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Please share your score and percentile with our readers.
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How did you prepare – Self-study or Coaching? Which one do you think is better?
I had enrolled for full-time coaching at IMS. Although I could not attend lectures religiously due to my hectic work schedules, the E-books, tests, concept videos and recorded video lectures and solutions helped me tremendously. Balancing my CAT preparation with a 13-hour working day was challenging, often leaving me very little time to explore and do my own research in terms of B-School applications, other YouTube video series or shortcuts, etc. IMS had me all covered, with everything I needed, right from updates and guidance to tips and tricks. The supportive faculty, mentor guidance and telegram quizzes were added benefits. For someone like me who is pushing hard to meet timelines, I’d suggest enrolling for good online/offline coaching. Freshers and aspirants who decide to take a gap can try self-study as well. Eventually, the answer to this is very subjective with a lot of factors that come into play. You know yourself the most, and if it’s the one shot that you’ve got, make sure you do what’s right to give it your BEST!
Read: Why I Didn't Join IIM Ahmedabad In 2020 Despite Converting - Nikita Warkar
According to you, what is the most important aspect of preparation?
Time management is one of the most important aspects of the journey. Pacing yourself right and taking time to practice, fail and recoup is the key. You need to give yourself time to strategize and re-strategize time and again. Not everything that you hear from experts will work for you. Make your own schedules and try to stick to them. Give sufficient time to each concept and section. Focus on your weak areas, but do not lose sight of your strengths.
Which mock series did you enroll for?
I enrolled for the full-time IMS CAT program and mock test series.
How many full-length mock tests did you take?
I gave about 20-22 mock tests, including the previous year CAT papers.
How many sectional mock tests did you take?
I gave about 10 sectional tests for each of the three sections- VARC, DILR and QA. 8. What was your approach while taking mocks?
Initially, I tried to experiment with different strategies in my mocks, within sections. The idea was to see what works best for me and use the same on D-Day.
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How do you think the mock tests helped you in your preparation?
The full-length mock tests really helped me in benchmarking my performance and tracking my progress. It also helped me tackle different difficulty levels and taught me to balance my energy levels throughout the test. The sectional tests made me recognize my weak areas and helped me target my practice. They also helped in practicing old topics. The extensive concept coverage in both the tests was extremely helpful. Initially, spotting the easy questions (sitters) to solve was a challenge for me, and I often invested too much time on tougher questions, consequently falling short on time towards the end. Rigorous practice is what helped me identify the ‘sitters’ and overcome this obstacle. It is also very important to stay motivated all throughout, there will be good tests and bad ones too, there will be plateaus and peaks, but I pushed through those, analyzing what went wrong and trying to work on it.
Which section were you strong in? Since you were strong in that section, how did you focus on the other sections?
Being an avid reader myself, verbal had been one of my stronger sections. Despite this, CAT’s VARC did take me by surprise initially. It required critical thinking and an unbiased understanding of the context in order to excel at it. Hence, I always made sure to read random articles and editorials from different websites, on topics that weren’t from my comfort zone. Besides this, regular practice of the verbal ability exercises proved adequate. I also enjoyed solving DILR sets, but time management was an issue. Personally, I feel stimulated by puzzling problems and it was challenging for me to condition myself to choose the easier sets over the more intriguing ones. Gradually, giving mocks made me realize this fallacy and I worked on it over time.
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Which section was your Achilles heel? How did you overcome that?
Contrary to the myth about engineers and math, QA had always been my Achilles heel. Mental calculations had never been my forte, and this made QA the focus of my preparation journey. I practiced daily and set strict timelines to complete topics. I abided by my schedule and revisited concepts frequently. I also made my personal “Quants Bible” where I noted down all the important formulae and shortcuts. The video solutions really helped break down the logic behind the questions for me. One thing that really helped increase my speed was timing my practice exercises. I ensured that I followed the same process of solving the easier questions first, even within the exercise. Lastly, I realized that your attitude drives your performance and it is equally important to approach your setbacks optimistically.
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How much time did you devote to preparation on a regular basis?
Since I was juggling preparations with a hectic work schedule, finding the right balance was critical. On weekdays I made sure to wake up early and study for nearly 2 hours before work. Besides this, I used to squeeze in time between work to catch up on my daily reading and news targets. Although this never proved enough, often pushing my weekly targets towards weekends. Consequently, I ended up studying 8 hours on weekends to compensate for the week.
Tell us about the lowest point in your preparation journey and how did you overcome that?
Roughly around 40 days before CAT, I served my last day at work. It was an extremely tough and risky decision to make, but I knew I had to take a stand for my future aspirations. I wanted to leave no stone unturned. It had taken a lot of courage to give up the safety net of a well-paying job and as the last day approached, fear started setting in. The thoughts of failing and not converting the right B-School gave me sleepless nights. Anxiety had gotten the better of me, and instead of studying harder, I found myself overthinking situations. I knew that working tirelessly had left me mentally exhausted and this was the right decision for my career, but I wasn’t completely ready to handle the unfavorable consequences. After my last day, I gave myself a 3 daybreak. I indulged in my hobbies (some quality painting and dancing) to rejuvenate and re-energize my spirit. My friends and family played a very important role here. Their relentless motivation reinstated my confidence and invigorated my zeal to achieve what I had set out for. At the end of those three days, I knew I was ready to take the plunge.
What resources would you suggest to 2021 aspirants?
I completely relied on IMS’s content. It had a good coverage of questions and topics. Besides this, I used some free content from Cracku and HitBullsEye for certain quants topics where I required extra practice. Most of these coaching institutes have quality content, and are reliable.
What according to you are the DO's and DON'Ts of CAT preparation?
DON’Ts- One thing that I would urge all aspirants to do, is to give mocks(full-lengths and sectionals) at regular intervals during your CAT preparation. Being afraid of low scores will not help. Piling up your mocks towards the end is not a great strategy (speaking from experience). It adds to the anxiety and leaves very little time for analysis and building the right test taking strategy.
DO’s- Start early, plan it out, and give yourself breathers to re-energize. Developing that reading habit, it will go a long way. Stay aware and updated, it will really help you in the other stages post CAT.
Which mock series would you like to suggest to CAT 2021 aspirants? Is one mock series sufficient or do you suggest a combination of 2 different mock series?
Personally, since I have used the IMS mock series, I can speak for them. They were really good replications of the actual exam. The varying difficulty levels prepared me for surprises and were a good revision of topics. They made sure to repeat important topics at regular intervals. Also, I think one test series is sufficient for most aspirants, you need not give a mock every day. One series provides you enough content and practice. Moreover, you can find a few free mocks on other websites too.
What would be your final advice to CAT 2021 Aspirants?
Don't let the stigma of CAT being a difficult exam to crack, discourage you. Set small, achievable targets, this will guide and motivate you to keep working hard. Reach out to people, mentors, fellow aspirants and wherever you might find inspiration and help. CAT teaches you time management even before your MBA begins.
Vridhi Shah spoke extensively about not giving up in the last lap of the CAT phase, and how being consistent can help you! Watch here!
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