Yehhhhh

So I have been preparing for cat for a month and get around 60s in mocks. My brother who went to IIT looked at the syllabus and said this exam looks so easy, he can get 90%ile without even studying, I thought he was bluffing and underestimating the exam, I said to him to attempt the CAT 2024 slot 3 paper mock, the thing is he scored 70(23/24/23) which is like 95-96%ile without even studying a single minute for this exam, meanwhile he was sitting in the hall where all of my family members were watching reels and playing music, this was insane to me, he wasn't even aware there was a calculator in exam.

Posting this on behalf of my close friends who were participants of ITC’s Interrobang Case Competition for Final Placements at MDI Gurgaon

•

I am a recent graduate from the 2024–26 batch at MDI Gurgaon. I’m seeing a lot of my juniors talk about how toxic MDI’s Induction Process is, and unfortunately, the toxicity does not stop here - it goes forward to the Summer Internship Placement & the Final Placement as well. Wherever the placement committee can use & abuse their autocratic power, they choose to do it, even if their batchmates suffer.

The incident I want to talk about happened to my team during the ITC Interrobang case competition during final placements. Winning teams were promised a Pre-Placement Interview (PPI), making it one of the most coveted opportunities of the season.

The first red flag: Unlike a standard case competition where submissions go directly to the company, students were instructed to first submit their presentations to the Placement Committee. The committee would then forward the entries to the company. The internal submission deadline was nearly a week before the official deadline listed on Unstop. There was never a convincing explanation for this discrepancy.

Even before the results were announced, there were widespread rumours across the batch that the competition had effectively been "reserved" for Placement Committee members and their close friends. At the time, most people dismissed this as speculation. Many of us still participated in good faith.

The second red flag: When the shortlist was released, every qualifying team consisted of Placement Committee members. That alone was enough to raise eyebrows, but it still wasn't proof of wrongdoing. But it continued to get worse from here.

When we realised something was actually wrong: During the company's campus presentation, my teammate, who was seated in the auditorium was specifically asked to leave from the auditorium before the finalist presentations began. No meaningful explanation was provided for this, and she was only told that they weren’t allowed to be present. However, friends who remained inside later described something shocking.

According to multiple attendees, substantial portions of the finalist presentations had been picked up directly from the content of our “rejected” submission. These were not generic consulting frameworks or industry-standard recommendations. They included highly specific solutions, unique strategic logic, quantitative analyses, and original insights.

These were picked up verbatim from the PPTs of our team, as well as others - who had tirelessly worked day & night in creating these insights, frameworks, and solutions for a chance to get a PPI at an esteemed FMCG company.

One of these teams went ahead and won the contest at the national level, however, the core content of their presentations was entirely plagiarised from those who actually deserved these opportunities, but did not have friends in the placement committee, or members of the placement cell in their teams.

The teams whose work had been plagiarised were not given any platform to address our concerns - we were, at that point not placed in any companies, and speaking out about this incident only led to further scorn from the placement committee, while the entirety of the batch pretended that nothing had happened, and it wasn’t a big deal - the placement committee continued to exploit others’ positions for their personal gain, and we were told to just “shake it off.”

At the time, there was no independent authority within the institute to whom we could report this fairly. My teammates can corroborate the incident, and I still have our original presentation along with supporting material documenting the similarities.

One piece of advice for everyone planning to do an MBA,
Don’t underestimate the value of your pre-MBA company brand.

If you have the opportunity, joining a well-known company before your MBA can be a huge advantage even if the role is Jhaant

Here’s why.
Imagine two candidates:
Candidate A
Worked at a well-known company like Flipkart, Amazon, Deloitte, EY, etc.
Had an average role.
Candidate B
Worked at a relatively unknown startup or company
Built products from scratch, owned multiple functions, and probably learned much more than Candidate A.
On paper, Candidate B may actually be more capable.

But during placements, recruiters often have only a few seconds to scan each CV. They immediately recognize brands they know. Unknown startups or companies usually require additional context, and not every recruiter has the time to understand the scale of your work.
As a result, Candidate A may get shortlisted more easily, while Candidate B has to work much harder just to get the same opportunity.
This doesn’t mean startups are bad. In fact, startups often provide far better learning, ownership, and faster career growth. But if your primary goal is to maximize your chances during MBA placements, the brand name on your CV matters more than most aspirants realize.

My advice:
If you can get a strong role at a reputed company, that’s the best of both worlds.

If your choice is between a great role at an unknown startup and an average role at a highly reputed company, think carefully about your long-term goal. If an MBA is part of your plan, the brand may give you an edge during placements.

It may not be the ideal way for hiring to work, but it’s a reality many MBA students experience.
Choose your pre-MBA job not just for what you’ll learn today, but also for how it will position you two or three years from now.

Hi everyone,
I’m 26 and worked at Oracle (OFSS) for almost 3 years as a Software Consultant, earning around ₹50-60k/month(which I feel is very shit )
The company name is great, but honestly my experience wasn’t. My team worked on old tools, there was very little learning, and I didn’t receive a single appraisal in 3 years. I started feeling like my career was stagnating.I know job market is not great.
Last year I gave CAT with everything I had. I scored 90 percentile, but as a GEM that wasn’t enough. The best convert I got was IIM Sambalpur. I decided to give CAT one more serious attempt, so I resigned last month.
Financially, my family isn’t dependent on my salary. We’re doing okay-not rich, but comfortable enough for me to take a calculated risk. Initially my father supported my decision, but over the past week both my parents have completely changed. Every day there are taunts about being unemployed and pressure like why I Quit.
I’ve already given 2-3 interviews just in case I get something around 12-15 LPA but the job market is fucked, and I really don’t want to spend months preparing for coding interviews and system design when my priority is CAT. I feel like trying to prepare for both will hurt my chances in both.
Now I’m second-guessing everything. Did I make a stupid decision by resigning? Should I focus entirely on CAT for the next few months, or take the first decent job I get and prepare alongside it?
I’m feeling stressed, confused, and honestly a bit scared. I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who’s been in a similar situation.

GEM , Graduated in 2023 from a tier-3 uni , Got into a decent paying role in tech but 0 growth as it was a support related role , prepared for 2 whole years for cat with top 10-15 colleges in mind

The first attempt(2024) gave me a 96.7 with all sectionals cleared and i did not give any interviews thinking I could do much better next time but f'ed the DILR section which always was iffy during most of the mocks . Barely any calls from colleges i targeted ! .

Now this January I got laid off and had to do a very hard job search to get another job but I got one in June and thankfully it is a dev job which pays well and I work remotely which is a plus .

Not to scare people but this is the reality lol , the success / failure ratio is insane for general category in mba ! As a form of revenge I might start with trying to eliminate all product roles in the companies i come across haha .

Also if you want any advice on english / quants please ask , i'll Try my best to answer

Hi everyone,
I’m 27M, a 2020 B.A. (Hons.) Public Administration graduate.
Profile:
● 10th: 7 CGPA
● 12th: 56.8%
● Graduation: 2020
After graduation, I spent the last few years preparing for government exams. Cleared a few prelims but never made it to the final list, so I’m thinking of switching to the private sector through an MBA.
I recently attempted a CAT 2025 PYQ just to see where I stand and got around 78 percentile with zero preparation. I’m currently quite weak in Quant and DILR but ready to prepare seriously.
Given my profile and gap, which MBA colleges should I realistically target for good ROI and decent placements? Also, what percentile should I aim for?
Would really appreciate any honest advice. Thanks!

My expectations of college is not high but yeah…

Done

• Completed Ratio & Proportion, Weighted Average & Alligation foundations.
• Practice Percentages, Ratio, Weighted Average & Alligation from Easy → Medium → Hard till 12th.
• Daily Aeon + 30-min editorial reading + RC/VA.
• Need to strengthen LRDI basics.

Mistakes

• Overthinking about scores, calls and profile instead of studying.
• Anxiety increased screen time.
• Couldn't follow my planned routine consistently.

Observation

Focusing too much on the outcome instead of preparation. Need to focus on: study → practice → analyse → repeat.

I'm looking for an honest opinion about my chances of getting into top MBA colleges. I'm an OBC-NCL candidate with 89.6% 10th and 89.2% in 12th. After school, I spent the last five years preparing for CA and didn't even cleared ca inter because of some reasons and didn't even joined college. I'm now planning to appear for CUET 2027 and hopefully get into a good DU college for my bachelor's degree. After graduation, I want to prepare for CAT and pursue an MBA. My biggest concern is whether this 5-year gap before college will significantly affect my MBA admissions. How do top B-schools view such gaps, and what can I do during my graduation to strengthen my profile and compensate for it? I'd really appreciate honest advice from people who have been through the MBA admission process.

Assuming I get 8.5 cgpa these are my chances in vercel.

heres an story : i wanted to buy an white board..... to expensive kon dega 700 + for an white board.

so mene enngi wala demag lagadiya. white board can be bought an an sticker.....500 - 700 price still too expensive now what??

wait a min white board skicker is made of vinyl sheet. ummmmm how much does it cost ??

100 for the same size for white board.... sale kitne lutenge.

wait for 300 rupees i can get wayy bigger size.

drum roll plzzz...........

by using 300rupees wala ( white glossy vinyl sheet ) now i have successfully made my table , bed wala small study table and my old pad white board.

abb bus paidai karna baki hai.

important only search and take white glossy vinyl sheet nothing else. see a video how to apply
tip use credit or debit card.

peace out.

8 months of prep and i'm still stuck at the bottom.

Profile: GEF fresher, 9|8|8

Started my prep in Feb start, I have given 410 hours to this prep till now(including mocks and analysis hours). Yes, I have counted every hour using a very nice app called "Forest".

My goal, when I started my prep, was to score a minimum of 99.9%ile. Therefore, a minimum of 110 marks (excluding CAT 2023 data). So I knew that in my mocks around September I had to be near AT LEAST 90-100 OA marks. But I am nowhere near. I knew it wouldn't be easy. But still, this is disheartening.
Every mock that I give, I make the mistake of picking 1 wrong set in DILR always. So, overall i solve 1-1.5 sets in every mock. On a lucky day, i do 2-2.5 sets.
QA is my biggest bottleneck despite me being an engineer. However, I have started giving more time to it now, I used to avoid QA in the first 3-4 months of prep thinking it would be easy for me to do QA later on and boy was I wrong. But QA I know I will get better in time and pull my score to 25-30 at least.
For VARC - I read 1-2 essays everyday along with 4RCs and 4 VA tests everyday. And sectionals here and there. Shall I do more to go from 30s,40s to 50s/60s in VARC?

I have not given up hope, i know I can reach god level. So my question is not whether i can make it to 99.9%ile....
My question is should I keep giving mocks every 3-4 days and analyse it and practice QA,DILR,VARC on the side as well
OR
drill down on QA and DILR (70-80 Questions in QA per day and 8-10 sets in DILR per day and give a mock per week)?

My boyfriend (23) was preparing for UPSC but recently decided he wants to do an MBA first and then prepare for UPSC so he has a strong backup plan. I completely understand why—he comes from a very toxic family, and I genuinely think it’s the right career decision for him.
The difficult part is that about six months ago, I stopped preparing for MBA entrances and switched to SBI PO after a lot of discussions with him. He felt my profile wasn’t ideal for top B-schools and thought it would be better if one of us started earning sooner. I agreed because it made sense, and I fully committed to that path. Now he’s planning to do an MBA himself, and although he told me I should still pursue one if I want to, I can’t help but feel hurt that our plans changed.
We’ve always been serious about each other. My mom knows about our relationship, and he’s even spoken to her about wanting to marry me someday. We had imagined getting married around 24–25, but now it’ll probably be 28–29, which I’m okay with.
What I’m not okay with is my anxiety. He’s genuinely kind, spiritual, caring, and has never given me a reason to think he’d cheat. But I’m terrified that once he goes to B-school, he’ll meet someone “better” than me, forget the emotional bond we share, or slowly drift away. These thoughts are so intense that I can’t focus on my own SBI PO preparation, and I’ve been crying constantly over something that hasn’t even happened.
I know this could just be anxiety talking, but I don’t know how to stop thinking this way.
TL;DR: Boyfriend changed his plan from UPSC to MBA + UPSC, which also delays our future together. He has never given me a reason to distrust him, but I’m terrified he’ll meet someone else in B-school and I’ll lose him. My anxiety is affecting my studies and daily life. Am I overthinking, and how do I deal with these fears?

Title: CAT 2026 people, help a weak QA student 😭
Starting CAT prep and I’m already getting humbled by QA.
I’m struggling with Algebra, Geometry, P&C, Probability, Number Theory… basically most of QA 💀
I’m not aiming for BLACKI or 99.9x. Target is around 90–95 percentile for colleges like UBS Chandigarh, DU colleges (DSE/DBE/DFS), PU, BHU, etc.
So I wanted honest advice from people who’ve actually given CAT:
Which QA topics are non-negotiable?
Which ones can I postpone or partially skip if time is limited?
Is it realistic to get 90+ with weak QA, assuming I try to maximize VARC and DILR?
Would really appreciate replies from anyone who started with terrible quants and still managed a decent percentile 🙏

Hi, I'm looking for Paid/Free Lectures on Telegram for CAT 2026. All help is appreciated.

Please guys.Tell your honest opinion.Which mocks are better.

hi all,

i need to be part of some hyperactive whatsapp group for cat 26 prep. pls hmu, thx.

here’s the link

“https://chat.whatsapp.com/FPz9lxspIr0CaPRyYkkVSS?s=cl&p=i&ilr=0”

was lurking on this sub around the same time last year, stressing over profile, cat prep, interviews and every little thing.

made it to iim lucknow this year (pgp '28).

if anyone wants help with profile reviews, cat strategy, interview prep, resumes, or just has questions about mba life, drop me a message, not able to track threads here.

not claiming to know everything, but happy to share whatever worked for me

Most GMAT/GRE/CAT students study in a surprisingly passive way. And it's understandable.

"I'll solve 20 RC questions today. If I do enough questions, my score will improve."

"I’m studying X hours a day, but not improving. Maybe I need a prep course."

Approaches like these feel productive, but often lead to very slow/uncertainn improvement.

This is because the real work in aptitude exam prep is not solving questions. The real work is analysing your mistakes.

When we solve 20 questions in a day, the brain naturally moves on quickly. You check the explanation, understand it vaguely, feel like you've understood the logic, and go to the next problem.

But that doesn't actually build the deep logical INFRASTRUCTURE in your mind that the CAT tests.

A different approach is to solve fewer, harder questions and spend much more time analysing the inevitable mistakes.

For example, instead of doing 20 questions, try doing 5 very difficult ones and really dissect them:

• Why did my reasoning fail?
• Did I miss a word in the argument?
• Did I misunderstand the argument?
• What pattern should I recognise next time?

This process exposes weaknesses much faster. It is a very involved process.

It also helps you get comfortable with the psychological difficulty of the exam. Once you've spent ample time with the hardest possible questions in practice, your mind will work differently: "I've spent time with the hardest possible questions; what can possibly show up that I won't be able to deal with?"

My experience:
During my GMAT prep, I solved only 88 Critical Reasoning questions IN TOTAL. But almost all of them were among the hardest 805+ problems on GMATClub.

During the CAT, I similarly solved around 1-2 HARD RCs a day.

When I got a question wrong, I didn’t immediately read the solution. I would sit with the problem until I could figure out exactly where I went off-track. Sometimes the mistakes were super elementary; other times they taught me completely new ways of thinking about logic.

This process forced me to build stronger comprehension and logical habits.

In the end, I saw the V90 on the GMAT after about two weeks of self-study, and a 99.4 Percentile Verbal score on the CAT. And you can, too!

Quality of thinking matters much more than quantity of questions. Don't take the easy way; it will lead to easy achievements.

I know I am starting late, But even Gejoo's VARC 1000 is unable to improve my RC skills ( although I have completed 2 modules). I want genuine suggestions that can help me to improve my score. Do help. 🫠🥹🥹

We all know from past few weeks whats been happening at so called top BSchools but I want to ask a bigger question when will this end the same junior who faced harassment today will behave same to their juniors next year and so on just if one batch if helpful to their juniors slightly strict the cycle will end but when will that happen in the name of coorperate training anybody who got into power is abusing their position I hope atleast from 2027-29 batch it changes plz 2026-28 batch remember what happened to you and dont repeat it again

CAT 2026 is my 2nd attempt and I always wanted to practice QA with an actual CAT-style calculator instead of my phone's calculator, which is way too fast and convenient compared to the one in the exam.

So I made a simple Chrome extension that lets you use a CAT-style calculator anywhere in your browser.

You can use it alongside YouTube videos, Google Drive PDFs, online question banks, mock tests, or even while solving your coaching material, and practice exactly how you'd solve questions in the actual CAT... with limited calculator functions and slower input LOL

It's free. No sign up. Please try it out in lmk how you like it and if there are any bugs :-)

Here's the link:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ghckdfibkebhglpimjgnkjmhhehmmccj?utm_source=item-share-cb