Cat – Ask me Anything session.

What happens when you get 100 percentile in CAT?

Whenever we set a target for ourselves, we must always aim for the moon. Students set a goal of 80-90 %ile, which makes them believe they are unworthy of being the best. Hence, always aim for the moon. So technically, if you get a 100 %ile in the CAT exam, then, first of all, you will get calls from all the IIMs, FMS, SPJIMR etc. So you are eligible to open many doors just by scoring well in CAT irrespective of your profile, academics or anything for that matter. The first target should be acing step 1, which is to score 100 %iile in CAT. Do not reject yourself. Let the IIM reject you.

Goal setting

The whole objective of targeting 100 %ile is to get into the best of 1st level colleges that include BLACKI IIMs, i.e. (Bangalore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Kozhikode, Indore) only. These colleges ensure a bright future just by name because among these colleges, the top 10% ones will play all the sixes for sure even the bottom ones are able to play the innings ahead of others as well. These institutions represent excellence. In numerical terms, on average, students can easily make 1- 1.5 lacs per month.

The non-IIM elite institutions that come under level 2 of colleges like FMS, SPJIMR (profile based), XLRI, MDI (profile based) etc., to name a few of them. The level 3 list would include IIT Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Narsee Monji (NMIMS), SIMB etc. Now, level 4 of the college list will, first of all, include all the Baby and New IIMs like IIM Nagpur, Vizag, Rohtak, and Sirmaur. Then if your CAT didn’t go well overall, you could consider other exams like TISS, CET, and CMAT. TISS has a great ROI and unique curriculum. CET has JBIMS, which is known as the CEO factory of India and provides great ROI as well. CMAT opens doors for colleges like Great Lakes, IMT, Welingkar, Goa Institute of Management, K J Somaiya etc. 

When to repeat the CAT exam?

Repeaters could be if you have converted any college with an average of 15 pla in your attempt but can aspire for more than you can consider repeating and getting into one of the BLACKI IIMs, SPJIMR, FMS MDI etc. If you were in the last year of your graduation when you made your first attempt in CAT, then also you can repeat for level 1 colleges. 

There are 2 courses highly recommended by previous CATKing toppers currently sitting in the top IIMs of the world:

   TURBO COURSE

 INTENSIVE COURSE

  Eight months of CAT preparation, mainly from April to November.

CAT and non-cat preparation from April to next year April.

  Expenditure: 10,000 INR for CAT forms + 20,000 INR coaching fees. Altogether, 30,000 INR.

25,000 INR for CAT and NON-CAT forms + 25,000 for coaching. Altogether, 50,000 INR.

  After November, we have Jan, Feb, and March for GDPI, WAT, and PI calls converting process.

Oct- NMAT

Nov- CAT

Dec- IIFT, SNAP, MICAT

Jan- XAT, TISSNET

Feb- MICAT2, SNAP 2.

March to April- GDPI, WAT PI, CDPI calls and converting process.

  June- end of entrance preparation and beginning of actual MBA journey.

June- end of entrance preparation and beginning of actual MBA journey.

Profile 

Acing Profile Building: –

• Profile building consists of Academics, Co-curricular activities and Extracurricular activities. 
• Take up best certification platforms like Engage7x.
• Try taking certifications based on your interest, hobby, welfare service communities etc., where active learning is involved.
• You do not need to focus on doing extraordinary extracurricular activities, which compromises your preparation, though basic activities like trekking, workout, gym, creativity, art etc., can also be mentioned. The panellists only want to observe an individual’s learning ability through these.
• National recognitions are definitely to be mentioned, if any.
• Graduating students who do not have an outstanding academic record in their 10th & 12th are suggested to consider their Graduation marks very seriously and ace them.

Colleges that don’t consider academics

• FMS- Round 1 application for FMS does not give weightage for 10th & 11th marks.
• JBIMS- This college is a gem for MBA students. Referred to as the CEO factory, this college takes admission through CAT, CET & CMAT only with not less than a 99.99 %ile cut off. JBIMS overlooks academics, GDPI, and Profile. 

SPJIMR & MDI- Located in Mumbai and Gurgaon simultaneously, both the colleges are strictly profile-based. SPJIMR gives a lengthy application form to be filled up by aspirants, and the average package has reached up to 32pla.