4th Time's The Charm: My Journey To MDI Gurgaon-Rohit Singh, 99.56 percentile CAT 2019

Meet Rohit Singh, who had dengue during CAT 2018 and gave NMAT 2018 at 103 fever but never let his heart sink! He worked his fingers to the bone and leaped from 87 percentile (CAT 2016) to 99.56 percentile (CAT 2019); from 3 failed attempts to 99.3894 percentile in IIFT 2019); from 92 to 99.98 percentile in SNAP 2019) and from 87 to 99 percentile in XAT 2020. Here is an anecdote of his journey to MDI Gurgaon, his learnings, and insights on MBA exams.

My journey to MDI started with a dream, a dream to be among the top people in the country. I started my preparation for MBA entrance examinations during my final year in engineering, keeping campus placement and entrance preparation side by side. Unfortunately, I wasn’t good enough to realize my dreams at that point. 

Juggling between job, family, and exam preparations

Having scored 87 percentile in CAT 2016, I decided to have another go at the tests with job security at hand. And henceforth I learned major life lessons by handling my job, family, and exam preparations. I had a firm belief during those times that, this would make me learn the intricacies of life and how I can manage myself with ‘n’ number of things. I learned a lot of life lessons during my stint at bob, but with a meager increase in the CAT percentile to 92. 

The outlook one requires toward life and how hard and unfair it can be, came into my life with my third attempt at management exams. I gave NMAT 2018 18 at 103 Dengue fever and aced it (233 marks), but my Verbal section tanked badly thereafter. CAT 2018 went abysmal with 68 percentile in VARC and 98 percentile each in rest.

Fostering a hawk-eyed goal

Generally, people either don’t have an appetite for risk or want to play it safe either from the fear of losing or self-doubt. I had both. But I also believed that in order to achieve something big, you NEED to do something big. As one can’t keep giving exams for life, I took a drop from job; I didn’t have any job security (neither did my family) and so I approached the exam with a single-point focus to ace all of them. I didn’t have IIMs in mind, I knew my ground reality and hence I embarked on a journey to MDI, my aspiration.

Plumb the depths of the opportunities

A drop is harder than one realizes, as one continuously battles with none other than himself. Imagine getting a 60 percentile in mock just 14 days before the actual CAT exam. It is devastating, it is unbearable, and almost unconquerable. 

Well, almost conquerable! A little introspection and a calm mind can still bring you on track and you STILL can achieve your dream of an impeccable score and an impeccable convert. And hence gearing from the 87 percentile to reaching the 99.56 percentile and converting one of the top colleges in India, I surely have come a long way.

To all those who think CAT isn’t their cup of tea, you still have immense opportunities. The trick is to never lose hope like I didn’t and aced all other exams as well. My advice to my younger selves out there is if you believe it, only then you can achieve it. And don’t forget to read how I prepared for VARC and sky-rocketed its score from negative to the 96 percentile.

Good Luck!