“You won’t believe, if I told you IIM – A happened to me by coincidence. Well, not just coincidence, but that’s how the journey began! I had no idea what I’d be doing post my under graduation. I was a rather laid back student, not putting a lot of thought into career, or higher studies per se. I heard a bunch of my friends talk about it all the time. And one day, I decided to give it a thought. This was sort of a wake-up call for me, having seen all my friends take steps to do something in their lives. The feeling of being left behind engulfed me. So, I did some basic research, about what options I have and what I actually want to do in my life. It took a bit of deliberation, but I finally pinned a nail on MBA! Once that was decided, I needed to understand ways to get to the best MBA college – IIM A. “
“The journey begins by selecting a coaching center, which is essentially your vehicle to the destination. According to me, coaching centers are all homogeneous. Just like all cars, they have the same basic functionalities – material, teachers and mocks! It completely depends on you, where you feel most comfortable, and which institution is convenient to you.
CAT 2017 was my first attempt, I was completely invested. I wanted to conquer the behemoth called CAT. I checked all boxes – attended all classes, asked doubts, solved questions, basically did the entire drill. I knew that 2 hours of my life in the classroom were far too valuable to just throw them away, being hooked to my cellphone in the last seat. It was during this time, that I discovered iQuanta. I joined the iQuanta Facebook group, and that is where I realized the Grandeur of this exam, the magnitude of it and the number of candidates trying to ‘bell the CAT’. It motivated me further. LRDI was my weak section, and here at iQuanta I found the prefect remedy for it. iQuanta publishes a booklet of 250 questions for QA LRDI, free of cost. I used to solve that every day, and soon I was getting better. The D-Day came, I scored 95.6%ile. I was devastated.”
“This was a very challenging time in my life. I was recovering from a loss in the family, had alienated myself from my friends, practically no social life and this CAT score was the final nail in the coffin. I had to take a decision – settle for the score and opt a college, or do it all over again. Despite the chaos around me, I could see one thing clearly – IIM A! I had to take a leap of faith, for myself this time! And hence I decided to do it all over again.”
“My second attempt was a bit more structured. I knew my mistakes from the past, I just had to work on them. I realized, I started LRDI prep pretty late, so this time, I decided to join iQuanta in order to maximize my benefits. It was extremely helpful. I’d say, the peer learning environment, that iQuanta provides is very important for an aspirant to get the real picture of this national level exam. I took baby steps. The challenge this time was not scores or preparation, but daily motivation. And seeing aspirants go at it day in and day out at iQuanta, really helped me. The tricks I learnt, especially in Geometry added a lot of value to my preparation.
I gave the exam and felt great! Of course, I was nervous, but I knew I had given it a good shot. One day before the IIFT exam, CAT released the composite key. I calculated my RAW Score, and for a moment was numb. I was convinced I had done it this time. I took it light, that evening! The results came out and I scored 99.87%ile That day I felt like everything was worth it. It all made sense to me! And I made my way to IIM – Ahmedabad. “
“The struggle never really ends. The journey always goes on, it’s just that the destination keeps changing. It’s important that you appreciate this cycle and also know that there is an end to the cycle. You just need to keep hustling and backing yourself. Because, if you don’t back yourself, who else will?”
All the best!
Utkarsh Bajpai – IIM A
CAT 2017 – 95.6%ile
CAT 2018 – 99.87%ile
Econ Honours – Kirorimal
