Mr Kurian George, a graduate from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi scored 97.7 percentile in CAT and received admission offers from 7 IIMs including IIM Ahmedabad but finally chose IRMA. Kurian who is a fresher, also scored high percentile in XAT, SNAP and IRMA.
In this Topper’s Mantra session with MBAUniverse.com, Mr Kurian shares his CAT prep strategy and talks on the challenges he faced during his preparation. He also speaks on his GD/PI strategy and suggests MBA aspirants to prepare the same along with their preparation of CAT.
Interview:
Q: What was your CAT percentile and which B-schools offered you final admission?
A: I scored overall percentile of 97.7 in CAT. I also gave other MBA exams and scored high marks like XAT – 98.3, IRMA-99.3, SNAP – 99.
I got final admission offers from many B-schools including IRMA, IIM Ahmedabad (ABM), IIM Rohtak, IIM Ranchi, IIM Raipur, IIM Trichy, IIM Udaipur, IIM Kashipur, SIBM-Pune, IMT-Ghaziabad. I finally chose IRMA.
Q: What was the change in your prep strategy during last 20 days to CAT?
A: The focus on the last 20 days was to give mock tests twice a week and on revising the basic formulas, concepts etc and most importantly on keeping the mind fresh and stress free.
Q: How did you prepare yourself a day before the D-day (your CAT Test day)?
A: I just revised a list of basic formulas that I had prepared and also did some meditating. I don’t wanted taking any stress and got a good sleep the night before.
Q: What was your question solving strategy on the CAT testing day?
A: My strategy was to spend as little time as possible on any questions that seemed unfamiliar or difficult. I didn’t waste my time in solving questions which I knew I don’t know. I quickly moved to the next question to solve it without wasting anytime.
Q: What was the toughest & easiest section for you in CAT? What was your strategy to handle the difficult part?
A: I used to get similar percentiles in both sections during mocks. As a result of covering most type of questions over a period of 2 years, I was able to crack a question if given adequate time. Therefore it was the time constraint that was always the problem especially in Quant and DI. In LR, identifying what type of question it was early on was always an advantage.
Q: One preparation area which influenced your selection to this Top B-school heavily. How?
A: My interest was in the specific sector i.e. Rural Sector and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) being the pioneer in the field of rural management was not a tough choice to make.
Q: Your long-term preparation strategy for GD/PI?
A: Practicing enough mock GD and PIs and going with a strategy on how to handle different scenarios in a GD or PI which may have to be evolved during the course of the GD/PI. I read newspaper and magazines daily even during CAT exam preparation time. I used to evolve different scenarios or questions which might get asked to me during PI and GDs.
Q: Your advice for CAT 2013 Aspirants.
A: Practice, Practice, Practice and relax on the D-day. Give CAT with a calm, relaxed head. Be disciplined in answering the test in terms of not hanging on to challenging questions.
For this year, IRMA will use CAT 2013 scores for admission to 2014-16 Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management (PRM) and 2014 Fellow Programme in Rural Management (FPRM). Application forms for IRMA admissions are available online and in hard copy at IRMA Admissions Office from September 25th, 2013 onwards.
All applicants who apply to IRMA with CAT 2013 score will appear for IRMA admissions test on "Issues of Social Concern" subject to their application forms being complete and accepted by IRMA.
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