If you have scored a whopping 100 percentile in CAT exam, and have performed decently in the GD, PI and Essay Writing rounds, a seat in the apex B-School of the country is reserved for you. Here we are talking about CAT 2010 topper Deepak Mehta, who scored 100 percentile in the exam and secured calls for GD, PI and Essay Writing from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode and FMS. After receiving the final admission call from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, Deepak has decided to join IIM Ahmedabad.
Deepak has done his graduation in Computer Engineering from BITS Pilani Goa campus. He has graduated in the year 2011.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Apart from CAT 2010 what are the other MBA entrance you had taken and what are your scores?
A: Apart from CAT, I also appeared for XAT and FMS. I got 99.89 percentile in XAT and around 480 marks in FMS.
Q: How many GD&PI rounds have you had? Please share your experience in detail.
A: I have had six GD PI rounds, one each for IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Kozhikode and FMS. Most of the IIMs have scraped the GD part and included an essay in its place. And FMS has an extempore round in addition to GD and PI.
The topics for the GDs/ Essays were diverse, but mostly related to general awareness. It was not too specific. So even if you don't know anything, you can always come with enough points to write a decent one.
The PIs were also varied. Some institutes asked a lot of technical questions related to my stream (Computer Science) whereas some were purely HR in nature.
Q: Which are the institutes offered you final admission? Which institute have you decided to take admission in?
A: I got final calls from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta.
I will be joining IIM Ahmedabad. The decision comes after a lot of discussion with my mentors, my friends and my seniors in IIM Ahmedabad and Calcutta alike.
Q: What are the differences among the exams you had taken? How did you prepare for each of them? Please share in detail.
A: There was no substantial difference in the three exams. The ‘syllabus’ for all three was essentially the same. The only difference was that the number of questions in FMS was very high. (200 questions compared to 60 of CAT). So ‘speed’ was an important factor during the FMS exam as the questions were relatively easy.
Q: What was your strategy for GD, PI & Essay Writing preparation?
A: I just updated myself on the current happenings and also brushed through my technical courses.
Q: What were your strategies for Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Data Interpretation preparation? Please share in detail.
A: Quantitative Ability was relatively easy as I am from engineering background. And so was DI & LR. As for Verbal Ability, I read a lot of books. I had already read around 60 to 70 before I decided to go for CAT. Apart from that, the only thing I did was go through the material given to me by the Career Launcher faculty and focus on the test series.
Q: What was your experience on taking the computer based CAT?
A: The experience was ok. I was accustomed to the pattern as my BITSAT test was also online. And I had also given a lot of (around 25) mock tests before the actual one.
Q: What is your advice to the CAT 2011 candidates for preparing for the computer based CAT?
A: Nothing to worry about. A couple of mock tests and you should be comfortable with the format.
Q: What should be the overall strategy for CAT 2011 preparation in regards to time management?
A: Try and complete one round of the entire paper in 1.5 hours or less. Then go back and ensure that you have attempted enough questions in each section so as to clear the sectional cut-offs.
Q: Any other message you would like to convey to the CAT 2011 aspirants?
A: Just focus on you preparations. Never compare yourself with some other or get scared if someone is scoring more than you. Don't get disheartened if you get low marks in some particular mock test.
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