The secret of getting into IIM Ahmedabad -By Avdhoot Waghmode, 99.44 percentile CAT 2019

If you can do these three things and can build an aligned strategy, you can also score 99+ in CAT. Let’s dive in to see what Avdhoot has in his bag of secrets for getting into IIM Ahmedabad.

I did not take coaching for CAT preparation, but I took a few mock interviews at TIME Kolkata during my interview preparation. I was afraid of the VARC section. Also, I was worried as my friends had taken almost a year’s time for preparation, and still, they were unable to manage 99+ percentile, which had weakened my confidence then.

I took two months for CAT preparation and was preparing along with my job as a management consultant in PwC. The three things which helped me to crack CAT during this short time were - prioritization in the study, maximum online test practice, and dedicating at least 5-6 hrs per day for CAT preparation apart from my actual job.

Facts and figures

My strength was the quant section for which I hardly studied for a week, and then practiced it only through online mocks. That strength worked out well for me, and it gave me approximately 83 marks in the final CAT examination (around 50% of my total CAT score). I had to practice DILR (which being from IIT was strong in my case), and with sufficient practice, I was able to score around 53 marks in the final CAT exam. VARC was the weakest part, and my target was to clear the cutoff in it. I luckily cleared the cutoff in VARC and scored close to 34 marks in the final CAT exam. Here are the final and sectional percentiles that helped me in getting into IIM Ahmedabad:

• Total: 99.44 percentile
• QA: 99.93 percentile
• DILR: 99.07 percentile
• Verbal: 83.45 percentile

Why MOCKS are an integral part of CAT preparation?

I started my preparation by taking a couple of mocks on the TIME portal in the last week of September. This helped me to understand my strengths and weaknesses. I understood the following things: 

• My quant was very strong and I was able to get enough scores to fetch 99+ percentile even without preparation.
• My DILR was strong, but the questions were taking time, and I was unable to finish even a couple of sets, so I worked on the speed and paper strategy for the DILR section. Also, I faced problems with understanding the language of a few questions.
• My VARC was very weak, I was unable to complete the paper, neither I was able to get the hang of half the passages. Moreover, I was also bad in the verbal section. 

Once I understood these things, I just brushed my strengths and worked on my weaknesses extensively. I also focused on solving one mock every day (if it's an office day) and two mocks every day (if it's a holiday). I also focused on doing a quick analysis in the second month of preparation. So, this is my secret to getting into IIM Ahmedabad.

Verdict: I got calls from all the IIMs, SPJIMR (profile-based), NITIE, and FMS Delhi. I have been selected by all IIMs, and all the above colleges in their first list itself except IIM Shillong where I am currently wait-listed and probably will convert to the next list. But I am finally joining IIM Ahmedabad two year PGP (MBA) program for the 2020-22 batch.

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