I almost ended up not giving CAT 2005. After the 2004 debacle I had switched jobs. Though my profile remained the same, the work pressure this time around was much higher. And so was the job satisfaction. I was enjoying my new job immensely. The flip side to this was that I progressively lost interest in studying for CAT.

Another factor affecting my preparation was the lack of a mentor. My friend Sandeep, who made it to Goa Institute of Management at the end of the 2004 MBA season, had handled that responsibility earlier. From advising me on study plans, analyzing my performances, shoving practice papers down my throat to surfing Pagalguy and letting me know every small bit of information, he had forced me to sit up and take my preparations seriously. Without his stable influence, my studies suffered, not to mention I kept missing important dates and form submissions. I’m sure if he had been with me for CAT 2005 he would have nipped the near-disaster I suffered on D-day in the bud.

Come September and I had still not started preparing seriously. By that time I had begun seriously debating about whether to give CAT at all. Himanshu’s series of pep talks and ‘you’re-totally-manager-material’ phone calls though made sure that I didn’t do anything stupid. So it was that with hardly two months to go to CAT 2005 I prepared a timetable and pitched headlong into my studies.

Since by now I was focusing almost exclusively on Quant, any time I had after coming back from office was spent solving problems. Whenever I got bored, or if I had time on weekends, I would practice some DI. I was slightly more confident about Maths this time around. Though I wasn’t anymore smarter than last time around, I definitely was a bit wiser, in that I could pick out the easier sums sooner. All said and done, I decided to follow the strategy that I’d botched up last CAT; take time away from Verbal and dedicate it to Quant.

Following a colossal mix-up, I reached the centre just as the papers were being distributed. This time around people would have got a kick out of seeing my face. Flushed and sweating after my escapade, I must have looked the quintessential exam nerves afflicted student. I don’t think anything in life happens without reason though. The upshot of this crazy morning was that I was focused like never before. And this time, I did leave my verbal section 10 minutes before time and went on early to my Quant section and managed to squeeze in two extra sums just before the final bell went off. Three hours ago, standing up on the bridge at Bandra, I wouldn’t have believed it, but I had just aced one of the toughest exams in the world.

My final scores: DI-96.78%ile, Verbal-98.57%ile, Maths-94.56%ile, Overall: 99.35%ile. I managed to get 5 calls, all except Bangalore.

I had my face rubbed in the dirt before I finally got around to converting 4 out of my 5 calls, but then, that’s another story.