CAT 2016: Huge score variance in mocks must not worry you; success mantra from IIM Trichy student Shikhar

CAT 2016 aspirants need not worry even if they started their preparation journey a little late. This is exactly what happened with Shikhar Garg, CAT topper and IIM Trichy student who seriously marched on his preparation journey in the month of August 2015 and cracked CAT 2015 with 98.79 percentile and converted call to many other IIMs, other top B-schools but decided upon IIM Trichy.

For the benefit of CAT 2016 aspirants, MBAUniverse.com has brought a round of CAT toppers success stories alongwith their success mantra that led them to crack CAT with high percentile. In the series we present the success story and CAT 2016 preparation tips shared by Shikhar Garg, student of IIM Trichy and CAT topper with a percentile as high as 98.79.

Shikhar believes that you should not worry at all even if you get a huge score variance in your mocks as they will help you further in doing better each time.

Shikhar hails from Agra, the city of TajMahal. After completing his B.Tech he joined Infosys and before joining IIM Trichy, could gather a work experience of 6 months. He has a good academic record with 89.33% in class 10 and 84.6% in class 12. Shikhar scored 71.18% in his B.Tech.

Shikhar has a keen interest in Dance, Movies, Acting and Cooking. According to him his inspiration came from his peers who were preparing for UPSC, GATE. Shikhar got inspired by their dedication and hard work which is something to really learn and apply in life.

MBAUniverse.com: What was your preparation strategy for CAT 2015?
Shikhar (CAT topper): My serious preparation started from August 2015 when I adopted a defined strategy for CAT. I first finished each section one by one namely QA, VARC and DILR from the study material of the coaching centre.
I used to practice daily for around 4 to 6 hours. Each section took 2 weeks. After that I started devoting 2 hours to each section daily and then referred to the notes for clarifications. During the last 1 month, I took mocks, one every day and other 3 hours for self-study. That much was enough. Being consistent is very important.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for each section QA, VARC & DILR? What study materials and books did you use?
Shikhar (CAT topper): For me, QA and DILR were not a problem. I was very much afraid of VA, so just practiced and started reading a lot of cases, articles. I didnt use anything other than the coaching material.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Shikhar (CAT topper): In VARC, I used to face a lot of problem especially in the RC. For that, I just practiced a lot mostly, RCs. In verbal, there is no other option, you will get better after reading a lot of RCs.

MBAUniverse.com: How can candidates use Mock tests better? What is your advice?
Shikhar (CAT topper): Use mocks for practice only and analyse your weaknesses. There is always a huge variance in the mock tests, please dont worry about it and take one mock every day so that you get used to a 3 hour episode of stress.

Do write down the areas in which you are weak and practice them by yourself. Try to take mocks as if you are taking real CAT and choose the same testing hours for example if CAT test timing is 9AM to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 PM, take mock during the similar hours. This will prepare your body to be active during these hours.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you go to offline coaching centre? What role does a coaching centre play?
Shikhar (CAT topper): Yes, as it guides you in the right direction. It is all 10th standard but there will always be something which books cant teach you. And again surely the competition spirit you get. Once CAT is over, that same institute prepares you for the further process which is tougher and more stressful than the CAT itself.

MBAUniverse.com: Other than CAT, which exam did you appear?
Shikhar (CAT topper): Apart from CAT 2015 in which I scored 98.79, I appeared in IIFT and NMAT by GMAC.

MBAUniverse.com: Which institutes did you apply for admission?
Shikhar (CAT topper): All the IIMs, IIFT, SJMSOM, NMIMS, NITIE, IIT Delhi, SPJIMR.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Shikhar (CAT topper): I had a good sleep the night before the examination. It is good to keep 1 hour in advance to reach the test venue. Keep yourself calm. Dont eat too much and dont go inside without eating anything. When the D-day is near, dont start fidgeting. Stay normal and there will be no problem because you have already taken a hell lot of mocks.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions at different institutes and the ones who offered you admission?

Shikhar (CAT topper): Shared below-
NMIMS: Case Discussion topic It was a case related to the education system in Mumbai. We had to analyse it and give some recommendations.
Interview questions: Nothing technical. Basic HR type questions.

1. -- Why MBA as a fresher?
2. -- Short term and long term goals?
3. -- How would you finance your course in NMIMS?

IIM Shillong: WAT: An egg today than a hen tomorrow.
Interview questions: One lady and one gentleman.

1. -- Started from a lot of technical stuff from engineering.
2. -- I am from ECE so there were questions from Microwave, Microprocessors.
3. -- After technical, they asked Why MBA?
4. -- What do you understand by stock market? What is a bull and a bear? Which is good for economy from them?
5. -- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
6. -- They were actually giving candies to some candidates so they asked what do you think why we are giving candies to only some candidates.

New IIMs: WAT Topic What are the problems for the host country during a refugee crisis?

Interview was a massacre and surely a stress interview.

1. -- Started off with normal conversation like what is the meaning of your name then fathers occupation, siblings and a lot of other background stuff.
2. -- Then straight to technical that to like anything. What is energy? What is heat? What is force? Then they came to engineering. Asked about sensors and antennas.
3. -- In the end, they told me to call the next person and whispered among each other that lets throw the next one out as well.
4. SJMSOM: WAT Topic There were 2 WAT topics and had to write both. One was related to the analysis of the stakeholders of Make In India campaign and other one on Are engineers devaluing their degree by pursuing MBA?
5. -- Interview questions: It was the best interview. Chilled out panel.

Tell us about yourself?
Why MBA?
Then a male prof. asked a lot of SQL queries because of my training at Infosys. Then he went on to ask some concepts of electronics mostly antennas and microwave.
Then a female prof. asked a normal logical question, pretty easy. She pushed me whether I was sure or not but I was confident about my answer.
Then another female prof. asked me about my future goals and what would you like to learn before coming to a b-school.

NITIE: GD Topic Something related to good ethics in Industrialisation.
Interview Questions: It was a very bad experience. They asked questions about banking like NPA, discount rate etc. and I had no idea about it. After that they finally asked about my final year project.
MBAUniverse.com: Which B-school you decided upon and why?
Shikhar (CAT topper): I was confused between SJMSOM and IIM Trichy but in the end I finalized IIM Trichy. There is a completely different aura and functioning of an IIM. Also, among newer IIMs, it is one of the best and fastest growing.
MBAUniverse.com: Any message you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2016.

Shikhar (CAT topper): I would only suggest to be consistent. For final year students, dont lose out on your academics because you can take CAT again but if your UG marks fall then it will create problem in shortlists. Lastly, keep up with the current affairs, it is a long term investment for any job/college in the world.