An MBA....
The ultimate goal of many poor souls like me.... And when I say 'many', I mean MANY. Phew, sometimes the sheer size daunts me in my task...The task of doing well enough in the CAT exams to be called for an interview and the GD, and then the even difficulter task of doing SO well in them so as to be invited to study in those haloed institutions, the IIMs.
Hmmmm, HALOED? Or just plain KILLING...
I know I might sound silly or deranged but, COME ON....We all know the admission procedure is no walk in the park. The entrance exam, the interview AND the GD, all have scared the best of people out of their wits...
Why is it so tough to get into those blessed places? I mean, I know why.... So many people apply, this is probably the only way to cut down the exesses but still....Just a rhetorical question...WHY? :(
Allow me to vent please, I'm feeling damn worried about MY prospects.
First comes the written exam:
I can safely say my english is pretty decent, others have said that too, but that's still not accounting for at least a 1000 people better than me. I suck at maths... so now what? MAJOR trouble spot...Okay okay, practise will make it manageable...fine. The DI part should be alright... So there. the written part isn't scary, but then, for me - it never was.
Now we come the two ugliest words in the history of the English language - Interview and GD. Ugh! ( To use my favourite expression these days ).. Plain and simple UGH!
People say I'm confident. confident enough to give a decent interview. But I, as a matter of fact, know that I'm confident around the WRONG people. I even had a talk about this with a pal of mine, and unfortunately, he agreed. ( Silly fool couldn't assuage my fears! ) That means that I don't think I'd be able to hold my own in an interview. I know giving those is very scary, I've not had a lot of practise but I've given some and they've told me a lot of evil things :(
And the even worse GD, especially designed to KILL students like me.. Again for the same reason, I'm confident around the wrong people.. In my group of friends, I can go on talking, arguing over just about anything...And I'm one of those non-stop talking types :P , but then again, that's the wrong kinda people to be confident around. Now don't get me wrong, dear friends of mine! What I'm trying to say, and doing a poor job of, is that, my friends ( Though highly special ) don't decide my getting admissions in places I want. Public speaking has always been an issue. Even in school, Where I was considered to be a good speaker, debating and the like used to give me nightmares. Give me a speech, I'll learn it by heart and go puke it out on stage...THAT is fine and dandy, but it was the elocutions that used to be my biggest concerns. Coming up with things to say while standing in front of a group of people gives me shivers up and down my silly spine... And that is basically what the GD is all about.
And now the icing on the murderous cake, the new reservation bill...I know pages and pages have been written against it and I agree with almost all of it, but I can't stop myself from mentioning it again... This just makes things just about perfect, don't you think? The difficult task has now been made almost impossible.. The worst part is, all the OBCs etc. have their precious 50%, but IF by any chance some OBC gets in through their merit, they get a seat in OUR 50%, not theirs... So basically, what they have is MORE THAN 50% of the total seats in their hands... Told ya it was the icing.
OH MAN! What's gonna happen to me...My dad has such high hopes from me, it makes things tougher.. Not that he says anything, but I just KNOW. One day he was telling me about some daughter of a friend of his, who didn't make it the first time she tried and now is just sitting at home twiddling her thumbs, waiting for the exams to come around again. He said he doesn't want me to waste a year..And I'm not really fond of that idea myself....CRAP.
So that's the thing which has been bothering me for a pretty long time now... What I want to know is how everyone else is feeling about our CAT exams.. It took me a long while to decide if I should put this up on my blog ; I'm generally not the kinds who'll discuss problems with others...But in the end, the need to get some sympathy (:P) overcame my natural habit.... So empathise, dear readers, EMPATHISE with poor ol' me.
About Me
- Silver Mist
- You were put on this earth to humble people. They will be easy victims, because they're attracted to your charm and wit, and they're too slow to see what you're doing behind their backs. You are the one who has to pull the rug out from under the big guy, because let's face it - you're the only one who can get away with it. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to Get Away With Something. Something small, or something big (but please, something legal). Make your boss laugh at himself. Get money for a homeless shelter by posing as a panhandler. Do coin tricks for kids. Get away with an awful pun. Run for governor. Get away with SOMETHING.
9 comments:
"shivers up and down my silly spine"
This was a nice use of the word silly :D
Okay, coming to the more serious part of it, I wouldn't say that your concerns are unreasonable, in fact, quite the opposite, but everybody goes through this phase when they are preparing for the most prestigious and coveted exam in the whole country and probably one of the toughest around the world.
See, you're quite sure about the written part, that's good. Great, rather. As for the interview and the GD, from my personal experience, I know that the most nervous of people perform the best, because they WANT to give their best. The more confident ones usually become too complacent. And confidence can be countered by witty and smart answers. They don't really want public speakers out there. Communication skills is something you re supposed to develop during an MBA and not before it.
You'll get over a lot of these things once you start preparing and give those mock interviews and GDs that are so extensively held in coachings. They surely help. Another thing you could do is make a group of 8-10 people preparing for CAT and make an interview panel while one of you gives the interview at a time. This way, you get to know the questions as well as practice.
As for reservation, no use fretting about it. We'd rather use our energies doing something that we CAN, than wasting it on useless, hopeless people and their actions. They don't deserve even your wrath. The students are doing what they can. We're going on a rally tomorrow with the other colleges here, so forget about it right now, 'cause you cannot help it.
Okay, enough of sermonizing. In fact, too much of it. You asked me to EMPATHISE with poo ol' you. Why look at the donside always. Look at me and you'll cheer up. For me chances are more bleak than for you. First, I'll be giving the CAT next year (hopefully) and you'll be my senior over there :(
Also, I'm scared of the written exam as well, forget about the interview and GD, I'm scared to death about them. I can't face people. You atleast speak in front of the wrong kind of people. I hardly speak in front of anyone and it's a pain talking to someone you don't know, more so in an interview. In a GD, I'm always sidelined :(
And you'd know so much more about finances and economics and everythig. You'll probably get a head start over there. I'd have to start from scratch. So, think of me and cheer up girl! Your prospects are very bright. Just do us all proud :)
Okay, don't kick me. I'm going. Cya.
Waiting for the next post, even if it's not a very cheerful one :P
COME ON!
Uh, I know, everyone's scared. Even I am. I also want a CAT score...a decent one..But, when do I start preparing?
Maths...I suck at it too. Join the gang.
:D
Interviews..well! You know what..If you've been called for one..that's fair enough...Noone can be sure about the kind of requirements and frame of mind the management's sitting there. So no question of worrying. Even the most confident people don't make it. The only part being that noone knows what the bloody management is looking for on that particular day. Okay, I am not encouraging.
But as Swetank said, you already know a lot about finances and all of that. I don't even understand the first alphabet of Economics. Eew. What will I do? You're better off. And definitely better off than most of those trying to crack it. Atleast you want to. Lot of people don't even know if that's what they want from life.
All the best. Sabka naam roshan karo! Aur mere liye bhi pray karo. :D
Yeah, this is not the kind of post I had expected when I saw "a new post!!" here.
Swetank's said mostly everything. I don't feel like saying much now. Your post so applies to me too... Okay just wanted to register my presence in this post of yours, talk to ya later.
okay... i am not giving CAT this year but i know i have to give it someday!
"I'm confident around the WRONG people"
I'm confident around nobody. mera kya hoga???? :(
oh and this reservation thing has been passed. seats are to be reserved from june 2007(the year YOU try for IIMs)!!!!
umm... what do i say? i'm so screwed up myself.
i'm smiling like a fool right now, trying to imagine what's gonna happen to me next year. i think i'll be sitting in lko, twiddling my thumbs. :(
but i can assure u one thing that you're exaggerating your own fears. u'll do fine. and don't worry about the interview and gd coz they're gonna happen next year. just focus on CAT right now.
hey! you know all of us are going through the same. i suck at maths too. and i'm also hoping that some practice would help. at least you're confident about english. told ya what happened to me in my last test. got a -12 in the simple english test.
Like everyone else's said, GD and PI are secondary issues right now. and you know what, even though i agree that being confident matters but even if you are nervous it is all right. they see whether you're smart enough to join them or not and no one can take your(or mine :D) smartness away. right?
so just chill! those 'MANY' people are with you in feeling tensed and all of that.
If you remember, I'm the only one who never said you were a confident speaker. Of course, as you said, you ARE fairly confident in front of the wrong kind of people but that doesn't matter, does it? :P You become a blubbering idiot in front of Jha for God's sake! How the hell are you gonna handle the panel at the IIMs?? Boy, did I manage to scare you even more than you already are? :D I certainly hope so!
I'm just covering up for the mind numbing fear that's been plaguing me for, like, EVER! You saw what a jittering wreck I was before my presentation! What the hell am I going to do?? :((
verbals is my nightmare..and maths..i rock in it :D
lol..may be we should pray God to redistribute skills :D
@ Swetank- First of all. I have never seen such a big comment. EVER! Thanks for that! :D
And thankyou for ALL those words.. Helped a lot!
@ Rohit- He He! looks like I've scared you too.. Yay!
@ Ami- We never had that talk you mentioned. :(
@ V- Poor you! Reservations suck.
@ Saum- Focus....focus....focus.
@ Richa- Yay! People are empathising with me!!! Mission accomplished!
@ Jay- You are a jerk. :x
@ Anshul- Lets switch... Pleeease!!
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