One of the toughest MBA exams, Common Admission Test (CAT) was conducted this year by IIM Lucknow on November 26. While it must be a relief to be through with the exam, your journey to get into top MBA colleges has only begun. In this article, we’ll share a brief overview of CAT 2017 along with a curated roadmap to help you devise your own strategy for what lies ahead.
CAT 2017: A Brief Overview
While the test was comparatively of moderate difficulty this year, it packed quite a few surprises to catch aspirants off-guard. Even though the much-dreaded Quantitative Ability (QA) section was easy, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) stumped all aspirants with tricky questions. This section has reportedly become increasingly difficult over the last three years.
This is indeed a part of what makes CAT so exciting. No one said it was going to be easy and besides, where’s the fun in that?
Get your CAT 2017 Analysis & Percentile
Know where you stand first, so you know where to go next. Get a thorough review of the paper, expected cut-offs and more – straight from our MBA experts – on our CAT 2017 Analysis page. You can also calculate your percentile and know which B-schools will shortlist you on what score.
Did your performance not match your preparation? Regardless of whether you are a fresher or someone with experience, your preparation for CAT could not possibly be a waste! It’s so common and disheartening to see students lose all hope after the first exam goes wrong. The months or years you put into preparation cannot be objectively judged in a single 3 hour test. The best part about preparing for CAT is that it gets you covered almost 75% for other MBA exams.
What to do next?
It’s time to buckle up for upcoming MBA exams like IIFT, SNAP and XAT! You can also try for the FPM programmes in IIMs or go for GMAT. If you still want to ace CAT, you should start looking forward to another attempt next year. Get some work experience while you’re at it. In the meantime, check out our guided plan for what to do after CAT 2017.
In the long run, you’d laugh at (or worse, regret) all the time you spent fretting over a single exam attempt!
How to prepare for IIFT 2017
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) is going to conduct its admission test on 3rd December. In the remaining time, you should brush up on the General Awareness section that is not included in the CAT syllabus and start attempting IIFT mocks. Traditionally, better speed and accuracy is required to ace IIFT compared to CAT.
So focus on clearing the cut off for each section while trying to optimise your score. With just two days to go for the exam, attempt at least 2 IIFT mocks as you’d attempt the actual paper. Next, analyse your performance thoroughly to devise your own strategy to ace the exam.
Once you’ve given the paper, visit our dedicated IIFT Exam Corner for exam analysis, expected cut-offs and score calculator which will be made live on the same day!
Post IIFT 2017 entrance exam, don’t forget to prepare yourself on how to convert your B-school calls.
How to prepare for the 2nd stage of MBA admission process
Whether it’s Written Ability Tests (WAT), Group Discussions (GD) or Personal Interviews (PI), every B-school has a different selection criterion. However, the one aspect common to each of them is your overall personality and outlook. It is a crucial aspect that sets you apart from stiff competition in the 2nd stage of B-school admission process.
It is natural to not be fully aware of subtle behavioural indicators that may become an obstacle in your objective of winning over the confidence of the selectors. During these rounds, it becomes imperative that you try to bring them to your areas of comfort so that you may succeed in winning them over.
If you are looking for a final push to convert your calls, you should check out some Personality Development Programs that will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, learn about highly sought after qualities in candidates and accordingly, develop your overall personality that’d steer yourself toward success, not just in B-school interviews, but in all complex situations in life.
So tell us a bit about your MBA journey. How did your CAT exam go? Do you have any questions related to MBA admission processes? Connect with us in the comments below and we’ll revert asap with all the guidance we can offer to help you succeed in your dream of getting into top MBA colleges.
All the best!
