Know how this CAT 2016 aspirant scored 99.35%ile with just 45 days of preparation

CAT 2016 99.35%iler Sanyam Raheja

Preparing for CAT in just 45 days and scoring 99.35%ile is no child’s play, but Sanyam Raheja made this possible. As a part of his preparation strategy, Sanyam believed in putting in hard work and dedication in whatever time he had to prepare for the exam. His commitment finally paid off and the result is here – an ecstatic Sanyam is satisfied with his scores and hopes to make it to his dream institute. 

Sanyam shared his success story with Shiksha. Here is what he had to say: 

Q. Was this your first CAT attempt?

Answer: My first attempt was in 2014 in which I got 97.2 percentile. Since I wasn't satisfied with it and didn't get calls from my target colleges so I decided to give another try this year. 

Q. How satisfied are you with your score?

Answer: I'm more than satisfied because I was expecting a percentile around 97.5. Probably I just underestimated myself. 

Q. Tell us something about yourself.

Answer: I come from a Merchant navy background. Presently I'm a Second Officer in Wilhelmsen Ship Management. I have a sailing experience of 24 months as an officer and 18 months as a cadet. I started sailing when I was just 19, and so far I've been to more than 30 countries. But I want to make a transition due to limited growth and learning opportunities in Merchant navy. 

Q. What area of specialization you intend you choose?

Answer: I intend to specialize in Operations. My goal is be in a senior managerial position in the Logistics and Supply Chain department of a large corporation, preferably in the Maritime industry. 

Q. Tell us about your preparation strategy.

Answer: I just had 45 days to prepare for CAT since I was on ship before that. I spent 15 days to brush up the quant concepts. Next 30 days was mostly about mocks. I gave a mock every alternate day and analyzed them thoroughly. 

Q. What is the minimum time frame needed to prepare for CAT, and when did you start off with your preparations?

Answer: Time frame depends from person to person but in my opinion 4 months are enough to crack CAT if you can put in 6-8 hours of studying every day. If you're working you need to start much earlier. 

Q. What did you do to improve your weak areas?

Answer: My weak areas were some of the topics in quant and I would spend a complete day on that topic and try to learn it from not only the books but also the YouTube videos to become comfortable in them. 

Q. Is it important to join a coaching institute?

Answer: Give some free mocks. If you're scoring less than 80 percentile I would advise you to join a coaching institute since they will teach you all the topics in a systematic way. But again, as I mentioned earlier, it depends from person to person. You can score 99 even by just studying all by yourself. 

Q. What’s your dream institute?

Answer: IIFT is my dream institute because of its niche specialization which is a perfect fit for me. 

Q. Tell us about your hobbies.

Answer: I enjoy landscape photography and even won a photography contest once. I love hiking and solo backpacking. I also read a lot of spiritual books.

Q. Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Answer: Just believe in yourself completely. I've seen people moving from 75 to 99.9 percentile. CAT is not rocket science.

CAT scores are used for admission to 19 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and various other top B-Schools. Are you eligible for the IIMs? To know more, click on the image beside.