Pursuing PGP 2015-17 at IIM Ranchi, Raghvendra Singh is an inspiration for CAT 2015 aspirants. He gave up his job to prepare for CAT and his hard work resulted in CAT score of 96.49 taking him to IIM Ranchi.
Raghvendra belongs to a small but well known town Kota in Rajasthan. He is a B.Tech from BITS Goa and M.Sc in Information Systems. Raghvendra also has an experience of 13 months to his credit in Ramco Systems Limited, Chennai.
He opted for IIM Ranchi although he had admission offers from IMT and SIMSR. Sharing with MBAUniverse.com, Raghvendra reveals his success mantra to inspire the CAT 2015 aspirants
MBAUniverse.com:What was your preparation strategy? Share some key do’s and don’ts
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I was adamant on joining a B-school in the year 2015, so in August 2014 I decided to quit my job after 13 months of experience and dedicate my full time and attention to CAT and other exams. Took me a while to get the hang of studies after so long but then along with the classroom coaching that I had joined, I started to get into the zone.I laid down my targets for each month topic wise and started practicing. I gave almost 2-3 mocks each week as the CAT date approached nearer. Since I had left my job, it was easy to lose focus so this is one thing I always kept in my mind.
MBAUniverse.com: What was your strategy in testing room to attempt the questions from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I just had one strategy and that was time management. Since I was more confident in the LR & Verbal section, it was always my first attempt. This year’s CAT did not have any sectional time limits so that worked to my advantage as I could dedicate more time to LR which resulted in a better efficiency. For Quant I kept my attempts to the minimum.
MBAUniverse.com: Which all exams did you write? How did you prepare for them? What score did you get?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I appeared for six exams in total viz. CAT, IIFT, NMAT, SNAP, XAT and TISS. My preparations for the remaining exams was almost on the similar track as for CAT with some additions like for XAT, TISS I focused more on the GK and current affairs. Out of these I cleared cutoffs for CAT (96.49%) and XAT (96.68%)
MBAUniverse.com: How many GDPI did you take part in? What were your GD/WAT topics?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I attended just one GD which was for MDI as rest of the colleges had WAT process. The topic of discussion was “Has the Nirbhaya case taken the long discussed patriarchal debate to next level”
MBAUniverse.com: Few questions that were asked to you during PI round?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): Since I am a movie buff, 2 of my interviews( KJ Somaiya and IIM Ranchi) were totally focused around movies and I had also shown my interest towards HR in almost all the interviews, so there were some HR industry specific questions too like how I would handle situations as an HR manager.
Apart from these some interviews had basic 12th level Mechanics questions and some current affairs topics viz. Land acquisition Bill and the financial budget 2015. IMT was a stress interview where I was being asked a lot of questions as to why I had a low undergrad score and why I had left my job for MBA preparation. XIMB interview was purely technical based on Undergrad Comp Science questions.
MBAUniverse.com: The institutes that offered you admission?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I got offers from IIMR HR, IMT (DCP) and SIMSR (K J Somaiya)
MBAUniverse.com: Why did you decide in favour of IIM Ranchi only?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): I finally decided to go with IIM Ranchi HR. First and foremost reason being my interest in HR as it was the only IIM to offer an HR course. Also since it is rated amongst the best in the new IIMs category and since it’s a growing institute there was a greater scope of learning.
MBAUniverse.com: Why did you want to do MBA?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): Funny that I’m replying to this question now after joining MBA. But anyway. I joined MBA solely for the love of HR as being the kind of person I am, I always related myself to HR. Also after during my job as a technical employee, I got an opportunity to work in a functional role for 3 months which further drew me towards functional roles rather than going for technical roles. And for a functional role you need an MBA!!
MBAUniverse.com: What advice and tips you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2015?
Raghavendra (CAT topper): Practice is the key. Practice as many problems as you can. Figure out and focus on your strengths as they will help you score the most. Number of attempts shouldn’t be the aim, main target should be to increase the efficiency. All your preparations boil down to that one D-day so be calm and composed during your paper.
MBAUniverse.com: Your message to future MBA aspirants
Raghavendra (CAT topper): MBA is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Don’t miss the chance to get into a good b-school. During the past two months of my life at IIMR, I have realized that no matter how hectic the schedules get, you can always take some positives out of every situation and eventually you will carry these positives with you when you step into the industry.
MBAUniverse.com: Any special story which you would like to share, experienced by you in your journey from being a CAT aspirant to a successful topper
Raghavendra (CAT topper): Leaving job was not easy for me. There were times when I used to regret this decision. And there was a moment when I approached my ex-manager asking him to rejoin the organization and reprise my role. But then the urge to get into a good B-school did not let me go in that direction. So maybe leaving the job was the biggest motivator for me which eventually took me to IIM Ranchi.
MBAUniverse.com: Thanks Raghvendra for sharing such a valuable guidance for CAT 2015 aspirants
Raghavendra (CAT topper): Thank you very much
CAT 2015 will be held on November 29, 2015 and will be a single day 2 session exam. CAT 2015 exam pattern has changed and the test is divided in 3 sections instead of 2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning which were clubbed to Quant and verbal sections respectively will now be placed in a separate section, known as DILR with 32 questions. CAT 2015 will have Non-MCQ type questions also apart from MCQs. The candidate will have to type the answer on the computer screen for the non-MCQ type questions.
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