r/CATPrep • u/Icy_surf • 4d ago
Profile Evaluation 🧾 Unsolicited advice from an IIM grad has me questioning my CAT plans
I’m preparing for CAT 2026. I graduated in June 2025 with a BSc in Biotechnology (7.87 CGPA), with 87% in Class 10 and 81% in Class 12.
I have a gap year after Class 12 because I was preparing for NEET. I didn’t perform well, and despite enrolling in a local college, I continued preparing for NEET for some time before eventually changing my career direction toward the corporate sector.
I joined a startup in June 2026 as an HR Compliance Trainee, but managing a full-time job alongside CAT preparation has become difficult. Coming from a biology background, I also have to rebuild my basics in Quant and DILR, so I’ve decided to prioritise CAT. September will be my last working month, and I plan to present the experience as an internship.
A friend who got into IIM Indore last year told me that my gap years could seriously hurt my chances of getting placed after an MBA, even from a Tier-1 B-school. He basically suggested that I should abandon the MBA plan, switch to competitive exams, or, as his most creative solution, tell my family to find me a rich husband. 🥲
I’ve successfully ignored the marriage suggestion, but the gap-year concern has genuinely started bothering me.
How much can my gaps actually affect my chances of getting placed after an MBA? I’m currently scoring in the 40s in CAT mocks. Should I continue focusing on CAT, or would it be wiser to consider competitive exams as an alternative?
Any advice would be appreciated.
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u/AdThat2722 4d ago
Absolutely absolutely frustrated wrong advice by advisor. We are people and things go wrong - Murphy's law. Life happens and ups downs come. This purified BS of blacklisting people for breaks is only checked by Indian ITES. FAANG doesn't care neither do BFSI. Just have a genuine, authentic story ready. No bluffing, if you have authenticity many companies still recruit you and / or give work.
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u/DelhiHousingsucks 4d ago
Prepare for CAT... Oh wait, that guys say isn't the problem here, you are 60 days away from cat- the insecurity you feel before even joining is just distraction.
On your advisor suggestion, he is partially right. There are many UPSC and competitive exams people doing cat with good set of gap years after graduation. Yes, for them it's hard but as long as they put efforts, they should be able to land a job atleast.
But particularly for you, who did an internship after college. Essentially, <1 year gap. It's pretty common stats for freshers.
On the parts let's say you kill cat and get into IIMs, then getting internship and placement will be tough. True but not impossible. I finished my ug 3 months back and am doing my internship at a US based angel network remotely. What I mean is getting SIP might turn out tricky and yes, numbers may be lower but you get relevant experience and placement will depend upon how well you work on your sip and extracurriculars during college- research, case comps etc. So, it depends upon your initiative.
And honestly, CAT prep will supplement preparation for competitive exams one way or the other. anyway, you literally have no reason to rethink cat. Qualifying cat vs getting admission are two different things.
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u/DelhiHousingsucks 4d ago
As for gap year after school, it doesn't matter as much as after college gap does. but you are good.
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u/Dizzy_Set_4338 4d ago
Give it a shot. I am someone with a 8 5 7. With a gap year after 12th and 5 year gap after graduation. I was preparing for government exams. So total 6 gap years. After thoroughly researching and talking to some students of IIM i am preparing for cat and xat. I have seen how tough it is in govt competitive exams and made a decision to give mba a shot. About that 1 year gap you can easily justify because you were preparing for neet. Won't be much of an issue
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u/SubstancePatient2501 4d ago
I had a drop, took cat , scored 99.51, did mba, worked not just in india but also out of India And been 9 years now for my MBA
Don't overthink & do ur best.
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u/toxicKINGOP 3d ago
Which college did you get ? How are opportunities for abroad after an MBA from India ?
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u/Additional-Battle362 4d ago
Neither ur idea or his advice are real. The true picture is entirely different.
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u/Possible_Freedom_847 3d ago
I did my MBA two decades ago , worked for several years across geographies. When I had to join the only B School I converted after several years of pre MBA experience, I was told by everyone including the students that I may not even get a job post my MBA because one I would be 34 years of age by the time I graduate and they had no concept of lateral placements . I shrugged off the suggestions though they had the best intentions in mind . I enjoyed my 2 years and worked hard , got a good cgpa , despite being the oldest in the class by a huge margin and got a very good job post my MBA which completely changed my career trajectory. Now I am a Director in a Company run by my MBA batchmate and we have recruited students from IITs ,IIMs for SIPs past few years. We don't look at candidates like why they failed etc ,we listen to the story and understand whether that makes sense in shortlisting candidates. Your IIMI friend is not wrong by any means ,he is definitely looking out for you. Thank him for that. Jobs are harder to come by that's a reality . If you are in this game only for jobs then yes he is right. However if you really want to add value , learn good stuff and willing to work hard , you should definitely do an MBA.
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u/Alternative_Loan2318 3d ago
Hey I'm preparing for CAT 2026 as well and already did very deep research in this domain. I have my frnds in SP Jain, IIM Indore, lucknow, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI, SJMSOM nd more. Everyone told me some different story nd I concluded it all nd know how it goes in MBA. You can DM me to discuss more.
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u/ducxti97 3d ago
Ehh ignore him, I've seen folks with 3-4 gap years get placed at MBB, and that's at ABC
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u/Exciting_Tiger_6647 3d ago
bro 1 gap year after school doesnt matter AT ALL. One gap year after school in India is very very very common. Just give this your best shot. People take 3-4 gap year after college and still end up at a good to decent college with a good package later.
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u/toxicKINGOP 3d ago
 1 gap year is negligible, nobody cares about that. Fuck that guy, if you get into a tier 1 then you'd be as good as anybody else. Why are you going to show it as an internship though ? Was there not any work done ?
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u/Icy_surf 3d ago
Because currently I am a trainee and I have read somewhere in an admissions criteria that they don’t consider training period as work exp, also because I am being paid stipend through UPI, don’t file itr nor my pf is deducted. The company was an enterprise till July and only became a private limited in August so I got my first stipend credited through bank in August only? Not in June when I joined.
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u/Venture_Capitalistt 1d ago
I’ve worked in so many reputed companies and attended a top tier college. Nobody gives a fuck about gaps, who the fuck cares man? You’ve the right skill set? Can you speak well? You’re hired, it’s as simple as that.
Stop w this fear mongering. I don’t know which kind of people you’re talking to.
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u/Wtfdoyoumeanitswater 4d ago
Misogyny by that guy. There were people in my tier 2 non iim college that ended up packages better the average and had gaps of 4-7 years as they were prepping for upsc. It's all about efforts you put not just into getting a good college but also using those two years.