This one is going to be a very long read.. so bear with me on this one !
It all begins in the final year of engineering. A zeal for doing an MBA, a desire to get into the top notch B-School, a dream to study hard and feel the grind. There z where all the inner flames ignite. Then I came to know that its not very easy to get into the so called top B-Schools of our country. The IIMs, XLRI, FMS, MDI, NMIMS, SP Jain, JBIMS etc. are an eluded dream for many. Discovered that the modus operandi should be gearing up for the upcoming CAT. Prepared for CAT and other exams with my college schedule. With most of my friends gearing up for GRE and TOEFL, me and a few others were vying for something different - The CAT.
It came finally. Gave it. And we came out of the examination hall just to know that the paper had leaked and there would be a re-examination. Didn’t know what to feel at that time. Such a hot shot exam getting leaked and cancelled ?
Gave NMIMS’ exam too. The results came out. Didn’t qualify for the cut off by just 3 marks. Ouch, that pinched badly. Then came CAT re-exam. But so did my college semester exams. Had lost the touch with the CAT curriculum by then. Did okay with it. Scored a pathetic 85 percentile in it. End of the road for 2004 admissions.
Then came Satyam and many other companies and I cracked almost all of ‘em and got into Satyam hoping for my L&T offer letter (which never came). But I decided to go for Satyam and earn some bucks while gaining respectable experience, brand backing, and corporate world exposure.
But the way I am, I never worked hard. The result – CAT result of 92 percentile. Not good enough for the top B-Schools. NMIMS too missed by a decent 6 marks. Gave CET, missed JBIMS by around 4 marks. Scored 99.13 percentile in MAT but was of no use.
End of season 2006 admits. Not going to B-School as yet.
After the disasterous season last year....
What to do next ? Continue working, try switching company ? Study again for CAT n Exams ? Give GMAT ?
The resolution – Give it one more shot. The final one. Else go for GMAT and then to
Then came CAT 2006. Hired a special cab with a friend to go 15 kms for the exam centre. Did not want to take any risks.
Went good. The after analysis showed that I might land up atleast one call from IIM and the other B-Schools were sure.
Then came Jan 2nd,2007. The results had something else to say. Said – “Pritesh Shah you ve scored a meager 82 percentile!!”. Couldn’t believe that stuff. All hopes go to vain. Would get no calls on that kind of score. Three days go by. Expecting the next round of results. NMIMS. The college that has missed me by whiskers everytime. Checked the result with a lot of superstitions and panic. MADE IT. Clear by almost 7 marks. Voillaa… but the merit rank was 1094 out of the 33,000 people who appeared. Good but not good enough. GD PI would decide my fate later.
The other results in the mean time were all negative.
People have multiple calls and hope to convert atleast one and take final admit.
Here I was with just one call and needed to convert it badly. Had been performing well in GD PIs everytime but this time everything was at stake.
The GD PI dates were declared. I started studying. Spent weekends in the office studying for various stuff and making my resume. Had to prepare answers to questions that could be asked at the interview. Had prepared a complete file of questions and probable answers. Took help from many people in the software industry to help me with my sops and all. Prepared technical stuff, read about formula 1 history (my passion), read about Michael Schumacher (my role model), read about Satyam revenues, its performance as compared to other companies, quarterly growth figures, guidance, EPS, market performance, etc. They could ask me anything at PI.
The D-Day came. Reached NM college at around 7.30 am. Stood outside it, took a deep breath. There I go. This is it. It can’t get better. If I make it here, its gonna be life, else slog it out in the IT industry. Went in. Settled down. Saw around. Everybody looked as equipped as me. First came the GD.
The topic was “Its high time Indian Organizations should be truly socially responsible”. Given 2 minutes to think/jot down. Took a deep breath and gathered all my courage to start the GD. And voilaa.. it worked. I started the GD and everybody listened. Spoke for about 1.5 mins. Half the battle was won here. The GD went smooth. I chirped in with a around 5-6 entries and made valid points.
Then we were asked to wait for the PI. My number came pretty soon. Waited outside the PI room with 5 other candidates. There came my turn and I entered in with all my confidence.
(I would always want to remember this interview in my life coz it would be leading me into a new world, a completely different sphere of life, will be giving me a dream shot at my career.)
Two Panel members : one male (about 35 years) and one female(about 30 years).
The interview went in very smooth and the best ever. With expected questions being posed at me.
It was the time for the results. The D Day was 10th of March.
The agonizing and nail biting wait was finally coming to an end. But again, the results got delayed. The new notice said that the results would come out on 15th. It sure was heartbreaking. Couldn’t wait anymore. But I had no other alternative.
Then came 15th March, 2007, 5.00 pm. Was working in the office and at the same time refreshing the results screen every 2 minutes to check if the results have come. Then the results were finally uploaded at around 5.10 pm. I saw the link and went to a nearby cyber café because I did not want to check my results from the office PC (Superstition)!! On the way hundreds of thoughts crossed my mind. What if I don’t get through? Will it be one more year? Will it be GMAT now? Would I continue with IT? Was my interview good enough? What would be my final rank? Will I be in the top 200 and make it to the MBA core programme? Or would i have to settle for other programmes ?
Just before I entered the café, I thought and decided; everything had gone fine. The results have to be fine. Clicked the link. Entered by roll number and date of birth. And there in front of me lay my result. MERIT No. 175. It took me two long minutes to digest that I had made it. And was offered confirmed admission to the core MBA programme. Didn’t want to wait there. Saw the admit letter and logged off. Called up all my near ones and informed them.
Finally made it. It was hard to digest it easily because these top schools were eluding me since long now. But there I was. On the top of the world. On cloud nine. A super jump of around 920 ranks after the written was no ordinary stuff. It proved that my GD PI was bang on target. Later on I realized that mine was one of the highest jumps of ranks that took place for those who got confirmed admissions.
Party time. Went
Paid my fees on 2nd April, 2007 and confirmed my seat.
And here I am. Raring to go. Waiting to feel the hot chill of NMIMS, Mumbai.
NMIMS… here I come…!!
Lets Rock !!!
Check vital stats bout the cool insti here - > http://www.nmims.edu/
