The Hindu Business Line : Bell this CAT

A student travelled all the way from Ambala to Ahmedabad, on a pilgrimage, to get a feel of IIM Ahmedabad, ranked by many surveys as the top management institute of India.

At the other extreme, a student was spotted at the IIM-A gate, asking the sentries when the new session classes would begin so that he could come down to enrol himself.

Three students of IIM Ahmedabad realised that there was no platform that could meet that one big requirement - information on the admission procedure and inspiration from people who can rightly claim to have "been there, done that."

That was when Sandeep Krishnan, Vaibhav Bhamoriya and Sreekanth Sreedharan decided to launch www.iimcatwalk.com, a Web site that gets dope for IIM aspirants right from the horse's mouth.

So, you can get insights on life at IIM-A from Philip Joseph who got a 100 percentile in CAT 2002 or tips on how to bell the CAT from Ravi Singhvi, who has perhaps got the highest starting salary in the history of Indian management institutions.

"IIM Ahmedabad has been termed as the toughest business school to get into. If getting into IIMA could be termed tough, then surviving there could very well be called impossible. The greatest takeaway each one of us had from this place was also surviving in this situation," writes Joseph in the Web site.

"The most important aspect about writing CAT well is practice. The level of questioning is not esoteric but then one should remember that therefore it wouldn't come across as esoteric for all of the 1,30,000 people attempting it. A minor edge is all that one needs to lose or win in what can turn out to be a really high -stakes game," says Singhvi.

Another student, Rahul Phondke, writes an interesting account of life in IIM-A. "The campus was designed in such a way that almost from no point on the campus was it possible to look directly into the girls' dormitories but at the same time, it was possible for the warden, Sethumadhavan, to look into the farthest corners of the campus."

The highlight of the campus, says Phondke, was the Plaza, "the sheer magnificence of which played host to countless proposals, where guys went down on one knee and said "Sir, pleeeeease, pleeeeease make it a B+."

The site is an attempt to clear doubts and myths surrounding the CAT exam and present facts to aspirants. It hopes to present an honest picture of what to expect and what not to, say the three students behind the idea.

"That may strengthen the resolve in some aspirants while others might simply realise it is not something that they want to do," says Sreedharan, a second year post-graduate programme student.

The Web site is being maintained by the trio and has been funded out of their own pockets. At a later stage, when it crosses a certain threshold, they may look for external funding.

"The Web site is scalable and we are planning to involve students from more B schools in the effort.

At the heart of the Web site is a forum, which is essentially a place for all CAT-related discussions.

To make it interesting, we even have a blogspot where one can get snippets on life in the IIMs," says Vaibhav Bhamoriya, a fellow programme student.

One can get reviews of different coaching institutes offering CAT preparatory courses and alerts on important dates and announcements.

Soon, the trio also plan to add a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section that would address the most basic queries.

In short, iimcatwalk promises to acquaint you with the ramp where the brightest and best CATs have already played their roles. Get ready for your turn to do the CATwalk!

Picture by V.V. Krishnan

eworld@thehindu.co.in

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Widening gap

India leads the charge

Anti-spam duty

Bell this CAT

Spot me standing there?

A look at the basics

`Give me some time'

Chasing pirates with evidence

A nose to sniff out crime

Control is the key to the Net

Cartoon

Just stow and go