MBAUniverse.com brought an exclusive opportunity for all the CAT 2014 aspirants to participate in an open discussion Forum with CAT 2013 topper Namita Kapaley on September 17, 2014. Namita who scored 98.8 percentile in CAT 2013 shared her preparation strategy and guidance tips to crack CAT 2014 with CAT 2014 aspirants in an exclusive live question answer session organized on MBAUniverse.com forum.
Namita, an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineer from Mumbai University was offered admission by other IIMs and by other top B schools as well but she preferred IIM Ranchi. Namita had been working with Colgate Global Business Services Pvt Ltd Mumbai as a Demand Chain Analyst. She is a fitness enthusiast and loves to take part in marathons. Namita is a trained kick boxer.
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Namita received a volley of questions from CAT 2014 aspirants in the live session on Sep 17, 2014. We bring a round of 10 top questions asked by CAT 2014 aspirants and answered by Namita on various facets of CAT 2014 preparation.
Rakhi (CAT 2014 aspirant): I am a B. Tech fresher. I am preparing for CAT 2014 and want to know whether it is better to have work ex if you want to apply to colleges like IIM Ranchi or freshers are also treated at par? What do you suggest
Namita(CAT 2013 topper): Since you are already preparing, take stock of your preparation level as CAT 2014 isn’t far away. By default, your application goes to all IIMs and if you clear the cut-offs and academic score weightage, you will be shortlisted for GDPI according to individual college cutoff. There are different weightages given to you in CAT score, work- ex, academics in different colleges and shortlists are made accordingly.
Work ex is not necessary though you do get an edge, once you are in the MBA course. Freshers are treated the same.
Nalini & Sid (CAT 2014 aspirants): Please guide me I am going to take CAT 2014. Any thing that I should do during these last 2 months so that I score better. What strategy you adopted in the last 2 months of your preparation. Share quick tips.
Namita(CAT 2013 topper): There are no tips but general pointers. Balance your preparation between the 2 sections, solve mock papers, analyse your mocks and work on the weak areas. Take help from coaching classes or online forums where you can work with other aspirants. Don’t burn yourself out by setting big targets. Plan out your preparation, devote a few hours daily.
In the last two months, it is important that you appear for mocks and analyse them. It gives you the feel of the exam setting. Try to work on your weaker areas. I was weaker in the DI section, taking longer than average time to solve. So, it helps if you practise more and improve your accuracy. Attempt less if required but attempt correct. Try to read papers, or solve RC if you're not too comfortable with reading long passages.
Nikhita & Jiva (CAT 2014 aspirants): Please guide me for LR section. How to go about this specifically and also would like to know your views on the changed pattern of CAT 2014. Will it decrease the difficulty level? Will it be of any good for the CAT takers?
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): If you are familiar with the basic concepts, practise the questions else first go through the material from coaching classes/study notes. Practise the questions in mock papers and previous years papers. Go through the concepts and solve the sets. You can find the same on forums too.
Ankit & Sneha (CAT 2014 aspirants): I want to know about the speed and accuracy. How many questions you need to answer corrrectly in each section to fetch a good score so that even I can make it to an IIM just like you did. How can I improve speed. Please help me by guiding about the time one should devote with the new changed pattern.
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): Out of 30 per section, 10-15 is a decent attempt as long as you target 90-100% accuracy. I did 9-10 in QA-DI and 20-23 in VA-LR. Don't compromise on accuracy for speed. There is no way to increase your speed other than practising. Once you get familiar with the question types, you will be quicker. Focus on the weaker areas. Skimming through the entire section to choose the Qs beforehand might help.
In the new pattern of the exam, speed might be more important, but be careful not to lose accuracy. Pick the familiar questions and understand when it is taking time, to leave it or return to the question later. Try to prepare the strategy in your mock exams. Once you get comfortable with your approach, stick to it and follow the same in the exam. CAT 2014 will now be slightly longer duration with more questions. While it doesn't change the fact that you must focus on accuracy, it will be important to practise with the new pattern in mind. Test yourself with the new settings, practise mocks from coaching classes or MBA preparation forums, or set time and try to attempt with the number of questions according to new pattern.
Devleena (CAT 2014 aspirant): For a working professional it becomes difficult to give time to study. Can you help me out with this. Can you guide if I have only 3 hours each day, how can I benefit myself the most from those 3 hours.
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): 3 hours is more than sufficient to prepare. Make a study plan, choose your study areas as per your comfort. Make sets of questions (ex. 20 of VA and 3-4 sets of DI) and solve them in one go. Time yourself if you want. If you are through with the basics, take a few mocks, analyse. One day you can give the exam and the next day, analyse it.
Avinash(CAT 2014 aspirant):What Should be the strategy for DATA INTERPRETATION Section? it really is a big hurdle for me.
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): Practice the different types of DI sets. You may go through the previous years' CAT papers to get an idea of the DI Qs and solve them. Check with the solutions key to see if you could approach the set in another way. Practice all possible kinds of sets.
Deep & Prasanna (CAT 2014 aspirants): When I take mocks sometimes I score good, sometime I score really bad. I want to know how much difference is there in a real test and mock tests. How many mocks are sufficient to get confidence and what was your strategy during the exam.
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): The variable scores may be because of the level of difficulty of questions and your comfort. Don't compromise accuracy for number of attempts. It is okay to score bad, it is a mock and it is where you can improve and learn from your mistakes. Find out where you are going wrong. Since it is a relative scoring exam, your percentile will be decided based on the relative performance. Don't panic, you have time to prepare. Mocks may or may not be indicative of the real exam. Give it your best shot.
Mocks will help you plan your time and strategy for the main exam. It is not necessary to do too many mocks. More than the number, focus on the accuracy. Lets say you solve one mock on a Sunday, analyse it and by the end of the week, be through with all questions. Choosing the right questions and maximising accuracy was how I got the most out of my mocks. Remember to work on the questions you left out. In the limited exam time, planning is the most important part. Try not to waste too much time on a question. If it looks easy but taking too long, take cognizance of the time and move on. You may come back to it later.
Apeksha (CAT 2014 aspirant): I want to know about the GDPI. Any guidance for people with low confidence during the interview?
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): I would suggest that you be thorough with the basic questions that are always asked in the interviews, prepare for domain related questions, current affairs, have a point of view because that is what the panel wants to know in a GD/PI. Apart from reading papers, articles, practise talking in a mirror, practise with friends. You will be confident if you know what to speak.
Trisha(CAT 2014 aspirant): I want to know if I score a good percentile of 99 plus but am not very good in my interview will I be given a chance?
Namita(CAT 2013 topper): Interview holds significant marks in deciding your final convert. It is important that you do well in the interviews too, as that is when the college gets to see you in person. You have sufficient time, don't worry about interview now. Do keep abreast of the current affairs, be thorough with your domain subjects, know yourself, and be ready to speak about your hobbies etc. if asked. Prepare well, interviews are not to scare you.
Asif (CAT 2014 aspirant): I am in my final year of Engineering and am appearing for cat 2014 this year. My academic performance is not good as I wasn’t that interested in engineering. Will that affect in getting me shortlisted from premier IIMs or in GDPI, will that be an issue ,even if I score a high percentile in CAT 2014.
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): Different colleges give different weightage to academic performance. It might go against you in shortlisting criteria for some colleges but don't lose hope. Give your best shot to the preparation, the criteria keep changing every year so predicting will not help.
Imkraj(CAT 2014 aspirant): Can I know what was your startegy in selecting a B School?
Namita (CAT 2013 topper): There is no fixed way to go about. When you apply to colleges based on CAT, XAT , choose the ones you would actually go to, if converted. I chose my colleges based on various factors like reputation, faculty, specializations (if applicable, HRM, BM etc) location, and reviews. Do your research well.
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