I trip, I fall..I rise and I fly

CAT 2006 was a disaster. It was an extremely easy paper when compared to the standards set by the IMS SIMCAT papers.
I was under the garb of preparing for this exam for about three months now. Excepting the guilt when i was watchhing the T.V that i was doing something that i ought not to and am not doing something that i ought to (studying!!), i havent done much in improving on my weakness which primarily has been speed.

CAT has always been a suprise to anyone taking it. Perhaps the IIMs want it to be that way, occult, always changing colors and jolting the test taker. How much ever the coaching institutes brag, not even one test that these guys design come any nearer to the original exam. No offense to the coaching institutes though, these tests are good in their own but nah..either too difficult or too easy but do not have the subtle touch that CAT adds to each of the questions.

CAT 2006 had three sections. A superb Verbal section (BTW, i did not do well here), an extremely easy Quantitative section and an averagely difficult Logical Reasoning/Data Interpretation section. I was stuck at a pair of questions in QA that has a typo in one of the choices. I as it is have these perennial doubts on the authenticity of my calculations, i checked, re-checked and cross checked effectively spending those precious minutes that could be used for solving the other questions. Then i did the verbal section with my mind still peering at the disaster of the Quantitative section (by then i realised that Quant had been too easy and people would have fared far better), This section involved reasoning in every Question and my rationality was partly still looking back at the Quantitative secion leading to another reeling disaster in the Verbal Section. Now there is not much time for Logical reasoning and with two past disasters there is no prize for guessing that another would follow.

But i knew i had success within a whisker but i did not care to take it. The stakes here are simply too high. A couple of mistakes and you would land up in an abyss. While i have great respect for this exam and the people who do well in it, I do not think i am any bad just because i could not solve two more problems under sweat. I am not sour but i am not sure how well can this test gauge the preparedness of a person in becoming someone who could transform a business. Having work for about 2.5 years in the software industry in a great company and 0.5 years in a startup as an intern, i have much better a perspective about business and entrepreneurship than a kid from an IIT who could do math faster than i can. I do not know how easy/difficult is GMAT when compared to CAT but i have great respect for the admission process in schools abroad because schools there do not stop you from applying even if you have a measly score (as per the indian standards 700 is considered a decent score) in GMAT. They look at the holistic traits of the person than a myopic view that IIMs choose to take.

I know i can do better next time with CAT with a little more preparation (and obviously some more confidence), but i guess it isnt simply worthy enough to spend days to improve on my speed in Math/Reasoning. I rather spend my energies in doing more constructive. On the personal front, i need to start going to the Gym, resume cooking and need to concentrate more on my career.

It was good trying to bell you CAT but i guess i have to move on with my career and not brood over your craftiness :)

Hey, I amnt even feeling down anymore. Its a good sign of the erosion of my erstwhile sensitivities.

I trip, i fall..I rise and I fly