CAT topper Sanuj Mittal shares the secret to crack CAT 2016

CAT topper Sanuj Mittal shares the secret to crack CAT 2016

With just about 3 months left for CAT 2016, exam takers need to be extremely focused about their preparation strategy. Taking more of mock tests, and practising questions of all the sections on a regular basis is of high importance now.

With not much time left for the exam, it is important to prepare for the exam in the right manner. To help you understand whether you are on the right preparation path or not, Shiksha spoke to CAT 2015 topper Sanuj Mittal. Know what the 100 percentiler has to say about CAT 2016 exam preparation strategy:

Question: Does coaching play an important role in CAT 2016 preparation or is self-study sufficient?

Answer: Though coaching does play an important role in preparation for CAT, it is not a necessity. Coaching helps you gauge your own performance among the people who will be appearing with you during the actual exam. Also, it helps you form a sort of a routine, which is somewhat hard to maintain when you study by yourself.

Question: When is the right time to start preparing for CAT 2016?

Answer: One needs a bare minimum of two months’ rigorous practice to achieve a good percentile in CAT. Anything more than that is a certain advantage. The more time you have, more time you get to practice and more confident you become.

Question: What should be the routine study strategy of CAT 2016 aspirants?

Answer: Routine study strategy for CAT should include practice, practice and more practice of different types of questions. Trying out different sectional tests, chapter tests, etc. is the way to go.

Question: Which books/study material should CAT 2016 aspirants use?

Answer: Since I joined a coaching institute, I found the study material provided by them to be sufficient for the preparation of CAT. Apart from that, Arun Sharma is good for Quant. There are also numerous websites and portals providing a wide variety of different questions for practice.

Question: What should be the sectional preparation strategy?

Answer: For Quant and LR/DI practicing as much questions as you can helps. For Verbal, continuous reading of articles, newspapers etc. helps you build your vocabulary, and improve your general verbal skills. Apart from that practicing RC passages is also required.

Question: When appearing for CAT 2016, how should the aspirants decide which questions to attempt from different sections: Quantitative Ability & DI, Verbal Ability & LR?

Answer: There is no strategy or rule as such. Start with the questions you are comfortable with. That gets you into the groove. You can then move onto the relatively difficult questions.

Question: Time management plays an important role. Any tips for CAT 2016 aspirants on time management?

Answer: The most common mistake people do is getting stuck on a particular question. This is a big NO. If you are unable to solve a particular question, move on to the next. Also, don’t spend more than 2-3 minutes on one question.

Question: Should candidates also appear for other management exams? If yes, which exams?

Answer: Yes, there are other exams like XAT, NMAT, CMAT etc. which a candidate can appear for.

Question: Share some do’s and don’ts that CAT 2016 aspirants might find useful.

Answer:

• Do practice CAT replica tests and analyse your performance as well after the test
• Do not go in with a predefined mind-set on the exam day.
• Do not go to the exam center with a target in mind
• Go in with a clear head and a calm mind

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