Should I quit my job to prepare solely for the CAT? How will a gap in my resume look?

Here are my two cents:Do not quit your job.You can term this as a false sense of security but every single time you fare poorly in mocks(you might not) you will end up adding an extra amount of pressure which will hamper your preparation. Every time things go wrong and they do at certain instances during preparation you won't have anything to fall back to.Having a sense of confidence in yourself is great but it doesn't hurt to have backup plans.

I believe telling the truth is the best answer. Just tell that you realized that you need to put additional effort in preparation for CAT and hence quit.

Obviously NO.!! You should not quit your job instead try and manage your work along with your CAT preparation. After all this is what the Top B-Schools check "Stress Management". Its a part of your future MBA. So believe that you can do it and look for the better means to achieve it. Thanks for A2A.!! P.S. - I too am a CAT aspirant and desires to be in Top B-Schools of India.:)

What if the place of work is an industrial one, so remote and isolated that resources for prep are far away?     I m stuck with such a job where i work for 6 days a week(literally a physically energy sapping job) for almost 12 hrs per day. The job itself is degrading and demeaning along with the bosses who fancies himself as der furher.......... Shouldnt such a case serve as an exception???

No. I think the others have covered this more than adequately. Still, my two cents, here. You will lose scores for work experience, and might face uncomfortable questions in the interview. Sample this: 1. "Quitting a job at an MNC to prepare for CAT makes me doubt your ability to weigh risk-reward. I think I would be fueling your foolhardy decision-making if I gave you a seat here. What are your thoughts on this?" 2. "I met eight candidates before you, all of whom have managed busy work schedules and squeezed in CAT preparation while you have focused exclusively on CAT. All other things being equal, why should I select you over them?" 3. "So, you cannot hold a job and prepare for a competitive exam at the same time? After MBA, you will have to multitask at an even greater level. You are basically telling me you are not equipped to handle that. Thoughts?" Do not think that it is a smart idea to say that you have not quit your job but taken a break to pursue your passion of working in industry X and therefore joined your cousin. As a general rule, professors do not think it is a great idea to take a break for the sake of CAT preparation and will interpret any shift to a 'small company in a preferred industry' on your resume as a proxy for this.  More detailed answer, here - http://2iim.com/howtoprepare/jobandprepare.shtml

Mock tests need not be a correct predictor of actual results. . Its been a while I gave cat but the 2 months u have till cat can be enough if u have the basics in place. So focus on acing 2014 itself !!

Answers to your last 2 questions! 1. No. You aren't too late to apply for CAT. 2. You'll definitely get a job which pays more than Rs. 15 LPA after MBA provided you do it from the older IIMs (collectively known as BLCKi) or ISB! Now you've identified why you wanted to do MBA. So far  so good and you are also bored with your current job. Excellent combo to go for MBA! Please don't resign your job till you get admission letter from premier institute. That would be like a professional harakiri. Please do prepare on a regular basis in a smart way and you should be able to ace the CAT/GMAT. Perhaps you can consider doing it from ISB as 80% of the students there have experience of more than 3 years and you'd feel more comfortable among them! Also its just one year course! But the fees are on the high side. But since you'd be getting easy education loans and are assured of campus placements in reputed companies that shouldn't be a worrying factor. Go for MBA and good luck

Your current job pays you 15L then why on earth do you feel necessary to drop out ant prepare gor CAT. You say you are average, so going by the numbers you are highly unlikely to grab a job that will pay you double or more than your current one after your MBA. CAT is highly unpredictable you never know what it has in store for you, it is thereby highly recommend to have a safety net, and the fact that you have a pretty safe net you should not let it slip. Now onto some calculations MBA will cost you around 18 to 20L from a top college (if it is not FMS) so you loose 2 years and 30L from your job(total is about half a crore), think about what you are doing buddy!!

Well my take on this is that, quitting job puts undue social pressure and won't let you concentrate on the task. Better is to have a disciplined approach in preparing for it. CAT is unlike IIT/IAS where you're supposed to give all the time of your life. Also, overall profile of yours would help you to crack interview and it will be difficult to defend that you've left the job only to crack a exam which thousands of people crack while being in job.