Should I drop this year to prepare for CAT exam as I want to pursue MBA?

GIBS Business School, Bangalore, has a strong and dynamic Placement Cell that helps in securing excellent career opportunities for the students. Every year, more than 260 reputed companies have visited the campus for recruitment, offering versatile jobs in sectors like BFSI, IT, consulting, manufacturing, and FMCG. The highest package offered has reached ₹16.15 LPA, with an average package of around ₹7.8 LPA. Some of the top recruiting companies include Northern Trust, L&T Technology Services, Bajaj Finserv, Apollo Tyres, Mercedes-Benz, HDFC Bank, and Wipro. Besides placement, GIBS focuses on employability skills through its Finishing School, which provides training in communication, personality development, and interview preparation. It also helps in nurturing entrepreneurship through the incubation center and IRE Talks, which again link the students to industry leaders and provide them with practical exposure. This way, GIBS covers all dimensions of holistic development and placements for MBA and PGDM students at large.

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• Entrance Exam Score (Approx. 40% weightage): A valid score in any of the accepted national-level exams (CAT,  XAT,  MAT,  CMAT, ATMA, GMAT, etc.) is a primary eligibility requirement for shortlisting.
• Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interview (PI) (Approx. 60% weightage for the interview stage): Shortlisted candidates must participate in a GD and PI round. This stage is crucial for assessing a candidate's communication skills, attitude, problem-solving ability, leadership potential, general knowledge, career vision, and overall personality fit.
• Academic Performance: Consistent academic records from 10th, 12th, and the bachelor's degree level are also given significant consideration.
• Work Experience and Other Achievements: Candidates with relevant work experience, co-curricular/extracurricular achievements, social work, or additional educational qualifications receive extra weightage in the evaluation process.

The present faculty-to-student ratio of GIBS Business School, Bangalore, is about 1:15, with one faculty member for every fifteen students. This balanced ratio enables personalized attention, close mentorship, and interactive classroom learning to ensure that each student gets proper academic guidance and support. It helps the faculty understand individual learning needs; provide constructive feedback; and encourage active participation in discussions, projects, and research, ultimately enhancing the overall learning experience, confidence, and career readiness of the students. This makes education at GIBS all the more engaging and outcome-driven.

Getting into the MBA programme of NIT Trichy with a 300 SC CAT rank is somewhat uncertain. As the recent data sets suggest, NIT Trichy's CAT cutoff for SC category admission stands around 65th percentile. A 300 SC rank could be borderline depending on how many SC candidates apply and the quality of the overall candidate pool.
In CAT marks terms, to reach around the 300 SC rank, you'd likely need a CAT percentile of 65–70, which roughly translates to a CAT score of about 60–65 out of 198, assuming the normalization and difficulty remain similar. 
However, final admission also depends on other factors like your academic profile, work experience, and performance in interview, not just CAT. So while you're in a reasonable range, make sure to strengthen your overall profile.