CAT 2012 Results – Does the Road Lead to IIMs or Somewhere Else?

(This article is not just meant for CAT exam aspirants. It can be applied to any exam for School level, University level, Corporate level and most importantly LIFE. All the names are hypothetical and bear no resemblance to any person.)

CAT 2012 results are out. Some might have cracked it in the first attempt and for some it would have been, perhaps, the third or fourth attempt. Some might not have even been able to clear the cut-offs for any top B-school (affiliated to the CAT scores). While a few might have just attempted to see what CAT Online exam is all about. Here we see a hypothetical situation of 4 CAT 2012 aspirants.

Let the four students be named in chronological order – Aman, Boman, Charan, Dhiren.

Aman: Aman has scored a perfect 100%ile in one of the toughest management entrance exams in the world and has secured calls from all the IIMs. He is sure that he will crack one of the IIMs. Most likely after that, Aman will join some giant MNC for a high package, exotic location and live a well-settled life.

Boman: Boman has managed to score about 97%ile and has managed to get calls from most of the top B-schools in India except the IIMs. He is sure that he will crack one of these B-schools (based on the preparation and his confidence level). Most likely after two years of B-school, Boman will join an MNC or a mid-sized company and keep hopping from one company to another in search of better salary and better opportunities.

Charan: Charan has managed to get a low percentile in CAT exam but is not disheartened and hopes that next year he’ll be able to bell the CAT. Perhaps he was not serious this time. Most likely he will waste another 5-6 months and then get a shocker and then start preparing seriously for the next year’s CAT (CAT 2013).

Dhiren: Dhiren has managed to get a very low percentile in CAT exam and is heart-broken and thinks that this is the end of the world for him. He feels that despite studying a lot, he couldn’t crack the CAT this year. Most likely he will do something that he doesn’t like (obviously because of low morale, mood off, bad state of mind or depression, in the worst case). Or he might just give up trying thinking that IIMs (or anything tough, for that matter) is not for him.

Now consider your life and put yourself in one of these 4 situations.

• Sometimes you really try hard, get what you want and have a great time in life. Everything is just what you’d always craved for. You are Aman then.
• Sometimes despite trying as hard as you can, you miss out on something really important and have to settle with something better, yet not the best. You keep trying for the best. You are Boman then.
• Sometimes you just want to try out things. You are not saddened in case you’re not successful. You might want to give another try. You are Charan then.
• Sometimes you try for something (whole-heartedly or half-heartedly) and the result is completely opposite of what you had wanted. You feel like giving up. You do something you don’t like. You are Dhiren then. And that’s where the problem lies.

The problem is in GIVING UP. Just because you didn’t get something (as you had anticipated), doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve anything. The deep voice of Amitabh Bachchan, that most people now die for, was once rejected by the All India Radio after an audition.