CAT JOURNEY: A Dream Come True

This post i had written on Pagalguy.com in 2009 , and it was very well appreciated there ,now i wanted to share this journey , with you guys :) , so here i am

So here it goes :).....

Well I think its time for me to speak about my cat experience , I am just warning everyone please dont read this one with high expectations, as i am not an IIM call getter or an IIM student. Its about how i managed to crack cat and got into a prestigious college , which even 2weeks before CAT Exam i didn't think i had even a remote chance of getting into.

2008-2009:

Well the CAT journey started in june 2008 for me , i joined a 2 year course at Time Pune , yes a two year course as i wanted to prepare in laid back manner i guess , i used to attend my classes regularly and did that till Jan 2009 , it was a weekend program, due to heavy workload during weekdays , only time i got to study was in the weekends, after January my focus shifted towards PSU exams , like everyone i also thought PSU would be the best option during those times, particularly when we faced a lot changes in policies , pay offs ,workloads, it was really a difficult time for everyone , i continued with my preparation of PSU exams , and became less regular towards my coaching classes, as a result i lost sight of CAT and MBA altogether , by June i was completely out of touch , when one day i attended a DI class , i was completely awestruck with the kind of questions being solved , also to see my peers doing so well , i literally wanted to run out of the class.

I gave my PSU exam , and missed the cut off for general category by a whisker , i was completely down and out , i had sacrificed my CAT preparation for it and also was performing below my competency level in my job , i didn't know what to do , fortunately i had my roommate who was always there to encourage me , and bail me out of these situations , i again started preparing for CAT 2009 , with 4-5 months in hand , i thought it was all but over.

My workload at job also increased i used to get free at 10pm everyday, i didn't have internet at my home so i stayed back in office every night solving questions, learning concepts , along with my roommate who was also preparing with me , we used to stay till 2am every day and come back sharp 8 am in the morning (Onsite Calls ) , i continued this way , but it was tough as i was performing miserably in Aimcats , Cl mocks , even getting negative marks in quant, which i thought once was my strength , my mock scores varied from 36-86 %tile mock to mock , every time i gave a mock i got more and more dejected , but somehow kept working hard and kept analyzing my mistakes , improved a little over the months.

D-Day

[caption id="attachment_401" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Waiting for the results to come."][/caption]

December 1 , well my center was COE , Pune , i was assigned the same lab , in which server crash happened on 29-30th, we were all skeptic about our fate and asked Prometric guys , about whether everything will be fine , they said "Sab bhagwan k hatho mein hai " , wow what confidence they showed in there systems , well after the initial screening , we were made to sit in front of the system for 45mins , and i dozed off during that time i still sometimes feel how can i doze off in one of most important days of my life but i did, well the paper went well attempted around 45-46 questions, but then found out that everyone attempted 50+, i knew my fate.....

28th Feb 2010

Well it had been a disappointing season so far , performed badly in Snap , JMET , missed IRMA due to Social Concern section, missed out XAT and FMS due to dengue, so entire Jan 2010- and half of Feb 2010 was gone due to the ailments and after effects of dengue

After hearing disappointing results of my friends who performed much better than me in mocks , i knew i would score less than 80 even, but when i checked my result i was surprised to see a 95+%tile against my name, was overjoyed, i called my roommate (cheeka nicknamed after his village's name in haryana) immediately, and later on found out that had got 99%tile in cat , we both were happy that finally the efforts we put in were redeemed, (Cheeka is in IIM Indore 2010-2012 batch).

I got calls from Nirma , LBSIM , IMT-G, Wellingkar, IMI delhi, i didnt apply to many colleges due to my happening mock season.

I converted all the calls i attended and finally joined IMI Delhi, I know i didnt make it to an IIM , but i am happy and contended where i am.

Just want to say to every aspirant , if i can make something out my pathetic CAT season last year , so can you.

There are so many things related to CAT journey , which cannot be expressed in a single post , but it truly is a memorable one , whatever may be the outcome.

All d best to everyone , for a journey of a lifetime , dont give up !!!!!