CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Mock test series is the key, says 99.67 %iler Amar Agrahari

Amar Agrahari was aiming for more than 99.5 percentile and successfully managed to score 99.6 percentile in CAT 2018. Know his CAT prep strategy.

CAT 2018 overall percentile: 99.67

VARC percentile: 95.36

DILR percentile: 98.49

QA percentile: 99.81

Amar Agrahari, a Software Engineer was aiming for more than 99.5 percentile and successfully managed to achieve 99.6 percentile in CAT 2018 and set an example of ‘work of a master’ for all the other aspirants. Amar who resides in Kota, has graduated from NIT Srinagar in Computer Science and Engineering. Shiksha met this master achiever to reveal his secret of success in CAT exam. He told us, the secret is mock test series and advised the aspirants to try two test series from different Institute to get an exposure. Know more about his CAT prep strategy in the interview below:

Q: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?

A: Thanks. Yes, I am satisfied with my CAT result. After IIM Calcutta released the official answer key, I was expecting my percentile to be more than 99.5. 

Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?

A: No, this was my second attempt. I had appeared for CAT in 2017 without much preparation.

Q: When did you start preparing for CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?

A: I started preparing for CAT 2018 from March onwards. For preparation, I joined T.I.M.E Kota Centre as well as iQuanta. Initially, I completed all the basic materials of T.I.M.E and solved Sarvesh Verma for QA. Then after two months, I shifted my focus to advance materials as well as mocks.

My strategy was to focus more on my weaknesses and to write as many mocks as I could. For that, I took a test series of TIME, IMS and Career launcher and attempt around 55 mocks. I made sure to analyze each mock as soon as possible and figure out all the recurring mistakes of mine. Not only mistakes, but I also tried to look for a better approach for any of the problems and penned down in a notebook carefully. I believe this strategy helped me in rectifying my mistakes and increasing my speed with accuracy.

Q: Please share with us your section-wise strategy?

A. VARC: This section was always a nightmare for me as I secured around 45 percentile in CAT 2017. To improve in this section, I started reading novels and editorial section of The Hindu. For vocabulary, I bought Word Power Made Easy. The main game changer for me was the sectionals (provided by different institutes) and the video solutions of T.I.M.E mocks.

DILR: For DILR section, I think practice is the key. The more you practice different types of questions the better you will get. I solved all the past year mock questions of different institutes and learnt a better approach to solve questions from different YouTube channels.

Quant: Being an engineer, Quant was always my strength. I solved all the material provided to me by the T.I.M.E Institute and Sarvesh Verma. Then I tried to solve all the doubts posted on iQuanta Facebook page. And whenever I encountered any problem which I could not be able to solve or someone has provided a better approach, I would see the solution and write it down in a notebook.

Q: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?

A. For VARC, I used time booklets and word power made easy. For quant, I used Sarvesh Verma and Arun Sharma.

Q: Did you join any coaching institute? How does coaching institute help in CAT preparation?

A. Yes, I joined T.I.M.E in Kota for coaching. I think coaching plays a very significant role in the preparation for any competitive exams. As it helps in maintaining regularity and also provides us with a competitive environment which is very important while preparing.

Q: How important is a mock test series?

A. According to me, mock test series plays the most important role in our preparation. It helps in the improvisation of your weak areas, helps us to perform in a time-bound manner which is very essential. It also helps to finalize the strategy for the D-Day.

Q: What was your exam day strategy?

A. As examinations started, I went through the VARC section to check whether there is a change in the pattern or not. I found out that this time RC passages consist of 5 and 4 questions instead of 6 and 3. After that, I started with the RC passages and solved all the passages in 45 minutes and then moved to the Verbal Ability Section and solved 8 questions. In DILR, I skimmed through all the sets and figured out the doable ones. I started with Logical Reasoning and then moved to Data Interpretation. In this section, I attempted 17 questions only. Then came my strongest section i.e. Quant. In mocks, I used the strategy of ABC where I classify questions in easy, medium and difficult ones. I did the same here. I classified all 34 questions into easy, medium and difficult and solved all the easier ones first and then the medium ones. As the paper seemed to be on the harder side, therefore, I did not touch the difficult ones and attempted 27 questions.

Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

A. My tip would be to focus on the basics and give as many mocks as possible. I would say take at least two test series from different Institute as it will give you exposure to different types of pattern. Analyze mocks rigorously and enjoy the process.

Q: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

A. I’m targeting IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and FMS-Delhi. All the best to future aspirant!

Also read:

CAT 2018 Topper Profile: Rounak Majumdar

CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Swapnil Suman

CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Tushar Singhal

CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Vineet Bajaj

CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Siddhant Dhawan

CAT 2018 Topper Interview Paarth Hebbalkar