I was about to give up on DILR but my mentor suggested me to continue putting effort and let it compound. I decided to act accordingly and started putting in efforts irrespective of mock scores. I used to solve around 4-5 sets daily from past year's mocks. It was November, I was still scoring around 15-20 marks in Mocks. I was scared as I already knew that IIM Bangalore (My dream B-School) gives more weightage to DILR. Nonetheless, I was putting in effort irrespective of mock scores.
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The D-Day arrived. I had the third slot. VARC seemed like a breeze. I was satisfied with my VARC attempt and was confident to score 35+ (I had made a strategy to score at least 35 marks in each section).
Next was DILR. I was nervous for the first 2 mins. But I knew I had to crack DILR to get into IIM B. Started skimming the sets. Picked first, solved in 8 mins. Picked second, solved in 12 mins. Now I was confident that I am past 24 marks at least. Took a minute break and started solving the third, It was lengthy (Project Management Set) and took around 10-12 mins again. Now I had around 6-7 mins and I picked another one. Was able to solve 2 questions from it. Finally, 14 attempts. I was satisfied. When I came out of exam hall after terrifying Quant, I got to know that third slot DILR was the toughest and the CAT pundits were predicting scaling up in it. I took a breath of a sigh.
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After the answer key came, I got to know that I was able to crack 35+ in DILR. I was overjoyed. Also, I had left one set (Javelin Throw) and it turned out to be the most difficult one in the exam and people screwed the whole section due to that. Fast forward, CAT results came. My eyes were stuck on the middle part of the scoresheet where the DILR is supposed to be.
38 marks out of 60. 99.64%le. I made it. I cracked DILR. Given the overall score and profile, I was sure of getting an interview call from IIM B and now am writing this piece from arguably the best campus in India - The place to B!
In a nutshell, what worked for me -
- Practise the basic DILR sets (Venn Diagram/Bar Graphs/Charts/Matrix etc) in the first month of preparation. (July)
- Practising 4-5 sets from previous year's mocks daily (August)
- Practising sectionals and mocks from September till CAT
Conclusively, put in efforts irrespective of the scores you're getting. Practise. Analyze. Repeat. See the magic.
You can reach out to me on LinkedIn!
All the best!
Shivam Nakod
IIM Bangalore PGP'24
Since you have come to the end, here is a small giveaway from Team InsideIIM. You have access to free sectional tests of DILR!
DILR Test 1 | Click here |
DILR Test 2 | Click here |
DILR Test 3 | Click here |
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