A look into the mirror
The answer to the re-take conundrum depends on three things
- your evaluation of your ability with respect to the CAT
- your evaluation of your mental state when contemplating another attempt
- your evaluation of your aspirations
Let us try to make this a bit objective by making it a Q & A situation
YOU versus CAT – ABILITY
The first question you need to ask — is this the best shot you could have given? Was this a full-fledged, completely-immersed-into-CAT attempt? Do you believe you have exhausted the limits of your aptitude as far as CAT goes? Answer of all these questions and then answer the question below.
Question #1
Do you believe that you have maxed out and can go no further in terms of percentile if you give another attempt — YES/NO?
YOU versus CAT – STAMINA
The next question is whether you have enough mental fuel left to go through another year. Do not count the attempts that you made just like that. Is this your first or second or third fully serious attempt?
Question #2
Have your attempts so far taken so much out of you that you dread the thought of another attempt despite knowing that you can get better — YES/NO?
YOU versus COLLEGE
What do you think of the options in front of you right now? How do you view yourself vis-a-vis the options you have?
Question #3
Do you believe that all you need is a decent degree and a decent break and will make the most of the opportunities you get irrespective of the brand or do you believe that your aptitude, your profile and your ambition deserve a better college than the options you have in front of you right now — YES/NO?
If your answer to all the above questions is YES, most importantly the third question, then you should NOT RE-TAKE and get into a college this year itself.
If your answer is NO to all three then you should definitely re-take the CAT but also evaluate the GMAT depending on your profile and aspirations, which as mentioned will be taken up in the next post.
These are not easy questions to answer and I am sure there will be other personal considerations and pressures from different quarters that you would need to factor in. But understand that this decision is purely about your career and hence the decision has to factor only that consideration in and nothing else.
Not everyone might be happy with your decision but satisfying all is satisfying none and as far as your career goes you are the only one who has to be satisfied.
So you really need to answer these questions for yourself and take a decision.
If you decide to re-take
The moment you decide to re-take, other questions start popping up
- should I quit my job to re-take for the CAT, something that I have discussed here
- how do I go about my prep, what should be my mindset, something I have discussed in this post
- do I need to take classroom coaching, what materials should I use, something I have discussed in this post
- how should I go about my prep section-wise, something I have discussed here
So take your time and go through these posts. Feel free to post any queries you have in the comments section.
The CAT Writer 
Sir,
Can you please post regarding how do we write an SOP, specifically for MICA?
The entire form seems quite tedious. It would be great if you could provide some insights on that.
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Sir, I am planning on retaking CAT but I have been suggested bymy seniors to get atleast 2 years of work experience before doing MBA. I am a psychology student and want to take HR as specialization. What would your suggestion be? Should I get my education done with first or take up a job? The past 5 months have been really hectic and I wont deny the fact that I am a bit scared of going through the same pressure again.
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Hi Pashmeen,
As far as work-ex goes, for a specialization HR it is not a pre-requisite both for admissions as well for recruiters (unlike say for Operations or General Management or Information Management).
While some schools such as IIM-B have a high weightage for work-ex none of the old IIMs attract recruiters for HR, the colleges you should focus on, as you would know are, XLRI, SIBM, SCMHRD, TISS, XIM-B which means you have to take the SNAP, XAT, and TIISNET.
Work-ex can come in handy more in terms of enhancing your learning during the two-year course since you can relate workplace experiences to what is being taught in the course.
So both options are equally good.
As far as things being hectic goes, you should get used to that being a feature of life 🙂
All the best!
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Thankyou Sir 🙂
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Hello sir,
I am in a dilemma of taking cat next year or not as i already have 3 years work ex in IT.
I got 92.7 percentile this year (started late and not much prep) with profile (GEM):
X : 86.8
XII: 81.2
Grad: 72.8
Will it be good if i take cat next year and start my MBA with 4 year work ex?
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Hi Hiresh,
You can get into a 2-year with 4 years of experience, a few of my students have gotten in with more, but the catch is that the number of recruiters who will have openings for those with 4 years of experience will be few. This does not mean that you will no get placed, you will get placed, but that some sections of the buffet will be closed to you 🙂
So what I would suggest is that you take both the CAT and the GMAT and apply to 1-year and 2-year programs.
You can easily start preparing now and finish the GMAT by the end of May, start your CAT Prep while applying to 1-year programs.
This way you will have more options at this time next year and instead choosing between 1-year and 2-year programs you can choose the better college.
By the way, my next post was about preparing for the CAT and the GMAT both.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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hi sir, this is my second serious attempt, i only got 96, i have calls from new iims and tier 2 colleges, i think my ambition deserves better college and i can work harder and get more, but i hesitate to take another attempt because of my tenth marks – 75%. i am an economic hons student with 1.5 years of experience. is there any advice for my career direction apart from taking gmat?
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Hi,
Given the low X marks, it might be a bit tough to crack the old IIMs.
Since you have only 1.5 years of work-ex GMAT might be a bit early but still worth a shot at ISB since they look at Grad Marks and not X marks. For the colleges abroad your work-ex will be on the lower side.
My suggestion will be to make a more realistic plan, if you convert a new IIM (not baby IIM) or a good tier-II college (say NM) then join it, and take up a CFA for sure to make your resume competitive for Finance if that is the field you want to build your career in, without a CA or CFA along with an MBA your resume will not fall into the top-tier resumes for Finance, the MBA from a premier college is not as big a must as a CA or a CFA.
If you do not make it to any of the above, then take the GMAT before June and keep the score handy.
Post that take a shot at the CAT as well as the XAT and NMAT.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Dear Tony Sir,
I have been an ardent follower and reader of your blogs, and a thorough fan in terms of that. Your advice did help me a lot during the Exam time. I would request if you to kindly advice me in my current situation.
Just a brief of my background – I am a GEM from a humble middle class background, have 5 years work experience and previously I was working in the banking sector in the admin-HR dept. I wish to enter the HR field but CAT & XAT were not good. CMAT was 96. I am preety much looking to get into a decent college and finish the journey of studying as I have been studying during my working period (completing CFA L1) since. Regarding GMAT I did prepare for that too but honestly I am a bit skeptical to pour the application fee for GMAT as its quite expensive for me. Hope if you can guide me at this “need of the hour” moment.
Always a pleasure to read your blogs Sir
Thanks & Regards
Abhishek
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Hi Abhishek,
Glad you find the posts useful.
Do you want to join a college this year and want to know which colleges you can look at through CMAT?
Or do you want advice about a retake?
I am not able to make out from your query.
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Hey Tony Sir,
I would like to know which colleges I should be looking forward through CMAT at my percentile.
PS – I am an IMS student.
Thanks & Regards
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Hi Abhishek,
My knowledge about colleges through CMAT at particular percentiles is very sketchy.
If I am not wrong, JBIMS, SIMSREE, GLIM, and GIM all accept CMAT, so you can look at them.
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I am GEM candidate with (X:95%, XII:88%, Grad: 65%). I took the CAT in my drop year after engineering but could only score 85 percentile (after 4 months of classes and preparation). I missed out on NMAT (1 mark) and SNAP (94.7 percentile). I think I can do better and I want to go to any of the top 20 B- school, should I consider taking another drop year ?
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hello sir…
CAT 19 did not go well 78.7 percentile with sectional 16.xx/87.xx/94.xx.
Particularly I face problems in RCs I read The Hindu newspaper, few novels, analyzed all simcats but finally ended up nowhere in CAT. So, pls guide me in the verbal section and what should be my revision strategy in dilr and quant.
thanks, sir
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Hi sir,
My profile is X-9.8, XII-78.2, Grad -7.24cgpa. My cat percentile is 96.93(98.7/97.8/80.8) and I have just resigned from my clerical job at Federal Bank after 30 months of work experience. I have calls from IMI, KJ Somaiya, TAPMI, IMT Ghaziabad and such and have already converted GIM, Goa. I didn’t take up NMAT or SNAP and didn’t clear IIFT. My best call this season was the IIM CAP for the new and baby IIMs, but I don’t have any hopes on the same.
Would you suggest a repeat of CAT or take up the offer even at GIM,Goa and perform well there? I’m not a 100% sure if I can do better than my current CAT score or with my below average academics, if it’s worth the risk.
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Hi Ashok,
Did you apply to SPJIMR and MDI-Gurgaon? With a 96.93 you should have got a call from them.
A re-take depends a lot on your confidence to crack the CAT and also a lack of fear about what-if scenarios. From what you have stated you seem to be a bit tentative.
I would suggest joining a new IIM if you get through. Else you should take another shot at more tests and apply to more colleges.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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I didn’t apply to both MDI and SP Jain. Not applying to MDI seems like a blunder, but I wasn’t sure on crossing the 95 threshold, which tells you that my score far exceeds my expectations. I’m keen on joining an institute this year itself, as I’m already 24, and have racked up 30 months of experience.
Will joining GIM, IMI or TAPMI be settling for less, or are there ample opportunities in these colleges too.
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There is a clear difference between these colleges and MDI in terms of quality of firms visiting campus and brand value. In terms of pure Marketing placements, the difference might be marginally smaller.
All of these colleges will give you decent placements, so placements itself that should not be an issue but they will be a tad lower in terms of average pay, the width of roles offered, and quality of brands.
You can go ahead and join.
All the best!
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Hi sir,
I am english hons graduate (2018) from university of Delhi. I took CAT 2019 and got 95.14. I have a call from IIM Rohtak but don’t really want to join. I am willing to take one last shot at CAT, but the problem is that I graduated in June 2018 but started working in April 2019. During this time, I was working loosely on a freelance basis. Right now, I have one year of experience as a content writer and by this time next year, I’ll have 2 years of experience. Will that gap from 2018 to 2019 come into my face? Also, will working as a content writer deteriorate my prospects in B-school placements?
Any help regarding these questions would be a great help.
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Hi Aayush,
I think I recognise you from previous queries on the blog.
Your gap from ’18 to ’19 is only around 10 months, it should not hurt that much since you will be having two years of work-ex.
You need to make a pitch for Marketing from Content Writing and that is not that big a stretch, the work-ex will be considered relevant. For the rest of the domains, it will not really be relevant.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Yes, sir, I understand that the marketing industry would be somewhat in reach, but if I decide to go for some other domain like consulting or finance (just names), would the path be difficult in B-school?
In simple words, B-schools mostly comprise of engineers and apparently, they get jobs in all domains in the school placements, despite their profession only loosely related to the mentioned domains. Would I, being from literature, be at a disadvantage if I do not opt for marketing? Does the relevance of the work experience matter or just that the fact that someone has work experience, in placements?
If you could clarify.
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Sir, if you could shed some light on this, it would be of great help.
Thanks in advance.
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Hi Aayush,
It is a myth that engineers get all the placements. Placements are clearly defined by domain:
Marketing: Freshers from any educational background with good ECAs on CVs are preferred unless the candidate has work-ex is relevant
Finance: Candidates with relevant professional degrees – CA or CFA (irrespective of educational background) are given the first preference, followed by those with relevant educational background, followed by those from elite schools with great academics before and during MBA.
General Management: Freshers and working professionals from all backgrounds but with great acads, ECAs, and good PoRs
Consulting: Freshers and working professionals with excellent pedigree (IITs, NITs, BITs, SRCC, LSR, Stephens etc) and exceptional academics (90/90/80 atleast)
Operations and IM: Engineers with relevant work-ex, not freshers
So to answer your question, relevance of work-ex matters in Ops and IM, rest of the profile matters more for other domains, which is why any engineers serious about Finance will have cleared atleast CFA L1 before getting into campus, so you are in the same boat as him or her as far as Finance goes.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Thank you sir for such a detailed and insightful response. It will be really helpful.
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Hi Sir,
I am 2019 B.Com Graduate took a drop year to give CAT 19 scored 86.82 (sectionals 95,86,59)
my Acads are
X:88.33
Xll:81.23
Grad:56.65%(6.43 cgpa i know its a big blunder)
Considering my profile which makes me ineligible for many colleges(having 60% grad cut off) Should i write CAT again next year and target New IIMs or take any decent college this Year.
Currently i have calls from KJ,TAPMI,Great Lakes,etc
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Hi Kunal,
I would suggest joining a college this year given the profile and the fact that you already have a break.
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I have been reading your blogs since my graduation days and I appreciate your inputs which have helped me to improve my profile and align it more with my career goals.
My profile is 10th-92.77,12th-90.15,B.E.-9.39 CGPI(2018 batch),11 months work-ex as Software Developer(Accenture),currently working at a Financial Services Firm as a Risk Analyst(Have a gap of 4 months between 2 jobs). I am particularly interested in Finance.Would it be wise to give Gmat/Gre(in may/june) for master in finance abroad or solely focus on CAT 2020? My CAT 2019 percentile is 90.15.Currently have calls from baby iims(extended list).
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Hi,
You have a great academic profile that will help a lot as far you aspirations to build a career in Finance go.
The two options are no either/or options. Doing a Masters in Finance, working abroad and then doing an MBA much later if necessary is a route that quite a few students take. Somewhere along the line you can add a CFA as well. Why take this route? The odds of cracking a good Masters in Finance school are higher than the second option.
IIMs A & C offer the best jobs in Finance in India followed by B & L. Be that as it may, a CFA is now almost a hygiene factor to crack the best Finance jobs in India (even CAs are doing it). So even if you get into A,B,C,L or not, doing a CFA will get your a great job off-campus if you graduate from one of the old IIMs or FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, XL.
I would suggest trying a shot at both, take the GMAT before June and focus on apps in the second half, post that prepare for the CAT. The GMAT attempt can indirectly help your preparation for CAT Verbal.
And at this time next year, you should be choosing between the best Indian and International admits in your kitty.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Thank you for the quick reply and to the point suggestions.I would target both exams in the next season.
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Hi Sir,
I have scored 84.10 %ile ( VA/DILR/QA – 80/92/74) in CAT 2019, 87 %ile in IIFT and 90 %ile in SNAP. I am a GEM with 2+ years of workex at Cognizant. I have 81.71% in 10th, 70.83% in 12th and 69% (7.65 DGPA) in B.Tech. I want to pursye MBA in Operations.
I have calls from GLIM PGPM, TAPMI and KJ Somaiya. I had SIOM call too, but at that point I didn’t think I will get any other call and didn’t want to take a decision with just one call and hence skipped the interview as I had to travel all the way to Nashik from Kolkata for the interview.
I feel I should have done better as I used to get more than this in last few IMS mocks but somehow the D-Day was not in my favour. This was my first serious attempt. Before this I had taken CAT but without much prep. I am not sure I can take the pressure for one more year as last year I prepard with the 9hr job with more than 4 hours of travelling each day.
To you my question is, based on my acads and background, should I repeat CAT or take up TAPMI if I convert? As among the calls I have,TAPMI is good for operations.
Thanks in Advance.
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Hi Sir,
I am a GEM with 2+ years of workex at Cognizant. I have scored 84.10 %ile (VA/DILR/QA – 79/92/75) in CAT 2019. I have very avg acads – 81.71 in 10th, 70.83 in 12th, 69 (7.65 DGPA) in engineering.
This was my first serious attempt. Before this I had taken CAT but without much preparation. But I am not sure I can take the pressure for one more year as last 1 year it was too tough to prepare with a 9hr job and 4 hrs of travelling each day. But I believe, on the D day i could not perform upto my potential as my IMS Mock scores wer better than this.
I have calls from TAPMI and KJ Somaiyaa. I am interested in Operations. My question to you is, if I convert TAPMI (consiering TAPMI is much better than KJ for Ops), should I go for it or retake CAT?
Thanks in Advance.
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Hi Sir,
I am a GEM with 2+ years of workex at Cognizant. I have scored 84.10 %ile (VA/DILR/QA – 79/92/75) in CAT 2019. I have very avg acads – 81.71 in 10th, 70.83 in 12th, 69 (7.65 DGPA) in engineering.This was my first serious attempt. Before this I had taken CAT but without much preparation. But I believe, on the D day i could not perform upto my potential as my IMS Mock scores were better than this.
I have calls from TAPMI and KJ Somaiyaa. I am interested in Operations. My question to you is, if I convert TAPMI (consiering TAPMI is much better than KJ for Ops), should I go for it or retake CAT?
Thanks in Advance.
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Hi Mayukh,
As I mentioned in the post, it is about whether you very badly want to get into a school ranked higher than TAPMI and whether you believe that you have the ability and the energy to score a higher percentile. As far as acads go, with the same acads and a higher percentile you will get calls from a higher-ranked college.
TAPMI in itself is not a bad school, it has been around for a while, and you will get decent options post your MBA, it just depends on what you feel is a fit for your ability and aspirations.
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I have a doubt in PGDBA 2020 english paper and wanted to challenge a couple of questions, but I am not sure if I am right or wrong. I have uploaded a screenshot of the questions along with the passage in the given google drive link. Can you kindly go through the passage and the questions. I will be very obliged .
Thank you Sir.
Link : https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1xSbLAX5Xh_rqfJD4pjm0q4E6ZaRYZmfH
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Hi Sabyasachi,
I took a look at the two questions and in both cases, the question setter can argue that this is implied in the passage. In 7, it can be argued that since the actor is now almost used like a prop, without his aura, he has become a commodity.
In 6, it can be argued that earlier it was thought that art could only operate by beautiful semblance, and the previous sentences show show technology enables things to be shot asynchronously obviating the need for semblance during the creation process, thus expanding the possibilities of creating art.
The answers you have chosen are stated, the questions are asking for inferences.
What I fail to understand is what do they want to test or rather why do they want to test VA at this level for a BA course. In India more than testing skills, VA paper-setters are keen on including their pet topics of reading into the paper.
I’d say there is no point trying to challenge, you can ask them for the explanation if you want closure 🙂
All the best!
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Hello SIR
I am a final year EEE B Tech student from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and I will be graduating in April 2020. I gave my first attempt in CAT 2019 with a mere one-month preparation and secured only 80 percentile. I know I can do much better than this.
I really want to drop a year and appear with cat 2020 again with some serious preparation. I don’t want to go for a job right now. I want to complete my masters first.
My academics are as follows:
X: CGPA 10 (CBSE)
XII : 93.5% (CBSE)
B tech: CGPA 8.81
Work ex: NIL
Sir will be a good idea to drop a year as a fresher and prepare for CAT, considering I won’t be having any work experience? I plan to do some online courses and join an NGO during the drop year.
I am also a bit concerned about the fact that i am a general engineer male so i need to score 99+ to get into a good college and that really requires some serious preparation and time,
Sir will be a good idea to take a drop this year and appear for CAT2020? Also, can you please suggest some good online courses that I could pursue, which will give me an edge in the selection process.
Sir if you think i should so do some other activity instead of this please feel free to say.
Regards
Prateik
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Hi Prateik,
VIT is a good college and I remember coming down there about 5 years ago to teach some IMS students and I have to say the merit students there at that time were really, really, sharp.
Taking a drop year is not a big issue but you have to take up al least three profile-building activities — working with an NGO for a good time will definitely help and certification courses in business foundations offered by Wharton on Coursera will definitely help (and any other course in your area of interest). Apart from this, you can take up any other initiative that helps, hope you have read this post — https://thecatwriter.com/2019/03/18/how-to-build-your-profile-for-an-mba-2/
Apart from this you can use your free time to read up a bit about MBA specializations in general — https://thecatwriter.com/2017/04/22/preparing-for-an-mba-and-not-just-the-cat/
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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I am GEM with acads (93/88/8.9) and 18 months work ex.
scored 94.72 %ile in CAT ( QA-98, LR-91, VA-83) [ slightly 2-3 %ile more dn my expectation]
my iift % ile – 90.xx %ile
snap 97.23 [missed scmhrd call by 0.27 %ile or 1mark]
I think I can do better, but with my current job, this is my best shot, and further expected to drop , if i continue in the same fashion of studying with Job, bcz I cant allot much time.
I ruined CAP interview, and TAPMI was my only back-up. TAPMI PI went well, and I think I can convertit. So should I leave my job after 6 months and give another shot, or join TAPMI (if I convert)
I think if i leave job and prep (after 2 yrs of work ex), I can attain percntiles near 97-98.
p.s. didnt apply for spjain, mdi etc. PLS HELP. CONFUSED
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Hi Arghya,
As I wrote in the post, if you feel you can crack a higher percentile and that you deserve a college of a higher rank then go ahead and take another shot with the plan you have suggested.
The thing is TAPMI in itself is not bad, if you look at colleges in the 85-90 range then it is a decent college, but it is not in the league of colleges in the 95-98 range. If you believe that is where you belong and you can get there, then you have to back yourself to do it.
The most important factor in a retake is courage and mental strength. If you are someone who is in general nervous and anxious type and cannot handle uncertainty then taking TAPMI and joining now will be the better option.
But if you are someone who is fairly strong and you see yourself handling the pressure of a retake then go ahead and take another shot.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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q1) I agree, but I am sure I cannot go 95-98 range without quitting my current job, at the end of 2 yrs of work ex (will ve 3 months to prep for CAT 20 then).
But again, since I have 94.7 %ile with job, I think I can achieve 87-88%ile next yr with job also(which is TAPMI s cut off) . But to push from 87 to 97 %ile needs special effort, for that I have to quit my job.So,need ur advice.Will it be too risky or a wise choice, given my abilities described?
q2) How much does the brand value matter of colg matter in such case,incase I do my mBA from TAPMI and manage to be in the top 40% of batch? I have heard about the roles offered in new IIMs is more diverse compared to collgs of these tier. But will this brand & DIVERSITY of roles matter 4 years post MBA? Also, how much difference will be there between a studnt of SIBM-P vs someone who graduates frm TAPMI (from the top 40% of batch)?
Pls answer both questions
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Hi Arghya,
Quitting after 2 years is not an issue, a lot of students do but to figure out the impact and how you should do it, you should go through this post — https://thecatwriter.com/2017/03/10/should-i-my-job-to-prepare-for-cat/
Does brand value matter, well to give an objective answer to the questions one has to do a longitudinal study od graduates from different b-schools to over a 15 to 20 year period to get an honest idea.
SIBM-P and TAPMI will not be in the same league as far as campus placement outcomes go, with the former definitely yielding much better outcomes.
Over the medium-term, the gap can be bridged if you are star performer but do know that there will end up being a difference over the longer-term when it comes to leadership opportunities with the really big firms.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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sir, I am 2019 BBA pass out.
My acads are:
10th-9.5 CGPA
12th-96.9
graduation-8.01(BBA)
After passing out I have undergone knee surgery and not able to work.I prepared for cat 2019 and got 86 percentile(GENERAL MALE).I applied for TAPMI and got a call and still to appear for interview. I scored 98.8 in SNAP and appeared for SIBM Pune, SCMHRD, SIIB, SIBM Bengaluru with SIBM Pune already lost. I always had high expectations on me, I am in a dilemma whether to take up cat 2020 or settle for these colleges. I am not having a job in hand. I have the stamina to take cat for one more time by taking up a job but there are no jobs available with BBA except BPO s. I don’t want to take up BPO and I want to pursue finance specialization .so plz suggest how can I get a good job in finance field? Also, suggest what I have to do like NSE certifications and courses so that they will be helpful for me getting a job in the finance field.plz suggest sir.looking for your answer.
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Hi Govind,
You have a pretty good academic profile and looks like you have had a bit of a bad day on the CAT.
Since you want to build a career in Finance and do not have a professional degree CA or CFA, your first step towards that is to take up CFA and ensure that before final placements in the b-school you have at least cleared CFA L-1. All those who do not have a CA/CFA and are looking for an A-lister Finance profile (not just roles in BFSI) need to clear the one of the two and CFA is the easier of the two and internationally recognised.
I would suggest if you get through SCMHRD, you can join and clear CFA and you will get decent options off-campus if not on campus.
If you feel that you can really crack a higher-ranked college then do not take up some random job, instead do three things: clear CFA-L1 by June, start your prep for L2 (and if you can clear it by December great), work with an NGO for a good three to four months, prepare for CAT and other tests.
If you do this and enter a good b-school next year, you will have that great career in Finance. This is another kind of investment banking — investing time and money in yourself and in a professional degree.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Sir, Thank you very much for your valuable advice. I also got a call for banking&finance from tapmi.In the curriculum, they told that they provide scholarships and teach parallelly for CFA. If I get in,Is it going to add value with CFA professional degree and an MBA from Tapmi? I have heard that an MBA from Top IIMs will help us in reaching those coveted positions with CFA. Is it true or can be reached with an MBA from Tapmi also. Thank You sir once again.
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Hi Govind,
Well, a CFA will give you openings along with a TAPMI MBA and build a career in Finance,but overall in the longer term I am of sure if the TAPMI brand will get you a shot at the really, really, big firms since Finance a niche field and pedigree becomes very important.
So, in short TAPMI and CFA will have you pretty decent options and a great career, but I cannot vouch for whether it will get you the really sought after roles.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best
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Thank u sir.
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Hi Tony Sir,
I have been following your blogs since my last year preparations and have found those very useful.
I am in a dilemma deciding what to do next. My profile (GEM) :
X = 95%
XII = 94%
Grad( Btech, NIT ) : 8.65
Experience: 18 months
I gave a serious attempt but managed only to get 93.xx percentile. I have coverted NM but decided to give another shot, but with the current scenario, even 99.7 percentilers are not getting calls from old iims.
Also, I have given a thought to go for GMAT in the first half of the year and start for CAT by june 2020 but I am very much confused with the online resources since there are many. Please do guide me in my preparations for GMAT.
Also, please tell me if i have made practical plans or 3 months for GMAT would hamper my preparations for both cat and gmat ?
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Hi Mohit,
I think your plan to crack the GMAT before the end of June is the right one since you already have a 93 on the CAT; you will not need more than 3 months of prep.
And anyway preparing for a CAT reattempt from now itself will be counterproductive, given that the gap you have to bridge is not one quantum of prep but the quality of prep, also you do not want to be peaking before October.
As far as resources for GMAT Prep go, there are so many that it is tough to figure out a good one. I think I should launch one 🙂
In the meantime, you can go through my blog for the GMAT — https://thegmatblogger.in/ — which covers the entire strategy aspect of the prep and how to prep as well, so start with the All About GMAT section.
You can also look at Wizako as a preparation resource for the GMAT, I have known Bhaskar professionally and he is pretty knowledgeable about and a great mentor for GMAT.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Thanks you sir for your valuable advice. I explored Wizako and found it a little Quants oriented, is there a complete package for Verbal which I can mix with Wizako ? Being an Indian Engineer, I believe I can manage the Quants section but might struggle in the GMAT verbal.
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Hi Mohit,
I am not sure if there is an only Verbal offering, I think Wizako has a lot of Verbal videos as well on Youtube.
I do feel the lack of a good GMAT Verbal options for Indian students, which is why I think it is high time I did one for my favourite section in my favourite exam 🙂
IMS also has LIVE Online Classes for GMAT but not only Verbal.
I suggest you get your hands on the Manhattan books and use my blog as well for all the Verbal strategies, honestly I don’t think there is much more you would need apart from my posts for both CR and RC, SC you might need something more since I do not cover the basics.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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sir…please do reply
this was my second attempt and i could score a 95 percentile ..but with only 67 percentile in lrdi
the story was same in my first attempt as well.I have realized that I have enough preparation [which was visible in my mock scores of 97 percentile plus in almost all mocks] but its just that I am unable to handle the pressure on D day in LRDI section specifically.In xat I could score a 98 percentile. but again tanked in DM by 1 mark.I didnt apply to IMT g.
I graduated in 2019 and had skipped placements.Should I take CAT again or should I search for Job.I feel that the issues I have are solvable and as far as motivation is concerned I think I can give a last fight at CAT.Please guide
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Hi,
You should definitely give it another shot, it is worth it.
In the meantime, take up a job, else the gap will be too long by the time you sit for the interviews.
Also, sitting at home and preparing for another shot will always be added pressure, and there is not that much to prep for as well.
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I have a work-ex of 45 months as of now and i have calls from XIMB-BM, TAPMI and Welingkar.
With my work-ex will it be very difficult to get placed if i join any of these colleges?
Manisha
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HI Manisha,
While 45 months is on the higher side I have had female students with more than 4 years of experience get good jobs from 2-year programs.
As long as it is under 4 years it should not be too much of a problem.
Of course, there are roles that you wouldn’t be considered for, say entry-level roles in Sales & Marketing, but overall getting placed should not be a very big problem.
If it was a strict no-no, they would not have given you an admit.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best
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Hello Sir,
I had taken cat 2019 and it was my very first attempt(Earlier I had planned for gate). I had started studying from june while at home without job. My percentiles are as follows:
QA:95.66
VARC:57.37
LRDI:83.48
Overall:86.64
Now I am placed in Accenture and will start working from end june. Should I try for cat again this year? How should I approach the preparation given I will be getting lesser time and I have already enrolled in IMS weekend batch. Please guide on how to do along with a job. I definitely aim for higher percentile.
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Hi Arunima,
At some point in time you will need a Masters and if it is not in the tech side it will have to be on the managerial side.
You can either work for two you and plan to take the CAT next year, so that you enroll in ’22 or you can take the CAT this year and join in ’21.
The work-ex will come in handy if you wish to build a career in the field of your work, so if you are working in and want to move to a business role and managerial roles in the IT and Tech space then taking CAT 2021 and joining in ’22. makes sense.
If you want to move away from IT and explore Finance or Marketing, then taking CAT 20 will be and joining next year makes sense.
To manage work and CAT Prep read this post — https://thecatwriter.com/2019/06/03/cat-2019-how-to-manage-work-and-prepare-for-the-cat/
Hope this helps,
All the best !
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Hello sir
I’m average student since school on the basis of my marks .
I graduated(bcom-h) last year
And started preparing for cat from july-19
In cat -2019 I got 79.6%tile , as my basics were so bad i knew I’ll not be able to get 99 for sure this time.
But I know I can get 99+%
So I decided to take a retake !
Problem is my academic profile is avg
+ I don’t have work ex , specialisation etc
And as I’m not Fully prepared I don’t know what should I do like do something to build my profile or just focus on cat -20
If I’ll focus to build my profile i’ll not get sufficient time to prepare for cat-20 which I think is most imp because I still have to do a lot of hardwork to get my basics strong and to get fully prepared !
Tell me what should I do as retake will mean another dropout !
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Sorry sir due to network error I posted twice !
Consider my last comment!
I shall be great full to you!
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Hello sir
I am a avg student since school as per my marks .
I graduated(bcom-h) last year .
I started preparing for cat -19 from july-19 as my basics were very bad I knew I’ll not be able to get 99+ this time and I got 79.6 which was quite acceptable !
But I knew I can get 99+ %tile
So I decided to take a retake !
But problem is my academic profile is very low
Plus I don’t have any work ex , specialisation etc
And if I start focus to build my profile i ‘ll not get sufficient time to prepare for cat -20 which I think is most imp as I need time to get fully prepared and to get my basics strong enough !
But with such low profile
10th-68%
12th-75%
Grad.-75%
I don’t know what to do like to build profile or to just focus on cat-20 which I think is imp as I mentioned earlier it ‘ll take me time to prepare for one of the biggest event of my life !
Kindly tell me sir what should I do
What mind set I should opt what will be the best stratergy !
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Hi Pulkit,
Firstly, I would say set the targets right. As a B.Com fresher with slightly below par academics, the best outcome for you will be an MBA degree from a top 30 school — new/baby IIMs, MDI, FMS, IIFT, SIBM, NMIMS etc — that will guarantee a 15 LPA plus job. This means that you have to prepare for the CAT as well as IIFT, NMAT, and SNAP and not put all your eggs into one basket — 99+ percentile on CAT.
Right now we are in March, and we have more than 8 months to go for the CAT and other exams. So I feel you have enough and more time to take up at least one or two profile building activities — online certification courses need less than one or two hours per day of work and you can work with an NGO on weekends and both of these can be discontinued after August.
Even after doing this you will have more than 10 hours left on weekdays and weekends which is more than enough for prep.
So drop the Indian mindset of thinking about only one thing fully at a time and develop the capability to handle atleast two projects in parallel.
All the best!
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Ok sir .!! im getting what you are trying to say …. thanks a lot sir for all your suggestions!
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hi sir,
i have 3 and a half years work experience as bank p.o at IDBI bank
thinking of giving cat
age- 30 years(female,married, having a son)
10th-89%
12th-82%
graduation B,.E-59%
category-OBC
will my application be considered for iims
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Hi Renuka,
Your application will definitely be considered since there is technically no age limit.
Your grad percentage is low so you might not score too many marks there and hence you will need to score around 97 (otherwise 95) to get a call from the old IIMs.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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thank you sir
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Hello Sir,
I quit my job last year as it was really getting tough for me to manage Cat preparation along with my job. I have 1 year of experience and scored 80 percentile in CAT’19 and honestly didn’t want to join any college offering admission with this score.
So I started preparing for a job but because of this pandemic everything is closed now and as u know we are in quarantine.
So what I should do now. I want to appear for CAT’20 as it is my dream to study from a reputed B-School.
Kindly help.
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Hi Shravan,
You have no option but to wait it out till the quarantine ends, in the meantime take-up certification programs on Coursera.
All the best!
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Hi sir,
My name is kalyan
I completed my graduation btech in 2018
10th – 9cgpa- State board, AP
12th – 90.5%- State board, AP
Btech – 6.0cgpa mechanical (took 1 semester more to complete, passed in November examinations, not in April)
I don’t have any work experience, simply wasted the time, with my seniors suggestion, I would like to give cat in coming year 2020 (targeting for 2021 academic year). So nearly 3 years gap,
Whether, any worth for me to give CAT exam this time.
What percentile I have to get?
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Hello Sir,
I prepared for CAT 2019 while working in IT(1 year 8 months current work ex) & scored 93.02 percentile (first attempt) . I’ve also converted IMI New Delhi & IMT Ghaziabad (Marketing) (as of now).Now I’m confused whether to go with the current options or prepare for next year.My company has 3 months of notice period which i assume can be reduced to 2 months if i convinced my manager hence I’ve to apply for the resignation as soon as possible if I’m looking to join a B school this year.but still I’m not able to decide whether to go with IMT Ghaziabad or spend 1 more year for the preparation.My poor academics 95/75/74.20 ensures that i won’t be getting most of the BLACKI calls even at a really high percentile.Also i would admit that it’s been 5 months since i’ve last seen the CAT related questions hence i’m not so sure about my current capability(to be honest now i’m thinking that i won’t be able to score even 60 percentile since I haven’t touch the books in a while).
Please help me out with this quandry as i think a lot of students are able to relate with my story & your Suggestion is going to be really helpful for us.
Thank you in Advance
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Hi Satyam,
The first thing is always to do a correct goal definition.
If the goal is BLACKI or nothing then you will admit that leaving what you have and taking another shot is purely dependent on one thing — your confidence about your ability to crack a 99-plus percentile. From what you have written that does not seem to be the case. You should have no doubt about your ability to crack a 99-plus if BLACKI is your goal.
Similarly, it follows that if not BLACKI but a good top-20 college such as MDI, IIFT, NMIMS-Mumbai, SPJIMR, SIBM-Pune is your goal (if you get BLACKI, then you should be confident about cracking a 97-plus percentile.
As you go closer to a retake having left these colleges, you will feel greater pressure, what will come in handy is the confidence you have about the percentile level you can crack.
If you are not confident about a 97-plus then it makes a lot of sense to join the colleges you have.
Another thing to consider is that you have time on your side and you are just one attempt old, so if you feel that you want to do an MBA from a higher-ranked college then go for it.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
Hoping that you are doing well.
I am a Thane brand student. I saw your answers and thought this platform could connect me with you.
I really want your advice on my current scenario I will brief it down below. Hoping your reply on it.
I am an average student (GEM) with past academics as SSC / HSC / GRAD – 83/76/59 . Wrote cat for the first time with very less preparation in 2018 and scored 58%. Worked hard in 2019 and got 90.34% – 75/94/92
Couldn’t perform well in other exams.
I am a 1995 born and 24 yr old now. And working in a digital marketing agency with 30 months of experience now
Is it advisable to repeat and try harder to score 98+ and try one more chance to get a good B schools ?
I know the BLACKIs won’t call because of the Profile but I desire to be in a good B school that will overshadow my past performance in acads and help me grow in career. I don’t want to leave India as well.
I am really concerned with my over experience and age and my bad profile. Also do Bschools even have people with 3+ yr experience?.
And I really want a practical advise.
Please help
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Hi Shaikh,
The thing about Marketing roles is that you need only get into the best colleges. The difference between the best and the rest fo the colleges in not in Marketing placements but more in Consulting and Finance roles.
So if you have a decent college for Sales & Marketing such as IMI-Delhi then go ahead and join this year.
If you do not have any such option then go ahead and repeat. As long as you want to work in Marketing and have experience in Digital marketing it will not be excess-experience. Excess experience in one field is bad only if you want to shift from that field or if that field has few roles offered on campus. So if you are above 24, have relatively below par profile, and have 3-plus years of work in Operations then you will have a tough time since Marketing & Finance firms will not touch you, General Mgt and Consulting firms will reject based on academics. For Marketing, it should be an issue.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
i really want your advice on my current confusion whether to join or retake the cat.
past academics as SSC / HSC / GRAD – 90/83/85. got 92.34% in cat
Confirmed selection-NM mumbai HR,IMI delhi,IMT GZB.
Results yet to come-IIT kgp,IIM ranchi HR
I am 24 yr old now. And working as a Brand Manager in a startup with 24 months of experience now
Is it advisable to repeat and try harder to score 99+ and try one more chance to get a good B schools ?
I desperately want to join the best mba college.
I am really concerned with my work experience and age.
What is your advice?should i go for these colleges or retake CAT.
I hope you’ll reply to this post.
Thank you
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Hi Ashi,
Firstly I assume that you are have decided which specialization you want to choose HR or Marketing.
If you haven’t then please read this post first — https://thecatwriter.com/2019/04/08/how-to-choose-between-a-hr-program-and-a-regular-mba-2/
If it is marketing then IM-Delhi and IMT-G will give you decent options, not as great as the Tier 1 schools but still worth a start.
If it is HR then again a decent start but not as good as say XLRI-HR.
So, all of these colleges are definitely good and your work-ex should really help you in getting you the best Marketing placements on offer.
It is up to you if you feel you are not just good but great, can crack 99, and believe that you have enough in the tank (psychologically) to last another attempt.
If I were you maybe I’d go ahead and join since the top-tier offer significantly better opportunities for Finance and Consulting that are almost non-existent on campuses, which is not the case with Marketing.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I need your advice on the decision to retake the CAT 2020. Please guide me.
CAT 2019 was my first attempt and I started with self preparation from August 2019 after quitting the job. Speaking purely in terms of preparation this was surely not my personal best. So with about 3 months of preparation I managed to score 90.97%ile (VA: 96.40; LR: 86.67; QA: 75.85) in CAT 2019 (EWS category) and about 95%ile in SNAP.
My past acads are as follows: SSC/HSC/GRAD: 88.55/74.83/70.31
I had calls from IIM CAP, KJSIMSR, SIOM, SIIB. I have converted SIOM amongst all others (not much hope for new IIMs) and I have also appeared for CET 2020 (awaiting result).
My dream B-schools (for Ops) are NITIE, VGSOM, IIT-B, IIT-D and I think I can manage to score 96-97%ile if I prepare for CAT 2020 with proper mentorship. But repeating again would mean a gap of about 2 years by the time I join a B-school next year. How should I go about it?
Does it make sense if I join a college through CET wherein the fees is comparatively low and alongside prepare for CAT and other exams for the upcoming season OR should I take up SIOM and drop the idea of repeating again considering the fact that SIOM is also a decent college for Ops.
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Hi Akshay,
A two-year break is definitely not advisable and will put you at a disadvantage profile-wise. So if you want to take another shot, you need to take up a job without a doubt.
You can join a CET college and then take another shot but that really sounds like a second attempt at IIT-JEE story. Honestly, it is neither here nor there story — you do not respect the college you are in while preparing for a second time (the college is the back up which means you do not feel you can crack the test) and if you do not get through you will not respect yourself for having to continue there, and in the whole of the first year you will not have done the course with any commitment or networked and built relationships with your peers. Essentially you will graduate with half an MBA in terms of experience.
The third plan to join SIOM, speak to people who are studying there and if the kind of brands and firms and roles on offer are aligned to your goals then go ahead and join.
It is a tricky situation and hence I thought I might as well be honest instead of trying to play probability.
Hope this clarifies,
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
Just recently, I found your blog and I am already a fan of your posts. I need your advice on the decision to retake CAT 2020.
My profile goes this way :
10th – 95% – 10 cgpa
12th – 96.8%
Grad – 79% (Cgpa 8.6), Btech student from DTU, 2018 passout
Work ex – 12 months as a data analyst, I left my job in July 2019, not working currently.
CAT 2019 was my first attempt and with 3-4 months of preparation secured 96.8 percentile.
I have converted IIM Indore, MDI (PGP IM), and waitlisted at K ( no hopes that I’d convert ).
I feel like I could have done better than this. I hoped to convert K since the general perception is
K > I , given that MBB visit K and there are entrepreneurial opportunities in K. According to your post on B school selection criteria, I think I can get calls from C, L, K, I if I retake CAT but it is uncertain. Also, I’d prepare for CAT 2020 without a job this year as well.
What do you think are my chances and whether I should drop Indore and retake CAT? Does it make sense to give another year, if I don’t land up with A,B,C next year?
Also, the 1st trimester may start online, is it a good idea from doing MBA this way from Indore?
Please guide me.
Thank You
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Hi Meetakshi,
Glad you find the posts useful.
Firstly, a retake with an old IIM admit make sense only in the following cases:
1. An extra year in your job or a break that will only enhance your profile — in your case a two-year gap will really dent your profile
2. You are absolutely certain that you can crack the test without an iota of doubt and the ability to handle the pressure as D-day nears.
So if you can find a job and are sure to crack the test then take another shot, else join Indore.
It is a pretty good school and the new director who joined a couple of years ago has turned things around.
The first trimester online will be something that every b-school grad this year be it at Harvard or Infore has to deal with.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Could you please, please help me out with this ?? — I have been waitlisted by IIFT Kolkalta at 25( and the coordinators say that there’s high chace of conversion) However, I’m in a dilemma- considering the state the economy is now , the uncertainty of summer placements, and also, the fact that I don’t particularly like the concept of online classes, especially during your first few months when networking and bonding with your classmates is important.
Should I reattempt CAT? I really don’t mind studying again and trying for a better Bschool. But the question is what are the chances that I’ll get a call or even convert one Bschool better than IIFT Kolkalta after reattempting. Is IIFT Kolkalta worth joining right now? I am particularly interested in marketing. I have consulted a few seniors in IIFT but they give mixed opinions. Some say that companies don’t offer marketing roles and offer strategy / sales roles. And that few companies that come to Delhi campus don’t come to Kolkata campus( HUL, ITC , etc). How different are the packages when compared to the old iims?
Also this is my background –( General engineer female, 10th (95) , 12th( 89) , grad (83), graduation in Btech IT in 2019 , working in a software company since a year) What should the ideal percentile that I should be aiming at to get ABCLK considering this profile.
Also I have started CAT preparation since the past 40 days and have been scoring anywhere between (92-97.5 percentile) in aimcats. Is it possible to get a 99.5+ in the actual CAT with a percentile that is in this range at this stage? I really want to be practical, but also am ready to give in another attempt. But at what cost. It’ll be really helpful if you could guide me. Also, I’m so sorry to ask so many questions but I’m in a huge dilemma!!
Also I just have 3 days to make a decision and make the payment.
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Hi Shreya,
IIFT-Kolkata is not IIFT-Delhi and that is why the discrepancy between placements, with the big firms not visiting.
But one thing is that Sales & Marketing is a domain and all firms, barring one or two, offer starting roles in Sales (you will be doing sales, you will be managing the channel) and move you to Marketing. Even HUL at IIM-A will do this.
Join IIFT-K if the average salaries and the firms that visit are okay for you.
As far as another attempt goes, to get a BLACKI call, you will need in excess of 98.5 for a few calls, and above 99.50 to get all calls.
But the move away from IIFT-K need not only end at IIM-A. There are quite a few great colleges that are leagues ahead of IIFT-K (not D).
At a higher IIFT percentile you will get into IIFT-D.
At a 96-97, you will get a shot at the MDIs, SPJIMRs, and the new IIMs.
As far as your current percentiles and predicting whether you will get a 99.5 based on that, you know no one can do that.
If you are consistently scoring above a 99 in the AIMCATs and SimCATs leading up to the CAT, you can expect a 99.5.
A simple thumb rule, CAT Percentile = Mock-percentile + (100-Mock-percentile)/2
So if you are at 95, then actual CAT percentile is around 97.5.
Finally, you have to take the call as to what is a good outcome for you at the end of your MBA and over the longer term.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Thank you so so much for your advice. It is really insightful ! 🙂
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Hi Sir,
I reference to my above comment I would like to mention that these are my CAT and IIFT scores.
CAT: 89.xx (50.xx(VARC), 94.xx(DILR), 97.xx(QA) ) really performed poorly in varc, lost my marks majorly there … 😦
IIFT : 97.4
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Hello Sir,
I have converted IIM Trichy amongst other new IIMs and IIFT Kolkata. I left my job in May this year and have 40 months workex in TCS as of today.Initially i was sure of joining this year on converting any of the colleges,but since the past few days i have a nagging feeling that this wasn’t my best attempt and may be i could have scored more if i had prepared diligently.
CAT ’19-95.13 %le
IIFT ’19-99.29 %le
My profile:-
10th/12th/Grad:-
88.31/72.67/7.52
Category:-NC-OBC
I have completed my engineering from a tier-3 college.Do you think going for another attempt would be a wise decision and worth the risk??
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Hi Aditya,
The gap year is something that will come up in the interview (if you do not plan to take up a job that is). If you take up a job you will be adding more work-ex and you can be sure that the roles on offer might get limited to your the areas around your work-ex (IT/ITES/Tech/e-Commerce)
If you are certain that you can improve your score and that you can handle the pressure of a retake, go ahead, else join this year.
All the best!
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Hi Sir,
I have converted IIM- Amritsar I had CAP Calls but didnt convert any only got waitlisted , this was my second full fledged attempt at CAT I scored 92.73%ile , My Xth XIIth & Grad(Mech-Eng) score are (8.2/5.9/5.9) I am an OBC Student. I have 30 Months of Work -Ex in Ops & Consulting. I want to get into Analytics domain.
Should I take a re-attempt at CAT or take admission this year. I think I can score much higher , But then the thought of going through the whole process again 3 rd time I think I dont have the mental stamina for that but I can get myself together and work hard if you suggest to re-attempt and if I should re-attmept should I quit my job ?
I hope I get a response, I am in a great dilemma
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Hi Rishabh,
Given that your academic profile is not that great, it does not make any sense to go for another attempt since the upside is not very high.
I would suggest joining since you mentioned that you are not sure about your ability to mount another attempt.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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If I could bag a New IIM convert next year , What will be better, A Baby IIM this year or a New IIM next year.( Eg. IIM Trichy next year or IIM Amritsar this year)
Thank you so much sir for your quick response it really helped me in taking a decision for myself.
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Hi Rishabh,
A new IIM such as Trichy will definitely give you better options than Amritsar.
If you feel you can go through another attempt and can handle the pressure, go for it.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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Thank you sir.
Should I leave my job if I decide to Re-take since I already have 30 Months of Exp ,will adding more exp make it tough for me to shift career to business analytics role from a core Mechanical engg. role?
Also I am already 25 years old.
And can I cover up this 1 year gap with certifications or this 1 year gap will put a dent on my profile and make it tougher to get into a better college ?
I really apologize to be asking so many questions .But tomorrow is the last day to confirm my seat into IIM Amritsar and I am really confused .
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Hi Rishabh,
A gap year with good certifications and up-skilling should work fine since you already have good-ex.
I don’t think taking a break with affect your adversely, if anything it will add some diversity to your profile.
Hope this helps,
All the best!
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