CAT is not worth it for GEM

I had always aspired to study at an IIM after my 12th exams and entrance tests. To achieve this, I began my preparation in my third year of engineering. I gave it my all, sacrificing my social life, and managed to score a 92 percentile. While it’s a decent score, considering that I appeared for the CAT exam amidst my end-semester exams, I expected more.

Initially, I planned to take a gap year to prepare with full dedication. However, seeing many GEM candidates with work experience fail to receive calls from top IIMs made me doubt the value of this decision.

Now, I have resolved to give the MBA CET my best effort. However, if things still do not go my way, I intend to shift my focus to government exams. Thankfully, being in a core engineering branch, I have options like GATE and ESE. While I understand these exams are far from easy, I believe the rewards they offer for hard work are more substantial than what the CAT provides.

To future GEM CAT aspirants in core engineering branches like EE, ECE, ME, or CE, my advice is to attempt the CAT once. If it doesn’t work out, return to your field and explore opportunities there.

I was once deeply passionate about pursuing an MBA. However, seeing how IIMs and the existing system often undervalue our hard work has made me question whether it’s worth the effort.