Anybody who has wanted to do MBA in India, would have most probably taken CAT. I, being one of the aspirants has done the same. But I took it not once but thrice. And this article is all about this journey of mine.
My first attempt in CAT was in 2010, when I was in my final year of graduation. Since it was my first attempt, I didn’t know about the difficulty level. I took coaching from TIME. Though I regularly went there, the amount of preparation was not much. On the examination day when I saw the paper I didn’t know what to do. Was not at all prepared in Quant, but still managed to attempt 3 questions.
I knew that I had performed terribly in the exam. When the result came, I wished I could just delete it. I got a mere 33 percentile. Honestly, it was one of the saddest days of my life. That day, I promised myself that I will prove my worth in CAT for sure.
Then, my second attempt in CAT was in 2012, when I worked in an educational firm. I paid careful attention to my past performance and the areas where improvement was needed. Since I was working, time management became a bit difficult. Still, I prepared better than before. When I gave the exam, I did better than the last attempt. But, when the result came I was again in the pool of sadness – I got just 67%ile.
After getting a bad percentile in the last two attempts, I was in a state of war with the CAT exam. I thought that whatever it takes, I will not let this exam win against my potential.
This year, it was time for my third attempt in CAT. I left my job in September, hoping to achieve what I wanted to for the last 3 years. I solved the practice papers, books, etc. to get a good score. I was weak in English and knew that it would be my biggest hurdle. Did everything that I could from my end. On the examination day (November 6), I was a bit nervous because of my past record, but still managed to attempt 39 questions in total. Then, came January 14 2014, the date of the result. I woke up at 10:30 am and was very nervous. I saw my score. I did not believe what I saw. I pinched myself again and again. It was 98.2%ile. And more importantly, I performed better in Verbal.
By seeing it, I realized I fulfilled the promise that I made to myself. I secured a respectable percentile in CAT. A journey which started at 33%ile, ended at 98.2%ile. And above all, faith in my potential was restored again.
I wrote this article because a friend at PG insisted I do so. Also, to motivate each and every aspirant to believe in his/her potential and never lose hope….