How mock tests helped 99.32 percentiler Apurv Jain to secure admission at FMS Delhi, IIMs?

Mr Apurv Jain scored an overall percentile of 99.32 in CAT 2012 and secured final admission offers form many IIM and other top B-schools like FMS-Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurgaon, SIBM Pune.

The engineering graduate who worked for two years with Deloitte Consulting India before joining 2-year full time MBA programme at FMS Delhi in 2013-15 batch, shares his key preparation strategy in last 30 days and long-term strategy for GD/PI. In this Toppers Mantra session, he advises CAT Aspirants to go for as much practice as possible. He also shares his experience on how mock CAT tests helped him enhance his performance and boost his confidence for the D-day.

Q: What was your sectional and overall score in CAT? Please also name some of the B-schools which made you final admission offer.
A: While my overall score in CAT 2012 was 99.32, the sectional score in QA & DI and VA & LR was 98.05 and 98.71 respectively. I received final admission offers from many B-schools including IMT-G, MDI Gurgaon, SIBM Pune, IIM Trichy, IIM Udaipur, IIM Kashipur, IIM Rohtak.

Q: What was the change in your prep strategy during last 30 days to CAT?
A: My preparation strategy for the last 30 days before CAT was to practice as much as I can from the previous CAT papers. In spite of the fact that the pattern has changed, I still feel that solving questions from the previous years papers helps understand the type of questions. I solved one CAT paper everyday and analyzed it after attempting it. I also revised the important questions and concepts that I had jotted down. Apart from it, I made it a point that I remained in practice with the reading comprehensions.

Q: Did you expect to get this much percentile after your CAT? How did you evaluate yourself on the basis of your mock test scores before CAT?
A: I was expecting a good score but getting a 99.32 was unexpected. I found QA section as my strength but to my utter surprise, I got a higher score of 98.71 percentile in the VA & LR section and 98.05 percentile in QA & DI section. During the mock tests I never got a comparable score in the VA & LR section but motivation to improve helped me increase my score. Mock Tests helps you analyze your preparation and judge yourself amongst the competition and also helps you to improve and overcome your weak areas.

Q: How did you prepare yourself a day before the D-day (your CAT Test day)?
A: A day before CAT is only meant to relax. I only revised my notes for an hour that I had prepared over past few months. Apart from that, I tried to keep myself calm and stable because I think it is very important as you need to be afresh for the next day. I went out with my friends to hang out for some time to divert my mind and feel fresh. My suggestion is that aspirants should have confidence in their preparation and they should just relax the day before CAT.

Q: What was your question solving strategy on the CAT testing day?
A: My strategy for QA & DI section was to first attempt the QA questions as it was my strength as compared to DI. I tried to attempt as many questions within first 40 minutes and marked questions that I thought I can do in second attempt. After going through all the 30 questions of the section, I went back to attempt the marked questions. This helped me maximize my score within the stipulated time. For VA & LR section, I attempted LR questions first and then VA questions following the same strategy as for the first section.

Q: What was the toughest & easiest section for you in CAT? What was your strategy to handle the difficult part?
A: For me the toughest part was VA & LR because it was my weak area. I had the strategy of solving first the LR questions because it takes less time and the probability of getting them right is high. After this, I attempted the questions of sentence correction, fill in the blanks and grammar related questions. In the end, I went for reading comprehension questions because these are the most time consuming and my accuracy in these questions was also not consistent.

Q: One preparation area which influenced your selection to this Top B-school heavily. How?
A: I think habit of reading newspaper intuitively helped me gain command over the language apart from increasing my knowledge about the current happenings around the world. Newspaper plays an important part of CAT preparation as it helps you get familiar with various issues related to society, current affairs, culture, international affairs and economy.

Q: What was your long-term preparation strategy for GD/PI?
A: For GD/PI, I prepared for the questions pertaining to my work experience, little bit about my engineering and most importantly the personal questions related to strengths, weakness, etc. I think the interviewers want to know the candidate as a person and what has he done in his life so far. For GD, I remained in touch with the current issues through news and participated in some mock GDs on abstract topics also.

Q: What was your biggest mistake during selection process beginning with CAT
A: My biggest mistake, I would point out during my preparation, was that during the initial phase I kept my focus on building concepts and neglected the practice part but I realized the mistake through mock tests and started practicing thereafter.

Q: Your advice for CAT 2013 Aspirants
A: I would suggest the aspirants to manage time and source of material of study very effectively and efficiently. Aspirants should not run here and there to get the study material but instead should be selective in terms of the study material. It is humanly impossible to study and practice everything available, so one should limit to one or two sources of material only and study it extensively and thoroughly. And last but not the least, aspirants should remain confident and should have belief in their preparation.

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