'Can I Work And Prepare For CAT At The Same Time?'

rediffGURU Patrick Dsouza, founder of Patrick100 offers advice on how to optimise your preparation for CAT 2025.

• You can post your CAT and MBA-related questions to rediffGURU Patrick Dsouza HERE.
  

Are you planning to take the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year?

Do IIMs accept students with a gap year in their CV?

Besides CAT, what are some of the other top entrance examinations for management aspirants in India?

rediffGURU Patrick Dsouza is the founder of Patrick100.

He trains students for competitive management entrance exams such as the Common Admission Test, the Xavier Aptitude Test, Common Management Admission Test and the Common Entrance Test.

• You can post your CAT and MBA-related questions to rediffGURU Patrick Dsouza HERE.
  
  

Mayank: I am 28 years old.
I scored 87.5 per cent in my 10th, 90.6 per cent in my class 12, 73.6 per cent in my undergrad from a private engineering college, 81 per cent in my post-graduation from IIT-Kharagpur.
I have three years of experience in a state-run discom (distribution company) but I have a two-year gap after my undergrad.
I am planning to do MBA.
I believe I can score nicely in CAT exam.
Given my profile, is it possible for me to get into top MBA colleges like IIM-A, B, C, L and FMS if I score 99.8+ percentile in CAT?

Yes it is possible to get into the top IIMs with your profile if you get a good score in the CAT.

You can also look at the option of doing an executive MBA after getting five years of work experience.

Anonymous: Sir I am doing computer science engineering from tier 3 college. I am average in my academics also.
I scored 87.77 per cent in ICSE and 86.66 per cent in ISC. I am currently in my final year.
Till now I have scored 80.8 per cent (8.88) average CGPA.
I have no work experience as well. But I have keen interest in management and want to dive into it.
I am confused about appearing in CAT exam.

Your academics are not bad. It does not matter what college you are doing your engineering from.

My suggestion would be to prepare for CAT as well as other management entrance exams like the XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test), SNAP (Symbiosis National Aptitude Test), NMAT (Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test), etc, and ensure that you score over 80 per cent in your graduate exam.

Anonymous: Sir, I am a BMS 2024 graduate.
I wanted to clear UPSC so I started preparing after graduation.
But I am no longer into preparation.
I understood I was not feeling positive about it.
Being an overthinker, I thought about all the possible outcomes and felt I was gambling my youth.
My plan B was getting an MBA so I am planning to give CAT but due to lack of preparation I won't be able to appear for CAT 2024 and so I plan to appear in 2025.
Since I did not look for jobs I am confused if I should start working and simultaneously prepare for CAT or if I should take a gap and completely focus on CAT which will add two years of gap on my resume.
Sir I request you to guide me and clear my confusion.
Will my gap affect my placement? Or is it manageable to work and score a good percentile in a year?

There is still a long way to go for CAT 2025.

You can take up a job and prepare for CAT simultaneously.

If you find it difficult to balance both, you can work to gain some experience and quit the job approximately five to six months before the exam.

Till then, you will get around seven to eight months of experience which will help to bridge some amount of your gap in your CV. This will also give you enough time to prepare.

A minimum of five to six months of full time preparation is sufficient to crack CAT 2025.

• You can post your CAT and MBA-related questions to rediffGURU Patrick Dsouza HERE.

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