Dear Aspirant,

In my honest opinion, there is not one best time to appear for any management examination. Throughout the different phases, you will face different challenges, and will have to juggle management exam preparation with different other aspects.

It also depends on when you set your mind on doing an MBA. Personally, during my college days, I did not think about an MBA and hence did not start any preparation. I started my preparation one year into my first job. I had to juggle between my job and exam preparation. Working in a 2PM to 11PM shift did help, as I had some solid time to put into my preparation.

That said, any aspirant first needs to understand that there are pros and cons to both being a fresher as well as a working professional. As a final year student, you will have to juggle semester exams with CAT and other management exams. During my preparation, I could see my friends who were in their final years doing the same. Few days before or after CAT and other exams, they used to have their penultimate semesters. So, they had to balance between their college exams and CAT and other management exams.

Coming to the other end of the spectrum, as a working professional, most of my weekdays were occupied. I had to cut down on travelling and find a rented space near my office to dedicate some time to preparation. However, I got most of the weekends off and could whole heartedly dedicate the same to CAT and other exams.

The key takeaway is that, while both have their pros and cons, your preparation strategy will vary depending on your situation. As a fresher, you’d have to complete most of your preparations before the college exams start and you can dedicate the entire week to exam preparation. While as a working professional, the advantage you’d get is that you can ramp up the intensity and nicely build it up to get the maximum towards the end. The disadvantage obviously is that you’d have very little time during weekdays to manage proper preparation.

All things said, if you’re a fresher and are sure about getting into an MBA college, it doesn’t hurt starting your preparation in your final year.

Cheers and all the best!

Hi Dear,

In my opinion, Best time to appear for CAT is in you final year of graduation. If because of some reason you are unable to appear for CAT then the next best time can be after 1 year of work experience. CAT is an entrance test which not only checks students on aptitude but also takes into account past academic records and work experience for final selection. And those with work experience are given preference at the time of selection.

Good Luck