CAT 2016: Tips from Topper

CAT 2015 topper Abhishek Sambangi

With about less than two weeks for CAT 2016, the pressure is gradually building up on the aspirants. Cracking CAT 2016 and making to any of the top B-schools is what every MBA aspirant must be aiming at right now. However, with immense competition around, it is not easy to make it to the top – hard work and dedication plays an extremely important role here.

With little time left and much to do, a few tips from past year’s toppers are always a cherry on the cake. Shiksha spoke to Abhishek Sambangi who scored 99.32 percentile in CAT 2015. Here is what he has to say regarding CAT exam preparations:

Question: Does coaching play an important role in CAT 2016 preparation or is self-study sufficient?

Answer: There is no hard and fast rule for studying. If we talk about appearing in CAT exam, it completely depends on the time the aspirant has, his/her familiarity with the difficulty level of exam pattern, and most importantly, the ability to stick to a timetable. When it comes to the GD/WAT-PI, this is an area where the interpersonal skills of the aspirant are tested – here, I believe coaching centres play a very important role as they help a candidate in facilitating interactions with fellow aspirants.

Question: When is the right time to start preparing for CAT 2016?

Answer: Though it varies with the aspirant’s knowledge levels, I believe 3 months prior to the exam is the right time to start preparing for CAT.

Question: What should be the routine study strategy of CAT 2016 aspirants?

Answer: As the syllabus for CAT is not predetermined, I would suggest to make a list of all the topics that one can expect from each section. Going by my experience, once the basics of all the topics are covered start taking  mock tests once a week, analyse the paper the next day and make a list of topics where accuracy is the highest/least, topics which are least/most time consuming, overall accuracy % and number of questions answered. Over the week, till next mock exam, go through the basics of the topics once again where accuracy is least and practice more questions that are time consuming and work on improving the overall speed.

Aspirants should continuously monitor the progress of their weekly performance in the mocks. With this, the aspirant will be able to quickly recognise the topics of any question and will be able to take a decision on whether to skip or answer the question in the CAT exam – this ability to decide whether to or not to attempt a particular question in the exam is the most important factor that influences the scores.

Question: Which books/study material should CAT 2016 aspirants use?

Answer: As said earlier, I would suggest going by the list of topics rather than books/study materials, as there are numerous good books available with nearly same content.

Question: What should be the sectional preparation strategy?

Answer: Sectional strategy should depend on the aspirant’s level of comfort with the sections. In my case, since I was more comfortable with QA and DILR, I concentrated only on improving my speed of answering by practicing more questions. On the other hand, VARC was the section I used to struggle with, and hence I made it a priority to improve my basics like grammar and vocabulary on a daily basis.

Question: When appearing for CAT 2016, how should the aspirants decide which questions to attempt from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?

Answer: As answered earlier, I believe that by the time of CAT, an aspirant should be fully aware of all the topics, accuracy in each topic, time consuming topics, etc. This decision making ability is the key to get high percentile in the exam.

Question: Time management plays an important role. Any tips for CAT 2016 aspirants on time management?

Answer: First attempt all the questions that are least time consuming, then try to finish all the questions from highest accuracy topics, and then if there is some time left, go to the rest of the questions that are tough.

Question: How can an aspirant judge his/her weak areas, and how should one work towards improving the same?

Answer: Aspirants can judge his/her weak areas only by attempting regular mock tests and analysing the test performance on the parameters suggested. Basics need to be visited for the topics that require improvement in accuracy and more practice will be required for the topics which are more time consuming. Keeping track of the performance this way will not only provide a guidance, but also motivate the aspirant to improve in the upcoming exams.

Question: Should candidates also appear for other management exams? If yes, which exams?

Answer: Yes, there are many B-schools that are performing at par with the top IIMs. Choosing the B-school is very important and many students use wrong metrics to take a decision. I would suggest the aspirants to make a list of target colleges based on their personal preferences, rankings, performance of the alumni, B-school competitions won by the respective B-schools, industry exposure to students, interaction with current students and alumni etc. Once the list of target colleges is prepared, apply to the respective exams.

Question: Share some do’s and don’ts that CAT 2016 aspirants might find useful.

Answer: Do have proper sleep before night and follow a normal diet. Do not travel much on the day of CAT exam and go with a cool mind. Do not forget to use the calculator if required.

CAT scores are used for admission to 19 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and various other top B-Schools. Are you eligible for the IIMs? To know more, click on the image beside.