Clueless MBA Aspirant Gets 99+ Percentile In CAT, XAT & IIFT

“Life constantly throws opportunities at us, it is our attitude that decides their worth." This was the opening line for my b-school statement of purpose. I realized during my CAT journey that joining a top b-school was once a lifetime opportunity and not easy to come by, rather one had to work hard to get admission into any prestigious b-school.

Being a graduate in computer science engineering from IIT Bhilai opened up multiple avenues for me to get into leadership and management roles and I ended up being the founder of Teaching Cell, IIT Bhilai, catering to 150+ children in the nearby rural areas. I was particularly fascinated by the scope of AI/ML in optimizing the most tedious of processes. While everyone was pumped about the placement process before their final year, aspiring to go into both software developer as well as R&D roles, I was pretty unsure about seeing myself working in a purely technical job profile. And even though I was pretty much clueless about what MBA would mean for me, this, later on, turned out to be the beginning of my CAT journey.

Beginning of my CAT journey 

Given my interests, I wished for a more wholesome managerial role that would make me a bigger part of the change brought down by the firm. At that point in time, I had also been doing projects in AI/ML and exploring its scope. I was sure that the industry was on the verge of changing pretty drastically and wished to play a bigger part in that change. All this culminated in the beginnings of my CAT preparation when one of my seniors in UG, who also had similar inclinations, advised me to think of a B-school as an exciting platform to help me. I researched a lot about how a B-school would aid me in giving me the kind of exposure, network, a business acumen that I desired. After spending a lot of time talking to some B-school seniors and watching YouTube videos, I finally decided to put my foot down and started preparing for CAT.

Ups and downs in preparation for CAT 

I started my preparation seriously in May 2020, which was roughly 6 months before CAT. My preparation style had been pretty simplistic; I would sit on a test every week or 10 days to gauge my skill level in all the sections and then spend a day or two analyzing every aspect of it – time spent on a particular question, its difficulty level and the subtopic it pertains to. I would also time myself in different slots – morning (9-12) and evening (3-6). This method worked pretty well as my quant basics were very clear and I was spending my time on my weaker aspects. 

I was pretty average in VARC as my reading speed was above average. But I struggled with the assimilation part of the reading comprehension and would end up reading most of my RCs twice. Another issue that I encountered was sequencing questions in sections like DILR as it becomes very crucial to know when to hit the metal and when to let go. However, I sincerely persevered through every test and with the help of the support of family and friends got over the rough patches. 

Another major challenge was that the CAT pattern had changed and the environment grew a bit uncertain. It was around October that my percentiles started declining in a row and that was a point when things around you helped me cope. I took a week off from the environment and started jogging 10 km a day in the mornings. I would listen to a podcast while jogging and it would freshen me up for the entire day. I improved my sleep cycle and food habits considerably and started picking up where I left off with about a month to go for CAT. Finally, the day has come, I gave the CAT exam in the morning slot and it went better than I had expected. I also gave XAT and IIFT in January. 

Getting ready for interviews

All my efforts in strategizing the CAT preparation did not go in vain. I scored 99.85%ile in CAT, 99.99%ile in XAT, and 99.27%ile in IIFT. Meanwhile, I realized my interview dates were coming and I thought it was better to start right for it. I had been lucky that my father had the habit of reading newspapers daily and during the pandemic, I had inculcated that. But still, I felt that I needed a much more personalized form of mentoring to get ready for the B-school interviews. That was when I got my mentor. 

My first task was to write an autobiography of 2000+ words, which is saved on my desktop even today and I keep adding to it now and again. My mentor read it before our first interaction. This first interaction with him did not involve anything in interview preparation. Instead, after talking for a while, he asked me – “Shivansh, you have done a lot of things, some very impressive ones. But why do you want me to validate you?” This took me some time to sink in. Never have I ever been asked this and the more I analyzed my responses the more I understood the depth of it. We talked about my childhood experiences and I got some really good insights that made me realize my potential much better. He also helped me cope with the anxiety of being a fresher effectively.

We started connecting regularly to discuss how to tackle interviews and with time I felt much more comfortable sharing my fears with a mentor who believes in me. I also gave some mocks, some went drastically wrong, but I kept learning newer things as I was interviewed by other seniors too. I felt confident and calm about the forthcoming interview season.

Also read: 90+ MBA Admission Interview Questions Of Top B-Schools For Engineering Grads

Takeaways from the interview 

I finally sat in for my interviews. Although every interview brought some anxiety with it, my post-interview discussions with my family and seniors always gave me confidence and helped me better analyze my performance. The biggest takeaway from the interview process for me was that the interviewers were not essentially analyzing our knowledge regarding the context, but the greater impetus was laid on articulation, confidence, and questions that made you think on your feet. I remember being asked to lay out a plan for how IIT Bhilai would become the top engineering college in India, and I took some time to structure the problem on paper. Although the 1-minute awkward silence was long, it was worth it as I could deliver the solution much more effectively. 

With all of such efforts, I converted XLRI(BM), IIM Bangalore(PGPBA), IIM Indore, and baby IIMs. And I secured an admission seat into the Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur. Hence, I would say my whole journey has taught me a lot and has given me a lot of self-confidence. My dream of converting to prestigious B-schools would never have been realized without the support of my friends, family, seniors, and mentors. I am grateful to them from the bottom of my heart. This is my message to all the people who are going to start their journeys in the future, is to have faith in yourself, don't take stress, and have some level of clarity beforehand about why the MBA program is suitable for you.

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