Inspiration to CAT 2015 aspirants, Meet Bhalavat the CAT topper with high 99.97 percentile was offered admission by number of IIMs and other B schools but opted for MBA 2015-17 at FMS Delhi, the top rated high ROI B-school. Bhalavat followed specific preparation strategy - ‘Learn and Repeat’ and advises the same for CAT 2015 aspirants With a graduation back ground in Electronics and Telecommunication engineering Meet Bhalavat is a versatile personality and likes doing lot of photography whenever he gets time. Meet not only cracked CAT with an overall high score of 99.97 but also secured similar high scores in 2 sections with 99.88 in Quant & DI and 99.92 in Verbal & LR. Similar high scores were obtained in XAT and CMAT. Bhalavat opted for MBA at FMS Delhi. Meet Bhalavat has a work experience of 11 months with SMG Convonix, although the weightage for less than 1 year work experience is very low and the candidate is more or less considered as fresher, Bhalavat made it a point to grab the opportunity and prepared whole heartedly and with dedication to achieve the chosen target.
Meet Bhalavat followed the strategy to Learn and repeat that became instrumental for him to crack CAT 2014 and other MBA entrance tests including XAT and CMAT with high scores. Currently Meet is pursuing the prestigious MBA course from Faculty Management Studies (FMS) University of Delhi.
MBAUniverse.com:What was your preparation strategy? Please share some key do’s and don’ts
Meet (CAT topper): My preparation strategy can be divided into 2 parts: Learn and Repeat. The first step was to get my basics covered in all the sections. I used different class notes, MBA prep books as well as internet for the same. The next step was practice. For practice I initially focused on getting the answers right and the next step was to time myself so as to increase speed. One of the best methods to do so, according to me, was to give multiple tests (I remember giving around 50-60 full syllabus tests).
After the tests I spent enough time to analyse my performance in that test.
Basic dos:
Give as many tests as possible, focus equally on your weak as well as strong sections, spend some time analysing the tests
Don’ts:
Skip a section just because you are not comfortable, stick to a single book for any subject
MBAUniverse.com: What was your strategy in testing room to attempt the questions from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?
Meet (CAT topper): My testing room strategy was very simple; it was to focus on my strengths and directly skip the questions that I was uncomfortable with. This helped me from wasting un-necessary time, which I was able to utilize in the end to solve the difficult questions. The above strategy was followed for all the sections. In quant I had left a few geometry questions for the end. And for the verbal
section, I deliberately left a few passage questions unanswered as I was less than 50% confident in them.
MBAUniverse.com: Which all exams did you write? How did you prepare for them? What score did you get?
Meet (CAT topper): I appeared in CAT 2014 and scored 99.97 percentile, with 99.88 in QA & DI and 99.92 in VA & LR. My score in XAT 2015 was 99.36 percentile and in CMAT (September 2014) the score was 99.87 percentile.
The preparation strategy for each of the exams was more or less the same. Apart from preparing for the common subjects, I used to read Economic Times on a daily basis to brush up my Current Affairs.
MBAUniverse.com: How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD/WAT topics?
Meet (CAT topper): I participated in the GDPI process of the following colleges: IIM A, C, L, K, I and FMS Delhi. The GD topics were:
- -- Should the budget for space program in India be invested into poverty alleviation?
- -- South Asia should have common currency like Europe
MBAUniverse.com: Few questions that were asked to you during PI round?
Meet (CAT topper): Questions asked to me ranged from basic questions like ‘Tell me about yourself’ to extremely random questions like ‘Is time relative or absolute’. Apart from these, a few other questions were:
1. What are your strengths
2. Why do you want to do an MBA
3. Tell me more about your fathers business
4. How does a Wi-Fi network operate (Being from a Telecom Engineering background)
5. List top 5 companies that hire from our college for Finance roles
6. Discuss which discount model would be most profitable for the firm (I was given a pamphlet of a local clothes store which was giving different discount rates based on the number of units purchased)
7. Explain about different settings you will use while clicking a portrait (based on my hobby of photography)
MBAUniverse.com: The institutes that offered you admission?
Meet (CAT topper): Admissions were offered to me by FMS Delhi, IIM Kozhikode, All new IIMs (Ranchi, Raipur, Udaipur, Trichy, Rohtak, Kashipur) and the newer IIMs.
MBAUniverse.com: The factors that made you decided in favour of FMS Delhi
Meet (CAT topper): I decided to take admission in FMS, Delhi, because
1. It is one of the TOP 5 B-schools in India
2. It’s enviable alumni base
3. The quality of opportunities you get as a student
4. High quality and consistent placement performance
5. The fact that it is located in the National Capital
MBAUniverse.com: What advice and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2015?
Meet (CAT topper): My advice to all the aspirants would be:
1. Believe in yourself
2. Practice smartly
3. Strengthen your basics
4. Give as many tests as possible
5. Enjoy the process
MBAUniverse.com: Your message to future MBA aspirants.
Meet (CAT topper): Be sure of why you want to do an MBA. But once you have decided to go ahead, work hard to prepare for the exam as competition will be tough. However, always keep in mind that with CAT and any other entrance exam, there is always a second chance.
MBAUniverse.com: Why did you want to do MBA?
Meet (CAT topper): After having worked for nearly a year, my main motive to do an MBA was to gain a wide array of skills with respect to different business functions, broaden my career options and move upwards in life.
MBAUniverse.com: Would you like to share any special story experienced by you in your journey from being a CAT aspirant to a successful topper (any special thing which motivated you )
Meet (CAT topper): Preparing for CAT is an individual journey. However if you have any someone to compare and compete with, then the journey becomes really exciting. Especially in the case when you are equally potent. In my case, I had a very close friend with whom I shared my preparation and testing experiences. This competition really pushed me to work harder and played a vital role in achieving the dream result.
MBAUniverse.com: Thanks for sharing such a valuable guidance for CAT 2015 aspirants
Meet (CAT topper): Thank you very much
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