CAT 2018 Topper Interview: Strong foundation is necessary for good performance, says 99.97 percentiler Paarth Hebbalkar

To prepare for CAT exam, 99.97 percentiler Paarth Hebbalkar started his preparation in March and attempted about 70 mock tests between July and November.

CAT 2018 overall percentile: 99.97

VARC percentile: 98.61

DILR percentile: 99.93

QA percentile: 99.92

99.97 percentiler Paarth Hebbalkar says the most important part of CAT exam preparation is analyzing each mock test you attempt. Paarth, an Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering graduate from Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Pune took the CAT exam for the second time in 2018 and was expecting above 99.5 percentile. His high score in CAT 2018 has already got him interview calls from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. About his excellent performance in CAT 2018 he said, 'strong foundation is necessary for a good performance'. Speaking with Shiksha, Paarth shared his CAT preparation plan and exam day strategy. Read on.

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

A: Thank you for the wishes! I gave a lot of CAT mock tests for practice most of which gave All India Percentiles. Based on those mock performances, I was expecting a percentile above 99.5. Also, I had a good feeling after the exam but I was not expecting a 99.97 and I am definitely satisfied with my score.

Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?

A: No. I gave CAT last year to gain experience of the exam environment and I got 96.23 percentile.

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

A: I started preparing towards end of March and gave myself about 6-7 months for a good prep strategy. I finished understanding the basics and new concepts by June after which I started giving regular CAT mock tests. Analyzing mocks was the most important part of my preparation. I used to find my weaknesses and practice those particular areas. Towards the end, my main aim was to not drain out. It is important to be at your peak on the exam day. I spaced the mocks accordingly and I gave around 70 in total.

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

A: VARC: Personally, this was the most difficult section for me. I always struggled with accuracy in RCs and there was a phase of 2-3 weeks wherein I only focused on maximizing accuracy rather than attempts. After I was on track with the accuracy, I shifted my focus back to maximizing attempts. Overall, I practiced a lot of RCs of a variety of topics and also attempted a lot of sectional tests. In the CAT exam, I solved all the RCs first and then moved on to the VA questions.

DILR: I always considered DILR as my strong area. My major DILR practice was from class books or from mock exams. However, in DILR it is very important to understand the new logical concepts that we are not able to understand or solve in the first attempt. This helps develop a better approach to problems and also improves your logical thinking and if lucky, a similar set may appear in CAT! DILR section of CAT 2018 was slightly easier than CAT 2017. I utilized the first 2 minutes of the section to decide the order in which I would be solving the sets so that I did not waste time on the tougher sets. I ended up doing 6 sets.

QA: Quant was a surprise this year. It differed from previous years and was unexpectedly difficult. However, in Quant it is important to understand the basics during preparation. With strong basics, it is easy to approach Quant questions in the right manner.

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

A: I referred to my coaching institute (Endeavor) books for all topics. I also referred to Quantum CAT (Sarvesh Verma) for Quant and to Arun Sharma's Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning books for DILR.

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

Yes, I joined Endeavor Careers for my CAT preparation. Personally, I feel Endeavor has been a very essential part of my journey. I owe a lot of my performance to my mentor. Right from preparation, practice and performance till the day of CAT, he has helped me throughout. Endeavor helped me make a study plan. They arranged one on one mentoring sessions to cater to individual needs. Different sessions were conducted by experts from various industries to give us a better understanding on a variety of topics.

Q: How important is mock test series?

A: Mocks are definitely the most important part of the preparation. I gave around 70 mock tests. However analyzing a mock is more important than giving a mock. Analyzing mocks, gives you a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses and helps you prepare a better strategy suited to your individual requirement. In my preparation, I gave ENDEAVOR, IMS and TIME mock tests.

Q: What was your CAT exam day strategy?

A: To keep calm during and before the exam, and not panic if in case anything goes wrong during the exam.

Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

A: Starting from the basics is important. Strong foundation is necessary for a good performance. Give and analyze as many mocks as possible. It is the most important part of the preparation. Remain motivated and don’t give up.

Q: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

A: I have got calls from IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta and I will try my best to convert these. Also I hope to get interview call from FMS, Delhi and convert it too.

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