Kshitij is an aspiring future leader interested in finance. He did his 10th from ICSE securing 94%, 12th from CBSE securing 92%, and completed his B.Tech from NITK Surathkal in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering scoring 88.2%. He cleared level 1 of CFA exam and worked as a derivatives trader for 1 year at Futures First.
Q) Please Share Your Score And Percentile With Our Readers.
115.68,99.78 | VARC: 45.42,99.01| DILR: 28.5,97.58| QA: 41.75,99.62|
Q) Shed light on why and how did you decide to take the exam in 2021?
This was my third attempt at CAT after scoring extremely low in VARC for two straight attempts. While I was able to get decent scores in DILR and QA, VARC always put me down. I did not want to settle so I went ahead with another attempt which thankfully ended up being my last.
Q) While deciding to appear for the exams, who did you take guidance from?-How did you prepare? self-study, self-paced courses, or coaching?
I prepared for CAT on my own. I enrolled in IMS Mock Series and was part of IMS Club 100. While preparing, what were some regular hurdles in the way and how did you overcome them? The time crunch was a big hurdle while preparing while working. I had to work extra hard for VARC while maintaining my QA/DILR scores. I tried to cut down on other aspects like social life and going out to prepare and practice for CAT. Being weak at VARC, I made sure I attempted extra questions and more sectionals to be in touch with the section while trying to improve my score and accuracy.
Q) What is the most important aspect of preparing?
Consistency. Preparing continuously for a long time is important. Cracking CAT is about the art of question selection and that comes with practice. Somedays you work extra hard while some days are lighter, but working every day helps. Talk about your personal struggles, if any. Being weak at VARC, I had to put in extra effort for the section and read critically. I tried to inculcate more reading into my daily routine and tried to attempt something pertaining to VARC daily, even if it is only one RC.
Q)Tell us about your D-Day experience and how you felt about your months of preparation after the exam?
My center was pretty far away and I had to leave early morning for the afternoon slot. I tried to sleep early the night before but wasn't successful. I watched a few episodes of FRIENDS and switched off my WiFi to try to get some sleep. On the D-Day, I was extremely nervous having messed up VARC twice. My attempts in general were always on the higher side but I had my lowest attempts on the day of the exam. I tried to select questions carefully and avoided unsure attempts. After the exam, I wasn't completely satisfied as I had missed an easy DI set. I was scared that my strong section will let me down. Today when you look back at your journey, Is there anything you would do differently or advise the upcoming aspirants against it? Mocks are key for the preparation and not all mocks go well. Getting too worked up due to bad scores has an exponential effect on future mocks and taking excessive mocks trying to improve scores as revenge only messes things more. Taking adequate mocks along with practice and sectionals is a must. Analysis of mocks is equally if not more important than attempting the mocks.
Q) What was your lowest point during the preparation journey?
There were times when I had successive low scores in Quants and my OA percentile dropped below 95. Some mock just before CAT were extremely bad. I tried taking mocks daily and my scores kept going down. These scores really stressed me out and I thought that I will never make it.
Q) In which month did you start preparing for CAT?
August right after my CFA exam. For people attempting for the first time, March-April is a good time.
Q) What did you do in your initial months of preparation?
Initial few months are needed to complete the portion and respective topics and sectional tests.
Q) Do you think you needed more time to prepare? There is no limit to the time you will need.
There will never be a point where you feel you know everything. The beauty of the exam is, that you don't need to know everything! Making the most of the available time for preparation and the exam is key.
Q) Which month was most crucial for you during the preparation season. Please elaborate.
October is the most crucial month. It is the time when you should be done with the portion and must have taken 20+ mocks. This is the time when you go the extra mile and try to improve your scores. You work on your strong areas and leave out your weak and slow areas and try to make the most of the 2 hours.
Q) Please Share The Section-Wise Strategies Followed By You During Preparation.
Do you think taking sectionals is necessary? Absolutely. Sectionals help you to tackle different sets of questions with varying difficulty which is essential for having a well-rounded preparation skillset. How many did you take? For VARC, I took 30+ sectionals. Other sections, about 10 each. How much time did you invest in each section every day? I could only get 2 hrs a day on weekdays so I invested 1 hr for VARC and 1 hr for the other 2. On weekends, I took mocks along with analysis.
Q) If You Wish, You Can Talk About Any Section In Particular?
VARC is my weakest section. I scored 81%ile in it in 2020 and 99.01%ile in 2021. Earlier, I used to attempt all the questions since my accuracy was low. Later on, I started giving extra time to extra questions. Those 30s helped improve my accuracy and scores even though my attempt rates went down.
Q) Which Mock Test Series did you prefer?
IMS
How many Mock Tests did you take?
40 mocks
How did you analyze your mocks and apply your learnings in the next mock?
I used to see the unattempted questions first, the ones I got wrong next, and brushed the ones I got correctly.
Did your mock scores demotivate you?
Yes, there were mocks where I scored extremely low due to question selection or silly mistakes. I tried to take every mock as they came and not get too sad due to them.
How did you keep up with the drastic change in scores?
While I was constantly scoring 98%+ in mocks, there were low scores like 85%ile too! I analyzed the low score mocks more than once to get the best of my mistakes.
Did you constantly score low in one particular section?
Not really. I was able to get good scores in mocks.
Towards the last leg of your preparation, what was the frequency per week of the mocks you had taken?
I used to take 3 mocks a week in the first two weeks of November and in the last week I took 0 mocks.
How did you deal with the uncertainties in terms of the paper pattern and the timespan of the exam? How did you prepare for “surprises”?
You cannot prepare for surprises. Giving adequate mocks of varying difficulties helps to reduce the element of surprise but it is never 0.
Q) Is There Anything Else That You'd Like To Add?
CAT is not about knowing everything. It is about attempting what you know. Question Selection is more important than Question Knowledge.