Cracking CAT a year later potentially costs $200000

Well.... all of us have read this. Top salaries of fresh IIM graduates have touched $200,000. It may not even make sense to convert the salary into Indian Rupees - as the figure almost looks mythical. However, it is true. Without delving into the depths of how many students from the IIMs manage to get such salaries, whether it it CTC or gross pay or take home etc., let us look what does that mean to you as a CAT aspirant.

1. Making it to a top B school such as an IIM a year earlier makes so much of a difference to your career. Look at it this way. Let us say, you are 25 and you expect to work till you turn 60. Each additional year of work with an MBA means so much in furthering your career on a fast track - whats worse - some of these job openings do not exist without a top ranking MBA degree. So, crack CAT soon. Crack it this year. It is better not to postpone somethings.

2. Well I am going to contradict myself. The career paths and astronomical salaries that are talked about are typically reserved for students of the elite institutes. So, do not do an MBA or a PGDM from any random Business School. Let us say, unfortunately you get only 97 percentile in CAT this year and have managed an admit only from a not so very popular XYZ Management Institute - it might make sense not to take that admit and slog another year to crack CAT and get an admit from one of the elite institutes such as the top 3 or 4 IIMs, XL, FMS etc., Remember - most people DO ONLY ONE MBA in their lifetime. Even if your MBA education is delayed by a year, do not settle for anything less than the best.

3. What does it take to get there?
Thankfully, IIM A has given some clarity on what you should aim to get in each of the sections. A 25% net score in each section with a overall score of 33.33%. This alone will not guarantee you a call. However, one is unlikely to get calls without this score. So, if you are practicing your Mock CAT Tests right now, make sure that you set targets that are a little more than what IIM A has stated so that you are well equipped to crack the cut off on the D day.

Best wishes for all those who aspire to make it to the top IIMs this year.

K S Baskar
Director - Ascent Education - classes, correspondence course for CAT