Post CAT Syndrome

Will I get calls from all 6 IIMs, 2, at least 1? My quant went better than verbal, so maybe IIMC and L will surely oblige …

The Day of the CAT. Not an easy one to pass … whether you think you have cracked it (believe me, very few are in this category) or otherwise. You’ll go through your coaching institute’s site for section cut-off marks; compare with other comments from coaching institutes across the country, and wrack your brains on online forums looking for solace. You’ll probably find some … or not.

But will you think about back-ups? What’s your Plan B in case you don’t get calls from any of the six IIMs? I did.

Maybe having advise from a close friend who had gone through a similar experience helped me. She was pursuing her MBA at LBS when I appeared for CAT. When she had appeared for CAT exactly a year ago, she was going through the same feelings. Being a pragmatic person she is, she prepared for GMAT in the months following CAT and appeared for it in Jan end. By the time calls from IIMs started coming in, and she found out that she had no calls, she was ready with a back-up: applying to international bschools and ISB. In the subsequent months she worked through her apps for schools of her choice and secured a seat at the LBS in the following year.

What worked for her? The clarity about when she wanted to do MBA in her career and what were the steps to achieve that objective.

Convinced, I made up my mind and started preparing for a shot at GMAT. Knowing that quant was the easy part as I had already slogged for CAT over the past 6 months, I concentrated on verbal. I also spent a good amount of time, post CAT, to find schools that would suit my profile and that I would apply to if I did not get through an IIM. I started collecting information about the application process for international bschools and what it takes to write those essays.

This exercise helped me in two ways; I had a Plan B in place and didn’t feel threatened at the prospect of not making through an IIM; writing my essays for IIM Bangalore, after I did get my call J

Another thing that is important to start working on is a preparation towards GD/PI. Take my word, you sure don’t know how you did at the CAT till you get those calls. And you don’t want to be caught unprepared when the calls do come in and you have very little time to catch up on myriad current affair topics under the sun. So, read read read to be prepared for GDs. Know thyself and your reasons for doing MBA so that you are prepared for interviews.

Also, cross your fingers and wait for your calls/CAT percentile.