Journey to IIM Udaipur: A CAT Story of 4 Attempts
This interview was conducted with Anas Ahmad(IIM-U 2025-27), who discussed his CAT journey and shared valuable insights for the current CAT aspirants.
This interview was conducted with Anas Ahmad(IIM-U 2025-27), who discussed his CAT journey and shared valuable insights for the current CAT aspirants.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) is the entry to prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top business schools. Often viewed as an exam dominated by quantitative aptitude, CAT can be intimidating for non-engineers who lack a strong mathematical background. However, cracking CAT is less about being a math genius and more about strategy, practice, and leveraging our strengths. Non-engineers can not only succeed but also excel in CAT without falling into the so-called "quant trap."
Most of us aspirants treat the “Why MBA?” question like a final hurdle, something to prepare for right before the interview. But in reality, this question isn’t just an interview staple. It’s the foundation of our entire MBA journey. And the sooner we start answering it, the better our decisions and outcomes will be.
Preparing for the CAT isn’t just about cramming formulas or solving math puzzles. One of the most unpredictable and critical sections of the paper is Reading Comprehension (RC)—a test of your focus, logic, language, and inference skills all at once.
When you’re preparing for the NMAT exam, you’ll probably hear the same advice on loop that is practice regularly, manage your time, and aim for accuracy. But what many candidates completely overlook or misunderstand is how the NMAT algorithm actually works. This isn’t just a quirky feature of the test. It’s the algorithm that drives your final score.
When I first started thinking about filling CAT form and applying to business schools, I thought I had plenty of time. After all, deadlines were months away, and I had already survived college finals, right? But pretty quickly, I realized that MBA prep isn’t just about managing topics and forms, it’s also about managing yourself. And the biggest challenge? Procrastination. Not the obvious kind, but the sneaky, disguised kind that looks like productivity until it’s not.
Everyone knows the feeling when you're just staring at your device screen and meaninglessly scrolling your feed, and telling yourself just five minutes more will do no harm. The feeling of procrastination is not just laziness, it's a combination of aimlessness and lying to oneself. In a highly competitive environment, procrastination can act as a curse for an individual. As an ex-management entrance aspirant, I am no stranger to this feeling and know very well the effect procrastination has on each sphere of our daily lives. So, what is the solution? Not vague motivation, but well-defined habits and clever strategies. Here are a few tips on how to avoid procrastination.