My CAT journey began way back in 2012. I was in the final year of under-graduation when I appeared for CAT for the first time. I got a decent score of 97.88 percentile but it was nowhere close to what is required for a GEM candidate to get calls. Confident that I would be able to do better the next time, I started working for a startup company called Bookpad. But, I had to put in long hours at Bookpad and in the first few months, I didn\u2019t get enough time to prepare for CAT. Frankly speaking, I did not take my second attempt seriously. I took a few mocks in the last few days and appeared for the exam. Surprisingly, I got a percentile of 99.2. For the effort that I put in, I would say it was an over-achievement. But even then, I ended up with no interview calls from IIMs.<\/p>\n
During my third season for CAT, with just a few months to go for the exam, I took what would be one of my best decisions. I joined an edu-tech startup called Cracku. Being a marketing associate and content developer at Cracku, I was constantly in touch with CAT preparation. To be very honest, I was being paid to prepare for CAT! I prepared quite seriously for CAT 2014. I spent tens of hours in taking and analyzing mock tests. After every mock, I would analyze what went right\/wrong and tweak my preparation accordingly. I was growing in confidence every day. On the D-Day, I had a few nerves when I arrived at the test center, but they quickly vanished once the test started. The paper was unexpectedly easy and I did well. Or, I thought I did. After the exam got over and before the results came out, I was hoping that I would get a good percentile, in excess of 99.5. The results came out in the last week of December. I still remember the evening the results came out. I ended up scoring 99.09 percentile, lesser than that in my previous attempt and I was shattered.<\/p>\n
I got a call from IIM K. I wanted to make the most of it. I prepared well for the interviews and was able to convert the call. However, I was not sure if I really wanted to join. To move on or try harder can sometimes be the most difficult choice to make. This was when, on one fine evening, I had a long discussion with Maruti, the CEO of Cracku. At the end of it, I was inspired to go for another attempt \u2013 the last one. It was a risky decision, but I was confident that it was the right decision. It helped me greatly that Cracku grew as a company, from a one-room office to become a trusted name in online exam preparation. Some smart people joined the team as content developers. It was a fantastic peer group to be in and I was very focused on CAT prep because of it. Also, I started to put in more efforts and believed in myself. I took mocks regularly and analyzed them. Preparing content for Cracku\u2019s mocks also helped me fine-tune my concepts. Slowly but surely, I began to understand how the mind of a paper-setter works and I was well prepared with all the probable models of questions. On the D-Day, I was relaxed and confident, having put in all my efforts during the preparation. I did well in Verbal and Quant, but I was not sure about how I did in the DILR section. Today, the results have come out and I am truly humbled by it. I scored 99.94 percentile and it is indeed a dream come true. For all future CAT aspirants, my biggest advice is \u2018Work hard and believe in yourself\u2019. Hard work and perseverance will always pay. If I can do it, I am sure each one of you can do it too.<\/p>\n
By the way, Cracku is hiring people for the role of Content Development. If you are interested, mail your CV to\u00a0maruti @ cracku . in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My CAT journey began way back in 2012. I was in the final year of under-graduation when I appeared for CAT for the first time. I got a decent score of 97.88 percentile but it was nowhere close to what is required for a GEM candidate to get calls. Confident that I would be able […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25,17,6,60,11,14,20,5,67,7,21],"class_list":{"0":"post-121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-gallery","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cat","8":"tag-25","9":"tag-90-days","10":"tag-cat","11":"tag-exam-strategy","12":"tag-gd","13":"tag-interview-tips","14":"tag-practice","15":"tag-reading-comprehension","16":"tag-tips-and-tricks","17":"tag-verbal","18":"tag-verbal-ability","19":"post_format-post-format-gallery"},"better_featured_image":{"id":129,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":610,"height":350,"file":"2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips.jpg","sizes":{"thumbnail":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-150x150.jpg"},"medium":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-300x172.jpg","width":300,"height":172,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-300x172.jpg"},"td_80x60":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-80x60.jpg","width":80,"height":60,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-80x60.jpg"},"td_100x70":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-100x70.jpg","width":100,"height":70,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-100x70.jpg"},"td_218x150":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-218x150.jpg","width":218,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-218x150.jpg"},"td_265x198":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-265x198.jpg","width":265,"height":198,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-265x198.jpg"},"td_324x160":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-324x160.jpg","width":324,"height":160,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-324x160.jpg"},"td_324x235":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-324x235.jpg","width":324,"height":235,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-324x235.jpg"},"td_324x400":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-324x350.jpg","width":324,"height":350,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-324x350.jpg"},"td_356x220":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-356x220.jpg","width":356,"height":220,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-356x220.jpg"},"td_356x364":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-356x350.jpg","width":356,"height":350,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-356x350.jpg"},"td_533x261":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-533x261.jpg","width":533,"height":261,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-533x261.jpg"},"td_534x462":{"file":"self-improvement-tips-534x350.jpg","width":534,"height":350,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips-534x350.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0","keywords":[]}},"post":121,"source_url":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/self-improvement-tips.jpg"},"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n