CAT 2014 success mantra; Never ever lose your belief, CAT Topper Koustav Pal

Add Review

MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 8, 2014
We bring a round of CAT 2013 preparation journey experience shared by CAT topper Koustav Pal presently studying in PGDM batch of 2014-16 at IIMK
"Never ever lose your belief with one or two bad performances" Koustav Pal, CAT 2013 topper

Sharing the experience of CAT toppers with prospective CAT 2014 aspirants for their benefit is an innovative endeavour from MBAUniverse.com to learn the tips and tricks from past CAT toppers who not only scored high percentile but also were able to convert their call to one of the IIMs.

In the series we bring a round of CAT 2013 preparation journey experience shared by CAT topper Koustav Pal  presently studying in PGDM batch of 2014-16 at the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode. Koustav is a B.Tech in Electronics & Communication from Netaji Subhash Engineering College, WBUT, Kolkata and has a work experience as Assistant Systems Engineer in Tata Consultancy Services for20 months.

Koustav Pal scored a 99.43 percentile in CAT 2013 and 97.21 percentile in XAT 2014. He received the admission offers from numerous institutes but preferred PGDM at IIMK.

In response to a few intricate questions pertaining to MBA preparation that could  motivate and inspire the CAT 2014 aspirants, Koustav warmly responds and moves on to guide them by telling about the acumen and dedication required to get through the forthcoming CAT 2014 and other MBA entrance exams.

MBAUniverse.com: What was your prep strategy?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): For Quant I tried to identify the topics where I had faced some difficulty in solving during the exam, or got the answer wrong. I tried to analyze whether the mistake was a random mistake or a conceptual one and then took necessary steps to rectify them by practicing more sums from the topic.

Verbal Ability: I focused a lot into reading comprehensions last year and practiced from GMAT sources, GRE and previous year CAT mocks. Practiced Logical Reasoning from previous year mocks. I did not focus much on grammar or vocabulary.

MBAUniverse.com:  What was the strategy in testing room to attempt the question from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): For Quant section I did not have any fixed strategy. I attempted questions as per their difficulty level. Only thing I made sure was that I do not get stuck at a particular question for more than 3-4 minutes.

For verbal section I had a definite strategy in place which I had tested prior to CAT in the mocks as well. I used to start off with RCs targeting 2 RCs for around 18 minutes. If it took more, then I skipped the third RC, and moved to logical reasoning section. Else I attempted all three RCs in about 25 minutes attempting around 7-10 questions. For logical reasoning I devoted around 30-35 minutes attempting around 9-10 questions. The last 10-15 minutes were devoted only for Parajumbles and Paracompletions, targeting around 5 questions. Paracompletion being my favourite topic in VA, I attempted it last.

MBAUniverse.com: What were your strong and weak areas? How did you prepare and what special efforts did you put for improving your weak areas?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper):  Quant : Weak areas-Geometry

Strength Areas – Time & Distance, Time & Work, Number System

For geometry I did not put much focus except for sums requiring simple formula applications.

Verbal : Weak areas – Fill in the Blanks, Grammar, Parajumbles.

Strength areas – Paracompletion, logical reasoning, Reading comprehension

For Grammar and vocab based questions, I did not separately focus much on them as these areas usually had a low return on effort. I was scoring 99+ %ile in VA regularly in mocks even without attempting them. My primary focus was on improving my accuracy in Reading comprehension and logical reasoning even though they were not my weak areas.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you manage CAT preparation schedule along graduation studies/working hours?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): Managing preparation while working away from home was tough. I used to wake up early and write a full length mock and leave for office. After coming back home, I used to take up any previous mock which was yet to be analyzed. Before going to bed, I picked up random topics from quant or verbal in which I had committed conceptual mistakes in the recent past and practiced for an hour.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you divide your timings between preparation and recreational activities? What were the activities that you did besides preparing for the exam?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): I used to take mocks usually on weekends. After writing a mock, I never studied for that day. Instead I relaxed by hanging around with friends, cooking or watching movies. The following day would be business as usual.

MBAUniverse.com:   How important is Coaching or Mentoring to crack CAT or other MBA entrance tests?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): CAT or any other Entrance tests does not require formal coaching classes, if one has been strong in his/her fundamentals of quant and verbal ability. Although I do feel that mock tests should be an important part of one’s preparation strategy as it gives a relative picture of where one stands among other aspirants.

MBAUniverse.com: Which exams did you appear? How did you prepare for them? What score did you get?

Koustav Pal (CAT 2013 topper): Apart from CAT 2013, I also appeared for XAT 2014 in January. I had performed reasonably well in XAT and scored 97.21%ile to fetch a call from XLRI HR which I eventually converted.

MBAUniverse.com: How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD topics?

Koustav Pal (CAT 2013 topper):  I took part in the GDPI process of IIM K, XLRI, MDI, NITIE, IIT B , IIM S. Some of the GD topics were: Beauty pageants objectify women, MNCs monopolizing the     Indian market, Road infrastructure in India and few were case based.

MBAUniverse.com: The institutes that offered you admissions?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper)XLRI(HR), IIM RRTUK ,MDI, NITIE, IIT B, VGSOM offered me admission.

MBAUniverse.com:  Few questions that were asked to your during PI round?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper):  Questions based on IT, like what is SEZ, what is its purpose etc. What is CII, NASSCOM, their functions.  GK based like Founders of E-bay. Some questions on engineering were asked on my IIT B round, like what is a transducer, describe the process by which a call is made from cell phone to another and other questions in similar lines.

IIM K had asked me about hr questions like what was my typical day like, why do I want to do an MBA. XLRI grilled me a lot on HR concepts like difference between human resource management and human capital management, any moral conflict that I had faced, how did I solve it. In Nitie they had asked me on my hobbies, and questions on macro-economic indicators like GDP definition and current value, difference with GNP, what does HDI measure, who was its founder etc.

MBAUniverse.com:  Which is the institute that you have decided to take admission and why? 

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper):  I chose IIM Kozhikode. One of the reasons was that IIM Kozhikode has been a college which has seen one of the highest growth trajectories in the last decade. It has gained extra-ordinary national and international exposure since its inception in 1996. It is one of the older IIMs and as such has consistently been ranked among the top 7 B-schools in India for the last 3-4 years. Apart from the brand, the structured learning approach, the highly diversified batch and rigorous academic curricula which are followed here are something that attracted me to IIM Kozhikode.

MBAUniverse.com: What advice and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2014?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper):  Stick to your schedule. Write mocks regularly, but most importantly analyze them, and write them as if it were the actual CAT. Most importantly, try to enjoy the preparation phase. If one puts too much pressure then it gets too difficult on the final day. Take a day–off from your schedule and do not spend all your weekends thinking about CAT.

Finally the most important mantra, never ever lose your belief with one or two bad performances. Believe me, everyone has seen that phase. With the changed pattern, I would advise aspirants that speed with accuracy is something that will be of paramount importance. Also, since the question repository will be more, one should not miss out small tricks and formulae, which would help in answering those easy questions quickly. Selection of questions is also going to matter this time around. Wasting more than 2 min on any question one is not sure of, could be detrimental. For VA, one should target answering all the 4 LR sets that are now being included. Also one should keep practicing PJ’s PC’s everyday from now on till the exam day, at least 3 per day. Apart from the technical stuff, my advice to all would be to remain calm, and don’t lose hope if you are not there among the 97+ category in the mocks. Keep practicing and try to come up with a strategy of how you will go about attempting the paper.

MBAUniverse.com:  Your message to future MBA aspirants.

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper):   Do start reading from now on if one is preparing to write CAT 2 years down the line. Last minute reading won’t improve comprehension skills. Don’t put too much focus on building vocabulary as that is seldom tested. But the most important advice would be, do think about the specialization you would like to get into once you enter a B-school, because after joining it people who have a good a profile to back up their career choice get the better offers in summers and finals. For example if one is interested in finance but is currently working in IT/Heavy industries,  and has completed his Bachelors in chemical, try to get a few certifications up your sleeve like the Flip, NCFM, CFA etc.

For someone who wants to get into marketing, try to engage yourself into some position of responsibility if you are in college or at your workplace. But there is a caveat here, don’t simply engage in extra-currics for the purpose of getting a good placement in a B-school. Try to build a profile which interviewers both during your admission into a B-school and later during your placements in a B-school would find more attractive than others. Don’t give them the impression that all you have been doing for the last 3 years is preparing for MBA.

MBAUniverse.com: Why did you want to do MBA?

Koustav Pal(CAT 2013 topper): After gaining around 20 months experience as a developer in ERP technology at TCS, I felt that it would be the right time for me to go for an MBA, as it would give me the perfect platform to sharpen my managerial skills through its structured learning approach. Also I feel my technical background has given me the requisite analytical skills to understand and adapt to challenging technologies.

A career in management would give me the opportunity to assess and take pragmatic, calculative decisions. It would help me to use my perspective to influence business decisions which would facilitate in achieving a higher growth for the business. Having been a consistent performer in Mathematics and logic since childhood, I wish to take up finance as a major, and aspire to be business leader one day.

Related Links

10 Tips for CAT 2014: Namita Kapaley CAT topper shares the Mantra with Aspirant

Want to crack CAT 2014 with 99+ percentile, follow the mantra of CAT topper: Ankit Bansal

CAT Topper : Prachi Jha believes practice is only the key to crack CAT 2014

CAT 2014: pattern has changed important to take mocks, Sahithi Avirneni, a CAT Topper

Trends in CAT Exam; Still in Evolution process; impact will be on CAT 2014 test takers

Petty mistakes that create chaos in CAT 2014 Registration process; know how to get rid of

Do not miss the chance to enter IIM; CAT 2014 offers more chances this year

Speed Accuracy will be the big factor to ace CAT 2014 new exam pattern with 99+ percentile

Next 52 days of CAT 2014 Registration: What should Dr Rohit Kapoor Expect?

CAT 2014: How alarming with tricky questions will be the CAT new pattern

 
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more preparation tips from CAT toppers