A Stellar Achievement Of 98.85 Percentile- Get The Scoop On CAT Preparation Strategy By Mohit Verma, SJMSOM IIT Bombay

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This story shall be an inspiration to all those who feel that time and CAT coaching classes are the key drivers for a good CAT preparation strategy. This is Mohit Verma's journey, who scored 98.85 percentile, where he tries to break the stereotypes and conventions, and help the student fraternity understand and realize the power that lies within themselves. 

The Path to Best CAT Preparation Strategy

Though I had enough technical acumen and a B.Tech degree in Electrical engineering from NIT Surat with a respectable CGPA of 8.84, within weeks of the induction program in TATA Power, I realized my interests actually lie in the management world. With this awareness, I started to prepare for CAT 2019 around the fourth week of July 2019. 

This was my first attempt where I had to prepare for CAT. Given the short time frame of 4 months coupled with a 6-day job where I worked 8-10 hours daily, I had to be realistic in setting the targets and milestones in my CAT preparation journey. I could not go and straightaway start solving piles of coaching materials, tests, and study guides.

Also read: Details About CAT Syllabus 2022 & CAT Exam Pattern- Everything You Need To Know!

A Step in the Right Direction

For the initial few weeks, I focused on getting myself acquainted with the demands of various entrance exams, especially on how to prepare for CAT which later became the focal point of my strategy. For this, I religiously went through all the previous year's papers for various MBA entrance exams. This helped me strategize a curated plan for each of them. As I stepped ahead to prepare for CAT, I made sure that I don't neglect any of the 3 sections and constantly remain in touch with all of them. 

Quantitative Aptitude (QA): Armed with all the inputs, I realized that the Quantitative Aptitude section did not require a dedicated effort, but only a bit of fine-tuning for me personally. I concentrated more on the approach because this section hardly requires one to memorize formulas. 

In my opinion, one must approach the questions from the basics and stick to the rudimentary techniques while preparing for CAT, like the unitary method, etc. rather than cluttering their minds with unnecessary shortcuts and formulas. To retain his/her speed, it is also crucial that the candidate memorizes factorials (till 10), squares (till 30), cubes (till 15), and tables(till 30) which come in handy during exams.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC): Similarly for the VARC, I realized that this section does not demand much. As you carry on with your CAT preparations, you realize that the VARC section basically judges the critical thinking ability along with a certain level of command of the English language. So I made a routine to practice at least 8-10 RCs along with sectional tests daily.

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (LRDI): I personally felt that the LRDI section was the hardest of all. I dedicated a major chunk of my CAT preparation time to this section. Initially, when I began to prepare for the CAT exam, I went through the solutions and learned about the manner of approaching these problems. I focused more on those caselets which were a mix of both logical reasoning and data interpretation. From what I have experienced, the previous year's CAT questions of LRDI are probably the best that one can get. So it is important for the candidates to be thorough with these.

Also read: How to Prepare for CAT Exam 2022? CAT Preparation Timetable, Guidance, Tips, And More!

Benefits of Taking Full-Length Mocks

The last 1½ months of time I had left before the CAT exam date were dedicated to full-length mocks. I made it a point to give at least 4-5 mocks per week. The right way to go about your CAT preparations is to do a thorough analysis of these mocks to refine your preparation strategy and realize your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses. From there on, I focused on the topics which troubled me during the mock tests. This helped me to constantly improve my mock scores rather than hitting a plateau. 

Mocks also helped me strategize an approach to a particular section and to get habitual to attempting questions presented on a screen rather than the conventional pen-paper test.

Also read: 8 Best Books For CAT Preparation: Know How You Can Ace CAT 2022

CAT Preparation Tips For Other Aspirants

As I prepared for CAT while working in the Power sector, I believe time management was the most crucial part, which required constant adjustments and adaptations. After appearing in a few mock tests, I realized that it was important to capitalize on your strengths rather than stumbling and wasting your energy and time on your weakness.

You would be surprised to know that I hardly referred to any CAT coaching material or study guides for CAT preparation. The focal point of my preparation was the previous year's CAT papers, which helped me secure a 99+ percentile in the exam. I also enrolled in IMS and CrackU test series which I felt were sufficient. I started preparing for CAT by the end of July 2019. It was important for me to realize that I would not be able to cover the complete course because I also had to manage my job.

I began going through the previous year's CAT papers. Believe me, this is the heart and soul of cracking the CAT exam, because it is imperative to gauge what the exam demands. 

Verdict: I received calls from FMS, SP Jain, SJMSOM IIT Bombay, IIM Shillong, all new IIMs, MDI Gurgaon, DMS IIT Delhi, IIFT Delhi, SIBM Pune, SCMHRD, and converted SJMSOM IIT Bombay, IIM Shillong, DMS IIT Delhi, IIFT Delhi, SIBM Pune, and SCMHRD. Always remember to have faith in yourself, and never give up!

It is time to pull up your socks and go through more success stories that will give you the right amount of inspiration. Click on the links below -

• Best Way To Prepare For CAT While Juggling Placements And College Exams- By Roshan Kumar, 99.8 percentile CAT 2019
• MBA For Biology Students? Yes! Here's How Vaibhav Mangla A Life Sciences Student Converted IIM Kozhikode Without Any Coaching
• Don’t Let CAT Preparations Subdue Your College Life -By Shivam Jha, 99 Percentile, Converted IIM Indore
• IIM Ahmedabad interview questions, preparation tips and other details -By Hemanth Reddy Varakantham, 99.13 percentile, IIM Ahmedabad - Part II