The beginning of my MBA journey dates back to when I was in Class VIII. Back then, I was an average student, and none of my family members, even in my extended circle, had ever pursued an MBA from a premier business school.
However, everything changed when my first cousin secured admission to IIM Ahmedabad. That moment sparked my curiosity — I started researching what an MBA really meant, what IIM A stood for, and what it would take to get in. I quickly realised that, given my average academic standing, I needed to build a strong academic profile right from my board exams through my undergraduate studies.
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What seemed like a daunting task back then, I tackled with determination: I secured 95% in my Class X board exams, 96.6% in Class XII, and 84.3% in my undergraduate degree, resulting in a solid 9/9/8 profile. Alongside, I completed my Chartered Accountancy and secured an All India Rank of 49 — a milestone that boosted my confidence further.
Once my academic and professional foundation was set, I knew the next big challenge was to crack the CAT and ace the interviews. After completing my CA, I joined Groww Mutual Fund in Mumbai as an Equity Research Analyst, while simultaneously starting my CAT preparation.
Balancing a new, intense job in a new city along with CAT prep was challenging, especially in the first 2-3 months. I enrolled in ElitesGrid classes and used VARC 1000 by Gejo for the VARC section. I also reached out to seniors for their strategies and tried to read Aeon essays daily, though honestly, I couldn’t manage it consistently.
Despite starting mocks in July 2024, I never crossed the 90–95 percentile mark in any mock, which was a major source of concern. I had hoped my scores would improve over time, but I found little difference between my first and last mocks. Adding to the challenge, coaching institutes set tougher papers inspired by the difficult CAT 2023, which affected my morale further.
Looking back, I feel I could have done better with thorough root cause analysis after each mock and working more deliberately on my weak areas. The last 30 days before CAT coincided with peak workload at my job, and my VARC practice took a hit. Ten days before CAT, I returned to Kolkata, my hometown, and, feeling burnt out, decided not to overdo things and to avoid unnecessary stress. Instead, I focused on revising previous year questions (PYQs) for all sections from 2017 onwards, multiple times.
Unfortunately, my CAT exam did not go as planned — my VARC section was unexpectedly challenging, and although the DILR level was easier, being used to solving tougher sets threw me off my rhythm.
I knew I had only one option left — to give my best shot at the XAT exam. XAT felt more comfortable as there were no sectional time limits, and my mind worked better in such a scenario. I revised all PYQs 2–3 times, made concise notes for Decision Making and Quant, and read them again on the exam day — this strategy helped me secure a 99.03 percentile in XAT.
I received interview calls from XLRI, SPJIMR, MDI, IIM Kozhikode (Finance), IIM Shillong, and CAP. For my GDPI preparation, I enrolled with Azucation, and it truly made a difference — the improvement from my first to my final interview was remarkable.
I converted SPJIMR first, but after speaking with a few alumni, I felt it might not align perfectly with my goals. Despite paying the fees there, I held on, waiting for my XLRI result — but the wait felt eternal. On the result day, my heart sank when I initially saw only a Delhi convert and no Jamshedpur waitlist. For an hour, my mind went blank until I realised I was waitlisted at 33 — which meant a good chance of conversion.
Finally, on 7th May 2025, when the first waitlist movement happened, I made it to XLRI Jamshedpur — the dream I had nurtured since long had finally come true.
