Hardik Vijay faced tough competition when he first wrote CAT in 2018. He scored a 98%ile but felt he could do better. This is when this Civil Engineer from IIT Kanpur decided to re-attempt the CAT. Hark back to 2019, Hardik scored a whopping 99.96%ile in CAT 2019. And all this while working at Citibank full time! Hardik tells us how he came back home from work and pushed himself to practice mocks and sectionals up to 1-2 AM at night. Evidently, the only started preparing earnestly starting September-October. His most rigorous and fruitful prep happened just before CAT in the month of November. In fact, even the day before CAT, Hardik was busy brushing up VA-RC & Quant. In this video, he tells us his insights into preparing for CAT and shares a few unique prep strategies that helped him! If you’re writing CAT 2020, check out this video now!
Summary
In this video, Hardik takes us through his rationale for pursuing an MBA. He shares how he got interested in management while working at Citibank. Eventually, after writing CAT in 2018, Hardik knew he could do better. He decided to push himself and re-appear for CAT 2019. He shares how he prepared differently by working in his weaker areas. He talks about how despite engineers supposedly being good at quant, he found himself not scoring well. He started focusing on his quant sectional prep and solving as many mocks as he could to ace the quant section.
He shares how one should benchmark ones’ own performance to note how much one has improved. He shares his methodology to benchmark performance and keep a tab on mistakes - taking screenshots of wrong answers with the correct solutions! He shares how glancing through these screenshots can also be a great way to revise.
Hardik tells us how, unlike popular belief and advice, he spent his last day before CAT revising as couldn’t relax. Next Hardik takes us to his IIM interviews. He shares how he interviewed for various b-schools including the top 6 IIMs, baby IIMs, XLRI, and FMS. He used these interviews as a practice round. His end goal? To convert one of the top IIMs! He shares his IIM B interview experience and how he was not asked anything about current affairs. He shares that one should be thorough with their hobbies, academic concepts, and work-related concepts during b-school interviews. If you’re wanting to score a 98+%ile and make it to the top 6 IIMs, this is a must-watch.
Key Takeaways
1. Knowing your pain points can help you ace CAT.
2. 40-45 Days before CAT, start focusing on sectional tests.
3. Benchmarking against your own previous performance is a good way to analyze mock tests before CAT.
4. Take screenshots of solutions to questions you tend to struggle with for better revision.
5. Be ready to answer questions about your education, hobbies, plans, etc.
Recommended Reads:
1. Screenshots Helped To Remember Tricky Questions During Mock Analysis - Hardik Vijay, CAT 2019 99.96%ile, IIM B
2. From 55%ile In Mocks 3 Weeks Before CAT To 99.45%ile In CAT 2019 | Shirin Nizar, 3. FMS '22
3. How To Stay Motivated For CAT 2020? | 5 Unmissable Tips By An IIM Calcutta Student
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