I feel myself to be the most eligible guy to answer this question as:-
1. Spent 4 years in IIT-JEE Preparation
2. Base of my career is B.Tech from a tier-3 college without CAT/GATE 🙂
3. On B.Tech base, was able to add toppings of Work experience and PG/Masters
Actually I had spent 4 years (3 attempts) in IIT-JEE preparation, chasing dream of IIT. Throughout these 4 years, i tried my best, did sincere studies. I was good in national level mock tests but somehow failed in actual one. Third attempt was during my first year of Engineering in a tier-3 college which requires 3 digit state rank..
Anyways coming to point, and sharing my story. There was no regret in preparations/strategy but somehow i was not able to do it. While going through failure of not being able to crack IIT, at a moment a thought of suicide also came to my mind. Believe me, suicide is actually a state of mind for a moment and luckily i was able to handle it. That day, I was having some money, a silly thought came to my mind that better to spend the money, eat something and then die. 😛