Modit Singla did his schooling from DAV Public School, Panipat. Having secured 90.0% in X and 95.2% in XII, he took the usual route and went on to pursue B.tech. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from DCRUST, Murthal. MBA was on the cards till CAT 2014 gave him a reality check. He later went on to clear SBI PO 2016 and worked there for more than 3 years. Six on-job transfers, 5 years, and a monotonous routine later, he mustered courage and attempted CAT again. 99.25 percentile is what he achieved after 70 hour weeks at work. He got an admit from IIM Lucknow and had converted MDI and IIFT. Presently, he is studying at IIM L. Here is how Modit went through this journey of achieving 99.25%ile with a 163.31 score | VA: 51.60, 96.03 | DILR 46.12, 97.92 | QA: 65.58, 99.29
How much did your score in your previous attempt(s)?
2014- 87.4 | VALR 69.2 | DIQA 95.4
There are many aspirants who will attempt for the second (or even third or fourth) time. What'd be your advice to them?
Your previous scorecard(s) reflect your strengths and weaknesses. Fine-tune the strengths by breaking the comfort zone. Widen the topic you feel familiar with. Spend time on questions that took more than usual time. Your weakness is your friend. Give your entire focus here as the scope is huge. Move from topic wise concept to topic wise tests and then to sectional test till you achieve your target. Don't rush mocks if you are not confident with the subject matter. Always remember you are solving what a fifteen-year-old kid is able to solve. You just have to efficiently manage time.
How did you prepare – Self-study or Coaching? Which one do you think is better?
One definitely needs guidance when it comes to competitive exams. I had to manage with self-study as I was working six days a week and sometimes even on Sundays. I believe sectional tests and mocks are a must for every aspirant. I took more than fifty sectional tests in verbal as it was my weak point. Fifteen tests in Quant and Seven in Logical Reasoning. I could only manage six full length mocks due to my work schedule. If one is having time to spare, one must go for online or offline courses for a better understanding of concepts to learn important tricks to save time. If one feels the time is limited, crash courses too can brush up certain portions. It all comes down to how you feel after the first mock.
According to you, what is the most important aspect of preparation?
The first mock you give will guide your journey. It tells you the starting point and the way has to be paved by hard work and only hard work. Some will begin their journey with a ninety-odd percentile in the first mock and will be full of confidence. Some like me will have to pull from seventy-odd to whatever possible. The first mock has to be a raw attempt to know where you stand even before you have started preparing. That's the bottom and the only journey possible is UP! Not only overall percentiles, sectional scores, and percentiles too play a major part. Which section is good and needs extra care must be identified initially. The exam is like a war and strategy is as important as the army. Assessing each mock is vital too as it helps to differ the good topics from bad and helps to improve accuracy.
Which mock series did you enroll for?
IMS, Career Launcher, 2IIM
How many full-length mock tests did you take?
6
How many sectional mock tests did you take?
Verbal- more than 50, QA- 15, LRDI- 7
What was your approach while taking mocks?
More number of mocks you give, the more strategies you can try. Technically, an exam is divided into three sections and each section needs a separate strategy. In QA, I chose to attempt all questions possible in the first go if the question is in my comfort zone. I came back later to the ones left. In DILR, it is very important to identify the easiest set first and that was always my main motive. Do not get stuck with one set and not to take the question on ego. Let it go if it saves time. In VARC, I tried different strategies as it was weakest. Like going for RCs first or spreading them throughout the time. A few mocks or sectionals later, one can easily identify what works for them. There is no particular answer to strategy. Just do not take any question to your ego. It's okay not to know or remember a few things.
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How do you think the mock tests helped you in your preparation?
Mocks are the best guide one can have during preparation. If one gives ample mocks in a controlled environment, the actual exam day feel can be closely replicated. One can see the graph going up and down with variable difficulty levels and multiple strategies. My first mock score was 83 overall. 15 days and few topics later, I improved to 95 then slowly to 115. My last and highest mock score was 122. I managed 163 on 'The Day' tells you the difference in the level of mocks and actual exams. Still, if there's any advice I would give to someone who has not studied at all, a week before the exam, will be doing the mocks.
Which section were you strong in? Since you were strong in that section, how did you focus on the other sections?
Being an engineer, QA came naturally to me. Revision of concepts and few tricks helped me to improve on whatever small room I had. As QA was settled, I chose to focus primarily on VARC. My mock percentiles were consistently in mid-sixties. I spend more time reading random articles and giving sectionals. Even after two months, I was lacking the consistency I needed. DILR was a roller coaster for me. I started with an eighty-odd percentile in the section but soon dropped to the sixties. Clearing head while solving a particular set and identifying easier ones helped on 'The Day'.
Which section was your Achilles heel? How did you overcome that?
Definitely, VARC was my nightmare. Till the day before the exam, my best percentile in the section was 83.2. Initial mocks gave me a clear picture and I focused on reading random articles to help my reading speed and focus. For me, concentrating one hour at a stretch and reading random topics was very difficult. One VARC sectional mock at least five days a week and a minimum of thirty minutes reading each day helped my focus tremendously. Not only giving mocks but also assessing them afterward to know the nuances of the options helped me to improve on accuracy.
How much time did you devote to preparation on a regular basis?
As I was working close to eleven hours a day and six days a week, I was only managing two to three hours each working day. I reserved Sundays for full length mocks but could manage only six mocks in the last three months as I had to work sometimes even on Sundays. I took a fifteen-day off in September to brush out by Quant portion and then I reserved most of my time for Verbal. Sunday was Quant and LR day and I would spend hours on a couple of LR and DI sets till I know all possible ways to solve a particular set or question. I had a travel time of thirty minutes one way to work and I used that to read random articles for Verbal.
Tell us about the lowest point in your preparation journey and how did you overcome that?
One month before the CAT exam, I was diagnosed with dengue. A period of seven days when my body was so tired I could not even think of studying. A lot was left to do and my mock scores were just average. As I was already working at a decent package and had an extensive work-ex, anything less than 99 percentile would not have worked for me. I almost gave up that week. I exhausted four leaves I had saved for the week before CAT. As my health got better, I realized I got hang of the routine I had made earlier. I reached home at nine in the evening and then went on to my laptop for a sectional mock. Every interstitial time I had, I used it to further help my cause. The monotonous routine I was running from helped me to get back on track.
Do you believe that an engineer gets an added advantage in the management entrance exams?
Someone who gets Quants naturally has an advantage in CAT or in any entrance exam. As fas as engineers are concerned, any advantage they have in Quant is generally nullified with not-so-good Verbal. They have to compensate for the hard work of Quant in Verbal. Logical Reasoning has more to do with Reasoning and less with the stream or effort. It is just identifying the right question to attempt and the right amount of time before you decide to let go.
Also Read: "Screenshots Helped To Remember Tricky Questions During Mock Analysis" - Hardik Vijay, CAT 2019 99.96%ile, IIM B
What resources would you suggest to 2020 aspirants?
VARC- focus on reading newspapers. Start from The Hindu, move to its editorials, and later to online platforms like The guardian for random articles. LRDI- Mocks and previous years will give you ample set to practice. One can refer to Arun Sharma for basic understanding. QA- Arun Sharma for basics. 2IIM online course is good too for basics and advanced stages.
What according to you are the DO and DON'Ts of CAT preparation?
Always adhere to fix schedule. Practice daily. Do not ever give up whatever be the mock score. Read daily. Reading is a must for verbal.
Which mock series would you like to suggest to CAT 2020 aspirants? Is one mock series sufficient or do you suggest a combination of 2 different mock series?
IMS and 2IIM are good. Different series gives you a variety of competition and somewhat different difficulty levels. The set of questions and topics on focus will differ too. Try to prefer a combination of two.
What would be your final advice to CAT 2020 Aspirants?
Try to start early. Stay focused and identify your strengths and weaknesses. Working individuals have to work smart as time will be limited. You might have to give up a topic or two which has the least weightage. Mocks are like temples. Visit regularly and while there, introspect to find the weak areas. The more time you spend there, the more you will gain. There are multiple B-school entrance exams with different patterns and syllabus. Work more on common portions and leave specific portions for after-CAT preparation if time is limited.
Lastly, never give up. There is an N number of possibilities and you are a 'Continuous Random Variable'. Always believe in the conspiracy of the Universe to guide you to your goal.
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