CAT 2019 Topper Interview: Saathwik Kolluru, 99.99%ile Scorer Shares Preparation Tips!
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Saathwik Kolluru scored 99.99 percentile in CAT in his very first attempt. Read how he prepared for the exam.
CAT 2019 Overall Percentile: 99.99
VARC- 99.73
DILR- 99.97
QA- 99.85
Saathwik Kolluru a fourth-year Civil Engineering student at IIT Bombay made it to the toppers list of CAT 2019 exam. He scored 99.99 percentile missing by fraction 100 percentile, which was his ultimate target. A sports enthusiast, Saarthwik loves to watch as well as play football. He also has knack for graphic design and enjoys listening to hard rock music in his free time.
Saathwik wants to make a career in investment banking and consultancy as his passion lies in finance. He has also started working on his passion and done an internship at Nomura. While speaking with Shiksha, he shared his in- depth preparation strategy as well as areas of fallacy one should omit to score a perfect 100. Read on to know his CAT preparation strategy:
Q: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?
A: I was aiming for a 100 percentile with a score above 230 but could not get expected score in quant that was a letdown but nonetheless I am satisfied with the result. However, I had three hurdles during the exam about which I would like to share. First, it was in the VARC section; the passages were very tough but I, knew that if I would have given more time I could have definitely scored good. Therefore, instead of 40 minutes I changed my strategy, gave 46-47 minutes, and got 22/24 correct. The second one was in DILR where I, rushed and started solving. I was not happy with how my VA section went. I could not crack the first set in 8 minutes so I rolled back to my previous strategy of attempting sets in the order of increasing difficulty. Third hurdle was in the quant section where I got stuck in two consent questions but was over confident that I could solve them but couldn't do it in the heat of the moment.
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Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?
A: Yes, this was my first attempt. And in case if I don't get selected in IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta I'll accept my job offer at Ernst and young and prepare again for CAT 2020.
Q: When did you start preparing for CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
A: I prepared for 2 months. Attended few lectures at Career Launcher, straightaway started with the mocks, and analyzed them. I gave 14 mocks in total and spent 1 whole day for each of DILR and Quant and the rest 59 days for VARC. Further, for DILR I went through all the sets in all the mocks, which I have given and solved them again with an additional task of identifying their difficulty. For Quant, I referred Crack U’s revision videos, which were 3 hours long in total. For VARC, I got myself enrolled for the special VARC1000 videos by Gejo sir of Career Launcher and this boosted my percentile from 85 to 99 in the mocks. I even watched online video playlist on RC by Takshzila, which were very helpful.
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Q: Please share with us your section- wise strategy.
A: VARC: complete passages under 40 minutes and thereafter move on to attempt odd one out, para summary, para jumble in order. Passages were my strength and I managed to get 22/24 correct. Here my strategy was "always look to eliminate because you have 3/4 probability of a wrong answer"
DILR: scan the whole paper, choose sets in the order of increasing difficulty and attempt at least seven of them. In final exam, in order to attempt all the eight, I started solving them in order and I could not solve the first one under 8 minutes so I went back to my old strategy and I managed to crack only six.
Quant: raw speed and quick calculations but you can achieve this if and only if you are conceptually thorough with all the concepts.
Also Read: CAT Cut Off
Q: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
A: I did not specifically refer to any book. However, Arun Sharma’s book for VARC and official guide for GMAT came in handy.
Also Read: CAT Preparation Strategy
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 13 hours ago
The normal CAT cut-off percentage for GIBS is between 60 and 70 per cent.
However, GIBS does not have as strict a cut-off as the leading IIMs. If your percentile is slightly below the minimum, you will still be evaluated on:
Your past academic record
- Communication skills
- GD/PI performance (Group Discuss
M
Beginner-Level 4
Answered 2 days ago
SRM University Sonepat considers CAT scores for admission in MBA. Aspirants with MAT, XAT, NMAT or any other Management entrance exam score can also get admission. Candidates can also appear for SRMHCAT conducted by the university.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for admission in PGDM at Badruka School of Management. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants with a score in XAT, MAT or GMAT can also get admission provided they also meet the other criteria.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 3 days ago
- Details filled should be correct and error free
- Upload clear photo and signatures in prescribed format
- Application fee can be paid online only.
- Do not leave any mandatory field blank.
R
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 3 days ago
No, the Amrita MBA application form will be available online only. Students can apply at Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham website.
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 3 days ago
Students must have at least 50 percentile in CAT for admission in PGDM programme of Valia School of Management. Aspirants must also pass graduation with at least 50% aggregate for admission.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 3 days ago
To get into Anna University for the MBA/PGDM course, students would need to appear in the accepted exam, like CAT, MAT, and TANCET.
Students who appear in the CAT or MAT exam would need to attain a valid percentile, and only then are they eligible for the next round of admission, which involves GD,
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
No, you can not join Anna University without appearing for an entrance exam if you want admission to the MBA/PGDM course. Students can either take the CAT or MAT exam, attain a valid percentile and then proceed to the next round.
Or they can take the TANCET entrance examination, attain valid ranks an
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
Yes, students can get admission in ITM SLS Baroda University MBA without CAT. The university also considers CMAT scores to admit students for this programme. Students can check the official site to know more.
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Contributor-Level 10