CAT is over and initial details have surfaced: this year's exam was relatively difficult across all three sections.
So, what does this mean for you? Will you earn calls from IIMs? If not, what schools comprise the next tier? And where should you apply?
Gejo Sreenivasan, MBA expert with IMS, joined us for a chat yesterday, immediately after the CAT. He answered these questions and more.
For those of you who missed the chat, here's the second part of the transcript.
Part I: CAT: 'Overall cut-off for IIM is around 100'
rahul sehgal asked, i am getting a score of 16 in qa...and 44 in di....english shd be at least 30......frm sc category....what all calls can i expexct
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Dear Rahul, I think you stand a very good chance for getting calls from IIMs.
dfg asked, if one section is hundred % correct and the another is 40% but the last one not attempted than
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, IIMs very clearly mention that you need to show competence across sections. So, I dont see you getting any calls from the IIMs
SunnyTaparia asked, Other than IIM's which all A+ grade colleges take up CAT score? For what colleges, I can fill up the form now? I have not done well in Verbal but overall my score comes near 90. Do these colleges consider overall CAT score or individual cut-offs?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, The other A+ institues are MDI, SPJAIN, NITIE, IMT Ghaziabad, MICA, TAPMI. Typically most of these top institutes take sectional cut off. Last year the institutes didnot take sectional cut offs because of the confusion in VA
khyatikabra asked, Hello, I have scored QA 21, RA 31, VA 17 I have applied to NITIE, SP Jain, KJ Somaiya Do I have chances of getting in to any of these?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, the va looks a little borderline case... out of the 3 you must get a call from at least 2
rahulchauhan03 asked, Hi Gejo, I have Quant 16 DI 40 and Eng 18 , I have 4 year work ex with infy , do i stand achancefor spjain ?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, The range for SPJAIN, is from 86 - 98 percentile, depending on your profile and the kind of work experience you have. Considering your work experience, you stand a decent chance of getting a call from SPJAIN for their 2nd round process.
federal oshima asked, SIR AS I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN YOU MY CAT SCORES.I GAVE GMAT THE PREVIOUS MONTH.I SCORED 730 THERE.NOW I AM JUDGING OPTION.GIVE ME YOUR IDEA
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, You have done a very sensible thing of taking both the CAT & the GMAT.. Your option will be alive once you have the school admits in your hand. make the decision at that point in time.
rakeshkum asked, hello, i have 3 yrs of exp amd im 27yrs old, by the time i take cat 2008, i would have 4yrs of IT experience am i too old. MBA is my dream
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Great! I suggest that you also look at an alternative option of 1 year programs in India like the ISB, PGPX etc which accepts GMAT. Given your work experience there is good chance you make it to good schools through GMAT... You should parallely look at CAT & GMAT
rajivranjit asked, Sir plz could u reply to my question....I am expecting around 40 in quant, 28 in DI and 52 in English. What kind of Institutes can I look forward to? Which are the institutes that I should appy to?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, It would have been great if you had got a couple of more marks in DI.. However, since your overall score is high and you have faired well in DI there is chance of an IIM Call. You must get calls from the good non-IIM Institutes
rajabarui asked, QUANT-23,DI-27.,VA-28,wat r my chances in ABM?wat r d non iim inst i shud apply?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Touch & Go.... Apply to TAPMI, IMT, NIRMA, BIM..
naman303 asked, Hi Sree, I am an engineer and currently working with 1.5 yrs of experience. I have given CAT for the first time. It was not tough as I have always heard about it. I am not sure of clearing cut off in VA. Can you please suggest me on what should I try to go for in case I get something between 92-95 percentile?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Given the range of your scores, we are looking at calls for institues like NIRMA, Welingkar, KJ Somaiya, etc. If you have been working for 1.5 years and if you have written the test for the first time, I would suggest you give it a shot again, and also think about MBA abroad as an option, because the kind of bschools that you can get after an MBA abroad will be m uch better than the institues mentioned above. For any further reference, please feel free to mail me at gejo@imsindia.com
blueberryapple asked, sir,I'm a IMS student, I'm expecting - DI-49 Maths-49 EU-44 total-142 any chances of calls from IIMs?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, YOu stand a very good chance for getting calls from the IIMs.
deepika asked, Sir, pleasure talking to u and nice to know somebody is there to solve our queries... i ve chked my scores with the various websites and i ve not scored very well scores around quant-31,DI-32,verbal-30... wat r my chances thou mu graduation marks ve quite ok(94%)but i m a fresher... plz gimme ur advice...
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, A graduation marks of 94% is fantastic. You must not setlle for anything less than the very best schools. Your score in this CAT may be a touch and go case for the IIMs. Even if you get calls from the non-IIM institute this year do make an informed decision...
sid104 asked, sir please reply..... my total score is around 30, what will be my percentile?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, around 75..
abs asked, where can i get the answers for 11 series
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, The answer keys for all th eseries will be available on IMS's site by 6:00 pm. YOu can also visit IMS's site and register for getting the answer key by SMS from IMS's site
Harish asked, Hi. Considering I clear the cut-offs, will i be in the 95+ percentiles? Or even thou I clear the cut-offs, my percentiles will still be 90s??
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, There will be an overall cut-off.. so even if someone clears all the sectional cut off and misses the overal cut-off he/she will not get a call... so an overall percentile score of around 98.5+ will be needed..
Sergej asked, How to get maximum percentile in MBA, gejo?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Work hard for a year, brush up your concepts, hone your test-taking skills, learn from your experiences and you shall get a good percentile in the CAT.
Siddarth asked, I scored 30 31 and 28 in QA DI and Eng. What are my chances?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Dear Siddarth, YOu are a borderline case for getting atleast a call from the IIMs, and I think you can definitely apply to A+ schools like MDI, SPJAIN, IMT, MICA, NITIE(if you are an engineer)
SAUMY asked, SIR MY ATTEMTS R MATHS 12 DI-09 ENG 13 WHAT R NY CHANCES?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Dear Saumy, IF these are the no of questions that you have attempted, then considering a reasonble amount of accuracy would mean that you would be a borderline case for getting calls from IIMs
Kunaal asked, How much percentile score is required to get a seat in SP JAIN and KJ Somaiya .Does SP JAIN and KJ Somaiya demand for sectional cutoff?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, You can expect to get a call from these institutes based on your overall performance rather than sectional cut-offs.
catbreaker asked, Hello Sir, I have a question do iims give weightage to work ex in final selection after GD/PI or they give weightage to work ex even when they call people for GD/PI ?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Work ex becomes very important in the second stage of the selection process. But it has also been seen in some cases that the sectional cutoffs have been sometimes lowered for people with work ex.
pratibha asked, what are cut-offs for mdi?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Pratibha, The cut-offs for MDI are very close to the cut-offs for IIMs. The details list of the cutoffs for various institutes will be on our site over the next few days
naseer asked, now im currently in third yr of engg,how much time one should give 4 cat preparation,in my case when should i start d preparation?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, 6 to 8 hours in a week should be sufficient in the initial stages of your preparation. More importantly, identify your areas of weakness and use this time to improve yourself with respect to these weaknesses.By July next year you should be prepared to face the SimCATs and MaxCATs. You can then shift your focus to improving your test-taking skills.
federal oshima asked, WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU IS THE BEST OPTION: MS IN FINANCE FROM ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OR THE MBA FROM NON IIM INSTITUTES.
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, Hi, The best career option for you would be based on your profile and background. i would suggest that you walk in into your nearest IMS center or write in your details to ims@imsindia.com for a one-to-one counselling.
Sabyasachi asked, What will be the sectional cutoffs for CAT 2007 (except IIMA and IIMC, as they have already declared it)?
Gejo Sreenivasan answers, The expected sectional cut-offs have been put up earlier. Also note that IIMA and IIMC have only put up the minimum cutoff and not the actual cutoff. This only means that the actual cutoffs may be slightly higher that what has been stated by them.
Part I: CAT: 'Overall cut-off for IIM is around 100'
Also read: CAT 2007 coverage
