From scoring 39 percentile in your first CAT attempt to someone who almost ended her life, we have received some of the most poignant and inspirational stories of aspirants who made it to their dream B-schools despite extremely unfavourable circumstances. To inspire you to achieve the same and make it to your dream B-school in 2023, we have compiled 20 of the most inspirational stories - some of which will leave you awe-struck, and some that will leave you teary-eyed and at a loss for words.
"My grandfather was a mill worker while my father was a Homeguard officer in Mumbai. The main source of our family income ceased after the shutdown of a few mills in 2005. It was a difficult period for our family". At this juncture of life, 16-year-old Rakesh took up the job of delivering newspapers in order to manage family expenses but the zeal he possessed for acquiring knowledge helped him to parallelly manage education.
From delivering newspapers to doing night shifts (to earn money) to working at LIC to joining IIM Rohtak, this is one of the most awe-inspiring stories you will read. It is proof that “Where there is a will, there is a way.”
“A student like me doing an MBA in a wheelchair has a lot to add to its diversity. I had started my cab services in 2013 after which I graduated from my engineering college. After having entered IIM Ranchi, I am looking after my business over the phone.”
Bikas appeared for CAT 6 times before finally making the cut. He does not believe in giving up; read this inspirational story.
In Adya’s first CAT attempt she scored 39 percentile. In her second attempt, she scored 98 percentile and made it to MDI, one of India’s best B-schools. She rightly says “
Dream and dream until one day you reach your destination”
What would you do if you witnessed your closest friend's death just before CAT? Even more so, what would you do if you were diagnosed with clinical depression during b-school interviews, battling personal financial trouble, watching over your father's deteriorating health, and getting waitlisted by b-schools? Even further, when you finally got into a b-school, what would you do if your first few months at b-school, you felt like an alien? Sounds like a bizarre film script right? But this is Hari Krishan Kubar's true story!
From scoring 52.86 %ile in LIDR in 2015, to scoring 99.32%ile in 2016, this person has come a long way. Read his story to ace the LIDR section. He rightly says “One single biggest thing that aspirants should keep in mind is that never carry on the mindset of a particular section in the following section. This will reduce your speed, confidence and overall score.”
“Having a lot of questions in mind, I gave my first mock, and I just scored 30 marks in it. I told my friend about it, and she asked me out of 300? That day I realized maybe it's not possible, and I decided I should give up. I pulled myself together and decided to work hard, and I got motivated and started studying for 10-12 hours a day, and then I again gave a mock, and I got 40 marks.”
Read on to know what changed for Kirti and how she finally got into IIM Calcutta.
2 JEE attempts – 2 failures. Then 3 more attempts for CAT before finally making it IIFT Delhi. Add to this the candidate’s mother getting diagnosed with cancer, a month before CAT. Can the story be more dramatic?
“I couldn’t even manage to cross 80 percentile in my first two attempts at CAT! Did I give up? No. I gave it another chance and here I am, sitting at IIM Kozhikode writing this article.”
From getting no calls to getting nau(that’s 9 in Hindi, Rozly has come a long way!
"I felt as if I lost everything, my health, my job, my money and my future promotions, the only thing I hadn’t lost was hope and believe in myself."
Manavdeep Singh, a GEM, met with an unfortunate accident that left him bedridden. In his first-ever mock test, he scored a meagre 47%ile, that left him even more demotivated. But that did not deter Manavdeep. In this inspirational post, he highlights how he kept himself motivated and managed to ultimately score 99.4%ile in CAT, and converted the top B-schools of the country.
"When I was on the verge of losing everything, all I wanted was the capacity to do the regular stuff like using the washroom by myself."
At a young age, Nitesh Pasari had a spinal cord injury that restricted him to a wheelchair. But instead of treating this as an impairment, Nitesh used this as motivation to excel in life; so much so, that he landed a job with Goldman Sachs and DBS! Nitesh's story will leave you inspired and will most definitely drive you to overcome life's obstacles and reach new heights!
She is a top-notch model, the winner of Miss India Elite 2016 and has also represented India on a global platform. With a Bachelors in Economics, she held the fifth rank among her batch mates at Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). A recent MBA graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad she is currently working as a Consultant at McKinsey. Read on to be blown away by her journey.
Don't ever let anybody tell you, you can't do something. The world isn’t conspiring for us to fail, our loved ones aren’t against us. As human beings it's our nature to be afraid of the things we haven’t experienced and thus we try to protect our near ones from them. Through this journey, I learnt to make people believe in my dreams. I hope my story helps you do the same!”
Is it possible to crack CAT in just 2 months? Read on to find out. “1 in every 200 they said. I said bring it on. Now, a dreamer for life, branded for life!”
Not everyone cracks CAT in the first attempt. InsideIIM is rife with stories of those who've taken not one, not two, but even five CAT attempts before finally making it to an IIM. In this video, we bring to you the story of Swayam Tibrewal, who took CAT a total of four times before he actually made it to IIM Bangalore. What's more, he achieved this feat as a working professional! Take a look at his journey to an IIM after spending four years of his life preparing to bell the CAT.
Mental health is often the most neglected when we are put to a grind. For Gayathri, it became too much to handle during her undergraduate years. Studying away from family, the pressure of acclimatizing in new surroundings and proving to others that her decision of not pursuing engineering to go for mathematics was the right one, took a toll on her mental health. To an extent that one day she decided to end her own life!
“I took 25 AIMCATs, around 18 SAMCATs and about 70 sectional tests of varying difficulty levels. In my last AIMCAT a week before the CAT exam, I scored my lowest Quant percentile of 53 percentile. In the end, want to know how it turned out for me? I appeared for the interviews of 17 IIMs, including all the old IIMs and converted each of them. I feel honoured to have joined IIM Bangalore's PGP 2020-2022 batch!
It is hard to give away a convenient life for your dreams. Many are not ready to take that risk. However, Ameya Marathe gave away a lucrative Senior Analyst Role at the Market Risk Technology Division of Goldman Sachs to peruse his MBA dream!
The only reason I think this is a must-read for every aspirant is that – sometimes, you got to think beyond monetary returns! Its all about your passion.
Average academic record and a failed CAT attempt. What next? Kunal decides to go all in. He
took around 55 mocks of CAT alone, with nearly five each for every other exam. End Result? He makes it to one of India’s top B-schools!
In 2017, he scored 68.98 percentile in CAT. In 2019, he received - two professional awards, a 50% appraisal, company-wide recognition and became the youngest to lead a team in the organization. No reason to go back to CAT right? 2 months later he re-appears and gets a seat in IIM Kozhikode. Read on to find out why.
What does this story entail? A half-MBA from Symbiosis turns into a model by accident and an assistant casting director by choice; to finally getting back to appearing for CAT and joining IIM Lucknow! As the author rightly says “It looks funny and stupid in the hindsight but that’s true for every mistake we make. Everyone’s wiser in hindsight.”
When a Cat 99.96 percentiler shares some tips, you need to listen to him seriously! Read the journey of Hardik Vijay who managed working at Citi bank while still achieving this incredible score.
Hope these motivated you to prep harder and achieve your desired Bschool. All the best to you!