Don’t you dream of scoring 99 percentile in CAT 2013 Exams?
With CAT 2013 just 40 days away, MBAUniverse.com brings CAT Toppers to share with you their success mantras for section-wise scoring and mock tests. The CAT toppers who are currently students of Top B-schools like IIM, FMS Delhi, NITIE also share their strategy on mock test and actual test.
So let us hear how did the CAT toppers crack the toughest MBA entrance exam in the country and how they scored high in individual sections like Quant, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning?
Success Mantras for Quant Section:
While Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section is regarded as the difficult section in the CAT exam by most of the aspirants, the section is one of the high scoring area also for successful candidates.
Arshpreet Singh of IIM Ahmedabad who scored 99.05 percentile in Quant & DI section with an overall percentile of 99.97 in CAT 2012 also believes that the toughest section for her was the QA+DI section, specifically the DI part. He says, “I could not solve the DI questions in the ideal amount of time in the mock tests. To handle the difficult part, I practiced a lot of question sets in DI to improve my speed as well as to gain much needed confidence. I made sure that every set I attempted was time bound. I devoted ample time in analyzing my mistakes after the mocks.”
Ratika Mittal, CAT 2011 Topper with 97.21 percentile suggests a simple strategy for Quant and DI section, “practice, practice and practice. The more varieties you are exposed to, the better it is!”
Anusha Subramanian of IIM Bangalore explains his strategy for scoring 99.80 percentile in CAT 2011 as she says “Quant section is all about number crunching and speed. Solving practice papers in a simulated test environment at home helps prepare for this section.”
However, for Rohit Anand Garg, the Quant & DI section was relatively easier than VA & RC. Rohit cracked CAT 2012 with an overall 99.16 percentile and secured admission in IIM Raipur. He says, “Quant section involved applications of basic quant fundamentals and was my area of interest as well. My speed and accuracy in this section helped me to maximize the sectional score.”
Parag Poddar of IIM Indore practiced DI through non-conventional ways like puzzles and quizzes. The CAT 2011, 99.65 percentiler puts his strategy as, “Regular practice tests and problem solving were an integral part of my preparations for quantitative ability and data interpretation. I used to discuss problems with my friends who were enrolled in coaching institutes, solve puzzles and quizzes.”
For Sumedha Deogharia , a NITIE Mumbai students who scored 99.35%ile in CAT 2012 the toughest part was solving the DI questions. In the beginning, she could attempt only 1 out of the 3 problems. This was due to the fact that the DI questions needed a lot of calculation in a short span of time. She focused on mental calculation and vedic mathematics which helped her solve the problem.
Explaining her strategy, she said, “First of all, I glanced through all the questions quickly. I knew that there was no individual cut-off for QA & DI separately. So, when I found out that the DI questions were difficult and needed rigorous calculations, I thought of doing them in the last. First, I solved all the questions in the QA section and then started with the DI questions.” As a result of which, Sumedha was able to attempt all the questions in that section. It was only because of a good accuracy in this section that her percentile shot up to an overall of 99.35.
Success Mantras for Verbal Section:
The second section of CAT exam comprises Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning question. Anusha Subramanian of IIM Bangalore says, “Developing a good reading habit helps to do well in this section. Apart from taking mock tests, reading newspapers, good novels and magazines does not only help in solving verbal ability questions but also in interviews.”
Apurv Jain, a student of FMS Delhi was expecting a good score in Quant section but managed to get a higher score of 98.71 percentile in the VA & LR section in comparison to 98.05 percentile in QA & DI section. Revealing his success mantra for Verbal Section, he said, “For me the toughest part was VA & LR because it was always my weak area. I had the strategy of solving first the LR questions because it takes less time and the probability of getting them right is high. After this, I attempted the questions of sentence correction, fill in the blanks and grammar related questions. In the end I went for reading comprehension questions because these are the most time consuming and my accuracy in these questions was also not consistent.”
For Parag Poddar, the editorial sections of the newspapers helped him to increase his vocabulary and gain speed and hone his comprehension skills. Apart from these, reading articles dedicated to various fields and story books helped him to inculcate interest in various domains.
Rohit Anand Garg of IIM Raipur had a liking for Verbal section, yet he identified easy questions before attempting the section in mock and actual CAT tests. “A cursory glance at the section helped me to have a fair idea of the complexity level of the questions. I attempted the easier and less time consuming questions first. This increased the accuracy and saved time which I could utilize for logical reasoning section. This strategy was practiced thoroughly in the mocks before I implemented it in on the D-day.”
Debjit Nag of IIM Ahmedabad who scored 99.97 %ile in CAT 2012 and also secured final admission offers from 10 top B-schools including 9 IIMs and FMS Delhi believes that for improvement, there is no other way than practice. “I started reading a lot to improve my VA skills and gradually things got better. I focused on accuracy on the D-Day which helped me to achieve 99.79 %ile in Verbal Section,” he says.
Siddhant Gupta of IIM Raipur who apart from scoring 98.67 percentile in CAT 2011 also appeared for XAT (98.63 percentile) and IIFT (missed cut-off by .25 marks) believes practice is a must for Verbal and Logical Reasoning. He says, “With practice, confidence and a few tests, the focus should shift to understanding of the pattern of questions. Questions requiring less time should be selected first and others should be attempted later. A thorough knowledge of one’s own strengths and weaknesses can be of great help.”
Why you must take Mock tests?
CAT toppers unequivocally told MBAUniverse.com that taking mock test and evaluating your performance by analyzing your weak areas and mistakes, brings an edge to your preparation.
Anurag Goyal (99.56 percentile) says, “The last month before the CAT exam should be spent on strengthening the concepts. The best way to do this is to be thorough with the concepts tested in the mock tests.”
Ratika Mittal, 97.21 percentile in CAT 2011, while taking full-length tests, also used to solve easier questions first and if time permitted, picked up difficult and time-consuming ones.
Rohit Garg believes that speed and accuracy matter the most in the CAT examination. To improve upon this, the only Mantra is ‘practice’. He advises CAT 2013 aspirants to solve a large number of problems with various levels of difficulty. Debjit Nag, however, has a different view on Mock tests, “Initially I used to attach too much value to mock tests. Later, I realized that those were just mocks and started to invest more time in self-improvement by targeting weak areas one after another after identifying the same during mock tests.”
Sumedha Deogharia of NITIE Mumbai believes that only practice can make you perfect and improve your accuracy. She said, “Take as many mock tests as you can. Come out with a proper analysis of your performance after each mock test and try to find out weaknesses and strengths. Read editorial columns in newspapers to improve your knowledge base and reading ability. Keep revisiting your CAT preparation material from time to time. Work very hard if you want to bell the CAT this year itself!”
On the other hand, for Arshpreet Singh, analyzing the mocks minutely is more important than taking mocks one after the other. He advises CAT Aspirants, “Revise all the concepts thoroughly before the CAT and attempt a lot of mock tests. Spend plenty of time on analyzing your mistakes after the tests. During the CAT, remember that it’s not how many questions that you attempt but how many questions that you answer correctly that matters.”
Alay Mehta (CAT 99.99 percentile) says, “Write the standardised mock tests. Though it’s not possible to score high marks in mock tests, especially in the initial ones, you should never stop taking them. With the number of mocks increasing, the performance will definitely improve. You are bound to have bad mocks, but just don't give up. Solve a thousand questions on the topic and next time you take a mock, you'll inadvertently search out the questions from those first and solve them.”
For more Toppers’ Mantra, read other published interviews with CAT 2012 Toppers. Links below:
Sumedha Deogharia scored 99.35%ile in CAT 2012
Rohit Anand Garg cracked CAT 2012 with an overall 99.16 percentile
What made 9 IIMs, FMS Delhi to select 99.97 %iler Debjit Nag?
Right Mock-strategy is key to cracking CAT, says 99.97 percentiler Arshpreet Singh
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