CAT 2016: 'Target TITA questions first'; IIMU student & CAT topper Harshit Goswami shares success mantra

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 1, 2016
CAT 2016 may not be all about round the clock study as your extra curricular activities and sports also contribute to boost your profile and add to your chances of getting into IIM
I targeted TITA - Type in the Answer questions first as they did not have any negative marking and were doable in less time and this left enough time for RCs Harshit Goswami, CAT topper & IIM Udaipur student

CAT 2016 may not be all about round the clock study as your extra-curricular activities and sports also contribute to boost your profile and add to your chances of getting into IIM of your choice.

This fact is elaborated by Harshit Goswami who scored 98.01 in last year CAT. Harshit is a football fanatic, and EDM (Electronic Dance Music) enthusiast and an amateur blogger. He loves to surf the internet and learn geeky stuff.

MBAUniverse.com has brought a round of CAT toppers’ success stories for the benefit of CAT 2016 aspirants.  Now you have a good opportunity of getting guidance and success mantra from last year CAT toppers to boost their confidence level and derive benefit from their experience during preparation journey.

In the series we present the success story of confident Harshit Goswami who not only scored  high overall percentile of 98.01 in CAT 2015 but also scored high percentile of 99.09 in Quant; 93.54 in VARC and 88.78 in DILR. Harshit converted his admission call to many of the top institutes including IIMs.

Harshit made it a point to prepare well and crack CAT 2015 with a high score so that despite getting shortlisted by number of institutes, he could get the best one of his choice.

Sharing with MBAUniverse.com Harshit highlights his experience in preparation journey to CAT and modestly attempts to give the ‘success mantra’ to the CAT 2016 aspirants

MBAUniverse.com: What was your preparation strategy for CAT?
Harshit (CAT topper): CAT is known to be unpredictable at times and 2015 was no different. With a revamped structure- introducing a new section and sectional time constraints, it demanded  restructuring in one’s preparation strategy.

I believed in giving enough mocks - aligned in the same time slot in which you are supposed to get you CAT exam slot, so that when the D-day comes, you will feel as if you are giving another mock.

MBAUniverse.com: Apart from CAT, which other exams did you appear in? What were your scores?
Harshit (CAT topper): I appeared in XAT and IIFT apart from CAT. My scores in XAT was 97.88  and in IIFT it was 95.86 (raw score-48.26 missed the cut-off by 0.24). My score in CAT was - Overall-98.01; Quant -99.09; VARC -93.54 and DILR - 88.78.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share some key preparation  do’s & don’ts for the benefit of CAT 2016 aspirants?
Harshit (CAT topper):Do’s- Mock’s analysis is an indispensable part of your CAT preparation. For a three hour test, you should be devoting equal or more time analyzing your weaknesses and identifying the areas where you are good at.

Don’ts
Going for wild guesses is a sign of naiveté. It is better to leave such questions and get 0 marks than to attempt and get them wrong for even worse -1 marks.

MBAUniverse.com: What was your strategy in testing room to attempt the questions from different sections?
Harshit (CAT topper): Since the freedom to navigate through different sections was curbed in CAT-2015, there was nothing much as a choice to begin with. I targeted TITA - Type in the Answer questions first as they did not have any negative marking and were doable in less time and this left enough time for RCs.

MBAUniverse.com: How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD/WAT topics?
Harshit (CAT topper):  The season took off with XLRI’s GD/PI in March, closely followed by MDI and new IIMs. Then I had one GD-PI at IISc Bangalore in April. Some of the GD/WAT topics were
“Should international bodies like IMF, World Bank be allowed to interfere in the India’s policy making?” “Managerial skills learnt in the classroom can never match those learnt from experience.”
“Is bureaucracy a hindrance to economic reforms in India?” And the GD was held on the aforesaid topics only.

MBAUniverse.com: Few questions that were asked to you during PI round?
Harshit (CAT topper): The PI usually began with asking about myself, and some questions on the subject that I would mention as my strength. They also asked some basic terminologies related to marketing as I was basically interested in marketing itself.

In one of the interviews the interviewer asked me “What is your name??”

I replied “Harshit.”
He followed “What does that mean?”
I- “The one who makes other happy and cheerful.”
He- “Are you making us happy?”
I promptly replied – “Time will tell.”
He smiled.

MBAUniverse.com: The institutes that offered you admission?
Harshit (CAT topper): I was offered admission in XLRI-HR, MDI-HR(PGDM- waitlisted), IIM-Udaipur, Raipur and other newest IIMs

MBAUniverse.com: Which institute did you decide upon to take admission and why?
Harshit (CAT topper): I decided to join IIM-Udaipur. Some people might raise an eyebrow for leaving XLRI-HR but let me tell you one thing – If you are very sure to choose HR as a career then it is a no brainer. In my case, I never wanted to go for HR and moreover wanted to realize my potential during my first year and then choose a specialization in the second year. While Udaipur is doing really good among new IIMs, the brand IIM alone has its own perks.

MBAUniverse.com:  Any inspiring story that motivated and helped you in getting success in the exam?
Harshit (CAT topper): I lost my aunt(bua) a day before IIFT’s exam and a week before CAT’s. I had a close bond with her and she was always worried about my studies (though I was a good student) and wanted to see me getting one of the good B-schools this year. Her loss though broke me from inside, but it never let my enthusiasm down. In fact it motivated me to fulfill my dreams with much more zeal and in a way her dreams too.

MBAUniverse.com:  Your message and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2016
Harshit (CAT topper): Do not ever give up before you sit for CAT. The only thing that can stop you from getting the desired results is no one but you. Let the bygones be bygones, do not let the bad performance in one test affect your preparation.

MBAUniverse.com: Thanks Harshit for sharing such a valuable guidance for CAT 2016 aspirants
Harshit (CAT topper): Thank you very much

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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more success mantra stories and CAT 2016 preparation tips from toppers