CAT Toppers on MBAUniverse.com: What makes a winner; and how you too can!

So what makes a winner! And how you too can prepare to excel in the upcoming CAT 2009.

MBAUniverse.com, India’s leading management portal for MBA Aspirants, connected with CAT 2008 toppers (who now have secured prestigious admissions into IIMs) to learn their winning secrets. Over the next few weeks, MBAUniverse.com will publish extensive interviews with these toppers. If you preparing for CAT 2009, logging on to MBAUniverse.com is one winning habit you must develop. Now!

So who are these CAT Toppers we interviewed for you? Here’s some interesting insight about the eight candidates we interviewed.

Glen D’Silva: admitted to IIM A; CAT percentile – 99.83
http://www.mbauniverse.com/aspirantinn.php?id=2078

A Civil Engineer from IIT Bombay, Alay Mehta left almost everyone behind by scoring a grand percentile of 99.99. His score was 197. He was called for GDPI from all the IIMs: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode and Shillong. After getting so many calls, he could afford to be selective about appearing in the GDPI. He sat for the GDPI of IIM A, B, C and K and was offered final admission by all of them even as IIM K waitlisted him. His choice? IIM A! “I have chosen to join IIM Ahmedabad, for all the usual reasons,” Alay told MBAUniverse.com. Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for all the details from Alay’s CAT prep strategies and his tips to Cat 2009 aspirants. 

Sayali Kale is an engineer from VJTI, Mumbai. Sayali’s CAT percentile was 99.91 with a score of 171. Getting GDPI calls from the six prestigious IIMs was followed by admission offers by all of them. IIM A was chosen by Sayali owing to its faculty and case study method of teaching. “I think CAT aspirants should form a group and within that group join competing classes so that they can solve test papers from a variety of coaching institutes,” is what Sayali had to advise MBA aspirants. For more, watch out for her interview on MBAUniverse.com soon.

Glen D’Silva not only scored a great percentile of 99. 83 but also has almost 2 years of work experience. After getting selected for IIM A, C, L, I, K, NTTIE, MDI, IMT and SP Jain, he chose to join IIM A. “IIM A is the dream institute of any person appearing for CAT. I had no difficulty in choosing IIM A over any other institute.” He stressed on talking to past students for their feedback on a particular test prep institute, faculty, methods of teaching etc. His interview with MBAUniverse.com offers more details. Stay tuned.

Amit Tandon, who is currently working in ST Microelectronics (Greater Noida), is an Electronics and Communication Engineer from NSIT. With his percentile of 99.49, he got GDPI calls from IIM A, B, L, I and K along with FMS and MDI. He had been offered admission from IIM A, I, K, FMS and MDI but finally joined IIM A. “I have decided to join IIM A as I feel it’s the best in the business,” says an excited Amit. “At the end of day CAT is not about mugging things but rather understanding and applying the concepts in the exam,” said Amit. For the benefit of the students, he provided a 6 monthly preparation time table from May to November. What’s that? We’ll soon be publishing the interview on MBAUniverse.com, so stay logged.

Vipul Goyal stands a different league from the usual profile of engineering degree followed by MBA. He is a Commerce Graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. His super score of 165 gave him the percentile of 99.87. He was not only shortlisted by IIM A, B, C, L, I and K but also from SIBM Pune, IMT Ghaziabad, SPJIMR Mumbai and MDI Gurgaon. After getting final admission offers from IMT Ghaziabad, IIM I and K, he decided to join IIM I. “I chose Indore over Kozhikode because of its proximity to Delhi. Secondly, even the academic culture at Indore is similar to what I would prefer. Indore has stricter rules regarding attendance and academic performances. So, I believe it is more suited to a person like me,” said Vipul. On CAT prep strategies, Vipul advises aspirants to take mocks as seriously as CAT itself. For more, stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com

Anurag Goyal is a B.Com Honours Graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. With CAT percentile of 99.56, he got GDPI calls from various institutes - from IIM A and I, FMS, MDI, IMT and NMIMS. His final selections are: IIM A (Agri-business mgmt), IIM Indore and FMS Delhi. He chose FMS. Says Anurag, “FMS offers a strategic location (a very important consideration during the times of recession), better faculty, better placements and better value for money.” For the aspirants, he said that there is no substitute for practicing mock CATs and a proper time management on the basis of different sections. Stay tuned for more advice from Anurag.

With his percentile of 99.14, Amey Mashilkar was shortlisted by all the IIMs for GDPI and final admission by IIM B, C and K. “I have decided to take admission to IIMB as it has an excellent curriculum,” he said. For the aspirants who are to sit for CAT 2009 he opined “Practice and nothing else.” Watch out for his interview on MBAUniverse.com soon.

Prashant Kumar of IIT Delhi was shortlisted for IIM B and L on the basis of his 97.67 percentile. He chose IIM B for final admission. “I want to build up my career in Management Consulting and IIM B has better suited faculty and location for the same,” said Prashant. For CAT preparation, he suggests that tests should be taken in every two weeks and one should always start with their most comfortable sections.

All CAT toppers shared their take on how to tackle the new animal – Computer-based CAT 2009.

So for all the inspiration, advice, and guidance from the CAT Topers, stay tuned to India’s largest management portal for MBA aspirants -- MBAUniverse.com.