India, Aug. 20 -- Every year, when CAT results are announced, I notice a familiar transformation among MBA aspirants. Phones become calculators, admission portals become pilgrimage sites, and conversations suddenly begin with a number: "What percentile did you get?"

A 99 becomes a celebration, a 95 becomes a question mark, and anything below the expected cut-off can feel like the end of the road. As a professor who has watched students enter business school with impressive scores and gradually discover their strengths, weaknesses, and ambitions, I often wonder whether we have allowed one number to tell too much of a student's story.

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