A-B-C or Nothing: the worst goal in CAT prep is the most common one

Of all the CAT prep goals I have heard students set themselves, the most destructive is “IIM A, B, or C — or I don’t go.” It sounds ambitious. It sounds focused. It is, in fact, the single most reliable way to ensure you don’t convert any IIM at all.

Tony Xavier’s book has a chapter title that is the cleanest articulation of this I have read: “A-B-C or Nothing: Possibly the Worst Goal Ever!” He is right. Here is why, and what to do instead.

How the A-B-C goal sabotages the prep year

Setting A/B/C as the only acceptable outcome has three downstream effects, each of which compounds.

First, it raises the percentile target irrationally. To convert IIM-A reliably, you need a 99.6+ percentile with a balanced sectional profile. Aspirants who lock A/B/C as the only goal then set 99.5+ as their daily mock target. They become brittle. Every mock under 99 feels like failure. The student stops looking at why they scored what they scored and starts treating every mock as a verdict on whether to give up. A separate article goes deep on the 99.5 trap — the short version is that it crashes mock-day discipline and depresses final scores.

Second, it narrows the application strategy. Students with A/B/C-only goals apply to three IIMs and treat the rest of the IIM/B-school landscape as “back-up.” They under-prepare their applications to IIM-L, IIM-I, IIM-K, FMS, MDI, SPJain — and then when their IIM-A interview goes badly (which 70% of the time it does), they have no other strong application in flight. They are left with the new IIMs as their actual shortlist, prepared with two days of effort. They convert nothing.

Third, it sets up identity-level failure. A student who has told themselves “I am only worthy if I get A/B/C” cannot easily accept an IIM-L call. The cognitive dissonance leads them to either drop out of the application process entirely or convert nothing through half-hearted interviews. We have seen this pattern enough times that it is no longer a coincidence — it is a structural feature of how the goal corrupts the prep.

What the data shows — IMS Indore CAT-25 patterns

We have informal conversion data across multiple cohorts of students at the IMS Indore + Bhopal centres. The pattern is consistent:

• Students with A/B/C-only goals: roughly 25% convert at least one IIM (any IIM). The conversion is heavily skewed — the 25% who convert tend to convert one of the “newer” IIMs they considered beneath them, which they then accept reluctantly.
• Students with broader shortlists (A through K, plus newer IIMs, plus FMS/MDI/SPJain): roughly 65% convert at least one IIM. About 18% convert one of A/B/C — meaning the broader-shortlist student is more likely to convert A/B/C than the A/B/C-only student.

That last finding is the counter-intuitive one. The mechanism is straightforward — the broader-shortlist student writes more interview practice across multiple B-schools, builds confidence, and by the time they sit for IIM-A or IIM-B, they have already converted IIM-L or IIM-I and are interviewing from a position of strength. The A/B/C-only student walks into the IIM-A interview having converted nothing yet, and the desperation shows.

The correct shape of a CAT prep goal

Tony Xavier in Bell the CAT structures this as “choose your programme,” not “choose your brand.” The reframe matters. The correct goal-setting process:

1. Identify the programme types you would attend. Two-year MBA at top-tier institutes? One-year MBA at ISB? Specialised programmes like IIM Indore PGP-HRM or IIM-A FABM? Be specific about programme, not brand.
2. Build the shortlist that fits. If you want a two-year MBA, your shortlist might include IIM-A PGP, IIM-B PGP, IIM-C PGP, IIM-L PGP, IIM-I PGP, IIM-K PGP, FMS, MDI, SPJain, XLRI, TISS, and 2-3 newer IIMs. That is 12-15 acceptable outcomes — not 3.
3. Set your percentile target by the most accessible IIM on your list. If the bottom of your acceptable list is IIM-Indore PGP, your percentile floor is 93.5. Target 95 in mocks. The aspirational ceiling is whatever — but the operating floor is what governs your prep behavior.
4. Apply seriously to every school on the list. Don’t treat IIM-L as a back-up to IIM-A. Treat both as primary. The applications, the SOPs, the interview prep all get full effort.

The honest case for why students set the A/B/C-only goal

I should acknowledge — the A/B/C-only goal is usually set for understandable reasons. The student is worried about future placements, family expectations, peer comparison, or future-self regret. These are real concerns and dismissing them feels paternalistic.

But the empirical point still stands: the goal you choose shapes the prep behavior, and A/B/C-only goals produce worse prep behavior. If your underlying concern is “I want strong future placements,” the right response is not to restrict your goal to A/B/C — it is to broaden your shortlist to include IIM-L, IIM-I, IIM-K, FMS, MDI, SPJain, XLRI, all of which place strongly. If your concern is “family expectations,” the right response is a conversation with family about what IIM-Lucknow placements actually look like (very strong), not a self-imposed restriction.

When the A/B/C focus does make sense

Two narrow scenarios.

One: A second-attempt CAT taker who has already worked through the IIM-I/L/K/etc. options and decided, with conviction, that A/B/C is genuinely the only relevant outcome. This is rare. Most second-attempt students who think they want A/B/C-only actually do better when they revisit their shortlist with the year of additional information.

Two: A student with a specific career destination that statistically requires top-three IIM placement — typically consulting (MBB), specific quant-finance roles, or PE/VC entry points where the school filter is brutal. Even here, IIM-L converts to MBB regularly. The genuine “A/B/C-only is required” cases are very narrow.

What to do tomorrow

Open a document. List every B-school you would attend if you were admitted there. Not the prestigious ones — the ones you would actually go to. Be honest. If a school is on the list, it stays on the list. If a school is “only if I get nothing better”, take it off — your half-heartedness will damage that application anyway.

Your final list should have 10-15 schools. The percentile floor of that list is your operating target. The next mock you take, evaluate yourself against that floor. Your prep is now calibrated correctly. The brittle A/B/C-or-nothing frame is gone.

I have done this exercise with hundreds of students over the years. The students who do it openly cross more IIM calls than the students who refuse. The goal is the upstream variable. Goal first, prep second.

Related: You don’t need 99.5 on CAT · All 47 B-schools we cover · CAT-25 in numbers.