CAT 2014 Over: Now what should be your plan; plan A or Plan B, check & march to implement

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
December 5, 2014
Experts suggest that you should march on Plan A, if you are assured of a very good percentile in CAT 2014 and do not wish to take any other entrance exam
Making your debut in IIMs, FMS, IMI, IMT, SPJIMR, NITIE, MDI will depend on various factors apart from your score in CAT 2014

CAT 2014 is over now and the candidates who successfully attempted the exam are now busy in calculation of their expected percentile based on their performance in CAT 2014. If you score a high overall as well as sectional percentile, no doubt you stand a good chance of getting shortlisted depending upon other criteria devised by the B school but what if you score a slightly low percentile. What would be your chances in getting into IIMs and other top B schools in admission session 2015? What should be the plan then, considering the fact that you wish to explore admission opportunity in 2015 only.

The situation is sure tricky. Number of candidates who have appeared in CAT 2014 have been raising queries before MBAUniverse.com about their future strategy so that they can exercise their best option to shape their future. Most of these candidates have emphasized that they wish to explore admission opportunity in the top rated B schools in 2015.

Post CAT 2014: Your Plan A

Making your debut in IIMs, FMS, IMI, IMT, SPJIMR, NITIE, MDI will depend on various factors apart from your score in CAT 2014. Still CAT 2014 will be the criteria to shortlist you for final admission round in above top B schools. Getting into IIMs and other top B schools is the sole aim of marching on Plan A.

Experts suggest that you should march on Plan A, if you are assured of a very good percentile in CAT 2014 and do not wish to take any other entrance exam. The Plan A consists of different dimensions of admission opportunities based on your performance in CAT 2014.

The few points you have to consider before marching on Plan A are

 

→ You need a high CAT 2014 sectional percentile as well as over all percentile. It means a percentile not less than 90 is needed. Even the new IIMs, FMS, MDI, IMT need a percentile around 91 to 99. In the admission 2014, the cut off at FMS Delhi in shortlisting the candidates was 98+.  So be honest while calculating your anticipated scores.

→ Excellent academic profile can help you in getting shortlisted by IIMs. Class 10 & 12 marks (85+) will play an important role

→ If you have 2-3 years of work experience, IIMs and other top B schools will prefer you.

→ A few IIMs award weightage to gender diversity and to non-engineering back ground candidates. If you have either or both of them, you may gain more in admission 2015.

Time to march on Plan A

If you have all or most of this, you should get ready to march on the Plan A which means your meticulous preparation is needed for final admission round. You are advised to begin your preparation for PI round which has different components in different IIMs.

You may find Written Ability Tests instead of GDs or both in many B schools. A few of them have opted for caselet discussion, extempore speaking, psychometric tests or any other component. SPJIMR shortlists the candidates on the basis of their excellent profile in the first round. 

Check your application status

While your application for various programmes in IIMs was recorded at the time of registering and submitting CAT 2014 application form, you are supposed to apply separately for admission in other B schools. If you have done it, it’s well and good, if not you should find out the B schools where you can still apply as number of B schools like FMS, SPJIMR have closed their admission application process
 

Plan B: Keep the options open

You may expect a very good percentile in CAT 2014 and in all probability your anticipation may turn true to your expectation. But in case it doesn’t! where do you stand now. It is always good to have a backup plan i.e. Plan B.

Apart from CAT 2014 you have not thought of any other exam and probably didn’t appear in IIFT on Nov 23, 2014 or NMAT 2014. It may not be material now, but you should appear in 2-3 more MBA/PGDM entrance tests now, if you wish to be considered for admission session 2015 at top B schools.  This will keep your options of admission open in the B schools associated to these other exams.

A few of such other MBA/PGDM entrance exams for admission 2015 are as follows

 

→ XAT 2015 is the next most important exam to be held on January 4, 2015 in a single session. XAT 2015 will be conducted by XLRI for admission to 120+ B schools and some of such top rated b schools that accept CAT scores will also accept XAT 2015 scores. Admission to XLRI, XIMB, XISS, IMT, SPJIMR, TAPMI, LIBA, Great Lakes and other B schools will be on the basis of XAT 2015 scores. If you think you have not done well in CAT 2014 you have the opportunity to improve your percentile in XAT 2015. Registration for XAT 2015 is open till Dec 8, 2015.

→ CMAT 2015(second test) will be the gateway to PGDM/MBA programmes in number of highly ranked B schools. The test will be held from Feb 19 to Feb 24, 2015 across the country. Registration for CMAT 2015 (Second test) is open till January 5, 2015.

→ MAH-CET 2015 will also be an important exam for admission to JBIMS, PUMBA, NL Dalmiya, KJ Somaiya, SIMSREE, DSIMS, IESMCRC and other reputed B schools in Maharashtra. Registration for MAH-CET 2015 is yet to open. The exam is expected to be held in the month of Macrh/April 2015.

 

Experts suggest that you should opt for Plan B although you may be sure of getting a very high percentile in CAT 2014. The reason is obvious as it will give you more opportunities in more B schools. For example XLRI doesn’t accept CAT scores and IIMs do not accept XAT scores. You can explore admission opportunities in XLRI by appearing in  XAT 2015. You may also improve your scores in XAT 2015 to be considered in admission 2015 by other well reputed B schools.

JBIMS doesn’t consider XAT or CMAT now. If you appear in MAH-CET 2015, you may explore admission opportunity on the basis of CAT 2014 and MAH-CET 2015 scores.    

What do you think! Going by Plan A or Plan B? Choice is yours. Please remember even scoring 99+ percentile in CAT 2014 doesn’t guarantee admission in IIMs for PGDM batch 2015-17.

Related links

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CAT 2014: Know the section wise expected number & type of questions while practice test awaited

CAT 2014 Test Day Guide out; reveals important dos and donts for the exam day

CAT 2014: Aspirants waiting for practice test to best utilize the Diwali Holidays

CAT 2014: 5 big changes revealed on Test day Video; listen and read carefully

CAT 2014 Test day video launched; Examinees to report 2 hours before the test at Exam centre

CAT 2014 Admit Card: All the details available; Check carefully to confirm your candidature

CAT 2014 Admit Card is out: Download now and take the print

 Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates and tips on Admission 2015