Yet many times, aspirants tend to be in a “catch-22” situation as to which b-school to join. They may have some admits to colleges but may want to better their scores by say, next year’s CAT & so on.
The only way to clear any lingering doubt is properly assessed your current situation. If you are in a well-paying job which you somewhat don’t hate that much, there is no need to hasten your b-school admit; you should ideally wait for IIM ABC & ISB – apart from those, doing MBA, at least from India is not worth the effort. If you feel like the idea of being stuck in a dead-end job (happens to be IT in most cases) & would want a career change at the earliest, no need to delay it any further.
A very important point to be kept in mind is that very few are able to crack CAT & get their desired college in the first attempt. For most, the first attempt is usually a testing ground. Majority of aspirants start preparing for CAT in their final graduation year, so that year coupled with two years of work-ex would make three ideal attempts. Anything more than that would not be favourable from ROI point of view nor from any additional year lost in the process. Those people coming to IIMs after giving 5 or 6 attempts, they may eventually get the college as per their choice or something near to it, but lost years are usually never gained by them vis-à-vis placement or salary purposes, had they joined earlier. Also, a lot of many companies visiting campuses put a minimum & upper limit on work-ex while recruiting so, it would be better not to waste quality years ahead & instead join a reputed college.
Many times, aspirants take to the ego that they did not get this or that college - & that they must strive for it. Know this that unless you are after very specific roles in select companies, you will not lose much if you join, say IIM K over targeting IIM ABC. Also, from a pragmatic point of view, experience & skill, rather than alma-mater will take precedence after a certain time period in the corporate world has elapsed.
For people who have already exhausted three attempts, unless you really want to crack it, you may try a hand at other alternatives on offering – GMAT & other 1-year executive courses would be a better option. Also, in many cases, it may so happen that having several years of experience while attempting multiple times may lead to less salary compensation & no profile update, which may turn out to be the ultimate career hara-kiri.
I would like to conclude by suggesting a maximum of 3 attempts for CAT & beyond that - try for other alternatives on offer.
Comments
Ankur Poonia
Nicely written and a good suggestion at the end.
20 Dec 2018, 02.20 PM
Anupriya Gupta
Very nice article, it will definitely clear the path for the aspirants
20 Dec 2018, 08.51 PM
VIPUL DEWANI
Good suggestions for budding aspirants. Way to go Jeetesh!
21 Dec 2018, 02.13 AM
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Jeetesh Varshney
Jeetesh Varshney holds an MBA from the IIM Udaipur and was a member of the InsideIIM Student Team and representative of Placement Preparation Committee of IIMU. He has previously completed his Computer Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur and has work experience in software development. He is an avid reader and loves travelling and exploring new places and cultures. He is someone who learned a lot from InsideIIM while preparing for his management entrance exams and now writing stories on InsideIIM to share his experiences for the benefit of the future aspirants.
Thanks to ur suggestions !!
21 Dec 2018, 09.37 AM |
Aashi Tayal
Jejebkememmd Mekkendmd Ksndn
Very well written Jeetesh!!
22 Dec 2018, 06.52 AM
Aanchal Aggarwal
Very nice article Jeetesh...suggested very well..
22 Dec 2018, 01.10 PM
Ankur Bhargava
Public speaker, corporate trainer and anchor.
Well written. Could you also highlight the max work ex one should have at the time of admission? As I have work ex of 2.5 years as of now so should I give another attempt (which would be my second attempt as this year's was my first attempt) and my work ex would be 3.5 or close to 4 by the time I join college.
22 Dec 2018, 03.31 PM
Erric Ravi
Erric Ravi is an entrepreneur, speaker & the founder of SEOexpertnow and Storify News He is the Co-founder of SEOexpertnow and heads the Marketing and Sales at SEOexpertnow, a digital marketing and seo company based in India. He started the company in June 2014 and since then has managed to attract a myriad of people to his venture solely through his natural leadership quality and a pleasant sense of humor. His hobbies include cricket, volleyball, and spending time with mobile games like Clash of Clans.
recommended information and suggestions !
22 Dec 2018, 10.25 PM
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Jeetesh Varshney
Jeetesh Varshney holds an MBA from the IIM Udaipur and was a member of the InsideIIM Student Team and representative of Placement Preparation Committee of IIMU. He has previously completed his Computer Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur and has work experience in software development. He is an avid reader and loves travelling and exploring new places and cultures. He is someone who learned a lot from InsideIIM while preparing for his management entrance exams and now writing stories on InsideIIM to share his experiences for the benefit of the future aspirants.
Thanks man!
17 Mar 2019, 09.11 PM |
Tashneema Waquar
Hey there...!!i don't know how to describe myself in few words... I am here because i need some interesting content to read.. Yeah...!! Always looking out for some potential content to keep me busy and updated...
Your articles are damn helpful.. Specially for aspirants like us...!! Thanks a ton..!!
17 Mar 2019, 08.00 PM
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Jeetesh Varshney
Jeetesh Varshney holds an MBA from the IIM Udaipur and was a member of the InsideIIM Student Team and representative of Placement Preparation Committee of IIMU. He has previously completed his Computer Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur and has work experience in software development. He is an avid reader and loves travelling and exploring new places and cultures. He is someone who learned a lot from InsideIIM while preparing for his management entrance exams and now writing stories on InsideIIM to share his experiences for the benefit of the future aspirants.
Thanks Tashneema! Glad you like it
17 Mar 2019, 09.11 PM |
Nalin Sharma
CAT aspirant
Is it wise to go for cat again if you had left your job already for Cat but couldn't score much?
17 Mar 2019, 10.46 PM
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Jeetesh Varshney
Jeetesh Varshney holds an MBA from the IIM Udaipur and was a member of the InsideIIM Student Team and representative of Placement Preparation Committee of IIMU. He has previously completed his Computer Engineering from Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur and has work experience in software development. He is an avid reader and loves travelling and exploring new places and cultures. He is someone who learned a lot from InsideIIM while preparing for his management entrance exams and now writing stories on InsideIIM to share his experiences for the benefit of the future aspirants.
Nalin, Can you ask your question in detail in Q&A section? Do mention your complete profile.
18 Mar 2019, 09.10 AM |