CAT 2023 Topper Interview: Know how Sayantan Sur, 99.54%iler cracked CAT in second attempt

In this exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Sayantan Sur shares his CAT preparation journey with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Sayantan Sur aced CAT 2023 with 99.54 percentile.

CAT Topper 2023 Interview: Sayantan Sur 99.54%iler

CAT Topper 2023 Interview: Sayantan Sur, a 99.54 percentiler commenced his CAT preparation in May 2023. While, he was aiming for all the top IIMs in India, Sur shared that he is not satisfied with his CAT result 2023 as he was expecting 99.9+ percentile. While sharing his reaction to CAT Result 2023, Sayantan said, "I underperformed in my strongest sections and I was aiming for a 99.9+. That being said, it is still more than what I expected when I came out of the exam center." After cracking CAT 2023, Sayantan wants to pave his way in the management field by targeting top b-schools in India.

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In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Sayantan Sur shares his CAT preparation journey with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Sayantan Sur aced CAT 2023 with 99.54 percentile. CAT 2023 result was declared on December 21. CAT exam was held on November 26. 

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CAT 2023 Topper Sayantan Sur: Interview Highlights

Check out the table below to get an overview of the Sayantan Sur CAT percentile 2023:

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

Sayantan: Thank you! To be completely honest I’m not at all satisfied with my score as I underperformed in my strongest sections and I was aiming for a 99.9+. That being said, it is still more than what I expected when I came out of the exam center.

Shiksha: Was this your first attempt at CAT?

Sayantan: No, this was my second attempt. I gave my first attempt just for the sake of it while I was in the final year of college.

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

Sayantan: I started preparing for CAT from May and the main strategy was to stay consistent throughout the journey instead of overburdening myself on a few days and not getting anything done on another. I focused on covering all the concepts in depth as I was starting from scratch, followed by rigorous practice. 

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

Sayantan:

VARC-This was my strongest section so my goal was to maximise my score through this section. I struggled mainly with speed so I prepared for this section mainly through the mocks I appeared from and by reading a few dense articles that got me accustomed to a wide variety of ideas. Overall, I did not do any dedicated preparation for this section as I had to dedicate my time to qa/di. However, if somebody is facing trouble in this particular section they should focus on accuracy first and try to develop their thought process by analysing every question by figuring out why one particular option is incorrect in addition to why one answer is correct. Try to read dense articles from good sources like Aeon, JSTOR etc as you’ll develop your reading habit/speed, focus, as well as an inclination towards different topics. Finally, attempt this section logically instead of intuitively if this doesn’t come naturally to you. 

 Lrdi- Try to solve as many sets as possible from diverse sources and focus on the thought process. While practicing, take your time with a difficult set and don’t jump to the solutions before racking your brain. This is a section where the attempt strategy is very important so once you have a decent understanding and have solved 100-200 sets, focus on time bound practice and try to solve 3-5 sets daily. 

 QA- Cover every concept in depth without fail as it’ll help you connect the dots easily when you come across questions with mixed concepts. Written practice is very important so once you’re done with the basic concepts solve as many good quality questions as possible and appear for sectionals and mocks. While attempting the section, solve the easier ones first and leave the difficult ones ruthlessly and come back to them later.  

Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Mock Tests are game changers, says Dixit Sur, 99.55%iler

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

Sayantan: I referred to Time Institute’s material for practicing QA problems in the beginning of my preparation.

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

Sayantan: I attempted 60+ full length CAT Mocks along with multiple sectionals for qa and lrdi. In my opinion, mock tests play a very crucial role, especially for an average student like me as they help you get accustomed to the time-bound solving scenario and allow you to strategise your overall attempt. They also help you to spot and fix your weak points and they’re the best source for high quality questions-especially for the logical reasoning and quantitative ability sections.

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

Sayantan: Yes, I joined an online institute and it gave a great boost to my preparation as it allowed me to learn all the concepts in depth and access to good quality questions.

Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?

Sayantan: My strategy was to stay calm on the exam day and attempt it like any other mock. I also made sure to leave questions ruthlessly when they took too long to be solved. Since lrdi was my weakest section, my goal was to maximise my scores in the other two sections and play it safe in this section. Although it didn’t work out as planned, it still helped me make the most out of this attempt. 

Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

Sayantan: I’m targeting the top 5 IIMs, such as IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, along with Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and XLRI Jamshedpur. 

Shiksha: Tell us something about your educational background, family and hobbies.

Sayantan: I just graduated this year with a bachelor's in business administration. I’m passionate about working out, reading, and playing sports and I thoroughly enjoy watching tv shows and movies in my free time.

Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Know how Parul Garg cracked CAT with 99.93%

Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Sayantan: One should always have a clear goal and action plan in mind and stick to it. You’ll also have to work on the days you don’t feel like it and stay consistent throughout. There should be two phases in this process- In the beginning, one should always cover every concept in depth and focus on written practice to get a hang of every section and have a good knowledge repository. In the second half the main priority should be appearing for as many mock/sectional tests as possible and analysing them thoroughly. 

In the last leg of the preparation the tests should be given in your time slot so as to ensure that your body clock is used to it. Your mock test scores and performance during the journey will be a good indicator and benchmark for you but they don’t reflect the final result so don’t beat yourself up about it if they aren’t satisfactory (For context, I used to get 60-80 percentile in the lrdi section and 99-100 in the varc section. The final result is in front of your eyes :) )

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