CAT 2019 Topper Interview: 99.48 Percentiler Avinash Singh Shares His Exam Strategy

Avinash Singh, who made to the 99 percentilers club in CAT 2019 shares his preparation strategy with Shiksha. Read the article below to know his success mantra.

Avinash Singh

CAT 2019 Overall Percentile: 99.48

VARC: 98.70

DILR: 98.40

QA: 98.60

Avinash Singh who hails from Bihar is an engineer from UPES, Dehradun. He works in Reliance Industries and made it to the 99 percentilers club in CAT 2019. Avinash scored 99.48 percentile alongside his full-time job. Read the article below to know his preparation strategy and success mantra in the article below.

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

A. I am satisfied. However, there is no end for expectations. I feel I could have scored 15-20 marks more if I had practiced more. I didn't get time to practice much because of office, so I lacked precision.

Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?

A. No, I attempted CAT in 2017. It was just for testing my acumen. I scored 91.7%tile then. It gave me confidence that if I can score 90+ without practice, then I can go beyond 98+ with practice.

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

A. I started my CAT preparations in June. I couldn't go to offline coaching classes, as it would take away my weekend. I didn't want to lose my social life because of an exam. So, I joined iQuanta, an online coaching platform. I used to attend classes after my office, from 10 PM to 12 PM. It was really tough to cope up with job and preparations, but I had decided to give it a go and I went on. In the next two months, I finished all my basics and also attempted a few CAT mock test series to track and analyse my preparations. I used to devote extra hours in weekends. My preparations lost steam in July end due to some issues. I couldn't study for almost 30 days. However, I came back stronger and kept practicing. My main focus in the last two to three months was solving as many CAT mock test series as I could. I used to attempt mocks every weekend, and in the last one month, I used to attempt at least two mocks per week. I used to analyse three to four mock tests together. One section in a go. I made sure that I wrote down any new concepts which I came across during my preparations which helped in the latter part of the preparation.

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

A. VARC: My vocabulary is not really great and so is my grammar, but I am really good at comprehension. My strategy was to solve all the 32 questions. I made sure that I complete all the RC questions in 45 minutes and then give 15 minutes to the VA section. Even in the final CAT exam, I scored the highest in RC. I used to solve at least one RC every day. I started attempting sectionals and kept on practicing till the time my scores improved. I consulted my mentor when I was continuously scoring low, so he told me the only solution was practice. So, I would say that practice is the key to ace this section. I solved sectionals and my scores started improving. So I had persistence and this helped me in improving my marks.

DILR: DILR was my weakest point. When I attempted CAT exam in 2017, I scored only 15 marks. So I was really scared for this section. Although I knew I can crack it but lack of practice increased my anxiety. I used to solve five mock test sets and score around 45 marks but at times I also tumbled down to 10-15 marks and hence the anxiety increased. But I kept practicing and I started solving two to three sets every day no matter what. 

Quant: I was well acquainted with the QA section. My mathematical skills have been fairly good. I have studied from Bihar Board and they focus a lot on mathematics, hence I was pretty confident about this section. I found few topics such as geometry and mensuration really easy, however, topics such as probability, profit and loss, etc. were a little tough, so I started with basics for such topics. So I focused more on topics that I found difficult. My main focus was on practicing as much as possible. 

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

A. I did not refer to any external books as I did not have much time for CAT preparation. I studied for 300-400 hours at max, so I couldn't afford to refer to other books. Focusing on a single source is better so that you can form your strategy accordingly. Referring to different sources at the same time will only lead to confusion.

Also Read: Best Books for CAT preparation 2020

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

A. I joined iQuanta which is an online forum. It was best for me because of my office schedule. The classes used to take place in the night and I was easily able to manage to attend those without disturbing the office schedule. The stress level in my job is very high which is why joining online coaching was the best solution for me when I wanted to score well in CAT exam. I got the solutions within minutes and in the best possible way.  

Q: How many CAT mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?

A: I attempted 20-25 mocks altogether. When you have completed the basics, then the next step is to go on to solve the mock test series. And if your scores are low in mocks you'll realise there is a lot to be done. So mocks really help in analysing your performance and preparations. They are really important to test your overall acumen.  

Q: What was your CAT exam day strategy?

A. Not really. I was really nervous on the CAT exam day. The nervousness got into my head and because of that, I lost ten marks. But when I started attempting the exam, the nervousness went away. I heard people saying that the VARC section is tough. But I made up my mind no matter what I will give my best and maintain good speed throughout the exam. When I was attempting mocks, I realised that if I panicked I ended up losing marks. So on the D-day, I made sure I won't let the nervousness get into my head which might result in a bad score.

Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

A. I would like to say that first, decide that you really want to crack the CAT exam. Secondly, do not panic at all. Also, don't let mocks to boost you or let you down. They are only for practice. Do not be overconfident also. Understand that scores in mock tests are not directly proportional to scores in the CAT exam. Use mocks as your measuring tool and just be calm all the time. 

Q: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

A. I am targeting IIM Lucknow (got a call), IIM Kozhikode and all other top IIMs of India.

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