Life Reloaded!!!

I have my IIM Bangalore GD-PI today. I can do it. I know it. I will do it.

CAT results declared. I got 99.26 percentile overall and got 2 calls from IIM Indore and IIM Bangalore. I am so Happy today :)

On the day before CAT Aditya Meshram told me that Sidscope and I were going to the home ground while others were playing away matches. What he meant was both of us were going to give CAT at the all too familiar place – King George School. I have given so many exams at that place, right from Agrawals to IMS SimCATs… that it kind of feels, he was right. So when I reached the school, it felt like home coming. Actually, I had not come to the place since I gave my SimCAT last year. Sidscope came after me and we met the ground. Next stop was the classroom. I was sitting on the second bench, first row. I got the answer paper first. 15 Minutes to go for CAT and we were given the sealed question paper. When I took the paper in my hand, I told myself – whatever happens, don’t panic. I read the instructions. My initial plan was going to be 30-30-30-20-20-20. But then, it turned out to be 25-25-40 paper. I thought that it must be VA with 40 question. Instead of thinking about it as being a disad...

The CHANGE had begun. Nope, I am not saying there was some revolution or something. I guess I already new those tricks which I learnt, but seemed to have forgotten them completely.  It happened like this- I was called for special TIME counseling session along with Sidscope. We were in separate sessions in batches of 4. The TIME guy, Satya, told us to show our TIME Mock CAT scores till that week. As I told you, my performance was inconsistency personified and Satya asked me the reason for it. I simply didn’t know it. So we went ahead with the session. Most of the points he told us were a repetition of in my IMS sessions last year, till he really get into the grooves. He asked each of us for the paper we read. 2 were TOI reader, 1 ET and myself HT. Satya told us that TOI is one of THE ….. worst news papers in Mumbai. So what’s new? Well, he added that even HT and DNA are not worth it. He advised us to read The Hindu or Indian Express. Today, I agree that HT certainly doesn't have the...

Well, its finally over. Result will be declared in Jan’ 09 and I will be eagerly waiting for it. I honestly didn’t use any of the “score calculators” which create so much confusion and chaos in people’s mind. I prefer to keep the “good” feeling till the actual results are declared. As you might have guessed from the “good feeling”, that I had nice CAT this year. It was nice because I felt like reaching to the next level which I always wanted to reach during this year. I am not saying I have cracked the CAT. No. I had a few tricky moments during the test, but what makes me happy about my performance is that I felt satisfied. After a many ups and downs during my AIMCATs in TIME, I came through with a decent performance in each section. It was really amazing how this CAT preparation shaped up. I started the studies in July end though I joined the TIME test series earlier. I had joined IMS test series for past 2 years but didn't see any real results in the final CAT. In fact, I had...

Looking at my current DI form this should not have happened... After I started the paper in such superb fashion.... After I was convinced that I had solved enough in QA to clear the cutoff.... After I attempted 19 questions in VA... After all RCs attempted for the first time .... How could I break down at the last moment with DI? Just 4 questions attempted that too with 50-50 surety! This isn't a good sign Sid, you need to get back to practice. After all, the more I practice, the luckier I get...

That's how I will describe my CAT campaign this year. This year I made one change in my tactics. I joined TIME test series this year. It has more number of papers than IMS and different style of papers. I thought it was about time to change my strategy when I failing to make the final strike for past 2 years. Till now I have given 6 AIMCATs and my performance has been all but inconsistent. I started on high this time around with 99.2 percentile. But after that I have not been able to continue this start. My percentiles in the next 5 AIMCATs have been 92.6, 99.7, 97.7, 96.8, 93.6. I have been surprised by my last AIMCATs performance. I expected a better percentile than 93. I knew that I had an average Verbal Section but expected DI and QA to propel my percentile to 95+. It didn't happen that way. Talking about the studies for CAT, well, I cant really talk about it as I have not done any. I know I have to work harder now, that I dont have much time for studies because of work. ...

Finally, I took the Common Admission Test on Sunday, 18 th November. I liked the way I worked my way to the CAT center. On the previous day as well as on the D-day, I didn’t show any signs of tension or pressure. It was going to be just another test. And it turned out to be one…. The test started at 10.30am. Interestingly, the person with Test Registration No. previous to me was absent, similar to last year. I started with Math, then Verbal and finally DI. Unfortunately my performance in none of the section was satisfactory. Even though, I have got really good marks in Quant, it did put some pressure on me. Quant was really tough, but I should have told myself to calm down as most others would be having tougher time than me. It didn’t really affect my English, but severed my DI. I should not have skipped the 4 DS sums at the start of the section. But it’s always easy to say after the test, what “should” be done and what “should not” be done. It’s all about what you do in those 2 ½ h...

Last 2 SimCATs have brought some hopes back to my mind after a disastrous SimCAT 3 where I got just 3 marks in VA. SimCAT 4 was better in terms of rank as I cruised to 39th rank. Sidscope did better than me getting his maiden merit list performance with 23rd rank. I rate my SimCAT 5 performance equally high despite 127th rank. I got good marks in all 3 sections and cleared each cutoff by at least 4 marks. I have to carry this momentum till the CAT and achieve what I set to achieve.

I thought I had solved today's SimCAT properly but I was wrong. The 20 question barrier pulled me back to where I was. My score in PS, VA and DI was 14, 3, 31 respectively. Lets see what the percentile turns out to be.

Its time analyze my performances in all the test given by me for CAT. There are certain facts that have come up which are as follows: 1. First and foremost, my strength as always has been Maths and DI. The weak point has been English. 2. Strength and weakness doesn't necessarily imply that I always get more marks in the two. It talks about the relative difficulty I feel while attempting each type of questions. 3.  DI has been the source of bulk of my scores. My confident level is so high in DI that I generally could attempt(not necessarily write an answer) all the question in DI section. My accuracy is also really good.  The problem here is the calculations especially the ones involving "percentages". I hate them but there is hardly any way out. Data sufficiency problems have been the real culprit in decreasing my accuracy. I need to practice them more to perform better. Last but not the least, some times the confidence turns into overconfidence and creates havoc...

I cant believe it. For the first time in my life I got a whole DI set wrong. Shit, shit, shit. I cant lose marks like this. DI is my strength. I got just 43 out of 150 where actually I should have got 75 as I lost 32 marks in that set. Come on Sid you can do better than this...

To fight a War you need a definite game plan. Almost every company has a "mission" towards which its goals are addressed.  I am facing a situation of war in my own life with the objective of making it to the IIM. Its not going to be easy, but who said it will be?  So from today onwards its "Mission Impossible" for me. This mission doesnt just include CAT but also my fight ahead of it, like GD and PI. CAT is just one of the battles which i must win to win the war. I request you all to please help me in this fight of survival. If you see any good material on CAT or a good news article, opinions of thinkers like Karan Thapar, Barakha Dutt, Rajdeep Saradesai. I need to keep myself updated with latest technology. Suggest good books that I must read to improve my English. And say these words whenever you meet me: "Come on Sid you can do it. ......."