Getting 100 percentile in CAT exam is not a child’s play.
The major national MBA entrance exam, which is taken by around two lakh
MBA aspirants, needs rigorous preparation and a systematic methodology.
In today’s Topper Mantras, we will tell you the success saga of Ajinkya
Deshmukh, who scored a perfect 100 percentile in CAT 2011 and has
joined IIM Bangalore.
Ajinkya has done his B.Tech and M.Tech in
Computer Science from IIT Madras. He has 23 months of work experience in
Credit Suisse Business Analytics (India) Pvt. Ltd. In this interview he
will share his preparation strategy which led him to success and
preparation tips for CAT 2012 aspirants.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Why and when did you decide to do MBA? What is your plan after you complete your MBA?
A: I decided to do MBA around the time when I had completed 8 months in Credit Suisse. I was in functional role in the company and felt the requirement to get a holistic view of business and enhance my skill sets to solve much diverse problems in the industry.
I plan to join the consulting industry after my MBA.
Q: What is your CAT 2011 percentile? Which other MBA entrance exams did you take?
A: It was 100 percentile. I did not take any other MBA entrance exams.
Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail.
A: The primary focus after the short listing was to convert the calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. Only IIM Calcutta had Group Discussion round while the other two had only Written Ability Test. I laid more focus on written ability with respect to time management as it was very essential to finish on time and not finish abruptly. The workshops in T.I.M.E. Mumbai helped me develop a structured approach to the WAT. The quality of essays got better with practice and more reading about current affairs and some common contemporary issues.
For PI, I was keen to focus on the subject of my choice in my undergrad and be thorough with it while having a general idea of some other subjects to present an opinion if asked. It was important to be thorough with some of the current issues at that time like the 2G verdict to hold a discussion at length in the interview. I prepared myself for questions about my work experience with clear explanation about my role in the company, the business I am working for etc. I found the mirror test extremely useful for PI. You time your answers and sit in front of mirror and answer the questions.
Q: Which institutes offered you final admission? Why did you choose IIM Bangalore?
A: I converted the calls of IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Lucknow. I chose IIM Bangalore for the variety in the batch which is very unique at IIM B. Also IIM B is known for its consulting placements. The beautiful weather in Bangalore is the least but an important factor too.
Q: How did you start the preparation and what was your overall strategy?
A: I started my preparation by first understanding where I stood. My CAT preparation strategy included solving a couple of previous years’ papers and realized the areas of improvement and my strong points. I joined the T.I.M.E. AIMCAT test series for more practice exams and benchmarking. The simple strategy was to solve one test daily be it part test, chapter test or a full time test and to work on one area of improvement over the weekend.
Q: Do you think it is possible to crack CAT without taking formal coaching? What would you suggest the CAT 2012 aspirants who would like to prepare by themselves?
A: I had only enrolled myself for the T.I.M.E. test series for CAT 2011. I definitely think it is possible to crack CAT without formal coaching. To do well in CAT, one needs speed and accuracy which I believe needs to be internally developed through rigorous practice. The preparation tip I would give to the CAT 2012 aspirants is to not spend too much time attending coaching and not doing self study instead.
Q: CAT saw a major change in the format and pattern in 2011. How did you prepare for it? Did this new pattern cause any hindrance in your preparation or exam taking strategy?
A: Since I come from Engineering background, the change in format worked to my advantage. I was also confident with the Quant section but had difficulties doing well in the Verbal Ability section. The change in format added Logical Reasoning to Verbal Ability section making it easy to clear the cut off for that section.
Q: What was your preparation strategy for the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning?
A: For Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, I practised as many problems as I could. It does help to remember a few results in Quant. It saves a lot of time rather than trying to arrive at a particular formula in the exam. I was relatively weak in the Verbal Ability section and hence I started preparing for it much before the exam. One of the important CAT preparation tips is reading articles and editorials in newspapers on a variety of topics helped a lot to get familiar with different domains from where the reading comprehension passage could come from.
Q: What was your strategy for time management?
A: It was a challenging task to manage time for preparation while working. I made it a point to find time everyday to solve a small set of practice problems. I reserved the weekends for working on my areas of improvement like reading comprehension, vocabulary building.
For managing time between sections and in it, the strategy was to attempt as many questions from areas I was more comfortable in and then moving on to other questions. Time management is not a major problem in verbal section but can pose problems in Quant section. I focussed on keeping higher accuracy over the number of questions attempted in the quant section.
Q: What is your message for the MBA aspirants who will take CAT 2012 and other exams of the season?
A: The CAT preparation tips I would like to share with the MBA aspirants is, they should concentrate on self study rather than attending many coaching sessions. But at the same time, it is important to keep solving practice exams conducted by test series of coaching institutes.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Topper Mantras.
Ajinkya has done his B.Tech and M.Tech in
Computer Science from IIT Madras. He has 23 months of work experience in
Credit Suisse Business Analytics (India) Pvt. Ltd. In this interview he
will share his preparation strategy which led him to success and
preparation tips for CAT 2012 aspirants. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: Why and when did you decide to do MBA? What is your plan after you complete your MBA?
A: I decided to do MBA around the time when I had completed 8 months in Credit Suisse. I was in functional role in the company and felt the requirement to get a holistic view of business and enhance my skill sets to solve much diverse problems in the industry.
I plan to join the consulting industry after my MBA.
Q: What is your CAT 2011 percentile? Which other MBA entrance exams did you take?
A: It was 100 percentile. I did not take any other MBA entrance exams.
Q: Please share your WAT/PI experience in detail.
A: The primary focus after the short listing was to convert the calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. Only IIM Calcutta had Group Discussion round while the other two had only Written Ability Test. I laid more focus on written ability with respect to time management as it was very essential to finish on time and not finish abruptly. The workshops in T.I.M.E. Mumbai helped me develop a structured approach to the WAT. The quality of essays got better with practice and more reading about current affairs and some common contemporary issues.
For PI, I was keen to focus on the subject of my choice in my undergrad and be thorough with it while having a general idea of some other subjects to present an opinion if asked. It was important to be thorough with some of the current issues at that time like the 2G verdict to hold a discussion at length in the interview. I prepared myself for questions about my work experience with clear explanation about my role in the company, the business I am working for etc. I found the mirror test extremely useful for PI. You time your answers and sit in front of mirror and answer the questions.
Q: Which institutes offered you final admission? Why did you choose IIM Bangalore?
A: I converted the calls of IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and IIM Lucknow. I chose IIM Bangalore for the variety in the batch which is very unique at IIM B. Also IIM B is known for its consulting placements. The beautiful weather in Bangalore is the least but an important factor too.
Q: How did you start the preparation and what was your overall strategy?
A: I started my preparation by first understanding where I stood. My CAT preparation strategy included solving a couple of previous years’ papers and realized the areas of improvement and my strong points. I joined the T.I.M.E. AIMCAT test series for more practice exams and benchmarking. The simple strategy was to solve one test daily be it part test, chapter test or a full time test and to work on one area of improvement over the weekend.
Q: Do you think it is possible to crack CAT without taking formal coaching? What would you suggest the CAT 2012 aspirants who would like to prepare by themselves?
A: I had only enrolled myself for the T.I.M.E. test series for CAT 2011. I definitely think it is possible to crack CAT without formal coaching. To do well in CAT, one needs speed and accuracy which I believe needs to be internally developed through rigorous practice. The preparation tip I would give to the CAT 2012 aspirants is to not spend too much time attending coaching and not doing self study instead.
Q: CAT saw a major change in the format and pattern in 2011. How did you prepare for it? Did this new pattern cause any hindrance in your preparation or exam taking strategy?
A: Since I come from Engineering background, the change in format worked to my advantage. I was also confident with the Quant section but had difficulties doing well in the Verbal Ability section. The change in format added Logical Reasoning to Verbal Ability section making it easy to clear the cut off for that section.
Q: What was your preparation strategy for the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning?
A: For Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, I practised as many problems as I could. It does help to remember a few results in Quant. It saves a lot of time rather than trying to arrive at a particular formula in the exam. I was relatively weak in the Verbal Ability section and hence I started preparing for it much before the exam. One of the important CAT preparation tips is reading articles and editorials in newspapers on a variety of topics helped a lot to get familiar with different domains from where the reading comprehension passage could come from.
Q: What was your strategy for time management?
A: It was a challenging task to manage time for preparation while working. I made it a point to find time everyday to solve a small set of practice problems. I reserved the weekends for working on my areas of improvement like reading comprehension, vocabulary building.
For managing time between sections and in it, the strategy was to attempt as many questions from areas I was more comfortable in and then moving on to other questions. Time management is not a major problem in verbal section but can pose problems in Quant section. I focussed on keeping higher accuracy over the number of questions attempted in the quant section.
Q: What is your message for the MBA aspirants who will take CAT 2012 and other exams of the season?
A: The CAT preparation tips I would like to share with the MBA aspirants is, they should concentrate on self study rather than attending many coaching sessions. But at the same time, it is important to keep solving practice exams conducted by test series of coaching institutes.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Topper Mantras.
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