Leaving A Top-10 B-School To Chase A Dream - Two Time CAT 99 Percentiler's Journey Against All Odds

It's not the regret for the things we did but the things we didn't that is inconsolable. This is the thought that came to Nishant Sahni's mind as he spent his first month at one of India's finest business schools. Having not made it to his dream institutes in his first CAT attempt, Nishant took a huge risk of dropping out of that B-School to chase his dream and give CAT another shot. From shattering his bones to jittery sleepless nights, here's how Nishant went against all odds to chase his IIM dream!

So, the story goes like this - I’m a general engineer male (aka GEM) with decent academics (95/92/88), graduated in June 2018 from NIT Raipur, was placed in Jio, but decided to write CAT instead, and since didn’t want my attention diverted, didn’t join the firm.

So, I had around 4 months, put in around 5 hours a day, and scored a decent 99.27 percentile. But, being a GEM, didn’t get call from the holy trinity, and IIM L. I anyway attended the full process, appeared for all the interviews, and converted IIM K, IIT Bombay, among others. (Note from Team InsideIIM: we have not mentioned the name of the B-School he went on to join)

I decided to go for one of the top-10 B-Schools in Indai, studied there for 1 month, attended the complete induction process, and realized while contemplating during those long guest lectures that I had not put my cent percent, so decided to give it another shot.

Well, it was indeed a big step, to leave a top-10 B-school and to venture again into that uncharted and uncertain territory known as CAT. But as Sydney J. Harris once said “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable”. So, I convinced my parents, my mamas, chachas, buas, and a heck lot of other people, and eventually on June 31st, withdrew my admission.

The plan was simple; 5 months, 10 hours a day, 50 mocks, a score of 99.8+ and the Mecca of Indian B-schools (A, B, C) is mine. But, you know how the saying goes, and indeed the universe was listening to my plans, and having a good laugh, because, exactly 7 days later, while my parents were out of town, and I was all alone, I heard my cat (well, the animal) screaming from the top of our terrace, she got stuck there, and I had to do something, so I climbed up there, picked her up, and while coming back, lost my balance, fell from a height of 6 ft, and broke my right arm; not just broke it, but utterly smashed it. So, there I was with 2 broken bones, 1 bone shattered into pieces, and a dislocated elbow, alone at 1 AM.

As you can guess, I had to undergo a surgery, and had a plaster of 3 kg on my right arm for the next 2 months. After a lot of hospital visits, injections, X rays, and physiotherapy sessions, here I was, good as new, ready for the battle.

Now, New Plan: 3 months, 30 mocks, and a score of 99.6+, and the holy trinity is mine. But, you know the Universe and its laughs. Anyway, I prepared for 3 months, scored 100 percentile in a few mocks. Everything was going well, and then the CAT came (this time, the exam).

On the D-day, I couldn’t replicate my momentum, It just wasn’t my day, and I attempted only 66 questions (24 in VARC, 14 in DILR, and 23 in Quant), my lowest ever attempt by way too far. I came home, checked the analysis by IMS and TIME, and knew that I WAS DOOMED. I may not even score 98 percentile, may not even get a call from IIM Shillong, let alone the Trinity.

The next one month was a nightmare: sleepless nights, bouts of jitters, and what not. And, as per my habit from engineering days, unlike my peers, I never calculate my score in advance, never. All I can think in this 1 month along with preparing a little for IIFT and XAT was what everyone was going to say. How am I going to face everyone, particularly how am I going to face myself? I had left a school that most would kill for. But you know, you can’t cling to the past because no matter how tight you hold on, it’s already gone.

The one thing that apprehended me the most was whether I’m going to stop believing in chasing my dreams, and be stone-cold pragmatic like the rest?

Fast forward to the Judgement Day

The day of reckoning came, I got a call from a friend that results are out, I put the phone down, prayed to get what I deserve, not a bit more, not a bit less, opened my laptop with shivering hands, downloaded the scorecard, and read that number, the number that is going to define me for the next 6 months, the number with which everyone is going to judge me and my potential, and there it was 99.42 percentile.

One thing that I should have told you is that whenever any important event is about to conclude, I always ask the Universe for just one thing, “Ghutno te nahi, je maariyo, te khade khade” ( it roughly translates to, that if you are going to doom me, then let me go down with dignity). And that is what I got. Yes, I scored below my potential, at this percentile, no A B C, but still, it was a respectable percentile, and it saved my confidence, and my spark.

But, how in the world did it happen, and then I saw the sectionals. VA-RC – 72 (with an attempt of 24) I.e. 100 percent accuracy, Quant – 61 (90+ accuracy). OVERALL: 168 (90+ accuracy). Now, the unusual thing here is VA-RC, if you are even a little acquainted with the world of CAT, then you know that it never happens. NEVER. In the last 2 years, I have attempted 60+ mocks, and have never ever seen even 90 % accuracy in VA-RC, not mine, not anyone else’s. It’s nothing short of a miracle (and I’m the biggest non believer on the face of earth).

That day, I understood one thing, that the universe (you can call it a matter of chance, a random anomaly or whatever) has conspired to save my confidence, my dignity, and the most important of all a belief - that if you work hard, and put everything, every damn effort, then everything else will fall into place, and even if takes a miracle to save your ass, it will!