How to score 99 percentile in CAT through self study - By Ravi Kumar Prinshu, 99.78 percentile, CAT 2020

CAT 2020 marked my fourth attempt with a 99.78 percentile but if I am to be honest, this was my only serious attempt and I had never imagined that I would rank amongst the CAT 2020 toppers. 

I started my preparation around May, which essentially means that I prepared for 7 long months for CAT through self-study. Back then, I was working at a multinational company and I resigned from my organization only 10 days before CAT, to stay at peace during the exam. 

What it takes to become a CAT 2020 topper

I have always believed in self-study and so did not take classes from any coaching institute. But to be sure about my CAT preparation, I did sign up for a mock test series from a reputed coaching institute. According to me, self-study and mock tests do the trick if you analyze your mocks carefully and work on your weaknesses. 

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that preparation is the most difficult part for me. I haven’t been very interested in preparing for examinations since the beginning. I did sit for CAT thrice before, scoring 97, 99 and 98 percentile in the respective years, but that was all without preparation. So, when I thought about appearing for CAT 2020 the fourth time, I had to be mentally prepared to give my best to become a CAT topper, which is when my journey of preparation kick-started. 

Strategies that helped him bell the CAT 2020

VARC was always my strongest section while QA was the weakest. Keeping that in mind, I decided to focus on my QA preparation and solved QA questions every weekend. For VARC, I kept reading novels. Apart from this, topic tests, sectional tests and mocks provided in the mock test series helped a lot. Novels from my company’s library came in handy too!   

In the VARC section, my strategy was to attempt all the questions. This is one strategy that always worked for me in VARC during CAT. In DILR, it’s about selecting 3 sets that can be solved in the given time frame. You aren’t required to solve all sets in DILR, select 3 best sets and you will easily score 99 percentile in CAT. In QA, I skimmed through the paper and solved the easy ones first. Once they were sorted, I came back to solve the other questions. 

Words of advice from the CAT 2020 topper

In my opinion, CAT is one of the easiest exams. If your basics are refined and you are well-versed in each of the three subjects, you can easily crack the examination. Remember, it is important to stay focused and motivated when preparing for CAT, so you must always have a good enough reason in place for pursuing an MBA. That will keep you on track and help you work hard!