Preparation for a Top B-School/IIM Personal Interview is a little different from the prep for CAT. At times you might find yourself getting slightly different inputs from different mentors about the same question. So, Aman sir or Dhruba sir for example may have a slightly different view from what Rajat sir or I may think...Read More

My IIM Bangalore personal interview was a breeze. It was as if I had scripted it. A friendly panel, questions from my comfort areas, a very positive and pleasant interaction. I wasn’t surprised when IIM B made me the final selection offer a few weeks later. My IIM Calcutta personal interview was a completely different...Read More

A personal Interview is, first and foremost, an interaction. When you meet someone for the first time, your first takeaway is an impression from that interaction. The impression is usually qualitative – good, bad or umm.. unremarkable. Unlike the first stage of the selection process, wherein your CAT preparation results in some tangible numbers and percentiles as an objective...Read More

Not all CAT coaching success stories are struggles – some are relatively straightforward with just an occasional twist. But am sharing this one because it contrasts with the previous story of Hitanksha. She was a Journalism student of the Delhi University. And for her, it was the reunion with Quant after a long gap that presented a challenge....Read More

It was March 2001, if my memory serves me right. It was the day of my IIM Cal PI. The IIM Placement reports had just come in and a couple of days old Times of India front page carried the headlines of an IIM Cal student getting a 1 crore per annum package! Yes, this...Read More

Let us take a step outside your CAT Preparation world. In that world, there are things that are urgent. For example, paying a bill if the due date is today. Driving a little faster than usual if you are late for a train or a flight. Meeting a deadline for the submission of an assignment....Read More

The one area that seems vast and undefined for your B-School/IIM Personal Interview prep is awareness. During the first phase of your CAT preparation journey, you know the topics you will be tested upon and hence, the defined syllabus allows you to prepare accordingly. But this changes completely when it comes to the second stage of your...Read More

Often, when a CAT aspirant begins her/his CAT preparation or joins a CAT coaching institute, she/he expresses an apprehension. Usually, it is something similar to “I am weak in Quant” or “I didn’t have Math after class 10th”. Or some other version of ‘Quant-phobia’. It is probably the single most prevalent disease among CAT aspirants :)....Read More

Sometimes we tend to complicate things just because they are important. We feel they must be complicated just because they are important. It happens all the time during the CAT preparation process as well. Even the best CAT Coaching institutes tend to encourage this because somehow it adds the perception of value being added to the CAT coaching experience...Read More

Indulge me because I do end up picking up a lot of cricketing examples in relation to your CAT coaching journey. It is partially borne out of my affection for both CAT and Cricket. And partly because it just makes a lot of sense. But since you’ve been really patient with what I’ve been sharing over the...Read More