CAT 2021 topper- “Smart work rather than hard work”-Vinayak Prabhu, 99.82 percentiler

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

A. Thank you so much. I am really satisfied and surprised with my score. I had never crossed 98%ile even in my mocks and my average percentile was around 94. So, I was expecting a maximum of 96 percentile.

Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?

A. No. I gave cat 2020 just to know what “CAT” is.

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

A. Around April-May.

• Stay honest with yourself, always be hungry for more knowledge, make strategies before you take mocks, and practice on how to choose your questions in them.

• I also maintained an excel sheet listing down the topics in quants and LRDI.

• Revise all quant formulas once in 15-20 days.

• Try to use new words you have learned while making conversations.

• Joined telegram groups. You always find great people there who share strategies, doubts, solutions, and various tips.

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

A. VARC: RCs first; read 1^st para, if you feel comfortable continue else skip. There are also some questions in RC I always skipped (these usually require a deep understanding of the passage). For VA, I used to spend 10 seconds on the question. I solve them if I can at least get a general idea of what it was about. I always gave 25 minutes for RCs and 15 minutes for VA.

LRDI: Choose the easiest question first (when you practice a lot, you get to know which questions are easier). LRDI questions are not random, there are several concepts involved in all LRDI questions. So, make a note of that and once you identify the concept in a question, it’s a matter of 5 minutes. Improve calculation skills and keep a really open mind.

QA: I categorize all questions in an exam into 3. Easy, moderate, and difficult. Easy questions are those which you are familiar with and are confident that you can answer in less than a minute and I solve them then and there. Moderate are those questions that are long, usually Arithmetic. I mark them for review. Easy and moderate makeup almost 90-100% of the questions. I usually don’t get time for difficult ones and if I get, I only attend those difficult questions which are of TITA type.

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

A. I didn’t refer to any books.

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

A. Yes. Coaching institutes are really important for structured and systematic preparation. Teachers help you understand areas for you to improve. They also make sure that you learn what is required, for example, I used to find people trying to solve calculus and 3d-geometry questions, which is really unnecessary for MBA exams. If not a year-long course, joining crash courses will help to ensure that you have completed all the topics. They also help you in analyzing mocks and suggest various strategies for you to choose if you can’t form one.

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

A. I gave 10-12 mocks. Mocks are perhaps the most important part of CAT preparation. It’s like a mirror and reflects the overall preparation and efficacy of your strategy. I started to give mocks from November.

This is how I structured my mocks:

First, 3 gave me a clear idea of which topics to improve. The next 5-6, helped me to optimize my strategy and time management. I gave the rest as if I were giving the actual exam and helped me to form a mindset for the D-Day.

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Q: What was your exam day strategy?

A. I was confident with my prep. Stood away from all the negativity at least 1 week before CAT. Made sure I had all the documents 2 days before CAT and wore comfortable clothes. I tried to be relaxed the day before CAT. Made sure not to panic if I was not able to solve a question (this is why mocks are important). Didn’t think about what would happen if I can’t crack CAT. I made sure that I was familiar with the exam window, like being sure to CLICK - SAVE AND NEXT after every question. I was calm and focused so that I don’t skip any easy questions. I didn’t even know how those 2 hours went by.

Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

A. Following are the tips for CAT aspirants based on my experience:

• Never hesitate to ask for help.

• Be active in telegram groups.

• Follow various YouTube channels.

• Never give up and don’t be too hard on yourself.

• Take care of your health.

• Smart work rather than hard work really

ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF YOU.

Q: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

A. I am targeting the following top B-schools:

• IIM Ahmedabad
• IIM Bangalore
• IIM Calcutta
• IIM Lucknow
• FMS
• IIM Kozhikode
• IIM Indore
• MDI

Q: Tell us something about your educational background, family, hobbies, profession.

A. I am a general candidate and was an average student. I did my 10^th in 2015 and secured 10 CGPA (CBSE). I chose the Science stream, completed my 12^th in 2017, and secured 88.8%(CBSE). Then, I completed my engineering in CSE Data Analytics from VIT AP university with an 8.8 CGPA in 2021. I don’t have any work experience.

My family has 4 members. My father is a businessman, my mother a homemaker and I have a younger sister.

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