All I Want To Say About CAT 😸

Pre CAT

To say that I always wanted to get into a Business school would be incorrect. Rather, I was always fascinated with Science throughout my life. I remember as a small kid, when I read the daily newspaper, I would usually look out for the latest and greatest happenings in the world of science & technology, and would rather skip the other (apparently boring) news in the process. It was the sheer curiosity and desire to learn how the world works that fueled this interest and which evidently lead to my good performance in academics, especially in science and mathematics. This made the Non-Medical stream the natural next step for me after class 10th.

With the aim to get an admit to one of the best engineering colleges in India, I focussed on studying rigorously Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics for the next two years. I was able to get an admit to the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee’s Computer Science & Engineering Class of 2014–2018.

IIT Roorkee ❤

During the campus placements, I got a job offer from Tower Research Capital, India (a High-Frequency Trading firm). This gave me the first exposure to the wonderful field of Finance. As I learned more and more about it, I was sort of hooked. I started reading financial articles, news, and textbooks. I even opened a trading account and booked a small profit in my first trade! With this newfound knowledge, I could finally make sense out of a lot of things that seemed quite puzzling to me all my life. After a year or so, I made up my mind and decided that I was ready for the next step in my life, an MBA. I was now ready to kick off the long and grueling process of CAT preparation.

CAT Prep

With a hectic job at hand, I decided it didn’t make sense for me to join a proper coaching class for CAT. Thanks to the digital age we are living in, I could find almost all the resources online. Books, Youtube, Quora and various other websites gave me all the know-how and content I needed. Going over the books, videos, giving mock tests, analyzing the attempts became the de-facto routine of my life.

Prep Resources

These are some resources which I found useful during my preparation for CAT

Books

1. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis (only if you have a lot of time on your hands)
2. Arun Sharma Books

Mocks

1. IMS
2. Time

Websites

1. 2iim
2. Curated Reading List for VARC
3. BPrep Whiteboarding Quant Questions
4. Unacademy
5. Bodhee Prep
6. Handa Ka Funda
7. iQuanta
8. RC Practice Collection

Youtube Channels

1. 2iim
2. Elites Grid (DILR)
3. iQuanta DILR
4. Ketankg C2C Mentors

Non-Prep Resources

1. InsideIIM (real-life stories, experiences, general MBA stuff)

CAT Prep: The Daily Grind

CAT 2020: D-Day

Sun, 29 Nov, 2020

Even though I had given due time to preparation, gave numerous mock tests and though I was prepared enough mentally to not be nervous during the actual exam, things don’t go always as planned. Come D-Day, just minutes before the start of the exam, my heart was racing like crazy.

VARC

I scanned through the section and found the pattern to be pretty standard. I was pretty confident about acing this section and started with the first RC. Unfortunately, the first paragraph was really tricky and even after wasting 7–8 minutes on the passage I wasn’t unable to coherently understand the content, let alone solve the questions. I decided not to waste my time further here & skip it entirely. Fortunately, the other RCs were comparatively easier and I was able to solve most of them along with the VA part, ending the section with a decent number of attempts.

DILR

This was the most critical section and also my weakest area, as far as CAT was concerned. I scanned through the sets and to my surprise, I couldn’t find a single set that seemed straightforward. I started with the one I thought was the easiest, but 10–15 minutes into the set, there was no headway. Saying I was started panicking would be an understatement here.

I took a deep breath & hoped to try my luck at another set. Another failed attempt, and the panicking increased! Finally, I got hold of a set that seemed doable and I attempted a few more easy questions here & there. The section ended with unsatisfactory performance and I hoped to at least clear the cut-off.

QA

This was my favorite section and also the most comfortable one for me. No big surprises here. A decent number of attempts here, but could be better for sure. Overall, it was a positive experience compared to other sections.

After the exam, I had mixed feelings about my performance. I wasn’t too confident about getting calls from good business schools. In any case, there wasn’t much I could do now and I needed a good break.

CAT Results

January 02, 2021

The results came in. Honestly, given my CAT experience, I didn’t have high hopes. I almost gave up preparation and was pondering on whether to try again this year. To my surprise, I got some positive news in a few days — a call from IIM Bangalore. With bittersweet feelings, I started preparing for WAT/PI. I knew I had to put in all my efforts to make up for a not-so-stellar performance in CAT.

WAT/PI

Feb 26, 2021

I knew I wasn’t a born writer, but I was sure that with enough effort & practice, I could improve my writing skills. Reading books, watching news & keeping know-how of current affairs helped here. WAT went like a breeze.

I had the impression that interviews tend to be subjective and very unpredictable. I prepped for months to give it my best shot. As it turned out, the interview was super chill and really fun. I felt great after the interview, and now my fingers were crossed 🤞. The long wait for results had just begun.

Results

June 01, 2021

It’s hard to describe the feeling when I saw this message in my mail:

Nevertheless, it was the perfect culmination of the long and adventurous journey on which I embarked more than a year ago.

#iimb #ThePlaceToB