MBAUniverse.com has brought a round of CAT Topper 2013 success stories for the benefit of CAT 2014 aspirants. In this CAT Topper 2013 series we present the success story of Prachi Jha, a CAT Topper who scored percentile of 97.11 in CAT 2013.
To help out CAT 2014 aspirants in their CAT exam preparation, MBAUniverse.com will introduce a CAT Topper 2013 every week on MBAUniverse.com Forum where CAT 2014 aspirants can directly ask questions with CAT Toppers 2013.
Our third CAT Topper 2013 in this series is Ms. Prachi Jha.
Prachi Jha is a B.Tech graduate in Metallurgy and Material Sciences from NIT Rourkela (2011 batch). Prior to joining IIM Ranchi PGDHRM, she worked with Maruti Suzuki Ltd. for 3 years. She is a dance enthusiast, a good orator and has genuine interest in HR. We interviewed Prachi to know about her journey so far with reference to CAT preparation and cracking the GD/PIs. Prachi was very forthcoming in wanting to help all CAT 2014 aspirants plan out their journey, especially the ones aiming for a career in HR
CAT 2014 Related Query : Instant Counsellor Chat
Q. what was your prep strategy?
Prachi, “As I was working, I had very little time to study rigorously on each subject. My strategy was to learn by practising. I had started preparing the basics in July. Each day, I used to devote at max 1-2 hrs. Using my idle time in general reading proved to be beneficial. It not only helped me have a grip on the language, but also increased my reading speed and that eventually helped throughout the paper.”
Q.what was the strategy in testing room to attempt the question from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?
Prachi, QA : As I was not too confident in Algebra, I attempted questions from other areas first, and reiterated to the algebraic questions in the second go.
DI: I did not have enough time to attempt each one of them, so I selected the questions which appeared to be less time-taking and less effort-taking.
VA: My strategy was to read each comprehension passage thoroughly, making notes simultaneously. I had gone through the questions first, so that while reading I could zero in on the answers. For questions on grammar and para-jumbling, I believe practice is the only key to solve with accuracy and I made sure I had done enough of it. Also, solving by elimination turned out to be very helpful a lot of times. And again, of course, this comes through practice only.
LR : I did not have to form a strategy to attempt questions in this section as I was good at those. As it was the last part of the exam, just took on them one by one.”
CAT 2014 Exam Notification Announced
Q. Which exams did you appear? How did you prepare for them ? What score did you get?
Prachi, “I appeared for CAT 2013. I took TIME test series to get a feel of the questions asked and for my own continuous evaluation. I had an overall percentile of 97.11”
Q. How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD topics?
Prachi, “I took part in two GD/PI sessions, one for IIM Kozhikode and the other for XIMB. The topics discussed were:
IIM Kozikode : ‘Mass Media is hampering the youth’
XIMB MHRM: ‘Who is prospering: India or Indians?’
As for IIM Ranchi PGDHRM, there was not any GD or PI round but only one WAT session with the topic ‘Importance of work life balance’.”
Q. The institutes that offered you admissions?
Prachi, “All New IIMs, IIM Ranchi PGDHRM, XIMB MHRM; I was elated beyond measure to convert IIM Ranchi PGDHRM as that was the best among all my converts.”
Q. Few questions that were asked to your during PI round?
Prachi, “I had always maintained my interest in making a career in HR.
IIM Kozhikode : GK and Current Affairs questions, questions related to my B.Tech discipline, Work related questions, Why HR.
IIM Ranchi: Problem statement from Industrial Relations, Work related questions, Why HR, Why MBA, Questions related to work culture in my company
XIMB: Why HR, Scope of HR in future, My career plans, Work Related questions, there was quite a lot of discussion on HR.”
Q. Which is the institute that you have decided to take admission and why?
Prachi, “I chose the PGDHRM course in IIM Ranchi, of course! The institute has shown tremendous growth in the past 5 years, and can only go up from here. I believe that half of the MBA is about peer learning, and I was assured that IIM Ranchi will have a talented peer group.”
Q. What advice and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2014?
Prachi, “I would advise them to practise as much as possible, and learn from the mistakes made in the practice tests. Also, keep calm during the paper, as that plays a vital role in shaping your performance that day. Brushing up the basics from time to time is also helpful.”
Q. Your message to future MBA aspirants.
Prachi, “MBA is definitely a value addition to one’s personality and career. If you aspire to be an MBA, be very sure of your future goals and choose your college very carefully. Research a lot about the colleges before applying to them. A positive attitude is a prerequisite to excel at all levels from written test to GD/WAT and interview.”
Q. Why did you want to do MBA?
Prachi, “I hail from operations field. I chose to do MBA because I wanted to diversify my role and learn the A B Cs of management.
I find HR challenging and interesting, something I would want to do in the long run. So, I had my eye set on HR as my specialisation.”
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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT Topper 2013.
