Cat 2017 was without any doubt a roller coaster ride for many of the aspirants. Results of most of the top b-schools have been announced, and many aspirants are lucky enough to have converted the b-school of their dream. But for the not so lucky ones, the dilemma continues as to what to do next?
Available choices can be categorised into three categories: to settle with an average b-school, to continue the job or get one, and the last one is to go for CAT 2018. First two options seem easy and easily doable. There is no immediate struggle and hard work required to join an average b-school or getting or continuing an average job. But, the third option brings the flashbacks of the struggle for CAT 2017. Obviously, no one would like to go through that torture once again. But, in this article, I will give you sold five reasons to go for CAT 2018.
- Expectations vs Reality: Any b-school is managed by the stalwarts of marketing the marketing world, they know how to sell the seat very well. Also, there are numerous ugly sides of the b-schools that you understand after admission. Placement reports can be faked in 1000 ways, Google or Facebook can come to campus once in a century and can leave without hiring anyone, but still, it will be counted as a recruiter by the marketer. Live projects can be just a tool for start-ups to get cheap labour. The top faculty they advertised about can be just a visiting faculty, and you may never get a chance to see that faculty in your two years of MBA. There can be many expectations any aspirant would hold on to before coming to an average b-school, but he/she should confirm the realities before joining it.
- Work Experience Counts: If you are a professional with less than 3 years of work experience, if you take a drop, you will still have a considerable amount of experience which would matter. For freshers, I would highly recommend having some work experience as fresher is a kind of a tag and affects your chances of getting shortlisted for a lot of companies. Nowadays, many aspirants join some NGO to get the work experience while preparing for CAT. It gives them ample amount of time to prepare with very less workload.
- Last Degree: For many students, MBA (PGDM) is the final pillar of education as only quite a few decide to pursue PhD. If this degree is going to be the last one, it is better to make it worth showcasing to people for rest of your life. Many companies have no idea about the status of MBA colleges in India, and they have the mindset that IIM is the best, but they don’t know which one! That is why so many people join baby IIMs to get IIM tags because accept it or not, tags matters!
- Peers matters: It is true that negativity generates from within, but it is also true that it also amounts to the people around you. Peers are the most important part of your learning anywhere in life. You compete with your friends and learn from them. Now, anyone can deduce that better the college, more competent the peers will be. Who would want to be the smartest in the bag? Also, the peers will help you building your network, getting and switching your job. So, there are both long and short-term benefits of having a strong alumni base.
- Post-apocalyptic regrets: Once you are there in a b-school there is no going back. Many of the b-schools cut a high percentage of fee if you withdraw your admission within a fixed time duration. Sometimes you have to lose 100% of the 1st year’s fee. Also, finding the dark side of your b-school can be disheartening, and it leads to regret and depression. Therefore, to avoid all the chaos, it is better to put your bets on your hard-work and a time-tested b-school.
Finally, I would say that you have around 7 to 8 months before CAT 2018. It is more than enough to get above 99 percentile in CAT, so this is not a time to settle for just anything, but it’s a time to get what you truly deserve.
