Student Experiences

 

This is my story

 
Name: Narasimhan Santhanam

My background: B Tech IIT Madras, PGDM IIM Calcutta, 8 years work ex, in software, consulting and internet industries, and as an entrepreneur

I cracked CAT in a rather normal manner.

I had placed a lot of faith on the right kind of preparation...so I took a correspondence course and slogged through it...I went through the entire course once, and did all the tests once again...

Whatever the faculty asked me to do, I did...the logic was simple...one had to pick up the smart tricks from someone, and I did not know anyone better than the faculty...

Though I was a bit unlucky during the exam because of which I lost about 4-5 minutes ( my q paper did not have some sheets in the middle), I think I was still able to get through only because of the rigorous preparation...I guess being from an IIT helped a bit as it gives you that small extra bit of confidence, but that is not good enough, at least it would not have been good enough for me...

As for the education at IIM (Calcutta) itself, it provided me the following:

 
  1. It certainly widened my horizons...I feel that not only can I talk sophisticated terms like "broad perspective", I can also to some extent think of issues that are critical to an organisation's success, mainly because of the education at IIM Calcutta
  2. It provided me with a strong network of contacts...many of my friends today hold responsible and in some cases very important roles in prestigious companies around the world
  3. It provided me with quite a strong "brand" which I could either use to take business risks (which I did when i co-founded an internet strartup), or to get exciting and well-paying jobs. Essentially, it gave me that amount of backing with which I can be a lot more relaxed while looking for opportunities than those without that degree...
 



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