My CATography - Part 1 (August 2005-September)

Ok .. .its been ages since i last blogged. But I think ill force myself to sit tight and get one more post in before my next round of laziness sets in.

I'll talk about what could probably turn out to be the most important thing in my life. ie. the defining point in my career etc etc.My entire CAT experience. I shall try my best not to sound arrogant. Forgive me if I do.

Ok, the first time i actually started thinking about starting serious preparations for CAT was during my second year in college. Maybe it was utter boredom from some of the engineering subjects of that semester or the horror of our weekly trips to the IC engines and HM labs that did the trick, but anyways, I started seriously considering doing an MBA after my engineering. I usually jump right into things. Needless to say, that enthusiasm almost never really stays for too long. .. the key word there being "Almost". The first step was probably that lunch break when Abhay and I went around asking our seniors about when to start going for coaching classes. And the response (that surprisingly disappointed me) was "When you are in the third year is enough".Dont get me wrong here... I wasnt disappointed because I was that intent on working for 2 years. But actually because at that moment that was what I wanted to do. And that fire would probably died out in a year's time.But fortunately din't and I have to thank a couple of my friends for that.

So then that was that and I waited another year. Around august the next year, IMS conducted a 12 day personality development session in college and I enrolled for that.That proved to be what actually gave me a bit of confidence. And come August 2005, there were advertisements about TIME's "Time Talent Search Examination". Well needless to say, I enrolled. I still have the hall ticket with me (Atleast half of it.. My beautiful niece tore the other half..) and I'll try and scan it and put it up. Well just for proof that i do have it, my reg. no. was TTSE1350. And I scored 29.65 if i remember correctly, 30 being the cut off required for getting a huge discount and having to pay just Rs5400. Well anyways, i was entitled to a smaller yet valuable discount and had to pay just Rs8000. And that was my ticket to TIME, and I must say, I couldnt have reached where I have without every faculty member at TIME.

So I decided to join the weekday classes, cos I thought that i would much rather spend some time that I spend sleeping everyday for this. And I did take it very seriously (My friends will testify to that).And so started the regular classes on mondays, wednesdays and occasionally on fridays as well. I will be the first to admit that I never was the kind of person who used to go home and sit and practise for hours a day. The major portion of my learning happened in the class itself. Right from the beginning I found the LR section to be enjoyable. And so those classes continued till may or june before the most critical juncture arrived .. The AIMCATs. Oops I almost forgot. Around January 2006, a couple of friends and I decided to start up a study group. We had around 3 succesful sessions before we all just stopped :D. yes .. the AIMCATs. Those tests were one thing I stuck to religiously. Because I knew that I needed as much practice as I could get. Because I wasnt practicing at home as much as I would like to (cos I was too lazy).
The AIMCATs were where most of my CAT preparation took place. I miss those sundays. Going all the way to vazuthacaud or vellayambalam and taking the test for 2 and later 2.5 hours. The place was always crowded. So many people. Meeting lots of friends. And then after the exams sitting and calculating my score (Manu used to get so bugged by this :D). Then came the waiting. Wait till wednesday for the results to come out... and then I would start asking others about their scores. And somehow I saw it as a competition. That I needed to beat XYZ in the next AIMCAT. And so I started working. And that went on for a couple of months. I started reading the newspapers occasionally. But still it wasnt enough. Around august or september, it started getting to me. I started getting worried. What if I wasnt prepared well enough. Because I really wanted to get into a good b-school.And my preparations weren't up to the mark. I received a lot of encouragement from my friends whom I'll be mentioning separately. So I stepped up my preparations by a small little notch. But one thing I later regretted not doing was my preparations for the RC section. I never used to attempt any of the questions from the RC section until absolutely necessary. And I later regretted that.

Then came the news that the CAT forms were availible at the UTI bank Pattom branch. I still remember that day clearly, when Abhijith, Abhay, Manu and I went to purchase the forms for Abhay and I. I remember staring at those beautiful logos of the IIMs on the notice pasted on the walls. They were a distant dream. And my last few AIMCAT scores just proved how distant they were. Because they just kept going downhill. And that fear made me also apply to MDI,NITIE and for the SNAP test. I also applied for the XAT but that I would have anyways.
And that was it. . .. it was time... November 19th was near. There wasnt any time left.

To catch the next action packed episode of "CATography" tune in same place and definitely not the same time cos i donno when im gonna get around to writing the rest of this!
Heres a preview!! The next episode of CATography will include
1) My CAT journey
2) The exam
3)SNAP exam
4)The results
5)XAT!!!
You know you dont want to miss that!! ok ok ... I know im overdoing it ... You have to understand... I have a real boring exam tomorrow (ECM). I am so bored!!! Snore!




And so it was the last few weeks before the d-day.