Aritra Chakrabarti’s strategy to crack CAT 2016 revealed

Aritra Chakrabarti

Aritra Chakrabarti tried his hand at CAT for the second time in 2016 and scored 99.56 percentile. Owing his success to his parents, he said that they always believed in him and supported him in every phase of life. Aritra’s sectional cut-offs were: 99.96 in VA, 85.75 in LRDI and 98.42 in QA. Shiksha asked him about his preparation strategy and this is what he had to say: 

Was this your first CAT attempt?

Answer: No, this was my second attempt. 

Q. How satisfied are you with your score?

Answer: Though at 1st glance a percentile of 99.56 may look good, I feel I could have done better in Quant and LRDI section. Then I could have got an even better percentile. 

Q. Tell us something about yourself.

Answer: I did my civil engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. After graduation, I got a job at Mu Sigma Inc. which basically deals with decision sciences. I am currently working there and the work has been pretty interesting so far. But for better career opportunities I intend to an MBA. 

Q. What area of specialization you intend you choose?

Answer: Finance. 

Q. Tell us about your preparation strategy.

Answer: In 2016, I started my preparation in May. I gave regular sectional tests and two mock tests a month. I analysed my weak areas and tried to improve them. 

Q. What is the minimum time frame needed to prepare for CAT, and when did you start off with your preparations?

Answer: I would say 6 months of rigorous practice are sufficient to excel in CAT. 

Q. What did you do to improve your weak areas?

Answer: Give mocks to figure out your weak areas. After identifying them, practise questions on a regular basis from those areas and try to track your improvement in subsequent mocks. 

Q. Is it important to join a coaching institute?

Answer: It differs from person to person. If you are starting from scratch then it is better to join classroom programs and give regular sectional tests and mocks. Else, if you feel you do not need regular classroom coaching, it is very important to enroll in a mock test series and that will be very beneficial in your quest for a good percentile. 

Q. What’s your dream institute?

Answer: IIM C

Q. Tell us about your hobbies.

Answer: I like to play the violin. I can also play the piano. If not anything else in life, I would rather become a pianist. 

Q. Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Answer: Practice makes one perfect. Study smart. Give as many mocks as possible and stop procrastinating.

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