Cracking CAT made easy by IIM Calcutta student

Prabal Mukherjee

Like numerous MBA entrance exam aspirants, Prabal Mukherjee appeared for CAT in the year 2015. With a score of 99.84 percentile in the exam and an outstanding performance in the Group Discussion and Personal Interview rounds, Prabal secured a seat in the esteemed IIM Calcutta. 

Shiksha got in touch with him to know about his exam preparation strategy. Talking about preparations he said that every test-taker must set his own standard, but at the same time judging one’s progress against competitors is equally important. Prabal’s hobbies include reading novels and martial arts. Here is how he prepared for the exam:

Self-study is sufficient as far as preparation goes. However, it is essential to judge one’s progress against one’s competitors which is only possible via Mocks. 

Depends on your background and grasp of the topics. If you are an Engineer who has been in touch with Math in the past and spend some time per day on reading English, then preparation should start about 6-7 months before the test date. Else, it is advisable to start at least a year in advance.

Per day, choose two topics in combination that do not feel the same. For example, Quant and VA. Study both on the same day alternatively. For example, if you start with Quants then when it becomes tiring, switch to VA and so on.

I used material from TIME and practiced on their portal as well as IMS non- Proctored tests. I believe any of the many material sets available in the market can suffice if one keeps reviewing his/her progress with the Mock tests. Also, it is preferable to use the Mock Tests which are judged in real time against performance of other test takers like TIME’s AIMCAT.

Mix two sections a day. I considered LR and DI as two different sections. This gave me 4 different sections to focus on. So, I would take two sections a day and test myself on one and prepare for the other. The reverse would happen the next day and then the other set of 2 sections. In effect, there is just a cycle of testing and correction that needs to be done for each chapter. 

For me, RC was the weak link, especially with respect to the tones and inner meanings of the passages. In case of RC passages, I used to read editorial pages of at least three national dailies and used to practice recognising the tones of the passage as well as discuss the articles with my teachers.

I believe that a mistake that all students do is that they define a target of number of questions to attempt in each section. My strategy was of not defining the number I will attempt. I would first read the questions. In the first go, I would solve all problems that I found were easy and short. A majority fall in this category. While reading the question, I would categorise the problems that were not easy into two types and write down the question numbers on the paper provided in the two types. The first type would be long problems which were easy and the second would be difficult problems. In the second pass through the paper, I would solve the easy but long problems and if time remained after that, then I would attempt the last type. 

Mock tests are best for this purpose. They help us find our weak areas and help us find where we stand in that area when compared to others. It also helps dispel wrong ideas. For example, someone might feel he is great in Quants. But then in a mock test he finds that there are a large number of other test-takers that are better than him in Quants. This helps him set his own standard straight.

Yes. But which exams to take will depend on the student’s ambitions and abilities at the time. If the candidate is interested in Human Resources then he/she should go for XAT and TISSNET. If one’s prep is a bit on the low side, then he/she should target exams that are a bit easier, like SNAP.

Don’t look for breaks or lull periods in your preparation. It’s a dash, not a marathon. Always target a single concerted effort to crack whatever exams you target. If you go into a long multiyear mode, there is a possibility you won’t make it and even if you do, you won’t be making it very high in the rank list.

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