The ABC of CAT preparation and mocks -By Mehendi Basu, 98.54 percentile, IIM Kozhikode

I scored 98.54 percentile in CAT 2019, with a raw score of 149. This was my first attempt. I had begun my preparation almost a year prior to taking CAT. This was mainly because I was also studying Computer Science and Engineering at NIT Durgapur simultaneously. In the pre-final and final year of study, we have other commitments like preparing for internships, jobs and exams and thus complete dedication towards CAT was not possible. By starting my CAT preparation early, I was able to progress slowly but steadily.

A simple funda of consistency 

The concepts required for CAT are not very difficult to grasp. What makes it daunting is the time limitation in which you have to apply all of them and that managed to stumble me initially. Without constant practice, it is inevitable that even the most thoroughly practiced chapters will be forgotten. This happened with me too, when I was busy during my engineering internship at CERN, Geneva, and could not focus on CAT. So, according to me, the most important aspect of preparing for CAT is being consistent.

Pitch in the preparation with good resources

I was enrolled in the classroom program of Career Launcher. I attended the classes for a few months, which did indeed prove beneficial to get a start and dive into the topics. The faculty was helpful and ready to solve queries whenever asked for. However, the most important part was the online portal of CL which also provided the mock tests. These tests were well structured and gave me a good idea of what to expect from the actual exam.

Apart from the CL mocks, the Quantitative Aptitude book by Arun Sharma proved very beneficial for understanding concepts and practice exercises. Apart from that discussion with other CAT aspirants was helpful in clearing mutual doubts. Youtube also has a vast resource of free materials. It was my go-to method to clear any particular concept that was not explicitly mentioned in the books.

Straighten things out by taking MOCKS 

I followed the CL mock tests diligently. The most important part is analysing the mocks correctly and assessing one’s strong and weak areas. I tried to resolve the questions that I could not, which allowed me to familiarise myself with various types. 

Contrary to popular belief, the section that excited me the most was LRDI. I love solving puzzles and riddles and this seemed to be just an extension of that. My performance in mocks was pretty consistent and managed to solve 4 sets.

In Quantitative Aptitude, I was strong in Arithmetic and performed well in Number Systems and Algebra too. I have never been very confident about Permutation and Combination. So, I went through the trends of past year's papers and segregated the number and types of questions appearing for each category. My aim was to strengthen my strong areas even more so that I can be assured of my area of scoring well in a limited time. I am not that great at PnC and hence looked over the basic concepts to be able to solve direct formula-based questions. 

While solving mocks, I always skipped my weak areas and kept it for the last so as not to lose my time and confidence. My major weakness was lack of accuracy and I tended to commit many silly mistakes. For this, I started by first taking a long time to double-check my answers, and then gradually increased my speed by setting a mental timer for each question.

In VARC, my strength area was a para jumble and I tried solving the non-MCQ questions first. Then I targeted the comprehensions which had more number of questions, followed by the smaller ones.

Now is the time to test your strategies

During the preparation phase, I tried out various methods of tackling the questions. I am sharing my experience, however, it may vary from person to person. 

For VARC, I began with the non-MCQ sections, followed by big comprehensions and ended with the smaller ones. While dealing with comprehension, I first looked through the questions to know the important areas and then began reading. I also looked for paragraphs with more fact-based questions rather than inference based and solved them first.

For LRDI, I spent the first 5 minutes briefly going through all the sets. With practice, you should be able to evaluate which is the harder set and which is more doable. Once that is figured out, I started the easier ones. Often, there might be a misjudgment in picking a set. In that case, I tried not to lose my confidence and waste time trying but kept it for the end while moving on to a different question. The key element is time management. Some sets are completely unsolvable and it’s best to leave them.

For Quant, I started solving in order but marked the questions that I was having difficulty in. I allotted about one to one and a half minutes to each question and in case it was not solved by then, I came back to it in the end. This way, all the questions were known to me and I could judge which ones to target first to score high.

Verdict: I got a call from IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore and also the New IIMs. Since I was targeting the BLACKI colleges, I did not appear for the interviews of the new IIMs. Fortunately, I converted both IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore. After a lot of deliberation, I have decided to join IIM Kozhikode. I am very excited to begin this new journey and make the most of this opportunity.

A message for young guns 

During the interview of IIM Indore, I had fallen very sick, almost wishing to quit and go back. However, it is an opportunity many strive for and I did not want to leave it unattended. So, even though severely sick and nauseous, I gathered the courage to give the interview. It was not as good as I had expected it to be, but I felt proud that I did not give up. However, all is well that ends well and I managed to convert IIM Indore too. This was a good lesson for me to not let go of opportunities and strive through difficulties because the results will be worth it.

Read more:

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• The ABC of CAT preparation and mocks -By Mehendi Basu, 98.54 percentile, IIM Kozhikode
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