How did you handle stress while CAT preparation?
I took a major risk by taking a gap year and not preparing along with the job instead. With such a big risk comes a lot of anxiety. I was very stressed out throughout my prep journey. Every single day I would just ask my mother one question- will I make it or not. But I did manage to find out ways to keep this under control. I took off-days whenever I felt that I couldn’t take it any more. Also, I used to cook each day. It was my stress buster and I suggest every aspirant to find that one hobby that has a calming effect on you.
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What was giving CAT in corona times felt like?
2020 was a very uncertain year and so was CAT. Overnight we were told that the pattern of the paper had changed. Strategy forms a big part of your preparation and a new paper pattern meant making changes to your test-taking strategy. There was also the additional discomfort of having to give the exam in masks and gloves. What I did was give 1 mock in the new pattern to get an idea about where I was facing difficulty and then tweak my strategy accordingly. As for the masks, while I gave my mocks, I tried to simulate the environment in which I would have to give the test on the final day. Mid-September onwards, every mock that I gave was with a mask and gloves.
What was your weakest section, and how did you overcome it?
Like most engineers, my weakest section too was VARC. I was never much of a reader so the first thing that I started to do was read novels. I was a lot more consistent in reading novels as compared to the e-newspapers so this helped me develop a reading habit. Once that was in place, the next thing was comprehending what was written in the RCs as they form the major portion of the VARC section. Initially, I read the passages very quickly but that affected my accuracy as I wasn’t able to gauge what the author was saying. I developed my strategy accordingly so that I could give myself enough time to really understand each passage well.
For the non-RC questions, it all came down to practice. In my mocks, there were times when I scored as little as a 66 %ile in VARC. Giving a lot of sectional mocks and practising RCs really helped me a lot. There is no replacement for practising RCs and I couldn’t stress this point enough.
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How many mocks you attempted, and what was your strategy for Mock analysis?
I attempted around 40 full length mocks and 30 sectional mocks. My mentor always said that if you’ve given a 3 hour long mock and not spent at least 3 hours analysing it, then it’ll all go to waste. So the day after I gave a mock, I would spend a good 3.5-4 hours analysing it. I would first try to solve the questions that I wasn’t able to answer correctly or at all. I would then go through the video solution of each and every question irrespective of whether I had answered it correctly or not. Then I would see whether the method used by the mentors could help me solve the question more efficiently, in lesser time. It is very important to find the best solution for each question and that’s what I tried to do too.
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What would be your advice for future aspirants?
I think that what sets a 99%iler apart from saying a 95%iler is their attitude. They would’ve almost covered the same syllabus but it’s the stress handling ability that will help you use whatever you’ve studied to the max. So try and relax. If someday you don’t feel like studying, make a conscious decision to take a break. Do things you love-listen to music, dance, cook, anything that gets the dopamine flowing. Also, I had great mentors who I could talk to and that was a big help.
Another thing I would suggest is, customise your test-taking strategy to your strengths. Not every technique will work for everyone. Even if it does, it might not be the best. How you select sets, how much time do you want to give to each question, in how many rounds do you want to cover the quants- all these are things you need to figure out for yourself. Give enough and more full length and sectional mocks to see what works. I didn’t have a final strategy till mid-November. It might take time but try to find what best suits your capabilities.
All the best!
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