Podcast session with Miss Kinjal Shah , CA, MBA , IIM Kozhikode - Her CAT journey & Life at IIM K

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:02]So hi guys uh I am very uh overwhelmed and honored to have uh Miss Kel Sha. She is uh a very very uh you know old friend of mine with school meds by that matter and uh she has gone on to do her MBA from I am Kohi code uh which is the center of the topic that we are going to talk today. uh her journey during school days. Of course, I knew that she was a topper. She was a you know scholar during school days but after that how she has picked up and went on to do her UG and then went on to prepare for CAD uh and then went on to get into one of the best colleges in the country to pursue your MBA. So Kel again thanks a lot for coming on a short notice. I know you guys have a very hectic schedule out there and it means a lot that you have taken out your valuable time for us.

[00:00:53]Thanks Shbam for having me here and um happy to um talk to you today answer as many questions as u you know your students have and even offline you know if anyone needs any support I'd be happy to u chat with them >> right right so kel let me just get started with the cat thing okay because that is a very hot topic usually time around people start preparing for CAT third years final years so that November they can give it give it a good shot. So I have some experience in CAT and initially around uh it was bad did not expect to fall below 90 and I was very bad at it. So how was your journey of cat like like uh how did you go about your verbal ability cons and can you recall any of that that what was your mantra while preparing for CAT?

[00:01:51]>> So my journey was not uh like very usual as compared to most students right because uh I did my CA first and then opted to do an MBA. Um most people who do MBA in India at least on the top IM are mostly engineers right if you see the patch mix. Um so their journey would be slightly different wherein um usually as you mentioned in the third year people start preparing for CAT and they they write their CAT because after fourth year they can join directly if they want to join as a fresher right. Um but either case I think what work what works um for sure for CAT and what does not work is that it's all about practice okay the number of questions you solve the number of mock test papers you solve that is the only mantra in my opinion to crack >> um um so if you're doing it along with your college along with your job um I understand you know you can only do it during post office hours or post you college uh sessions or over the weekends. But even then I think the the the only idea is to to solve as much as possible each of the three uh the modules right uh be it bonds be dil be it uh verbal ability. So the more you practice um and the more you do a timed practice right so like for example a one hour mock test for verbal ability or a one hour mock test for DIL that's how you get to know okay you know in an in an actual CAT exam this is the kind of questions I'm going to get which are the questions that I should skip for example if I'm not able to solve it in the first go where I should spend some more time or where I should you know like maybe come back to it later is there negative marking also, right? So, you need to ensure that you don't get stuck up on something. You don't um spend too much time um um trying to solve a question that you might end up doing wrong as well, right? Because you're under the pressure. Um so yeah, so I think practice is the only way to crack. Um right. Um if you asked me about my preparation so I kind of like I said because I did it immediately after my CA I only had 3 months at hand to prepare for CAT >> right >> so then those three months I went all in I did not opt for a job on the side I said I will do 100% focus studies for for CAT right >> and uh that's what I did I did join a class as well so um I had opted for IMS um uh I don't think um um like I'm not uh promoting IMS here but I'm just whether you opt for IMS you opt for >> whichever classes you opt for I think they do have different kinds of batches right at least they used to have during my time so they have weekend batches they have >> you know these focused 3 four month batches as well or they have ongoing batches as well so whatever suits your schedule um uh you can opt for it and um but I think the classes really help because they also had many many mock test uh uh you know uh which I could solve at my own time. So that really helped me uh uh prepare for CAT and the classes also helped me for post CAT uh preparations as well. Right. So um they did mock GDS.

[00:05:19]>> Yeah. All of that. Yeah.

[00:05:21]>> Right. And uh if I remember you were in IMS Bori. uh so uh uh right u how many mock tests do you think is an appropriate number for a particular candidate or there's no such number like in my opinion I I had a target that I'll complete at least 25 to 30 mocks uh during uh now nowadays what happens is the pattern of CAT has been drastically changed it's become very short during our time it used to be a three-hour long you know marathon Yeah. So now that it has drastically almost 50% cut short time length and number of questions. So what do you think? How many boxes are in general you think are good enough to go?

[00:06:09]>> I think there's no one right answer for this sham. Um it totally depends on individual strength uh strength areas right. So for example, if you're if you're at qu then maybe you need lesser number of mock tests for quak then maybe you need to focus more on that. So you need to see the pattern right once you start giving mock test you will get to see okay you know this area is where I'm struggling I'm sorry I'm using Hindi as well in between. No, no, it's fine. It's fine.

[00:06:41]>> But um >> yeah, so um so I think you need to see that pattern uh for your journey, right?

[00:06:48]That where the areas that you're struggling um as a candidate and those are the areas that you should focus on more >> um maybe more mock test for for that particular category. And uh not just mock test you know like at least some of these classes they also have like section wise uh within the section also basically topic wise um uh you know uh practice um I don't know uh >> section test I think yes or basically yeah which focus on so for for example within verbal ability if there is one particular topic of of say grammar which you're struggling with then you might get you know specific test pertaining to that topic as well.

[00:07:30]So if you're able to figure out you know what are your pain points um I think that is your first step in this journey >> right right now um uh having you knowh talked a lot on CAT I would like to know that you went on to do CA which is already a very hectic uh program you have successfully passed it then what was the motivation to get into an IM straight away after that because I think 90% of the people will be motivated to get you know job uh just continue with it.

[00:08:03]They don't want to study anymore. So what was the motivation behind you you know targeting IM and getting into an MBS straight away?

[00:08:14]>> See I think um I come from a business family so I've always wanted to uh pursue business studies myself. So um that's the reason I did not opt for science after school but instead opted for commerce also. Um so that was something very personal and you know like my um yeah that was was the underlying objective all along. Um so it was very clear in my mind that I wanted to pursue business studies. Um now the question was whether I should do it right away after Ca or whether I should you know uh maybe uh work for two years and then opt for it. Um at that point in time I opted for um you know uh going into it um directly after uh clearing CA but in hindsight I also feel that the wise choice would have been maybe to work for one and a half to two years and then um opt for business studies. uh the only reason why I say it is that um you know once you work um uh post your undergraduate uh and undergraduation um you're able to figure out you know what kind of um things that I like doing what I don't like doing because what >> you're paused I think >> you know people want M >> you at least figure out what you don't want to do. So it narrows down the scope for you that so um um so yeah I think uh but for me I think it was always clear that I wanted to pursue business studies.

[00:09:59]>> Good good that's a very good perspective that you have given to a lot of students who have this dilemma. Very good point made by you and uh about the life at IM Kosikod. I have uh you know certainly seen it in photos, videos, real. It's a very beautiful place. It's in the hill region and students absolutely have a blast over there. So what was your life like and how hectic an MBA is over there? You know life of a student in general?

[00:10:25]>> I think life of an MBA student in general is very hectic. Um but uh there are phases. Okay. So it's not like the entire two years are going to be hectic.

[00:10:36]The first six months are definitely like extremely hectic. Like nobody can even imagine that life would be this hectic.

[00:10:43]Uh because in the first six months you're trying to still settle in into a new place. You're trying to uh you know um make sense out of some new uh subjects or new topics that you've never studied um in your life in the past. So you're trying to um uh you know make do with that. you're trying to prepare your CV for your summer internship. Um and in order to do that people also want to uh you know um join some clubs, committees etc to build their PS um extracurriculars for for a better CV, right? So basically everyone's trying to do everything during the first six months and actually the biggest element of all of this is that your summer internship interviews are going to happen. So um you need to definitely prepare for that also. Um so it is a it is a difficult ride for the first six months but I would say that it's you're you're not alone in that journey right like 300 400 people in your batch are going through the exact same pace so everyone you know sort of like you know they pass through it together I would say uh it's a mad ride but definitely a memory for life um and I think the college also does a lot right to help you like um the the senior um senior year your uh students who are running various committees they will help you do uh your CV preparations they will help you do case study preparations they will help you prepare for GDS doing some moss etc so the college and the way the program is structured there are multiple people supporting you um throughout the u the first six months like I said so everyone in a way sails through um post that I think things become slightly lighter uh once you know uh placements internship placements are done also done then things sort of try to settle in. At least during my times the first year was still a bit bit difficult because everyone used to try to um you know maintain a good GDPI because that would help you >> uh get selected for an abroad inter um sort of a student exchange program.

[00:12:54]>> Yeah. Um so um again so that that struggle was also there that you wanted to get uh a good GDPI um uh sorry not GDPI what am I saying uh basically your scores right so you wanted to get a good score u GPA >> so that you >> CGPA sorry yeah completely blanked out there but yeah you wanted to get a good CGPA so that you know you could opt for an abroad um student exchange program in the second year >> so um so yeah first year is generally a bit bit u more hectic as compared to the second year. In the second year um I think everyone's settled in uh they know the pace of the program they know how things work. uh the only hectic part of the second year is actually the final placements right because that >> your ultimate goal that you the reason why you opted for an MBA so >> right right >> so that's >> so so I I I don't remember exactly >> which is very hectic >> okay I don't remember exactly but were you a part of exchange program I think so you had one semester exchange right >> okay all right so yeah and the last question is probably you can shed some light on that is uh usually there's a you know issue with people who are doing engineering and science like any other exam like MB compar because it's very very comprehensive okay you have to comprehend it very properly and then again I hear apart from commerce people not being generalistic not being very specific over here being very generalistic key they struggle in cons more contrasting opinion of that how did you uh you know manage uh that contrast or you did not have any issues with that because nowadays I'm hearing that there are a lot of demands going on to uh the IM committee that you have to either reduce cons or you have to do something because it's an unfair advantage to engineers.

[00:15:05]So what is your take on that?

[00:15:11]Um see I think um to generalize this uh I'm not sure how much uh that would be the case but um see for me personally uh I did struggle with some topics within quant right >> it's okay not all because for us students we sort of leave qu after class 12 right we not we don't study qu at all so to then start on it after 3 years is a bit of a challenge uh so I also did struggle with some topics within what's not all but for those what I did is I like I said because of I I I did undertook so many mock tests I was able to figure out which are the kind of topics which I can after practice sort of you know do something about it or something that no matter how much I try I I am not going to be able to crack it. So for example geometry I think was one area which I really struggled with. Um so um so when those kind of questions came in CAT I did not spend too much time on it to avoid negative marking to avoid losing time >> and I quickly skipped ahead right so that's what I tried to do >> uh because >> I think the biggest factor to take care of is the negative marking right like if you >> if you do it wrong you you might lose the points that you actually got from from solving some other questions right as well right so it's better to avoid a few questions if you know that okay this is 100% something I will not be able to solve it helps you save time it helps you save uh points as well perfect that that gives a very good explanation for students who are struggling in the box probably score you need to save some time change the strategy you know decide for the topic that you're good with and just stick to them stick to your you know strong points >> yeah so I think that's pretty much it uh we have shed a lot uh light I mean you have shed a lot of light on CAT your journey how you prepared and uh shared some valuable insights as well for the upcoming aspirants and generations who going to watch this video and you know aspire to get into IM to pursue their uh uh MBM or any other flagship program from IM for that matter. So again, Kel, thanks a lot uh for being here and taking out your valuable time helping out the community.

[00:17:40]Am I audible?