CAT 2017 prep: Never waste too much time on any question, says 100 percentiler Mukesh Goyal

Mukesh Goyal

With only 20 days to go for CAT 2017, it is time to intensify revision and CAT mock test. 100 percentiler Mukesh Goyal (CAT 2016) says, he too prepared for CAT exam mainly through mock tests. He scored cent percent score in both DILR and Quantitative Ability and an impressive 82.5 percentile in Verbal Ability.

It is because of his sheer hard-work that today he is studying management at his dream institute FMS, Delhi. Shiksha spoke to Mukesh about his success in CAT, prep strategy and dos and don’ts.

For this engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh the key to crack CAT is solving mocks, sectional and topic specific tests. And those haven’t taken coaching for CAT, they can score 100 percent too. Mukesh did so through self-study. Read on to know what you should do in the last two weeks for high scores in the exam.

It depends upon person to person. If you are good with basic Maths (till Class 10/12) and are good in Verbal Ability, it would not take you much time. Normally 3-4 months are sufficient if your basics are strong.

I prepared for CAT mainly through mock tests. In VA, I used to focus mainly on RCs as this particular topic forms the major part of the verbal section. In DILR, focus was mainly on selecting right kind of sets and trying out different type of strategies in the mocks. I was fairly comfortable with QA and tried to improve upon my weak areas. I used to write 1-2 mocks per weekend and then analyze them and make changes to my approach accordingly. I used to prepare mainly through mocks, sectional and topic specific tests.

I was weak in VA section. I practiced sectional tests and topic specific tests in order to improve this section. I used to focus on analysis part of these tests. I used to solve a lot of RCs and CR questions. 

In the last month I revised all the concepts and previous mocks. I also wrote few mocks and sectional tests in the last month in order to improve on weak areas.

I used to prepare mainly through mocks, sectional and topic specific tests. I also solved last year CAT exam paper.

Through proper mock analysis, one can know about his/her weak and strong areas and can work accordingly. Attempting the easy and doable questions first and leaving the difficult ones for the last is really important and one can learn about this through mocks. Try to attempt questions which you feel you can solve quickly. Wasting time on easy questions is also not good.

I did not take any coaching. I think apart from providing subject knowledge, coaching might help you in staying in regular touch with studies. It depends on the individual whether he/she needs coaching or not. Students have done well in CAT with coaching as well as without coaching.

I converted FMS, XLRI and some other B Schools. I joined FMS because it was one of my dream colleges. I talked with my parents, friends, seniors, alums of different B schools before finalizing my decision. FMS provides a lot of good opportunities and a smaller batch was also a factor in favor of FMS.   

First of all go through all the basic concepts. Try to write sectional and mock tests. Also, mock analysis is really important and this is something that many candidates usually skip but it is of the utmost importance. All the mock questions – incorrect, correct and un-attempted should be analyzed properly. One can try different types of strategies in mocks and accordingly see what kind of strategy suits him/her better.

Never waste too much time on any question even if it is from your stronger areas. Do not focus on one section only, give equal importance to all the sections. Also, keep your calm while writing the exam and believe in yourself and the hard work you have put in your preparation.     

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