My MBA'24 Prep Journey: Experiences, Tips, & Resources
Hi, there! This article is a bit different from the ones on this blog. I wanted to journal my experience for a very long time, and I decided to finally upload it once all the processes are done, so I could give you a better picture of what the entire journey looks like.
CAT, Common Admission Test, is one of the most competitive exams in India for entry into top-tier MBA B-schools in the country. Lakhs of aspirants every year put in their hard work, sweat, and tears to make their dreams come true by securing their seats in prestigious B-schools through this one exam, and I was one of these people. Among other things, preparation for CAT for a person who didn't even have a grain of knowledge about these pre-MBA processes was truly a rollercoaster journey.
Here, I will be narrating the story of my MBA prep, starting from May '23, studying, and mocks, to February '24, interviews, and group discussions. I'll be telling you how I self-prepared for the CAT & OMETs (Other Management Entrance Tests), the GDPI (Group Discussion & Personal Interview) call letters I received, my interview experiences, and the colleges I converted (got admission offer letters from).
Let me put a statement out there, CAT is not always about IIMs, but it is about joining a B-school that aligns with your true potential. I appeared for interviews with SIBM, Great Lakes, Welingkar, NIRMA University (IMNU), TAPMI, and IMT.
I'll also share some free prep resources in this blog. With experience in four major MBA exams, including the toughest CAT 2023, and interviews with top institutions, I hope this article becomes a go-to guide for your MBA prep!
To begin with, I took CAT & OMETs for the first time ever and I couldn't afford a gap year, so I was quite satisfied with my scores.
🌸 CAT'23: 81 Percentile
🌸 My Profile: 8/8/7 + some extra-curricular, certificates, achievements, & internships
*if you have any questions regarding my profile, feel free to ping me on my Instagram :)
Are you a fresher searching for fun and useful tips to build a solid profile, don't miss reading THIS article! These are practical tips that I used, so you know they're tried, and tested.
Since I couldn't afford a year gap, I shot my best chances with my best scores. If you want to read about my CAT'23 experience individually, click HERE!
Let's start with something you won't often hear during prep: expect moments of acute humbleness, overwhelming anxiety about your abilities, and frequent self-doubt. From my own eight-month journey preparing for CAT, SNAP, NMAT, & XAT, I can vouch that you'll emerge from this period with a smarter personality. Reflecting on my growth since May 2023, I'm proud of not giving up and excited for what's ahead. While it's challenging at first, the fruits of your hard work will be sweeter than you'd expect!
|⭐My MBA'24 Prep Story: All from Day 1
I had just returned from a beautiful Goa trip with my family in June '23, little did I know, the next eight months would revolutionize my life, and daily schedule, changing me into a better version of myself. In June '23, I started gathering all the required essentials, right from what CAT is, what the syllabus was, how to self-prepare, and the best resources. I ordered Sir Arun Sharma's books and found a few YouTube channels that helped me a ton, and this is how the journey began.
Further, in August, I proceeded to solve questions from my books. I focused more on solving all the LOD 1-level questions in August from all three sections. This helped me gain confidence in bits and pieces.
September was taken over by LOD 2 level questions since the challenge was rising up every month, it was a bit difficult in the beginning, but steadily, I got a knack for it. In September, I also came across many tips and tricks you could use to solve questions faster. This was important because time management becomes quite challenging in exams like CAT, SNAP, and NMAT.
In October, I solved the past year's questions twice. Once with a traditional approach, and the other with a few shortcuts. Time management is a super important concept so I'd advise you to start attempting time-based tests, apart from your usual mocks. Meaning, start solving the usual quant questions with a timer on. Compare the time it takes you to solve a particular LOD 2-level question and try to minimize it. Solving 2023 - 2018 CAT papers would be sufficient. If you want to go a step further, try solving papers of all the slots across the years.
November prevailed, as I was also appearing for NMAT in November, and I focused a bit more on that. November should be your revision month. Whatever mocks you've given, tests you've solved, notes you've made, and other resources, are the only ones you should be revising from. Most importantly, a lot of aspirants lose hope in this month, so, believe in yourself. You can do it!
✅ Click HERE for Free Mocks of CAT, XAT, NMAT, & SNAP
Now, the question remains, what should you do on the day before CAT? Here's what I did. I did not give any mock, nor did I study anything. I relaxed, went through my formula book to look over some formulas, had a nice lunch and dinner, read my favorite novel, and got a good night's sleep. Relaxation might not sound as important, but trust me, a healthy brain delivers healthy results. You've come this far, now, it's time to leave it to your potential.
|⭐The Call Letters I Received
✨ TAPMI, Manipal (MBA core & MBA-HRM; was a profile-based call)
✨ Great Lakes, Chennai & Gurgaon (this was a profile-based call for the Chennai campus)
✨ SIBM, Nagpur
✨ Welingkar, Mumbai & Bangalore (PGDM core and PGDM Business Design)
✨ IMT, Hyderabad & Nagpur
✨ NIRMA University, Ahmedabad (MBA core and MBA-HRM)
(I would've received a call from KJ Somaiya, SOIL, Gurgaon, IBS, Hyderabad, SIBM Hyderabad, SIBM Noida, SIDTM, Pune, and SIMS, Pune, considering their 2024 cutoffs, but I didn't apply for them. I'm mentioning these so you can get an estimate of what colleges you could get at what percentiles)
✅In case you're wondering what a GDPI call letter looks like, have a look below~
|⭐GD & PI Experiences Including AWT, GAPI, & GEPI
Here's my deal, I like to be completely honest during my interviews. There were a few times when I fumbled, but it's okay to admit that you don't know a certain concept asked, rather than giving them the wrong information. That leaves a lasting negative impact.
During my interview with NIRMA University, one of the panelists searched for my Medium blog when I told them that I was a Medium writer, and read through an article while we were having that interview. Moral of the story? Avoid lying about anything accessible on the internet.
✅ SIBM-N: GE & PI [CONVERTED SIBM, NAGPUR]
- Selected my slot for 4th Feb, 1pm onwards
- Conducted online, through Google Meet
- Group Exercise (GE) went smoothly; my group worked as a team and the topic was "Food Wastage"
- I was 5th for the PI; it started around 2.30 ish; there were 2 panelists, and both were quite friendly
- I wasn't asked many profile-based questions; they were interested more in the GK & Finance front (more of stock markets & Indian economy)
- The interview was a total of 10 minutes; from my side, the GE went way better than the PI
✅ Great Lakes: AWT & PI [CONVERTED GREAT LAKES, GURGAON]
- Slots for the AWT (Analytical Writing Test) and PI were on different days, with a gap of a week between them; all processes were conducted online via Zoom.
- It was a common process for both Chennai and Gurgaon campus
- AWT has 2 topic options from which you can select the topic you wish to write, and the maximum word limit is 300 words to be written in 30 minutes
- My AWT was conducted on 1st Feb; the topic choices were:
- The AWT was proctored over a Zoom call; I chose the second topic from the above,
- My PI was scheduled on 8th Feb; the time slot was 9am to 11am; the mail for the Zoom links for PI was received two days prior
- Loved the PI! Both panelists were male and quite hospitable. They started off with the basic tell me about yourself and CV-based questions, moving on to some marketing and GK questions. One of the panels seemed quite interested in my answers, and both of them looked satisfied at the end
- After the PI, there was a document verification step in a different break-out room
✅ Welingkar: GA (Group Activity) & PI [CONVERTED WELINGKAR, MUMBAI]
- Honestly, my best one to date; converted Mumbai campus's PGDM Core & Business Design :)
- Was an offline process at their Matunga, Mumbai campus; my reporting time was 7.30 am on 10th February '24,
- GA was more like a GD; had 9 members in my team; went very smoothly
- In GA, we were given an infographic on historical events that shaped Indian businesses; it went on for around 15-20 minutes
- I was the first among my team to be interviewed; during my PI, all my questions were either personality, CV, or essay-based; they were interested in my writing skills as well as my Korean language learning; both panelists were female
- I was also given a paper on which one of the panelists drew a question mark and handing it to me she said, "Since you're so creative, write four lines on this," I was confused at first, but I ended up writing four-line poetry, reading which she seemed impressed and even took a picture of it!
- Further, she asked a few more HR and "why PGDM" questions and it ended on a good note
✅ NIRMA: TDP (Theme Development & Presentation) & PI [CONVERTED NIRMA, AHMEDABAD]
- Applied for MBA Core and MBA-HRM; converted both programs :)
- I rescheduled my interview date from 10th Feb to 11th Feb '24; Reporting time was 10 am
- It was an online interview via Webex; panels arrived 10 minutes late; I was the first to be interviewed
- The panelists were super friendly; most of the questions were asked by the first panel, and only one question was asked by the second
- TDP was basically an extempore where I was given a topic "Make In India", I was given one minute to prepare for it, and another minute to speak
- After the TDP, my PI began with a classic "Tell me about yourself", from which they asked further questions
- The questions ranged from my writing, poetries, and anthologies, to why I write about South Korean dramas, and why South Korea's media industry and dramas are getting so popular, to a few basic questions like naming some business hubs, and global business leaders
- Overall, the interview was short and sweet; ended in about 10-12 minutes
✅ IMT: Critical Thinking Test & PI [CONVERTED IMT, HYDERABAD]
- This interview was offline at Matunga, Mumbai on 14th Feb'24; mine was the afternoon slot and the reporting time was 12 pm
- The process began with the registration of documents, after which we received an email for our panel and serial numbers
- Further, we moved to another room where the Critical Thinking Test was conducted, the topic was "What are the two changes that you would like to see in our constitution and why?"; we were given a paper and had to write our views on the topic; the word limit was 350-400 words; the time given was 30 mins
- After the CT, serial-wise people were called for the PI
- There were two panelists, and they directly started off by asking about my hobbies, internships, the role of AI in HR, some HR analytics questions, and a set of weird questions like who invented EQ and who made it popular, and what 3 layers are the brain made of; basically no academic or CV based questions
- Honestly, it felt like a proper stress interview, which ended in hardly 10 minutes; I remember being stressed about having a stress interview ":)
✅ TAPMI, Manipal: GD, PI, & Extempore [WAITLISTED FOR TAPMI, MANIPAL]
- Applied for MBA core and MBA-HRM
- My interview was scheduled on 25th Feb '24, online via Webex
- The GD started with 7 people including me, and the topic for us was "Should Indian Companies Worry About Climate Change?"
- After the GD, we were given our PI time slots; mine was 4pm; and we were asked to join at least 15 mins before
- I applied for 2 programs at TAPMI so I had two different interviews
- Most of the questions were either HR questions, CV-based, or situation-based; not much of general knowledge (which was somewhat of a shocker)
- After the PI, I was given an extempore topic of "Biggest Regret In Your Life"; with a prep time for a minute, I was told to speak for a minute or two
- Overall all my processes went good; both the panelists were quite chill and friendly
|⭐Tips, Advice, & Tricks
✨ Make your own formula book. This advice was a pure game-changer for me. In that book, add little tricks and shortcuts to save time during the actual exam. A day before, just go through your formula book and you're good to go!
✨ You don't need expensive coaching to ace CAT, OMETs & GDPIs. There are channels on YouTube that provide quality content, and there are platforms that provide proper mocks with detailed analysis and past-year papers, basically, you can get all quality resources for free. The only thing you need to put in is dedication and willingness to work hard and not give up.
✨ Always remember, that mocks are a tool for you to better yourself. You don't need to prove anything to that mock paper, but you have to learn from it, make strategies, and improve. Make a mock-taking schedule, try a different strategy in each one, and keep a note of things that worked for you versus things that didn't. Soon you'll notice you have made a whole list of things that could make your one master strategy for D-day.
✅Click HERE for Free Mocks of CAT, XAT, NMAT, & SNAP
✨ Keep Sundays to yourself. After working so hard the entire week, keep one day to yourself where you can relax, have fun with your friends, watch a movie, go shopping, etc. Such break days are more important than they seem to be. Your mind needs to declutter every week to start anew from the coming Monday.
✨ Honesty is truly the best policy for GDPIs. A GD & PI process is conducted to get to know you as a person, plus check your confidence, your ability to take a stand for the points you made, and the knowledge you have about current happening around the world. Pretending you know a certain topic in GD, or using platforms like ChatGPT to make your points, can backfire in your PIs. Remember, you're always monitored. So be honest, they want to learn about you, so, show them your best self!
✨ Build communities of like-minded people, or have study groups. Having a group of people working for the same goal tends to motivate you to work harder since there is healthy competition. You can join Telegram groups, connect with people on LinkedIn, or simply build a group with your college mates. Having experienced this first-hand, having such a group helps by a ton!
✨ Nurture positivity. Throughout your journey, right from preparing for CAT to giving your interviews, you'll come across many people trying to pull you down. They might be the ones most close to you. For whatsoever reason, they might make it seem that you have more to life right now than preparing for your MBA. Trust me, and don't let such negativity bother you. Life is going to be way better once you reach one of the biggest milestones, a master's degree. So, believe in yourself!
✨ Have a dream B-school. This tip might not sound like a huge deal, but it's like that popular saying, "Aim for the moon, if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Believe me on this one, and see the change in yourself once you genuinely set your mind on a B-school.
If you have any questions regarding the college I chose, exams, strategies, my profile, interview experiences, etc., feel free to contact me through the "Let's Talk!" box below in the blog, or you can DM me on my Instagram.
♥️
" the bigger your dream is, the better your aim becomes!"
