LIFE AT IMI-B

  “What will be the acceptable score to get admission in a top B-School? Should I take a drop or get admission anywhere? What are other career alternatives?” If these are some of the questions clouding your mind as CAT 2020 approaches, then Dr. Pallavi Pandey has the answers for you. The professor of HR&OB at IMI B has a PhD from IIT Dhanbad and has strong industry and academic experience. She shares her insightful strategies for CAT and beyond. Dr. Pandey wants you to remember that CAT is about the accuracy, so in the last couple of weeks it’s important to revise your concepts and take as many mock tests as possible. To those balancing the tight rope walk between work and CAT preparations, she says, “Prioritize your tasks. You must be willing to work hard as no situation is permanent.”  There is a silver lining to your efforts – it’s the ticket to some of the top B Schools in India. But with everything that has happened this year, is 2021 the right time to start with your...

  “Every time I felt anxious during exams, I would close my eyes for a minute and calm myself. This helped me mitigate the time loss that would have occurred had I panicked,” says Ayush Khowala with refreshing candour. He appeared for the most important exam of them all, CAT 2019 and came out with flying colours to secure his admission with IMI Bhubaneswar. He shares his tips and tricks to beat the stress a month before the test. Ayush reveals that he started his preparations for the test 5 months before the exam. But the last couple of months were reserved for mock tests alone. “It’s not the time to learn a new concept. Instead, focus your energies on mock tests because they help you maintain your speed and accuracy for the exam. It’s also important to analyze your mock tests to gain an understanding of areas you should improve in,” he says on a thoughtful note. In the last leg of preparations leading up to CAT 2020, it’s also crucial to start taking mock tests depending on th...

  Assessing your strengths and figuring out your weaknesses to work on them in the final stages of preparations can make all the difference in your CAT score. Jitumoni Sharma, who aced the test in 2019, did just that. “I was good in quant and LRDI but very weak in VARC. Through YouTube, I found “Word Power Made Easy” by Norman Lewis, which helped me a lot. I would also record new vocab words on the phone to recall and memorize them,” he reveals. Jitumoni showed the same level of earnest through the four months of his CAT prep while keeping up with the studies in 5 th semester of his graduation program. “I would prepare for CAT for 4-5 hours every day. I cleared the basics to the best of my ability and then kept revising the concepts. Give as many mock tests as possible, including sectional mocks. It’s also important to pick the right set of questions for mock tests,” he recommends. According to Jitumoni, managing time and stress is the key to giving your best on the test day. ...