This CAT 99.48%iler tells you how to ace the exam

Vaibhav Singh

Following a strict preparation strategy helped Vaibhav Singh crack CAT 2016 with 99.48 percentile. Despite having a full time job, Vaibhav attempted as many mock tests as he could and spent time on analysing them. He identified his weak areas and worked on improving the same. 

In his free time, Vaibhav likes reading, playing the guitar, and dancing. He spoke to Shiksha and shared his CAT preparation strategy. Here is how he prepared for the exam:

Coaching may be required for people who cannot concentrate for long or who have an obvious shortcomings in certain subjects, e.g. lots of students from Arts background may be out of touch with Math – in this case they should go for coaching. But other than that, I don’t think coaching really plays a very big role in CAT preparation.

I would say start up on reading books and the Economist or New Yorker articles as soon as possible. You need to work on your GK for interviews, and the best way to build GK is to read a lot. As far as proper preparation is concerned, 2-3 months or about 20 mock tests are enough for a good level of preparation. Attempt a mock test a week and spend lots of time analysing your weak areas.

I was working during preparation time, so for me, I would generally attempt one mock test on one day of the weekend (either Saturday or Sunday), and relax on the other days. I would then spend around 2 hours for 2-3 days analysing the mock test, and how I was doing vis-a-vis other people on social forums.

Believe me, if you do not analyse mock tests properly, you will find it very hard to improve your weak areas.

The remaining 2-3 days I would study for about 2-3 hours per day on topics I had identified I was weak in. For example, I knew that I was good with clock calculations and time, speed and distance, so I barely devoted any time during my prep for those sections. Instead I spent most of my time on certain areas of LR, which was my weak point.

For QA I used the book by Arun Sharma, which honestly is the best book available for QA. Others I managed with secondhand TIME materials and CAT mock test reviews. I was doing well in TIME mock tests. Also, the TIME faculty was gracious enough to set up workshops for us, which was really helpful in brushing up on topics I had neglected till then. The iQuanta Facebook group also helped a lot in making us solve a wide variety of questions.

I would suggest that one should try to do as many questions correctly as possible in QA and Verbal, and try finding out question types you are comfortable with, and only attempt those for DI/LR. Attempting around 17-18 correct answers in DI/LR will get you somewhere in the high 99 percentile easily.

It really depends on what the aspirant is comfortable with. For example, if he/she feels comfortable distribution/arrangement type questions in DI/LR, he/she should obviously attempt those first. That is why giving lots of mock tests, and analysing them properly is literally the most important thing an aspirant can do. You do this correct, half the battle is already won.

2-3 hours for about 2 months of study is sufficient for a good Common Admission Test percentile. Just spend lots of time on what you are not comfortable with.

The best way to figure out your weak areas is to analyse the performance reports for your mock tests. As I gave only TIME mock tests, I am familiar with only the reports given by TIME. The reports were very comprehensive, giving you lots of information about how you did in a particular question and in a particular section. 

Also, maintain a spreadsheet containing your cumulative sectional performance across all the mock tests you have attempted. This, after you have given 4-5 mock tests, will make it really clear exactly what areas you are lacking in.

Yes, as CAT can be a bit of a lottery also. You should definitely give XAT, IIFT.

Do’s - Give lots of mock tests, analyse them properly, figure out areas you are weak in, study those areas, repeat.

Dont’s - Don’t lose hope if you are not doing well. It could be that what is wrong is your strategy in attempting questions, or maybe you are not doing well in certain core sections. Believe that you will get into a good IIM, and you will.