“I didn’t let COVID restrict me from acing CAT”- Suvojit Roy from IRMA

A student from a biology background decides to sit for CAT and other management exams. Hard to believe? But yes, I took that bold step. The journey was not easy in the beginning as many people said that CAT will be way out of my league and I don’t have a chance to be in the top-notch B-schools of the country. Though hearing this was demoralizing, I was determined to start with my CAT preparation. Post consultation from seniors, I vehemently took a subscription to Unacademy. It all started on 5th June, 2020 when the whole world was combating the COVID-19 virus and intellectuals were busy looking for a cure, that I decided to start my preparation for CAT 2020.

Fueling my CAT preparation 

I entered with a set mindset of practising quant and logical questions, but in reverse to my expectations, most of the things that were being taught went above my head. I was a bit frustrated about how to turn things around when my seniors came to my rescue and guided me with some good techniques that came in handy throughout my journey. 

Following that, I took a day off and figured out my strengths and weaknesses, and relatively I came out with positive results. I clearly distinguished the topics which I am good at and which need further improvement, which helped me to figure out the possibilities and strategize accordingly. At first, I started off kicking the basics and acquired knowledge, and later on practising questions on live classes healed me more. I saw the improvement within two weeks and that really boosted my confidence and gave me the courage which served as fuel for my preparation journey.

Being tested COVID positive placed a huge dent in my journey but I never let my hope fade away, because “all we can do is hope”.

Coping with new CAT Pattern 

When the sudden change in the CAT pattern came with a reduction of the total time duration from 3 hours to 2 hours, it was a matter of concern for me as I was preparing my mocks on the pre-existing pattern. But it was almost mid-September and there was not much time to waste so I started strategizing how to cope with the new pattern and eventually giving a few mocks based on the new pattern I figured out what and what not to do and accordingly I kept my preparation. 

Also, I carried on pushing myself and sometimes beyond limits, studying for 8-9 hours continuously, solving the doubts of my peers. And the most painful part was remembering the formulas, it was challenging but there was nothing I could do. I had written all the formulas and pasted them on my walls so that whenever I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do would be to go through all the formulas and then do other stuff.

Guiding light in my journey 

It was not only me, even my parents, my mentors and my brother, my Unacademy tutors, my fellow peers, they all played a major role in my journey. They were the people who helped me introspect myself in eliminating my irregularities. I still remember those late-night calls where we used to solve doubts and analyze questions and waking up in the morning with sullen red eyes.  It was a great experience as giving daily mocks and then self-analyzing was a mere challenge and it helped me to find the odds and try to improvise new ways which would be compatible and reliable on the exam day. 

When we prepare for something we are focused on the outcome but it’s not how it should be seen because we should always enjoy the journey rather than the destination and if you are enjoying the journey, you are sure to make it to the destination. 

All set for D-Day 

It was exam day and my exam was in Slot-3. My peers discussed their slots stating that the logical reasoning was mind-storming, some said the quant was tough and it tensed me a bit but I couldn’t risk losing my calm on that day so I put on my earphones and started listening to my favourite playlist which comprised of mix genre of songs and artists. And as the time passed by the tension was rising. 

When the exam started and one after the other all sections were brainstorming and I really couldn’t realize when the time passed on. After completing all three sections I saw my total attempts were 46 (VARC-16, DILR-14, QA-16) which wasn’t pretty good but all I was focusing on was accuracy rather than on attempts. That was one of the strategies that I had built up while giving mocks a good >80% accuracy will fetch you a good percentile.

After the exam, I wouldn’t say I was happy but I wasn’t sad also because I was much more confident in QA and DILR and I knew that my accuracy in these two sections will be much more than 80%. 

Soon the results were declared and one of the outstanding outcomes happened. My predictions in QA and DILR were way similar and I scored 89.22 percentile which was a great achievement for me. 

Making into the desired b-school 

With all the efforts, I converted colleges like Symbiosis Institute Of International Business, Institute of Rural Management Anand and Manage Administrative Building but my genuine interest was towards Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) and I luckily got a call from it. This was not the end, the next stage was also an important one and I knew that if I screwed here then my preparation would be in vain. 

So, I kept myself motivated and I started preparing for my IRMASAT and GD-PI. Well, whoever doesn’t know about IRMASAT, it’s an entrance test which you have to attend to join IRMA. The next step was PI. To be honest, I didn’t have any prior interview experience, so it was a challenge for me but I had faith in myself and I sat for the interview. The interview session lasted for 18 minutes and was too much grilling but I answered all the questions positively and secured a seat there. 

I was happy and excited that I got an acceptance letter from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand for their main flagship Program, (PGD-RM). Being from a rural and agricultural background, it is a great learning opportunity for me as it is one of the best B-schools in our country. During my entire CAT preparations cum lockdown period, it turned out to be a life-changing experience for me as it helped me in grasping a lot of new skills. I am looking forward to more such experiences during the unexplored journey and it’s not always the destination, sometimes it’s about the journey. 

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