Until a few years ago, the thought of studying at an IIM was a far-off dream for me. During my final year of BCom, while most of my peers were preparing for CAT, I was doing Excel certifications and applying to fellowships to build a good resume. I wasn’t confident in my ability to crack an entrance exam and get into a top MBA college. So, I was focused on getting a job and working my way up the corporate ladder solely based on practical skills and work experience.
My efforts came to fruition when I was selected among the top 40 women across India for the Young Women in Investment program launched by the CFA Institute. Through the program, I learned more about core financial skills and networked with industry leaders, and was selected for an internship at Deutsche Bank. At the end of my internship, I successfully got a PPO offer as well.
A wake-up call
The next 2 years of my journey at Deutsche Bank were a transformative experience. I learned a lot from my supervisors, led multiple impactful projects, was recognized for my hard work, and got promoted to senior analyst. However, through this experience, I realised that I need to continue learning and further build interpersonal and leadership skills to achieve my goals. An MBA is the most sort out degree to help me add these skills to my profile. I decided to put my old fears aside and start preparing for CAT. I also felt that now my chances of converting an MBA college would improve due to my work experience. I also felt more prepared and steady-headed in which field I wanted to go into due to having past experiences of my strengths and weaknesses at my job.
Free CAT Mocks 2025: Daily Sectionals!
My CAT strategy
I was on ground zero in all three sections of CAT when I started preparing, as it had been some years since I graduated and had lost any habit of studying. I’m an avid reader, so I assumed that the VARC section would be a piece of cake for me. I was in for a big shock. The VARC section is less about how much you read and more about option elimination and how well you interpret what you read. Similarly, the LRDI and Quant section is more about how good your decision-making skills are rather than your mathematical or calculation skills. These are some of the resources that helped me in my preparation:
VARC: As CAT passages tend to be dense, I worked on improving my passage interpretation by reading Aeon essays and GMAT club passages. A lot of CAT PYQ include Aeon essays as well. To work on my option elimination, I enrolled in VARC1000 by Gejo.
LRDI: I started by solving PYQs without any time limit and would refer to YouTube if I got stuck on a question or took too long. This way, I was able to learn experts' techniques for solving questions faster. For further practice, I solved questions from various LRDI playlists on YouTube.
Quant: As quant was my weakest section, I first went through all the concepts from YouTube, and then practiced a lot of questions from my coaching materials. One of the grave mistakes I made in the beginning of my preparation was not taking enough time to solve questions on my own. I would look at the solution after 2-3 minutes of trying. Due to this, it took me more time to understand concepts and perform well.
Then came the big day. When I was coming out of the test centre, I knew I hadn’t performed my best that day. Even after multiple attempts to be cool and calm, I had gotten anxious. While preparation is very important, having a calm mindset is what seals the deal. I ended up scoring 92.23 percentile.
As I was sure that I wanted to pursue an MBA this year and had no plans of repeating the exam, I set out to prepare for the interview round.
WAT-PI Prep: The final Run
I had calls for a few baby IIMs and non-IIMs. I hadn’t taken any offline coaching for CAT and had mostly self-studied through the materials I had purchased. However, I didn’t want to compromise on this final round of selection. So, I enrolled for Insideiim’s WATPI Bootcamp. Through the resources provided, I started preparing answers for HR questions, brushed up on UG concepts, and followed current affairs. I worked with my mentor to improve upon my SOPs, and we did 4-5 mock interviews for my best calls. This helped me pitch myself better and understand improvement areas.
To not repeat the same mistake I made in CAT, I was especially drawn to Insideiim’s WATPI bootcamp as they offer 5 mock interviews. More than any other coaching institute out there. Through these mock interviews, I was able to answer more confidently and maintain my calm, even if the panelists asked tougher questions.
Finally, I was able to convert IIM Amritsar, a few other non-IIMs, and got waitlisted at the other baby IIMs. While it’s not a top college, I’m excited for the upcoming journey, and I’m ready to work harder than before to make my dreams come true!
Read More
- Online vs Offline Coaching: Pros and Cons
- DILR Strategies to Score a 99 Percentile
- Free Formula Book for Quants
- From a Failed UPSC Attempt to IIM-C
- From Journalism to IIM-K
- VARC Guide For Engineers
- Staying consistent with the 6-month-long CAT journey
- Alternative Options to the CAT Exam
- Avoiding Exam Burnout
- Is this the right Time for an MBA
- Quitting a Job for CAT: Is it the right thing?
- Train your mind for the 2-hour Exam
