How do CAT 99 percentilers gear-up for the exam? What is the number of hours they spend studying? How do they improve their weak areas, and how do they extract maximum value from mock tests? To find out, we spoke with someone who was in the top 0.08% of all CAT 2018 test-takers and made it to one of India's top business schools - IIM Indore. In this video interview, he reveals how he prepared for CAT and lays out some un-missable tips for all CAT aspirants.
An Interview With CAT 99.92 Percentiler - Divyansh Gupta
Divyansh Gupta, a Chemical Engineer from BITS Pilani, took the decision to pursue an MBA and began preparing for CAT 2018. He began seriously preparing for the exam about four months before the D-day. As an engineer, he initially struggled with the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section but managed to devote time to strengthen his weak areas and learn from his mistakes. At the end of his CAT preparation journey, he ended-up receiving calls from IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode and IIM Indore. He cracked the
IIM Indore interview and joined the institute to pursue his management education.
In this video, Divyansh shares with CAT aspirants his journey to a 99.92th percentile score in CAT 2018, how he analysed mock tests and increased the number of attempts in the DI-LR section, and how he finally overcame the obstacle in every Engineer's CAT preparation - the VA-RC section. He also shares three important tips that he believes every CAT aspirant must include in their CAT preparation!
Divyansh's Academic Profile And CAT 2018 Performance
Academic Profile
10th/12th/Graduation - 93.1/90/74.40
CAT 2018 Performance
OA/VA-RC/DI-LR/QA - 99.92/99.92/99.55/99.38
Important Takeaways From This Interview
Here are five important takeaways from Divyansh's interview:
- You need to stay motivated. Most CAT aspirants burn out before the D-day, simply because they're unable to keep themselves motivated throughout the enervating journey. Here's how you can remain motivated throughout your CAT journey and crack the exam out of shape!
- Take mock tests like you're taking the actual CAT exam. Each and every mock test must be taken very seriously and analysed carefully. Here is a guide by an IIM Ahmedabad student on how you can effectively analyse mock tests!
- Before sitting down to take a mock test, spend 15 minutes deciding on a strategy for the test. This will help you maximise your score and minimise your mistakes.
- If you're struggling with VA-RC, spend a lot of time reading from a diverse range of topics. This will help you improve your comprehension ability. Simply practising questions may not necessarily be the best solution. Here's how this CAT 2018 test-taker scored 99.3%ile in the VA-RC section.
- There is no cap on the number of hours CAT aspirants need to study. It varies from student to student, and a more important thing is to stay motivated throughout your journey, regardless of how many hours you study for.
Liked this video? Here's what we recommend you watch next:
In this video, we speak with Kannan, an engineer from NSIT who prepared for CAT 2018 as a working professional and managed to get a 99.86th percentile score that opened for her the gates to India’s most desirable B-school –
IIM Ahmedabad. Here, she shares her journey to a 99+ percentile score, the challenges along the way, and her learnings from it. She discusses in depth how one can improve their weak areas in CAT and how effective mock test analyses can go a long way in achieving this.
In this video, we speak with Swayam Tibrewal, a CAT 99.12 percentiler and a part of IIM Bangalore’s PGP Class of 2021. Swayam took CAT not once, not twice, but four times, achieving his dream score in the final CAT attempt in 2018 that opened the gates to IIM Bangalore for him.
Swayam has had a tempestuous CAT journey filled with many ups and downs – in his penultimate CAT attempt, his computer shut-down for 15 minutes that reduced his overall percentile. To add to his troubles, a few days prior to his CAT 2018 attempt, Swayam lost his grandmother – an incident that left him bereft. Added to that was the immense pressure of re-taking CAT a fourth time. However, not only did Swayam not give up, he worked hard to overcome all odds that came his way and belled the CAT!
Watch this video to know more about how Swayam cracked CAT 2018.
There's a lot more where that came from! In the coming weeks, we will also be releasing more such insightful interviews with CAT toppers, as we pick their brains for some tips on how you can score 99%ile in the exam. Stay tuned, and post your suggestions in the comments!