CAT 2015: 'Practice individual topics first' says CAT 99.32 scorer Subhayan Sarkar from NITIE

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 5, 2015
Subhayan's experiences in preparation and strategy to crack CAT gives very clear success mantra to the CAT 2015 aspirants.
I went through the syllabus and practiced individual topics first, in the first 2-3 weeks Subhayan Sarkar CAT topper & NITIE student

An inspiration to CAT 2015 aspirants and currently enrolled in the flagship management programme 2015-17 at National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Mumbai Subhayan  Sarkar is a student with multiple interests. Subhayan’s experiences in preparation and strategy to crack CAT gives very clear ‘success mantra’ to the CAT 2015 aspirants.

Subhayan is from Kolkata. He is a chemical engineer from Jadavpur University. After passing out in 2014, Subhayan has worked in Reliance Industries Limited for 10 months. A multifacet personality Subhayan is a sportsperson and love to watch football matches, watching TV series and movies. He also loves interacting with people and love taking part in discussions on varied topics

Subhayan scored 99.32 overall and high sectional percentile in CAT 2014. Sharing with MBAUniverse.com Subhayan highlights his experience in preparation journey to CAT  and modestly attempts to give the ‘success mantra’ to the CAT 2015 aspirants

MBAUniverse.com: What was your preparation strategy? Share some key do’s
Subhayan (CAT topper): My preparation started 3 months before CAT.  The dos that I followed in this short span were as follows:

Do’s for CAT 2015 Aspirants

1. I enrolled myself in an online test series. I went through the syllabus and practiced individual topics first, in the first 2-3 weeks and gave sectional tests and topic wise tests.

 2. In the mean time I had already started giving mock tests. The analysis after giving each mock test is the most essential part as you need to judge yourself and find out your strengths and weaknesses.

3. I found out that I am comfortable in algebra and modern maths but weak in  grammar and RC sections. I gave mock tests every 3 days and so it was a like a continuous evaluation for me to check whether I was really improving or not.

 4. I feel that mock tests were the most essential part of my preparation.

 5. I realised which questions took more time and tried to avoid them. I was not strong in the grammar questions so I tried to avoid them.

6. My strategy was to work on my strengths and make sure I make minimum mistakes. LR and QA were my strengths. DI and RCs were sections where I had to improve as they were the deal breaker for me.

7. I worked on improving my calculation and reading speeds. I studied 4-5 hours diligently every day.

 
MBAUniverse.com: What was your strategy in testing room to attempt the questions from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?
Subhayan (CAT topper): My strategy was to attempt QA&DI section first. I took two rounds in solving the entire paper.

First I attempted  the questions in QA&DI section which took less time and then attempted the DI section and marked 2-3 questions which I could do later if time permitted.

I managed to attempt 29 out of the 34 questions in 55 minutes .Then I attempted the DI section and saw one was lengthy so I left it and did the other two. The last DI was also lengthy but it had 2 questions which were easy and short. I ended up doing 10 question out of 16 in 25 mins.

Then I started doing the LR questions 2 of them were easy and the other 2 were of medium difficulty. I attempted all the 4 of them in 30 minutes.

Then I attempted the RCs and managed to do 3 out of the 4. It took me around 25 minutes to attempt them.

Then I moved to the questions on verbal reasoning and then grammar. I attempted most of the VR questions but avoided the grammar ones. Then I came back to the QA section and attempted 2 questions which I had marked and managed to do them in the remaining 5 minutes.
 

MBAUniverse.com: Which all exams did you write? How did you prepare for them? What score did you get?
Subhayan (CAT topper): I appeared for just CAT and XAT. My CAT 2014 percentile is 99.32.

I practiced very less for XAT and as a result I did not clear the cut-off for the DM section. My overall percentile was 98.8 in XAT. In the hindsight I believe that for XAT it is very important to practise the DM section as overall percentile means nothing without clearing each and every sectional cutoffs. XAT has a more difficult QA& DI section than CAT and one needs to manage time more efficiently.
 

MBAUniverse.com: How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD/WAT topics?
Subhayan (CAT topper): I took part in 7 admission processes and only 2 of them had GDs. The topics were “Is GD a scam?” and “Rise of E-commerce”. 

MBAUniverse.com: Few questions that were asked to you during PI round?
Subhayan (CAT topper): The common questions were Why MBA; introduce yourself; long term and short term plans;  which field of MBA are you interested in; and then the  questions were asked related to my answers.

Since I had low work experience, I faced a lot of questions on what did you learn in your job and why do you want to pursue MBA now rather than after a year or two. I faced questions related to “Make in India” and the fall of Oil prices.

MBAUniverse.com: The institutes that offered you admission?
Subhayan (CAT topper): IIM I; IIM S; MDI; SJSOM and NITIE offered me admissions.
  

MBAUniverse.com: Why did you decide in favour of NITIE only?
Subhayan (CAT topper): The decision of choosing the institutes depended on the specialization of  the institutes. I was not that interested in marketing and consultancy. So it was a choice between Finance and Operations. I chose the latter. This choice made my decision easy and I chose NITIE which is the Mecca of Supply chain and operations in India.

MBAUniverse.com: What advice and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2015?
Subhayan (CAT topper): I would like to advise every candidate to give mock tests and then using them to evaluate yourself and improve continuously. Do not get de-motivated by mock tests and ensure you have a plan to improve yourself. Focus on your strengths and manage your time properly. Accuracy is the key. CAT is all about working hard and attempting the right questions.

MBAUniverse.com: Your message to future MBA aspirants.
Subhayan (CAT topper): After being in a B-school for just 2 months, all I can say that it is different  from any other course. The skill sets that you gain and improve from here are invaluable. The best part of doing an MBA is that you get to meet and interact with a lot of people: your seniors, alums and people from the industry. You get to learn a lot from these people.  Another aspect that the B-schools touch upon is honing your people skills. Going for a management career enhances one’s decision making and problem solving skills, vision, creativity and innovation. 
 

MBAUniverse.com: Why did you want to do MBA?
Subhayan (CAT topper): Having acquired technical education and working with a manufacturing firm, I had developed my technical knowledge. I had  been in the organizing committees of  my college fests and reunions. During my time as the cultural head and treasurer, I did a good job but somehow I felt that there was scope for improvement. I want to improve my inter-personal skills.

Today, technical and management aspects of life are cross functional and are conjoint entities. My natural inclination is towards improving my knowledge and skills by acquiring a management degree. Management is key to success of any organization and this aspect has always appealed to me, because it requires a combination of strategic and analytic ability.  I feel that management will  help me become an efficacious member of the top management cadre or a possible entrepreneur in the long run.

MBAUniverse.com: Any special story experienced by you in your journey from being a CAT "aspirant" to a "successful topper "
Subhayan (CAT topper): During my preparation I did a lot of joint study and I forced a friend of mine to enrol himself in a test series. I used to go to his place and practice. We were a group of 4 people and we used to solve sectional tests together and help each other in learning new tricks.

I feel when we used to practice together it was like a mini competition and it helped me improve myself and work harder. I am very happy that 2 of us are studying in the same institute.

MBAUniverse.com: Thanks Subhayan for sharing such a valuable guidance for CAT 2015 aspirants
Subhayan (CAT topper): Thank you very much

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