How I prepared for CAT 2019, WAT/PI & Why I declined IIMs, IIFT, IIT-B…to join SPJIMR: 5 Toppers bare their secrets to MBAUniverse.com

CAT 2020 exam is now just days away and the best CAT preparation tips can come from the CAT toppers themselves. To help our readers aiming at CAT 2020, MBAUniverse.com interviewed CAT 2019 toppers who scored high percentiles and were offered admission by top B-schools but preferred to join SPJIMR Mumbai. These CAT toppers bare their weaknesses and how they won them over to crack CAT. They also share preparations for PI/WAT rounds and why they preferred joining SPJIMR instead of other top B-schools.

So, are you interested in learning from the journeys and experiences of these CAT Toppers? Well, then keep everything aside for next few minutes as MBAUniverse.com takes you up close and personal with these five dynamic MBAs in the making…

Before we start discussing about MBA exams and their college decisions, why don’t we first get to know them well – who they are, where did they study, do they have work-experience and more. So here is a snapshot…

CAT Toppers at SPJIMR Profiles: A snapshot

So now that you know them, let us take a look at their CAT journey…read on for their in depth interviews with MBAUniverse.com.

How did a Working Professional Kaiwalya Deshpande overcome the weak areas and crack CAT 2019 with 98.7 Percentile?

MBAUniverse.com: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?
Kaiwalya: One thing I focused upon was giving as many mocks as possible. I believe, that mocks constitute a major part of the CAT preparation journey. So along with the current year mocks, I also attempted questions from previous mocks. They served as a great practice tool. Moreover, it was around maximising my strengths and optimising my weak areas. VARC being my strong section, I tried to maximise my score through the same, along with an effort to get a decent percentile in Quants and LRDI.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for CAT? How did you prepare for VARC; DILR; QA

Kaiwalya:

VARC: I maximised my score through the RC section, since it consisted of 24 questions. I practiced 3-4 RCs daily, along with daily reading or newspaper articles and editorials. Apart from that, I gave a lot of sectional mocks. Sectional mocks in VARC help to improve the time management and judgement of questions.

LRDI: LRDI was one of my weakest section. To ensure that I improve my performance in this section, I tried to put maximum efforts here. I used to solve 6-7 sets daily.  In CAT 2018, my LRDI score was 72%, which ended up distorting my overall percentile really bad. Thus, in CAT 2019, I practiced the LRDI section for approximately 40% of my preparation time. I referred to LRDI sets from SIMCATS, AIMCATS and previous year CAT questions. Apart from these, I referred to a LRDI playlist by Elites Grid on you tube, which was super helpful for me to improvise. Even though I could not achieve the target on the exam day due to a miss, this approach helped me build upon my poor LRDI scores.

Quant: For quant section, I practiced extensively through previous mocks and questions from various Facebook groups. Maintaining the accuracy, with optimal attempt was the strategy for my quants section.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Kaiwalya: As I said earlier, I was weak at LRDI. The approaches and continuous practice regime helped me a lot to overcome my fear of approaching a LRDI set. I developed specific approaches whenever I came across any new LRDI set. The key to ace this section was to first get over the fear. Once you know that, yes, I can solve sets under 10-11 minutes, it gives up a great boost for the overall morale , and, in-turn, the scores.

MBAUniverse.com: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
Kaiwalya:I attempted almost 43 full length mocks and 20 sectional mocks, including AIMCAT as well as SIMCATs.  They were of great help, especially for making judgements about time management.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?
Kaiwalya: I was a part of Elites Grid prep course. CAT is an exam where 70-80% of the syllabus has been covered by everyone during the undergrad or school years. What matters here is mentoring, tweaking of approaches and judgement estimations. I believe, a class plays a great role here. Mentoring and peer learning help you to stay in the game and rise back again and again when you get demotivated.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Kaiwalya: My only strategy for the CAT day was ‘No strategy’. I had an experience in the mocks, if the test does not fall into the expected difficulty level, the strategy does not work. Which, in the end, results into more panic and chaos. I decided to not to keep any strategy , and decide it on the fly as soon as I get to see the paper. This actually helped me to maintain my calm, in the wake of an unprecedented, tough VARC section. 

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?
Kaiwalya: I placed my GDPI preparation around 3 major areas, viz, personal questions, questions related to work experience, and questions relating to undergraduate academics. Even though I had an experience of 2 years, I was asked tough questions from Mechanical Engineering. So the thorough academic preparation helped me get through. Daily newspaper reading, analysing current events and probable questions on them helped me crack all my GDs. For WAT, I had practiced a few in a timely manner.

I had been asked a plethora of questions ranging from the efficiency of the Brayton cycle, temperature of forging process, refrigeration cycle to the reach of the Chola Empire and the last ruler of the Chalukyaempire. It really depends upon how you steer the interview. Apart from the basic Why MBA, strengths/weakness and other questions, these were some of the peculiar questions asked to me in my GDPIs.

MBAUniverse.com: What motivated you to choose SPJIMR over other B-schools?
Kaiwalya: SPJIMR’s teaching pedagogy, its unique programs like the Abhuydaya, DOCC, and bright prospects. SPJIMR fit well into my idea of, how I would want to pursue an MBA, and what knowledge gaps I needed to fill. This was primarily the major reason behind choosing SPJIMR.

MBAUniverse.com: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.
Kaiwalya: CAT is an exam, full of surprises and shocks. Do not fall into a preconceived notion about the difficulty and pattern of the paper. Rather be thorough on your preparation part, and you will be able to ace it!

How 15 Minutes of regular practice and study helped fresher, Sriza Ghosh to crack CAT 2019 with 98.62 percentile?

MBAUniverse.com: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?
Sriza: My strategy revolved around maximising my marks scored in each section with special emphasis on my weaknesses. Mocks and modules constituted the major part of my preparation. Regularity was my secret key to scoring a good percentile. Despite my undergrad exams and placements, I ensured that I spent at least 15 minutes per section every day. This helped me ensure that I don’t lose touch.
Alongside this I also picked one section, tried to strengthen myself in the particular section over a span of about a month before moving on to the next section.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for CAT? How did you prepare for VARC; DILR; QA

Sriza:

VARC: VARC was my strongest section owing the fact that I had been reading since a very nascent age. However, CAT VARC has a very diverse set of topics that range from philosophy to economy to science and polity. Being comfortable with the flow of the passage is of prime importance, so regular reading of articles across domains from websites like Aeon essays helped with the familiarity.

LRDI: When I started preparing for CAT, LRDI posed to be a challenge, however in due course of time I was able to handle this section well. I solved one LR set and one DI set every day. Apart from this, taking sectionals twice a week was extremely helpful. These sectionals helped in understanding the topic that needed special focus and then I tried to perfect the topic by solving questions specific to that topic.

Quant: QM being my weakest section needed a lot of focussed effort. I delegated two or three days to each topic and solved questions over a range of difficulty levels to prefect that topic before moving on the next topic. Arun Sharma’s quants book was instrumental in helping me manage a decent score in QM.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Sriza: QM was my weakest section. Topic wise preparation and topic wise sectionals helped me score better than my expectations.

MBAUniverse.com: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
Sriza: Taking mocks every week initially helped me gauge my level of preparedness with respect to the entire exam, each section and each topic. Closer to the D-day, two mocks a week became the norm. After every mock I analysed the questions and tweaked the test taking strategy as per my performance. The initial mocks were dedicated to finalising a strategy that was best suited to my needs and the last few mocks were aimed at maximising the score by perfecting the finalised strategy. As the CAT was right in the middle of my undergrad exams, I wasn’t able to take mocks a week prior to the CAT.I attempted about 20 mocks including previous year papers.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?
Sriza: I enrolled at TIME, CP. The main reason behind this was a sense of direction for preparation.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Sriza:My CAT strategy revolved around staying in control of my emotions. At the end of every section I took a minute-long break and closed my eyes. Moving from one section to the next is onerous, however this practice reduced the sudden stress.

For VARC, I solved all the RC passages first and then moved to the VA section. A very smooth shift from one part to the next ensured that no time is wasted in getting in the zone for the next part.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?
Sriza: Increasing both, the breadth and depth of knowledge was my goal. I read articles across genres, updated myself with the latest happenings and also delved deep into the history, civics, and geography of the places I have lived in. The basic cheat-code was to know everything about me and my surroundings. Alongside this, I brushed up on my undergrad subjects and explored my own self. 

Common questions from all interviews are as under:

1. Introduce yourself.
2. Why MBA?
3. As a fresher how do you plan to keep up with the rigour of a Bschool?
4. Questions about hobbies, extra curriculars and academics
5. Opinions on current affairs.

MBAUniverse.com: What motivated you to choose SPJIMR over other B-schools?
Sriza: The batch composition of SPJIMR is very diverse and the peer learning is infinite. Profile based calls ensure that students prodigious students make it to the batch. The holistic learning experience that SPJIMR provides is akin to none other as SPJIMR is known to focus on creating efficient managers and not rote learners.

Researching about the curriculums of my converts, I realised that SPJIMR focuses on both in-classroom learning and outbound learning which is very lucrative.

Besides this, I consulted people working closely with the industry, they all urged me to go for SPJIMR owing to its reputation in the industry.

MBAUniverse.com: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.
Sriza: Consistency is they key to cracking CAT. Stay focussed and practice regularly. Confidence and calmness are the two pillars on which your final performance rests, so channel your inner Budhha and ace the exam.

Not a cake walk for Working Professional, HariAshwathRamachandran with 3+ Years Work Experience to crack CAT 2019 with 99.44 percentile

MBAUniverse.com: Let’s start with your overall preparation strategy for CAT? Tell us more about it…

Hari Ashwath: My strategy revolved around mocks, and building the endurance to last 3 hours, while trying to choose the right questions. CAT, I realized at one point, was a test of endurance, speed and accuracy, where you have to be mentally prepared and attuned to problem solving for the entirety of the 180 minutes, while ensuring that you pick the right questions – this is of great importance, because in my opinion, this one factor can differentiate the 99+ percentilers from the rest.

Practice is the one thing that you have to rely on, and that will help you throughout the process (pre-CAT, CAT, as well as post CAT, during the GDPI process). Target the right questions, be mentally prepared for anything, stay sharp for the entirety of the exam, and practice.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for CAT? How did you prepare for VARC; DILR; QA

Hari Ashwath:

VARC:I started preparation off with a mock. From that preliminary mock, I was able to set a base – Strong VARC, a horribly weak DILR, and a moderate QA profile. So, I did not prepare exclusively for VARC at any point of time, instead focused on reading editorials and news (politics, business and economy) so as to optimise my reading time (A useful exercise I’ve noticed some of my friends do is to try and summarize the article in 100-150 words. I was working, and hence did not find the time to do that).

LRDI: was something that was completely new to me (I had expected it to be similar to Banking Services, but it was a bouncer), and I made sure to spend time understanding where I made the error in judgement, and practicing the puzzles post mock. I dedicated a lot of time to LRDI during the entirety of prep, and learnt to categorize them in terms of difficulty (easy, moderate, hard, very hard) and in terms of familiarity (conventional, unconventional). Ultimately, your performance in LRDI boiled down to whether you picked the right sets to solve. In my experience, unconventional sets are generally easier (even as they appear hard), and it is extremely important to take a good look at the question in order to adjudge the difficulty (Greater the number of unknowns, beware). Having stated this, please make sure that you read the options as well. In a hard paper, it’s always better to have 3 partially solved sets than 1 completely solved set in the same period of time.

Quant:QA turned out to be my Achilles heel by the end of my preparation process, as I had spent excessive periods of time preparing for LRDI. QA needs a lot of practice, and it does have some important concepts that one may have to master (just take a look at numbers and numerical ability, and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about). Areas such as Geometry, Algebra and Modern Math are pretty straightforward, and one has already faced problems of this difficulty before. It’s just that you’d have to make a split second decision to choose to solve, and what you have to do to solve the problem (picking the data, and knowing exactly what to do with it). And this gets easier with practice, so make sure you ration your preparation properly, and give adequate time to all sections based on your competence.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Hari Ashwath: A was the one section I was weak at. While I knew what had to be done, I lacked the time (I was working at the time of preparation, and barely got 2-3 hours a day to prepare). At this stage, I was just solving mocks every 3 days, and spent the remainder of the two days analysing different sections, and checking what went wrong, and how I could have done things differently. This was not enough for QA, and I needed some more practice, and I may have needed to spend some time in getting the concepts clear.

MBAUniverse.com: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
Hari Ashwath: As I said earlier, my entire preparation strategy revolved around mocks (TIME AIMCATs and IMS SimCATs – while the former is tough and has a lot of students subscribe to it, SimCATs are highly conceptual; they provide the perfect balance). I would write one mock every 3 days beginning May 2019, and spend the remaining 2 days analysing the sections, checking what went wrong (conceptual error versus a blunder etc) and I would try and practice the relevant concept to get a hold of it. Towards the end of the process, by November 2019, I had attempted 47-50 mocks. I did not attempt any full length mocks during the last week before the exam, and only spent time on sectionals, and trying some important conceptual questions from each section.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?
Hari Ashwath:I took up weekend coaching at TIME, because I had started late in my prep (I started prep in May 2019) and I was working. I thought the classroom environment would give me a structured way to approach CAT, and also help me connect with others who are preparing, and some healthy competition. I did find what I was looking for, but I ended up missing a lot of classes (I worked at a Bank, and had alternate Saturdays working). I couldn’t make up for those, but the mentors there were kind enough to clarify my doubts over WhatsApp.

Choose any platform that helps you streamline your prep, and that gets you in touch with others who are preparing so that you stay abreast of the latest happenings, and so that you inculcate a competitive behaviour (healthy competition, of course). This is important.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Hari Ashwath: I was allotted to the 2^nd Slot (Afternoon slot), 24^th November, 2020. I woke up at 6:30 that morning, and sat down to solve some LRDI puzzles. I completed an entire section, glanced through some basic QA problems and concepts, and went through the newspaper (the editorial followed by the business and economy section, as usual).

I tried to not let the stress get to me, and I stayed well hydrated through the process. My strategy was in place, and I knew what I had to do and how I had to approach each section (For instance, since my RC skills were strong, my strategy revolved around completing all 5 RCs before jumping in to the VA part).

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?
Hari Ashwath:I mostly relied on the newspaper reading habit to help me with General Awareness, and editorials had given me a good comprehensive view of sensitive social issues. What’s important during this process is to be able to look at any given problem in multiple perceptions (we have the PESTEL framework for instance, which will be useful in WAT and AWT, as well as the GDPI rounds). While diplomacy is important, do be mindful that they do expect an opinion from you at the end of the day, and not just a restatement of the facts. So, ensure that you make a recommendation or develop an opinion based on your inferences from the facts, and craft it in such a manner that you satisfy the maximum number of stakeholders (most of the time, someone loses out, and that is okay – maximum number of stakeholders, not all).

Some of the topics I got for GD/WAT were “Is there a need for technical education overhaul? Are technical institutes failing in their task of providing education seeing as most engineers are moving into the management side of things?”, “Privatization of Health and Education sectors in India”, and “Public Sector Undertakings should be privatized”.

For PI, just be sure of what you want to do. Introspect, understand why you’re doing this, and go in there with clearly defined goals in mind. Remember, you are not expected to know the modalities, but are expected to have a clear view of what you have been doing till now, how this program will help you (what your expectations are, what you know about the program, and where you see yourself after this program). If you are mentioning a particular industry, be mindful of all news or current affairs related to it, and some basic terms associated with it. Also be wary of news related to the sector you are currently working in (as well as your firm).

MBAUniverse.com: What motivated you to choose SPJIMR over other B-schools?
Hari Ashwath: SPJIMR was the one B-School that resonated with me. I liked the entire process that was followed, from the way Adcom managed the process, to the uniqueness of the process itself (Group Interviews, as opposed to PI, which all other institutes were accustomed to doing). The WAT test was also different in comparison. GIs gave me an opportunity to actually see my peers’ decision making process, or to work in collaboration with one another during the process. SPJIMR was also my first interview, and the first result I got (in March 2020).

MBAUniverse.com: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.
Hari Ashwath:While I realize that most of the things I have spoken about here have more to do with old 180 minute format, and while I am aware that the process has been changed to a 120 minute exam (with 40 minutes per section), I believe that the rules of the game have not. Please ensure that you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and pick the right questions. Keep practicing, and ensure that your mock practice goes on. Analyse after every mock, practice, and choose wisely. All the best!

How a Footballer, Swimmer and fresher with B.Tech, Hemang Syamantakmani Pandit from Nashik, cracked CAT 2019 with 99.18 percentile

MBAUniverse.com: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?
Hemang: I had planned in February that I’ll be giving the CAT that year itself but felt that I needed some backup in case things didn’t go my way. Hence, I only started preparing seriously for CAT only after securing a job offer from a tech firm in June, after which I dedicated most of my time to CAT prep. The prep usually consisted of solving question booklets from TIME and giving a mock every weekend and analysing them meticulously so that I could realise where I could improve myself. I ended up giving 30+ mocks before CAT which I think contributed the most to my CAT score, because I was so used to giving the 3-hour test that I was ready for whatever was to come.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for CAT? How did you prepare for VARC; DILR; QA

Hemang:

VARC:  VARC is a tricky section where not only your reading speed but critical thinking also matters a lot. I initially focussed on improving my words-per-minute(WPM) speed by time practicing on RCs with known word counts and kept fine tuning my approach till I was satisfied with the end product, that is reading fast enough to get an advantage but also making sure that you read carefully so that you don’t have to keep going back to the passage to answer questions. This saved me a lot of time which I could use judiciously for the para-jumbles and odd-man-out which I usually found tricky.

DILR:DILR was not my strongest area and hence I always focussed on getting a minimum of 4-5 sets done 100% correctly. I knew that I wasn’t quick enough in the DILR section so I focussed on getting my accuracy up by practicing every type of question religiously till I was extremely comfortable in solving those type of questions, which gave me 100% accuracy in what I solved, and gave me a good enough score even if I did not solve as much as others. Practicing from mocks and Arun Sharma seemed to help me a lot.

Quant:QA is a section where knowing that 2+2=4 already is much better than adding 2+2 to get 4 on the spot, because that saves you time. I used to analyse my mocks thoroughly and make notes of any new trick or fact that could shorten the time taken to solve a question for me. Regular practice and working over mistakes made in mocks is the most important factor here. As they say, “the more you sweat while training, the less you bleed in war”, you should keep practicing till you find yourself comfortable with the subject.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Hemang: DILR was the section which troubled me a lot. I used to take a lot of time to solve those sets and still I used to end up with wrong answers. The way I overcame this was firstly by working on my comprehending skills to identify how to get the data out in the best way for any given question and how to approach the question in a better way. Many times, we are too eager to solve the question and end up missing out on the info and the best way to approach a set. Also, rather than going by order, I started by going through the whole question paper and then ordering the sets as per my ability to solve them by giving them a quick skim through. This approach took my 5 mins but it ensured that I solved all those sets I knew I could easily solve without missing out on any deserving marks. This approach helped a lot.

MBAUniverse.com: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
Hemang: I feel that mocks are probably the most important instrument in CAT preparation. If given seriously, they give you a real time feel of what the exam would be like and help you prepare for the D-day in the best way possible. It is important to try out different combinations while giving the mocks so that you figure out the best strategy for yourself. Experiment with the question solving order, or how you attempt the RCs so that you realise how you can maximise your score. I went a step ahead and gave mocks while sitting in high noise environments, while being sleep deprived and even while feeling really sleepy so that I could gauge my performance even in the worst-case scenario and be ready accordingly. I ended up giving 30+ mocks, all of which helped me get a good score in some way or the other.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?
Hemang: I joined a coaching institute just for the mocks and GDPI prep as I felt it was better to challenge myself by meeting other prospective candidates and seeing what they are doing to prepare for CAT. But all the other preparation was done by myself because I felt I could do it as I was really determined to work hard.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Hemang: I gave my last mock about 6 days before CAT and never gave any other test before CAT as I didn’t want any recent close to CAT mock result to affect my mindset. For the rest 5 days I revised my notes a bit but mostly chilled out and hung around with friends to destress myself before CAT. A day before the exam I just revised my QA formula sheet and slept early to make sure I was properly rested on the day of the exam.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?
Hemang: I’d joined a coaching class for my GDPI prep and we used to have mock GD sessions almost 3-4 times a week with 10-15 other candidates and used to have a feedback session after those. It is always better to prepare for GDPI with other candidates as it expands your perspectives and gives you a real time idea of the process. My PI was mostly about my academics and extra-curriculars as I did not have any work experience and what I had filled in my application forms proved to be the major part of rest of the conversations.

MBAUniverse.com: What motivated you to choose SPJIMR over other B-schools?
Hemang: SPJIMR is one of the top-ranking B-schools in the country. Coming here is a dream for many, but what set SPJIMR apart for me was their focus on specialisations from the entry stage itself. They gave admits to candidates specifically for a chosen stream which made the whole program specialised, something that I was looking for. Also, the other initiatives like ADMAP and social internship during DOCC proved to be a major motivator for me.

MBAUniverse.com: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.
Hemang: Just be yourself and try your best. What works for one person need not necessarily work for you as well. Try and find what works the best for you and keep working on your strengths. Once you figure out what you’re looking for, you’ll realise that things are much easier when going forward.

How a Cricketer &Working Professional with 2 Years Experience SaiPrashanth Sridhar prepared and cracked CAT 2019 with 99.59 percentile

MBAUniverse.com: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?
Sai Prashanth: Three to four month prep: Initial 2 months on basics and fundamentals of all topics. Final 1 to 2 months on test taking strategies.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your sectional preparation strategy for CAT? How did you prepare for VARC; DILR; QA

​Sai Prashanth: 

VARC: Read 1 RC every day, solve 2 to 3 para jumbles every day. In CAT, Attempt the passages that are easy first, then attempt the easy para jumbles and summary type questions. Then move to the more moderate/difficult questions.

DILR: Most mock tests fail to get DILR right. The questions are either too easy or too hard. CAT DILR is usually hard enough to make us think, but not hard enough to discourage aspirants. Find and practise questions/concepts from previous CAT papers to get a clear picture of what to expect.

QA:Invest 5-7 mins in going through questions andclassifyingthem as easy, moderate and hard.Attempt all the easy questions first. This will take two third of the total time. In the remaining time, try to finish the moderate questions.

MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section/area that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
​Sai Prashanth: Was not too good at VARC. Had to invest more time by practicing speedreading every day. No shortcuts there.

MBAUniverse.com: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
​Sai Prashanth: Mocks play a crucial role in trying out multiple test-taking strategies and fixating on the one that works best for us. I gave around 15 mocks.

MBAUniverse.com: Did you self-prepare or attend a coaching centre and why?
​Sai Prashanth: Attended TIME. Did not want to leave any stone unturned.

MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
​Sai Prashanth: Strategy is same as the one mentioned in Q2. The overall idea is to ensure that any question that majority of others get right, must be attempted by the aspirant and answered correctly.

On the day before CAT, do not learn anything new. Just give a glance of the concepts already learnt.

MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT. Please share your GD/WAT topics & PI questions?
​Sai Prashanth: Referred the SPJIMR website to understand the core values of the institute. Learnt about some of the USPs like Abhyudhaya. Use apps like Finshots to get a quick download of global news. Reading books helps with WAT, as the topics can get philosophical.

WAT topic: “If everybody spoke their mind, will the world be a better place.”

GD1: Questions were mostly centred around my Work Exp in analytics and marketing. Other lighter questions on a recent book I said I had read, as I had mentioned reading as an interest.

GD2: Ethical dilemma:  Case 1: You work in an IT firm. You have a client who is a friend. You recently saw that you have unofficial access to certain platforms that enables you to receive access for bug fixes in a day, while in a normal scenario it will take a week for the fix to be reflected. The client is happy as his work is getting done quickly. But the access you have is not in accordance with the rules. What will you do?

Case 2: You are a doctor working on finding a cure to the Ebola pandemic that is killing millions world over. Your company recently created an effective drug that can cure the illness. But this drug is not yet FDA approved. The approval will take 6 months to come. You have patients dying in front you. Will you use the drug?

MBAUniverse.com: What motivated you to choose SPJIMR over other B-schools?
​Sai Prashanth: Best convert.

MBAUniverse.com: Your final message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2020.
​Sai Prashanth: Gamify the CAT experience. Do not stress too much about the results. Enjoy the experience. It is just another aptitude test!

Hope the above interviews of CAT toppers , how they prepared and cracked CAT and their decision to choose SPJIMR over other top B-schools are found useful in your CAT preparation journey.

S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) Mumbai is a constituent of the BharatiyaVidyaBhavan. This premier school of management is noted for pedagogic innovations and pioneering programmes, which have helped the institute stand out for its unique and distinctive path in management education. Its flagship programme is the two-year Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM). SPJIMR also runs a Post Graduate Family Managed Business (PGFMB) programme, the 15-month Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM), the Post Graduate Executive Management Programme (PGEMP), the Global Management Programme (GMP - formerly known as PGCIM), the Post Graduate Programme in Development Management (PGPDM) programme.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on SPJIMR Mumbai