Conflicted bettween partial drop.

Hello bhaiya, I gave IPMAT Indore, Rohtak, and JIPMAT this year. Being an ST candidate, I missed the Indore and Shillong calls due to a low QA score, and my overall scores aren't very impressive either. I did get other calls, the interviews were decent - mid.

As a backup, I am applying to private universities in my state for UG. I am highly conflicted about taking a partial drop. My ultimate plan is to take CAT after graduation no matter where I go (even if I had made it to Indore, I planned to write CAT for an upgrade later). Given that CAT is my main goal, does a partial drop make sense for me if I don't get into any IIM this year?

The private universities are just as expensive as iim j for ug.