What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
It is very crucial to get your sleep schedule adjusted according to the final exam time, so work on that in the last 10-15 days. In the last 2-3 days, take mocks till you get a fantastic score and then stop taking mocks. You can revise if you want, but taking a mock just before the exam could be counterproductive since if you get low marks for whatever reasons, it will only serve to demotivate you. The CAT exam can be tricky and throw surprises at you, but your competition is not with the CAT exam but with other competitors, so only focus on giving your best, and that’s all that matters in the end. I wish all of you great success!
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Bhavesh Gupta
I am Bhavesh, born and brought up in Hyderabad. I graduated from BITS Pilani Hyderabad in 2018, specialing In Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Post that, I Joined J P Morgan, reaching associate level before joining IIM Calcutta. Currently, I am in the first year of my MBA. I secured 99.69 percentile in CAT 2020.
During my last three weeks, my primary focus was on revising the quant topics. I took a couple of my mocks two weeks before the exam, but the last week was primarily focused on keeping a stress-free environment. In addition to this, I revisited my old mocks. I also did take two weeks off from work to avoid any work stress overflowing to my exam prep.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
I advise all the candidates to revise their basics. One needs to keep calm throughout the whole process and trust it, and candidates should not lose the optimism because of a bad mock in the final days.
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Anushka Saha
Anushka is a B.Com Hons. Graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. She is also a fresher as she graduated in 2021. Her academics in 10th, 12th and undergraduation are 95.4/95.5/8.4, respectively. She secured 98.86 percentile in CAT 2020 and joined IIM Calcutta this year and wishes to pursue a career in banking and finance.
The last 3 weeks of CAT were quite a stressful period. We were still reeling from the aftershocks of the pattern change at the time. However, during this period, I focused more on revisiting past year CAT papers and going through the important questions from my notebooks. The point was to revise all I had done until that point instead of treading new territory by solving more and more questions. However, to stay in the flow of test-taking, I gave sectional tests from time to time.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
My advice to them is to believe in the process and keep giving their best, regardless of how they are performing. Often, we get rather demotivated by our low mock scores and percentiles. But what matters is how they perform in the 2 hours on D-day. It’s very important to stay calm and composed during the exam, and also remember that if the exam is difficult, it applies to the whole pool of test-takers.
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Atif Ahmed
I am from New Delhi. I did my graduation in B.Tech (ECE) from MANIT Bhopal. After graduation, I have 6 months of work-ex in Tredence Analytics Solutions Pvt Ltd as a Business Analyst. I secured 99.72 percentile in CAT 2020.
Different sections require a different approach. For quants, my last 3 weeks revolved around revising each and every concept and then practising through sectional tests. Revising in this section also involved all the questions I was not able to solve or solved incorrectly in the past mocks I attempted. In the case of the LRDI section, I revised all the questions from mocks that I attempted this year. Next, I went on to solving sectional tests. My VARC approach didn’t change for the last 3 weeks. I kept doing what I was doing for the past 5-6 months, i.e., solving sectional tests from old mocks and reading articles.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
Advice for engineers facing low scores in VARC would be not to waste time learning vocabulary and grammar. CAT is not checking your literary skills but rather your comprehension skills. Give as many sectional tests as you can for the next 2 weeks. For those with slow reading speed and low grasping power, follow my methodology of reading two paragraphs at once and then skimming through questions to find direct questions. And at last, after reading the whole RC attempt CR type questions.
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Shaik Salman
I’m from Hyderabad, completed my B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from NIT Rourkela. Later I worked with Wipro as an Associate Consultant. I secured 99 percentile in CAT 2020.
In the last 3 weeks, I stopped learning new topics and focused on exam planning by giving mocks and analysing them. In the last week, I revised all the topics and important formulas.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
Focus more on mock tests. Solve last year’s paper to get acquainted with the current level of CAT questions and assess where you stand. Based on that, finalise a test-taking strategy during the last 3 weeks.
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Ishika Goyal
I was born and brought up in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. I have completed my Btech (Hons.) in Computer Science from IIMT, Greater NOIDA. During that, I decided to appear for CAT. While preparing, I got a PPO after my internship and worked for 8 months at Skill Oxide as a Graduate Engineer Trainee. I secured 99.47 percentile in CAT 2020.
The last 3 weeks were pretty different from the other days. I focussed on solving digital mock tests. My strategy was solving a mock test, then a 2-hour break and then working critically on the solution. Finding out where I made mistakes, why did that mistake occur. The next day, I would work on the mistake I made and refresh the topic. This day, I used to solve 1 small worksheet of each of 3 sections. The last week was a bit different. I focused on my diet and sleep and made sure I ate healthily and slept well. I used to revise the concepts every day and practised a few mocks only, along with a few worksheets. On the second last day to CAT, I just revised the concepts and nothing else. On the last day, I did nothing, just relaxed, did some breathing exercises to improve focus, and stayed calm.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
My advice would be to practise with more and more digital resources rather than pen and paper-based resources because the exam will be online. The next one would be to study for 2-3 hours at once. It should not be less than that because this is the duration of the exam, and our mind should be prepared to stay alert for this long. We must not stop practising the topics we are strong or weak at. We can give less time to strong topics and more to weak topics. But it has to be done every day.
Srikar Gokavarapu
Srikar hails from Ambajipeta, Andhra Pradesh. He pursued his UG from IIT Kharagpur (B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering). He worked as Thermal Engineer at KPIT for 2 years. He secured 99.71 percentile in CAT 2020.
During the last 3 weeks, I mainly concentrated on revising the concepts. Parallelly, I attempted mocks at regular intervals. I didn’t try to learn anything new.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
CAT never asks formulae-based questions. It’s all about logic and reasoning.
VARC: Read articles regularly and comprehend them. Focus mainly on your strong Genre.
DILR: Revise concepts regarding different types of sets such that you will be able to do any set given in CAT. It’s always a make-or-break section. Manage your time reasonably in this section.
QA: Chill. Identify the ground-level questions and get them correct.
Nancy Bansal
I am from Jhunir, a small village in district Mansa of Punjab. I completed my graduation in B.com Hons. from Hindu College, Delhi University in 2021. I secured 99.6 percentile in CAT 2020.
In the last three weeks, my main motive was to give as many mocks as I could. My daily routine was to give a mock exam, rest 15-20 mins, analyse it, contact mentors to ask any questions, read the material for questions I had done wrong. Any time left would be used to give a sectional mock. I also took an occasional reading of my notes which had quant formulas and small tricks for DILR. At this time, I was confirming my strategies, making changes to them. I used last week before CAT to relax as I had taken too much stress. I gradually reduced my workload. I tried as much as possible to get good sleep and not stress. 2 days before CAT, I stopped preparing. Took time to destress myself, made preparations for the D-day.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
Know yourself well: Which areas you are a player at and which areas you can’t handle. This saves you a lot of time on the day as you can skip through the question that is not your cup of tea.
Know CAT well: You do not have to do every question to ace CAT. Know the number of correct questions that can help you. Prepare yourself to get those many correct answers, and any number above that is a brownie point.
Do not copy others: Every single CAT aspirant has a different strategy. Follow a strategy that suits you well.
Minhaj Ahmed
I was born and brought up in Kolkata. I did my B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from RCC Institute of Information Technology. I Graduated in 2021, and I am a fresher with a few internship experiences. I secured 99.74 percentile in CAT 2020.
The last few weeks were quite challenging for me since I had to balance my CAT prep and final year placements simultaneously. Revising, taking a few mock exams, and analysing them kept me from losing focus in the last few days. Keeping myself calm and composed during mocks and on the D-Day was something I knew was critical if I wanted to perform well. One can learn all the tricks and formulas, but even slight nervousness on the main day can make or break their future.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
1. Revise what you’ve learned in the last few months. You already know everything there is to know, so do not ruin your prep by learning new things a few days before CAT.
2. Don’t take too many mocks in the last few days. Take a few and spend more of your time analysing them. Also, do not be disheartened if you don’t score very well in your mocks. Anything can happen on the main day, so focus on keeping a calm and composed mindset.
3. Most important advice. It’s just an exam. Do not let it get in the way of your mental and physical health. You’ve come a long way already, so keep that positive attitude alive.
Radhika Soni
I hail from the city of Kolkata. I graduated from BITS Pilani in 2019 with B.Pharm (Hons) + a Minor in finance. I worked at JP Morgan, Global Index Research Team for 2 years before joining IIM C. I secured 99.25 percentile in CAT 2020.
I practised 1 mock/day as my target. In the last week, I went over my notes which I had maintained from the start after analysing each paper.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
Be consistent. Do a proper analysis of each attempted mock. Focus on your strong areas and be consistent with that performance. Lastly, keep faith in yourself. Your hard work will surely bring fruitful results one day.
Giradkar Animesh
I'm a ECE engineer from VNIT Nagpur. I am having workex of 22 months in IT sector. I secured 98.5 percentile in CAT 2020.
Revision was my main focus during this period. It’s not a time to start new topics. Just concentrate on what you have already learnt.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
The most important part before 3 weeks of CAT is the revision. You need to keep your composure and focus on revising topics as quickly as possible.
Ruchita Natrajan
I’m a fresher, did my BTech in IT from Manipal Institute of Technology. I secured 99.86 percentile in CAT 2020.
The last three weeks are extremely crucial, and the first step is not to feel burnout. You’ve been practising mocks for the past three months and figure out your best strategy. Work on those but don’t overdo and stress over it. Revise formula and practice calculations.
What’d be your advice for the CAT 2021 takers?
Mocks and test series are a boon. Practice as much and analyse your test afterwards (both right and wrong- was your approach the fastest, is there a more optimal way of solving the question). It’s better to know all basic questions over skipping hard chapters and doing only those chapters you’re strong at (you never know; they might ask the most basic question from a chapter you overlooked because you thought it was tough).
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