Patrick Dsouza, serial MAH-CET topper did not attempt a single mock this year!

Patrick Dsouza

The declaration of MAH-CET 2018 result on March 19, 2018, brought joy to Patrick Dsouza who secured AIR (All India Rank) 5. His CET score is 154 and his overall percentile is 99.99.   

This is not the first time that Patrick has appeared for the exam, and excelled in the same. He had scored AIR 1 in MAH-CET in 2011 and 2012. Last year too, he scored 99.99%ile in the exam. Having completed his MMS from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Patrick Dsouza now runs his own coaching institute and trains students to crack various management exams. 

Shiksha got in touch with Patrick to learn about the tips & tricks he shares with his students. Read his full interview below:

I was not expecting this score. I did face a problem with the mouse in the exam, and therefore the paper did not go as per the plan.

I have written CET many times. I had scored Rank 1 in CET 2011 and 2012, and scored a 99.99%ile in last year CET too.

Yes, I have appeared for various other management exams. I scored 100%ile in CAT 2017. In fact, I have scored 100%ile 4 times in CAT (2007, 2009, 2016, 2017). Also, I scored rank 1 in XAT twice – XAT 2016 and XAT 2017.

I did not prepare for this year’s CET. Actually the fact that I teach the students is itself my learning. I did not even write a mock. But I did analyse a lot of my student’s mocks which helped me build my strategy.

My paper was in the first slot so I did not have any idea of how the paper will be. My strong section is Logic (I have scored 100%ile in DILR section in the last 2 years of CAT), so I decided to solve puzzles first. But after trying two sets of puzzles I gave up on this section. One reason could be that I was quite distracted by my mouse which was not working properly, and second, I realised later that the logic questions that I picked were the toughest in the exam. So I skipped puzzles and solved other questions on puzzles. Once I finished that, I went to Maths, Abstract and Verbal section in that order. I did not get time to come back to puzzles.

In the last 5 minutes I marked all the unsolved questions.

My weak area is Verbal. I usually read to help improve on my verbal section.

I myself run a coaching institute so I believe that a coaching institute does help in providing the right methods and guidance. But, an exam can be cracked even if you do not attend a coaching institute – this works only if you have a right group to prepare with.

CET is all about speed and strategy. While preparation, one should focus on improving marks per minute in every section. Identify the areas of improvement, and focus on improving in those areas.