Don't Get Tricked By The CAT Exam -By Palash Jhawar From MDI Gurgaon

7 mins read

There is a famous lottery scheme in India where the hawker will sell you a lottery ticket and it will have a grand prize of a plasma TV. But, it will also have a guaranteed win of a smaller appliance like an iron, blender, etc. Thinking that the price is actually appropriate for the smaller appliance and there is an added chance of winning the grand prize. A customer actually buys it. One never forgets the fact that they never really needed that smaller appliance in the first place. Here is why you should not get tricked by the CAT exam. 

Why am I talking about these tricks though? Well, that is what we are. Right? That is what we have been doing our whole lives—tricking our parents into letting us go to a night party after studying the whole day, tricking our friends into doing things that we don’t want to do alone, tricking teachers into believing that we are not the devil's incarnation that others have told them about. It’s just that we have to take our tricks to a whole different level.

The first hurdle was the Common Admission Test or CAT exam

I have studied at one of the most prestigious B-schools in India-MDI Gurgaon. And getting in was not easy. The very first hurdle was the Common Admission Test or CAT exam. How do you trick a CAT exam? Well, you don’t. Here, your job is to ensure that you don’t get tricked by it. How? Let’s see.

You are the general of an army of soldiers and you are going to fight an army of aliens. What would you do in that case? Yes, you need to gather more information on them. Find out their strengths and weaknesses and research the best strategy to take them down. Watch their previous battles and talk to other kingdoms who have faced them earlier in a battle. Can you practice? Yes, this is the digital era after all. You can simulate the battle to find out your vulnerabilities against those aliens and work to amend them. This is to ensure that on D-Day you are ready for anything the enemy throws at you. Hoping that you understood my metaphor, the CAT exam is the same.

The sections of Verbal, DI/LR, and Quantitative Aptitude are the enemies faced by many people. The trick is to research the wins and find out the perfect strategy which aligns with your army or as you might call it your strengths. And the most important part is testing your strategy. Give mock tests as much as you can. The fight is for three hours. Don’t take my word for it! My CAT exam percentile was 99.51, which says everything.

The fight to cross a CAT exam doesn’t end here. The next trick is something in which people spend their lifetime perfecting the interviews. Tricking the interviewers into selecting can be tricky. These people have years of experience in catching people. So, how do you trick them? I want to add a quote by Harvey Specter, who says, “Don’t play the odds, play the man”. Look at the facial expressions of your interview panel as you tell them about yourself. Look for the cues when your interviewer is smiling, or hearing about a particular thing in your life. Divert your interview on that topic. The interviewer wants to know about the things you can bring to the table as a student at the college. Trick the interviewer into believing that you are the person he has been looking for since the beginning of human life.

Live projects by professors and academic clubs

Now, you are at the B-school. Your parents are off your back and your friends are jealous. The next important event to prepare is the summer placements, which is not a joke. This trick will require you to push yourself and test your limits. Don’t worry, there is a game plan here as well. The first trick is to build your CV because it is your first face of yours that is in front of any recruiter. There are many areas where you can work in your CV.

You can get live projects by approaching professors and academic clubs and can participate in corporate competitions, which are highly regarded in the industry. Also, you can make your way into the clubs and committees in the college to gather positions of responsibility. Moreover, you can earn certifications through platforms like Coursera. Find ways to ensure that your CV stands out from the rest.

Always remember one thing. Standing out is important, but so is covering your bases. Imagine, you are a finance enthusiast applying for a huge finance firm. You have certifications from many platforms, but can’t even read the balance sheet of a firm to identify potential issues. You are already out of the league. Always ensure you have basic academic preparations and clarity on your life and career goals.

The group discussions and personal interviews during the summer placements are the next hurdles. I got your back there too. Group discussions are something like political discussions on news channels where none of the speakers have any idea what they are talking about and the real issue gets cast aside in the first few minutes. Except here, you are not supposed to do that. Also, the trick to a GD is two-fold. First is the body language: sit straight, legs uncrossed, hands on your thighs with an energetic and smiling face. The second is making a point in the GD.

The standard GD procedure 

Start the group discussion only when you have a solid foundation and are clear on the topic. Else, wait for a couple of points and then jump in. Three entries are ideal in a GD and jot down the points which you feel are noteworthy. This is the standard GD procedure. Now, let me add my personal advice to it. If you feel you are unable to take a side in the GD, wait for a couple of people to make their points and then take the opposite of whatever they said. The next person will strengthen your position and you will emerge as a leader and a person who can right ship.

I have already mentioned the trick for interviews while the placement interviews are not that different. Ensure that most of your answers are genuine and make up stories only when they are necessary. This is because the recruiters here are seasoned and they can spot a lie from a mile away. Genuine answers create passion on your face. Of course, these tips do not ensure your selection as they are generic in nature and you will always need help and tips for which I hope you get wonderful seniors to mentor and guide you.

I believe our entire life is a bag of tricks. And each stepping stone we face leaves us with a new trick to add to our inventory. After all, it all comes down to this, “Who is the best trick master of all?”

This article was submitted as a part of Become an Author conducted by Unstop.