MAT 2019 Topper: How Jay Sonar Cracked MAT 2019 Scoring 99.99 Percentile

Are you appearing for MAT 2020 exam? Read here how Jay Sonar adopted some smart preparations strategies to crack MAT with 99.99 percentile in his second attempt.

Jay Sonar is one of those MBA aspirants in India who worked hard to seek admission in one of his dream MBA institutions by cracking MAT with 99.99 percentile. Although, he missed the mark of 100 percentile by a fraction, he still managed to score what he wanted to get admissions and this is exemplary. Before cracking MAT, he had completed Bachelor in Engineering in Instrumentation and Controls. For a short stint, he has also worked as a PDI supervisor at a local Hero MotorCorp dealership.

In his first attempt, Jay managed to score 99.96 Percentile when he took MAT in February session of 2019. He was prompt enough to push his percentile in the second attempt when he attempted MAT 2019 May session exam. Avoiding his past mistakes in the second attempt and putting in continuous effort, focus and application of smart strategies led Jay score high in MAT 2019. He had also appeared for other national and state level MBA entrance exams and according to him, a common preparation along with mock tests was the key to crack MAT with a high percentile.

Read on his preparation strategy and valuable tips to find guidance for MAT exam preparation.

Q: Are you satisfied with your MAT result? How much score were you expecting?

 A: I am satisfied with the score as it helped me secure admission in the institute of my choice.

Q: When did you start preparing for MAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?

A: I was preparing for other MBA tests so started prep for all of them about a month before CAT 2018. MAT is a relatively easy exam compared to other speed-based exams like SNAP, NMAT, MAH-CET which I was preparing for, so I did not really do MAT specific preparation other than taking a few mocks. My preparation strategy was primarily to finish all the topics on conceptual basis and then attempt mocks and sectional tests.

Also Read: MAT preparation tips

Q: Please, share with us your section-wise strategy.

A: My strategy for MAT or any other entrance exam was to start with a section I was confident of and then move on to the second comfortable section. I would suggest all to play on your strengths first. Score those first few marks with fresh mind and build confidence. For preparation of Language Comprehension section, apply reading as an effective strategy to improve speed and comprehension and for vocabulary, try watching some vocabulary videos on YouTube regularly. For other sections prepare and practice solving as many types of questions as you can because it helps understand different types of questions. 

DA & Sufficiency and Mathematics: I started with getting familiar with DA & Maths topics by referring to materials from either the books I had or Youtube. After that, I mostly practiced from the exercise questions in books and Sectional mock tests. It is important to move to practice phase early on rather than keep studying the basics as only practice can help improve accuracy and speed even in difficult topics.

Intelligence and Critical Reasoning: For this section, I have followed the same routine as DA and Maths, after basics practiced with exercise questions and sectional tests. Here focused on getting practice of wider range of questions as the variety in questions is a hindrance in scoring well in this section.

Indian and Global Environment Section: I did not attempt this section as i wanted to do well in other sections and as this section does not contribute to overall percentile score. Best way to prepare for this is installing news Apps on your phone and going through daily news for an hour or so. Also, before exams refer Youtube channels for UPSC etc and go through videos on important questions for UPSC for last 2 years. That would be sufficient.

Also Read: MAT 2020 Pattern

Q: Which books did you refer to for MAT preparation?

A: I had referred to books from TIME coaching institute before, you can also find good resources on YouTube by just Googling the topic.

Also Read: Best Books for MAT 2020 Preparation

Q: Did you join any coaching institute? How does coaching institute help in exam preparation?

A: I had joined TIME coaching the previous year. Their material and mocks are quite good. However, I would recommend self-study rather than coaching, as many of the coaching institutes (or their branches in smaller cities) do not have good teachers or sometimes any teachers. 

Also Read: MAT Sample Papers

Q: How important is practicing MAT mock test series?

A: According to me, it was not very important. It might help to understand the paper pattern and get used to the interface, but for real practice would recommend mocks of other tougher speed based exam like MAH-CET, SNAP, NMAT, etc.

Also Read: MAT Mock Test

Q: What was your exam day strategy?

A: I tried to relax and not get very tense during the exam. I was nervous in most of the important exams so tried not to repeat the same mistake. Also, I did not attempt any Indian & Global Environment questions as they did not contribute to the overall percentile, but some institutes consider that sectional score for admissions so research well on the institutes. 

Also Read: MAT 2020 Syllabus

Q: Which other MBA entrance exams did you take or are planning to take?

A: I took other national and state level MBA  CAT, SNAP, CMAT, MAH-CET.

Q: How did you deal with your strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the exam

A: I tried to play on strengths. Hence, I practiced to improved accuracy on those topics. I also improved the weak areas enough so that I would not miss out on those "low hanging fruits" questions.

Q: Any tips for future MAT aspirants?

A: Practice on harder exams, then MAT will not feel as difficult. Of course, take mocks (of NMAT, SNAP, MAH-CET) as practice is the most important part for preparation of speed-based exam or any exam really.

Q: Which Institutes did you join/aim to join?

A: I joined Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.

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