Sayan Ganguly comes from a small town called Bankura in West Bengal. From his surname only, I think you have guessed his nickname in college it's 'Dada' of course! He loves painting and he has been doing that for the last 17-18 years. He graduated from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad (NIT, Allahabad) in 2020. Talking about his academic profile which you all have been eagerly waiting for, he got a CGPA of 10(95%) in his class 10th, 94.8% in his Class 12, and 87.30% during his undergrad. (a 9-9-8 profile ) . He has been workings as a software engineer at Optum, for the last two years. He has scored a stellar 99.94%ile on CAT 2021 and is currently a part of IIM Ahmedabad's Co'24 cohort. Read on to know how his preparation strategy and his preparation suggestions for future aspirants!
All India Open CAT 2022 Mock Test | In Association With TIWYS (Formerly Takshzila)
Q) Please Share Your Score And Percentile With Our Readers.
CAT 2021 : Overall - Score (128.91) , Percentile (99.94 %ile)
VARC - Score (43.53) . Percentile(98.69 %ile)
DI-LR - Score(34.10) , Percentile(99.07%ile )
Quant - Score(51.28) Percentile (99.93)
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Q) Please Share Your Journey In Achieving 99.94%ile.
I loved the product and feature development process from the scratch. I want to learn more about business insight and how I can impact the consumers and in turn the organization. So, MBA was always in the back of my mind. I first time appeared on CAT 2020. During, my first time preparing, I thought of doing self-study only. Concepts were not very new, mostly quants were 10th standard, DILR was fun and I never understood VARC.
So, I took up only mock tests from various coaching institutes and tried to understand and develop my flaws. I ended up getting a (99.41%ile) with 0 calls cause I just blew up my VARC (65 %ile), it was a nightmare. So, naturally, CAT 2021 was the plan. I mostly had my Quants and DILR in place (2020 QUANTS - 99.8%ile and DILR - 99.6%ile ). So, this time it was more of brushing up on the Quants and reading to improve my VARC.
I took up mock tests from all the three coaching institutes, IMS, TIME, and CL. I religiously tried to take all the proctored mocks in the window and had a bunch of great friends with whom I discussed my issues and tried to analyze once the answer key was out. I was struggling with my VARC as expected, but with more reading from diverse places, it became a bit easy with time.
This time I ended with around 98.69 %ile in VARC from 65%ile the last time, so the curse was not there this time. My D-Day experience 28th November 2021. I again had the morning slot. It starts at 8:30 am. I woke up around 5:45 am, brushed, combed, had my breakfast .. stood in front of the mirror, and said “the day is here, and I am ready.” Reached the exam center, ‘namo-namo was playing’ … Deja-vu strikes.
Same place, same time, same occasion, I just wanted the different results. I had worked for it, I had slept over it, I had dreamt of it. Entered at 8 am. Got my designated PC and after a few deep breaths.. ‘... it’s game time .’. VARC started, 1 min panic, but now I know, how to breathe. Starting, the first RC felt difficult. I left it, went onto the next one, then the next, then the next and it went on. I was done with most of the questions with a minute on hand.
This time it was much better than the last year. Sat through the minute, thinking about DILR.DILR opened, absolute headache. I tried 1st set, not happened, 2nd set, did a question or two. and 13 minutes passed. last year memories were coming again. But, this time I was ready to fight till the end. Some managed a question here and there and did attempt a decent number. Was not very sure of the accuracy but, yes DILR ended.
Quants started, I took a deep breath, ‘it’s my batting power play now.’, attempted mostly all. My father asked, “how was it ? ”, I said not sure about DILR, but VARC and quant went okayish. Now, came back and talked with all the people in slot1. Then, by the end of the day, more discussions. more speculation and more work to remember the quant questions and make the answer script. We compiled all the answers of Quants and proudly state all were correct. Now, what the wait for the answer scripts.
The sleepless nights, did I read the question wrong. Why did I misread that question? Will my DILR clear cut-offs. It was too much to handle before the official answer key was out and I scored a decent score. I was hopeful of getting a few calls this time.
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Q) Please Share Your Month-Wise Preparation Insights For Upcoming Aspirants.
There was no absolute month-wise strategy for me. But, I would like to say, try to start taking mocks from June. Then, analyze, learn your weak areas and retake a new mock, again analyze. I think this cycle may help you out. In 2021 I started preparing from the end of May and started to take mocks from around mid-June. In the initial days, my VARC preparation was nothing but reading. My Quants preparation was doing questions with a timer and DILR was getting exposed to different kinds of sets from various old mocks, CAT papers, and re-analyzing the proctored mocks that I was taking in the window. The most crucial; month for me was the month of September when I was done with most of the preparation and it was time for finding a strategy for myself. So, I reached out to many people, and tried and tested various different approaches. Then, after you find something that works for you, stick to it and improve that was the part of the plan.
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Q) Please Share The Section-Wise Strategies Followed By You During Preparation.
Talking about Sections-
QUANT: This section was really my best friend mostly throughout the journey. But, I would lie to say what works for me. I tried to have a grasp of the basic concepts in all the different chapters and I absolutely hate short-cuts that I do not understand. When I was confident about the concepts of the chapters, the main motive was to reduce the time per question. Then, I started to select easy questions and then go for the medium difficulty ones, this difficulty judgment I think came with time.
DILR: This section is more about familiarity and more about 'been - there - done - that '. So, the only thing I used to do was open past mocks and past CAT papers and solve questions. If I got stuck somewhere, I did not check the answer right away, I think, that also trains my mind, on what not to do, which is really important in the exam setting. And during this section, please keep your ego at bay. You may be the smartest person on Earth, but please leave a question, if you are stuck :).
VARC: I am the worst person to say about VARC, but as asked will try to pen down my three absolute takeaways.
1. DO NOT READ FAST, READ AT A PACE YOU CAN COMPREHEND.
2. ATTEMPT A FEW QUESTIONS, ACCURACY MATTERS HERE.
3. ON DAYS WITH BAD MOCK SCORES, HAVE FAITH IN THE PROCESS.
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Q) Please Share The Section-Wise Strategies Followed By You During Preparation.
I was not the most confident with my VARC Section. But again re-iterating the few things that helped me:
1. DO NOT READ FAST, READ AT A PACE YOU CAN COMPREHEND.
2. ATTEMPT A FEW QUESTIONS, ACCURACY MATTERS HERE.
3. ON DAYS WITH BAD MOCK SCORES, HAVE FAITH IN THE PROCESS.
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Q) Please Talk About The Role Of Mock Tests While Preparing.
Mocks were the most crucial part of the CAT, is what I believe. I advise starting taking mocks with 50% preparation because you are never going to be 100% ready to take a MOCK and the MOCKs complement your concept learning. This time I took mocks from IMS, TIME, CL, and CRACKU. My, majority of my preparation was writing MOCKs only. Apart from writing, the most important advice for MOCK will be to analyze every question. Spend more hours in analysis, than taking the MOCK. For, Quants, though you have got the question right try to check the solution given as there may be a great concept which is provided in the answers.
For, DILR if you are unable to solve any question during the MOCk try to solve it first and then see the answers and solution this makes to add a more familiar set to your library, and finally, for VARC, try and understand why you an answer and if it is wrong WHY ? is the question you should try to answer for yourself. Hope this helps.DISCLAIMER: YOUR SCORE MAY FLUCTUATE, MAKE PEACE WITH IT !!! THE MAIN GOAL IS TO LEARN ALONG THE JOURNEY FOR THE CAT : )
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Q) Is There Anything Else That You'd Like To Add?
Two Absolute Block-Buster Gyaans, which I got from my mentor:
1. Do Not Lose the plot amidst the chaos ... have sanity with time and faith in the process.
2.Have a learning attitude, anything and everything that comes is OKAY, we learn new things every day.
“Don't ever let someone tell you, you can't do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.” – “Pursuit of Happyness” --- take a chill pill dude … enjoy the process to the fullest ... and 'YOU ARE STRONGER THAN YOU THINK :)'
And before signing off, and till we meet again ...All the best to Everyone !!!and 'Dua - o - me - yaad - rakhna :)
Now, onto bigger and better battles… !!!
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