULD ALSO KNOW HOW NOT TO SUFFER AGAIN.
The PG meets meanwhile were an eye-opener for me. I have made many friends through these meets, and have learnt a lot from them. Some of them are pursuing their MBAs this year, while some will start the journey with me. I even got selected in Mumbai Dream team in PGPL, which failed finally. But it has given me such a network of friends that I do really feel proud to among them. Someday, I want to make them proud of me too.(I know, it would be an exception…lol)Well, the forms were out and as I had planned, I filled almost all of my choice of colleges. I wonder though, why do CAT people do not come out with the correct solutions within a week of the exam. This way we students/aspirants would not have to fill up each and every damn form. Is it so that CAT people do not have proper solutions to the questions before conduction the exam? Is it so??? to CAT management committee.Well, I think I spent around 14k on the MBA forms last year. Would not be repeating the mistake this time round. Hit something…some CAT question from CAT 2009…. hospital rounds??? lol … Anyways, I went on an extensive 20 day vacation to my native place(not before fighting with my seniors a lot for extending it from 15 to 20 days). It helped me a lot in becoming the complacent Navi I am famous for. I really became complacent in the name of taking lesser tension. It seems that’s when I lost it.
Come C-Day and the first thing I remember is when I was out of the Examination hall. The 150 minutes were a blur. All I could remember was that there were 40 questions in EURC(my nemesis the last time round), and 25-25 in other two sections. Quantss initially seemed tough to me, but then I chose the right questions and solved 12 of them. DI again was too much math-a-pachhi doing, but I seemed to find a way round and solved only the right questions. 10 in DI.
Now I turned to my nemesis. EURC. I saw the watch. I had 55 minutes. I browsed through the section and found it rather easy. NO FIJS…lol… Some sentence corrections, some RCs, some grammar mistakes…”That’s all?? “, I asked myself. BIG BIG BIG MISTAKE. For once again, I became complacent. It cost me speed and accuracy, both. And finally an IIM seat. I could solve only 18 when others did 24-30 and some even all questions.
Final results.
QA- 12 attempted-All correct-48 marks..98.xx %ile
LRDI- 10 attempted- All correct-40 marks.. 97%ile
EURC 18 attempted- 8 correct-10 incorrrect-22 marks- A PATHETIC 64.xx %ile…
FINAL- 95.12%ile
Calls. IMT-G,TAPMI,IMI-Delhi
I was devastated.
Even XAT could not get me through. Just 97%ile.
JMET- not qualified.
FMS – not qualified
SNAP – uski to
IIFT -not qualified( unki bhi )
Finally Attended only IMT-G and IMI-D GD-PIs. Skipped TAPMI after reaching the college(They were asking for 10 L as course fee)
Meanwhile, I lost my job one fine day after slogging for 15 hours on average in office. Reason:- No reason. Unki bhi
I went through 2 breakups during this time which added no respite to my already going bad phase. But , but but but, 1 thing I learnt that no matter no one stands by me, I will always be there for myself.
Most of the first half of this year, I have been busy looking for a new job, not in software/private sector anymore. Stability is the word for me this time, in the government sector. I do not know where this quest will lead me and I have had my share of doubts over my ability. But I have come through all of them, with full faith in myself and now again I am preparing for season 2009. Though I still have to enrol for any test series, I will do it soon and when I am there, I know I will sail through this sea of uncertainty.
I wish next time I write my experience, its all on a positive note and I have at last something to boast of and to be proud about.
PS:- Do not go seeing off your ex on CST airport. It makes you more emotional and weak than you would ever want to be.
See you friends… see you soon
Till then…. Rock ON…
P.P.S. :- Most important lesson I learnt was to struggle in the worst of the times. Though I am still struggling hard with circumstances, I have the belief and more importantly, a guard against complacency this time. I just hope I peak at the right time, not like the last time, when I peaked too early and went down thereafter.
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