Advice for future CAT aspirants

A friend (NIT, 2016 pass out) resigned from his job in Nov. 2016. His passion was in management. And being a brilliant student, he was dead sure of getting into an old IIM. As expected, he got 99.95 percentile in CAT.

Here comes the twist: A, B, L, and I have not even shortlisted him for the interview. Out of the old IIMS, only IIM-C has called him. Another twist here: C has given calls up to 99.6 percentile, they have distorted the selection criteria in such a way that he is ahead of the last person called by only 1.47 marks. Now the fun thing: IIM-C awards 2 marks for academic diversity and 4 marks for work experience. So, he will have to give an extraordinary GD-PI performance to have any realistic chance of being selected.

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The purpose of this article is not to frighten or dishearten you but to provide a realistic view of the admission process of IIMs. It is written only for GEMs. If you don’t belong to General Engineer Male, no need to read further.

Most people think that getting into IIMs (old ones) is all about securing more than 99.5 percentile in CAT. Sorry for shattering your dreams, but that isn’t even 10% the battle. Your whole life counts. From the chromosomes that determined your sex to your graduation stream, everything is considered. If you happen to be a General Engineer Male, things over which you have no control, you are screwed. A girl having 92 percentile and a GEM having 99.5 percentile have equal chances of getting into an IIM. Gender is not the only thing going against you, they consider work experience, academic diversity, your marks in 10th, 12th & graduation and the quality of the work experience. If you somehow manage to get a call, your selection depends entirely on the interview. Engineers are seen with contempt there. They have so many to choose from.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on reservations.

If you are a GEM having less than 90 percent in 10th or 12th and below 7.5 CGPA in B.Tech, think twice before putting your time and effort in preparing for CAT. You might regret it later. Life is unfair and the Indian education system is even more so. Unless a revolution happens, don’t expect the end of reservation or such diversity bullshit in a hundred years. However, there is no point in fretting about things over which we have no control. Here is a plan of action you can follow if you like.

If you are a fresher:

1. Before starting your preparation, read the selection criteria of all the IIMs. Every IIM has a different criterion. Indore gives 76% weightage to your 10th and 12th marks. Others have similar weird process. Prepare yourself mentally for what you are getting into. Here are some threads (to depress you) https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-score-99-5+-percent…, https://www.pagalguy.com/…/all-i-want-to-speak-about-gem-ge… . Know the worst that can happen. It’s time you start practising stoicism.

2. If you are still in B.Tech, focus only on building your GPA. Forget about CAT (or at least don’t neglect your GPA for CAT preparation). You will have 4-5 years to go for an MBA after B.Tech. Remember that even half an extra mark in your mid semester will count. Bargain, beg, plead with the prof as much as you can.

I know that you hate the rat race for marks. I hated it too. But the MBA world is all about rat race. During my 2nd and 3rd year of B.Tech, I had some rules: I never sat in the examination hall for more than 45 minutes in mid sem and more than 1.5 hours in end sem. I regret it now. Make sure that you don’t have any regrets.

3. Try to gain as much expertise in your stream/area of interest as you can. If you can publish a research paper, do it. If you can organize/attend any conference, do it. Get yourself enrolled in as many clubs as you can. Get published in reputed newspapers/magazines. Try to get good internships. You have to show that you are different from the herd.

4. Consider other exams. If they don’t want you, why do you want them so desperately? Depending on your ambitions, there are good colleges other than IIMS. XLRI, IIFT, NMIMS, to name a few. Though I don’t suggest going for GRE/GMAT in this era of rising protectionism; if you are rich enough, you may consider MS/MBA from a foreign university.

If you are a working professional: DO NOT QUIT YOUR JOB. CAT is capricious.

Will add more things later.

Does India need new IITs? Is it quality vs. quantity?

The announcement of Indian government to open five more new IITs has created a buzz among people. Most of the common people are seeing it as a decision to eradicate the dearth of quality higher education technical institutes, for odds of a student getting a seat in any of the IITs and ISM, Dhanbad is less than 0.8% (not to forget some new IITs, which by no means, can be called ‘Quality Institutes’). On the other hand, most of the students and alumnus are comprehending this decision it as a threat to the brand IIT.

Many people are contemplating this decision as quality versus quantity. Some are saying that the sheen of brand IIT will tarnish because now less intelligent, less talented and low-ranked students will get the prestigious IITian tag. But is it really true? Do IITs still flourish the most brilliant minds of our country?  Do all IITians still have the same veneration and status in society as they had had only 7-8 years ago? Answer to all these questions is NO. Chances of getting admission in an IIT are infinitely increased if you are born in some particular caste. 50% students of IITs are from reserved categories. One may simply understand by looking at cut-offs that these 50% students are not that talented and are not of the level of general category students. One may argue about their hidden and creative talent or their passion and desire of getting admission in IITs, but the fact is they have not been able to match the performance of the rest 50% students. The selection criteria are completely different depending on one’s caste. Would these 50% students ever get a chance of studying in IITs had they not been born in their caste? A student getting 70 marks, another one getting 120 and a more hard-working student getting 170 marks study the same course in the same institute, but a student getting 150-155 doesn’t get admission anywhere. Where is the quality in all this process?

Quality is a very nice word to read. India really needs quality in every zone if it is to become a developed nation. But the policy-makers of our country don’t like this very word. They have been preferring caste over quality from the time the caste based politics came into existence. All that matters to them is appeasement of castes or categories and vote bank, and it’s not going to change till the end of caste based politics. Many people who work hard do not get what they desire only because they have taken birth in General Category. But the people who have less knowledge, work less and consequently perform worse eat the cake baked by others.

Keeping in mind that quality is not the first priority to grab a seat in a good institute or land a government job, we should now think again over this decision. If more Institutes are opened or more jobs are created, more talented people who have not got any dais to unveil their potential due to their caste will be benefited. By that way some reserved categories will definitely get seat or job after scoring even lesser marks, but that should not bother much. We should make sure that not a single talent is wasted even if we are obliged to include some less talented ones. This is not limited to the context of opening educational institutes, but it is valid for every area where caste overshadows talent.

Quality has already been diluted to such an extent that increasing quantity will do no further harm to it. But increasing quantity would provide opportunities to unfairly treated sections/General Category of our society.