Updated on Jan 17, 2020 14:28 IST
Studying for any exam is entirely in the hands of a student, but the result of it isn’t. And it is quite possible that the exam result doesn’t turn out the way you expected. Hence, it is always strongly recommended for a serious MBA aspirant to appear for more than one entrance exam and not totally depend upon the result of just one.

By: Abhishek Desai

Studying for any exam is entirely in the hands of a student, but the result of it isn’t. And it is quite possible that the exam result doesn’t turn out the way you expected. Hence, it is always strongly recommended for a serious MBA aspirant to appear for more than one entrance exam and not totally depend upon the result of just one.

It is quite risky to rely on the outcome of only one exam, say CAT, whose overall nature cannot be predicted accurately beforehand.

And it is completely natural to feel gutted on being not able to meet the desired expectations, but one must also remember that it is not the end of the road. Taking the failures positively in his stride and preparing much harder for the next battle is the sign of a true champion, a champion who never loses faith in himself after such setbacks.   

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First of all, the student should ponder well and make a note if there was any lack of effort or complacency on his part during the preparations. Next, the student must also understand that not all exams are always comparatively as tough as CAT and XAT. Instead, they should take all possible learnings after giving such exams and prepare well for the other relatively easier ones such as NMAT, IIFT, SNAP, CMAT, CET, MAT, ATMA, etc. Appearing for the likes of CAT and XAT would surely relieve an aspirant from all the intense exam-related nerves and stress, and enable him to focus solely on the preparations stuff.

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If a student takes the required efforts to do well in the CAT and/or XAT then he doesn’t really need to spend a lot of time preparing for the other exams and should simply focus more on the revision and exam-taking strategies with the help of mock tests. The regular habit of newspaper reading and glancing through the news-related apps would take care of the current affairs section. Going through the past years’ papers and the analyses of the remaining exams would also help immensely in getting a fair idea about what one could expect on the exam day.

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And since there are still many more important exams yet to appear for, an aspirant should not only lose hope of getting into a reputed B-school in 2020 itself but also study well to excel in them. Give your best and forget the rest.

About the Author:

 Abhishek Desai

Abhishek Desai is currently pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in e-Business from Welingkar Institute of Management. He has done his Summer Internship in the field of Market Research with 'TimesofMoney'. He's also served as 'Secretary of the Green Committee' at Welingkar.

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Answered 3 days ago

Yes. IIMB does require the CAT exam, but the rest of the top B-schools in Bangalore also take in candidates through the state-level CET, ie, the Karnataka PGCET exam, or through MAT or CMAT. 

Top B-schools in Bangalore without CAT  

Cutoffs Required

Alliance University Karnataka PGCET Cutoff

26690

Presidency University Karnataka PGCET Cutoff

29592

Note: All info. is from official sites and can change.  

S

Syed Aquib Ur Rahman

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 4 days ago

IIM Calcutta has only mentioned accepting GMAT score for admission into EMBA courses.

However, CAT is commonly accepted by other similar institutes for both MBA and MBAEx courses. Thus, candidates are advised to ask admission desk for confirmation on this question.

S

Saurabh Khanduri

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 4 days ago

It is not possible to determine a candidate's admission in IIM Calcutta MBA course through CAT score alone. In Stage 1, a score 85% in CAT will be enough for a general category candidate to be selected for PI+WAT admission stage.

Final admission cutoffs are based on many factors other than CAT score.

S

Saurabh Khanduri

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 4 days ago

No, IIM Calcutta cannot get into MBA courses without appearing CAT first. CAT is a mandatory entrance exam and it is conducted every year for admissions into all MBA courses offered by this institute.

However, candidates who are applying for MBAEx course will be required to appear in GMAT for admissi

...Read more

S

Saurabh Khanduri

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

To get a seat at IFMR Chennai, students have to first appear for any one of the entrance exams accepted by the institute for the MBA/PGDM course admission. CAT, XAT, NMAT, CMAT, Andhra Pradesh ICET, IPAMT and SAT India are the entrance exams accepted by this institute for admission to the management

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N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

No, you cannot use the CAT score for direct admission to the MBA/PGDM course at this university. 

You would need to first appear for the CAT entrance exam, and then get shortlisted for the PI and or GD rounds to be considered for a seat. Since the CAT cutoff is not released publicly, the closest esti

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Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

The Vishwakarma University CAT cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MBA/PGDM course for the All India quota. 

For the General AI category, the estimated Vishwakarma University MBA cutoff 2025 was 50. Students who gained this percentile are then eligible to enter the second round of admission

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Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

The National Institute of Bank Management Cutoff 2026 for General AI category in CAT exam is 80.

R

Rakshit Prabhakar

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 5 days ago

No, you cannot use the CAT exam result for direct admission to the MBA/PGDM course at AIMS Institutes, Bangalore.

The college accepts the CAT, XAT and MAT exam results for admission to the management programme. Students have to first attain the qualifying cutoff percentiles and then sit in the select

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Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 6 days ago

Candidates applying for admission in MBA at IIM Raipur should have qualified the CAT exam. Check below the application fee of CAT:

  • INR 2,300 for general category students
  • INR 1,150 for SC/ST/PwD students

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Raj Priya

Contributor-Level 10