CAT 2022 Topper Interview: "Consistency is the Key" Believes Vasu Reddy, 99.36%iler

Vasu Reddy, who got 99.36 percentile in CAT 2022, shares his preparation strategy and important tips for aspirants. Check complete details here.

CAT 2022 Topper, Vasy Reddy, Shares his Preparation Strategy

CAT 2022 Topper Interview: IIM Bangalore released the CAT 2022 result on December 21. Vasu Reddy scored 99.36 percentile and git his name included in the CAT 2022 toppers list. He aims to convert IIM Indore, MDI Gurgaon, NITIE Mumbai, and IIT Bombay. He is an Engineer with a desire to establish a career in Management. CAT 2022 topper, Vasu Reddy, is also aspiring to ace XAT, to be conducted on January 8. In an exclusive interview with Shiksha, Vasu reddy shares his preparation strategy and tips for future CAT aspirants. Read this complete article to know about CAT 2022 topper Vasu Reddy.

CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Highlights

CAT 2022 Topper Interview with Vasu Reddy

Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? What was your expected score?

Vasu: Yes I’m satisfied with my score. However, I was expecting a bit more considering my performance in mocks. Eventually, my target is to convert one of the top B-Schools of the country. Therefore, I’m satisfied for now and will try to convert best calls.

Shiksha: Was this your first CAT attempt?

Vasu: Yes. I’m in final year of my engineering right now. Therefore, I will be eligible for MBA admission only after the graduation.

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

Vasu: I started preparing for CAT in the 2nd year of my bachelor’s degree, around May 2020. I had planned to pursue MBA immediately after graduation. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I had abundant time for MBA exam prep.

When I started my preparation, I knew I had over 2.5 years, but it didn’t made me feel complacent as time flies just as fast. Eventually, I had to be accountable and use the time wisely as I knew there would be semester exams in between. Exam prep strategy varies for everyone, the only strategy that will work for all is consistency with the plan.

Shiksha: Please share the section-wise CAT preparation strategy.

Vasu: My section wise prep strategy was as follows:

QA: Although this section was my strength, I still gave equal emphasis and spent a lot of time practising questions from various sources. Including, TIME material, CL sheets, and Nishit K Sinha. I completed QA for 3 rounds, keeping CAT 2021, 2022 as virtual target in respective years. I feel i have underperformed in this section on d-day as my mind was completely exhausted with the end of the first half in QA. I wasted 7-8 mins without marking any answers in QA. I recovered by marking 5 correct answers in last 12 minutes.

DILR: I worked for DILR on the same lines as QA. I practised sets from different sources. Practising lot of sets is the key in this section. Expose yourself to as many sets as possible. Some of the sources I practised DILR is from TIME sheets and CL sheets. They are exhaustive. This is the most unpredictable section and I found myself in a deep trouble during exam. (32 minutes passed and I just marked 5 questions yet, out of which 2 are wrong)

With just 8 minutes left, I was in immense pressure to crack at-least one set completely. All the other three sets were extremely lengthy and two of them are not doable in exam conditions as they have multiple cases and they are meant to leave after a glance. I managed to crack the other set which too was tough with lot of math and ratios in it but after lot of brainstorming. I finally got relieved. 

VARC: Preparing for VARC is very boring. I didn’t prepare much in 2020 and 2021. The only time I took seriously is when I started giving mocks. I knew I was bad at VARC from the start. But it kept on disappointing me as none of the strategies worked in the initial stage of CAT preparation. In my initial mock tests, I used to get 99 percentiles in the other 2 sections and VARC used to be barely 70 percentile. I have practised and analysed 150 GMAT+LSAT RCs thoroughly. Yet I barely made any progress. It was June, and I was getting single-digit scores in this section. This inturn led to a low score in DILR.

It was September after the semester exams and this was the time to turn the tables around in VARC. I started reading articles daily. I improved my attention span by forcefully focusing for long time by reading Aeon and Harpers magazine. I saw the difference and improvement quicker than I thought. I started getting 90+ percentile in VARC and got 99+ percentile twice in VARC mocks (one of which I got 100 percentile overall). Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the section went in exam. Especially from where I have started.

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

Vasu: I referred to the study material I gathered from different coaching centres.

Also Read: Best Books to Prepare for CAT

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

Vasu: It’s hard to pinpoint one institute I have prepared from. I took a 2-year subscription from a renowned edtech platform. Besides, many online materials were available, including YouTube content. It all depends on your accountability.

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Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important was the mock test series?

Vasu: I took exactly 40 mocks. 18 SIMCATs and 22 CL mocks. Mock tests are very important in identifying your weak areas.

Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?

Vasu: In VARC, my strategy was to attempt all the RCs and VA questions within the given order from 1 to 24. I had built the reading speed over time; therefore, it wasn’t a problem for me to complete all the questions at 60-70 per cent accuracy. 

In DILR, my strategy was to believe in my abilities and don’t panic. In many of my mocks, I was able to crack a set in the last 10 minutes. So it’s not over until it is over.

QA: I used to score 99+ percentile in most of my mocks. So my strategy was to see the ball and hit the ball. But exam pressure is huge that I had to attempt the questions carefully. I started the section after DILR intending to play fearlessly. But I ended up playing cautiously.

Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Vasu: Start early and Be consistent throughout. Don’t juggle between career options. Cracking one of the top B-Schools will open doors to many exciting opportunities.

Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

Vasu: As of now, I am not expecting any calls from:

• IIM Ahmedabad
• IIM Bangalore
• IIM Calcutta
• IIM Lucknow

Therefore, my focus is on XAT. Several colleges accepting XAT are at par with the IIM ABC. Besides, my target B-Schools are IIM Indore, MDI Gurgaon, NITIE Mumbai and IIT Bombay. I am expecting to receive calls from most of these B-Schools.

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