CAT toppers decide to give IIMs a miss

Rahul Singh (22) scored a perfect CAT score — a 100 percentile — but has decided to take up a bank job. He says,

"I just wanted to diversify my options. Now I want to see how things work in the real world."

Then there's Vignesh Rege, who is doing his Masters at IIT-Bombay. He has call letters from all the IIMs, an invitation to join a Master's programme at Stanford University, PhD offers from two other well-known universities and a job offer from CISCO Systems.

"Every day, I think of the pay packages that IIM graduates get and keep redrawing my plans," he jokes. But Rege, who scored 99.94 percentile in CAT, has given up the idea of IIM.

"I want to be in the technical field for some time. I am keen on joining Stanford, " says Rege.

Goutham Valeti is another 22-year-old who took the CAT exam "just for the heck of it" and bagged an impressive 99.22 percentile.

Most IIMs have selected him but he is joining Fair Issac, a finance-sector firm.

For years, the marriage of engineering and management degrees was considered the passport to a successful career and high salary.

That path is now altering somewhat, with several engineers keen on spending some time gaining real-life work experience before considering a management degree.