CAT 2016 aspirants must develop multiple strategies of test taking is the success mantra shared by CAT topper with 99.61 percentile and IIM Indore student Siddharth R.
For the benefit of CAT 2016 aspirants, MBAUniverse.com has brought a round of CAT toppers’ success stories alongwith their success mantra that led them to crack CAT with high percentile. In the series we present the success story and CAT 2016 preparation tips shared by Siddharth R, student of IIM Indore and CAT topper.
Siddharth hails from Chennai and is a graduate in Industrial Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University. Apart from 99.61 percentile in CAT 2015, Siddharth scored 98.76 in XAT 2016; 99.72 in SNAP 2015 and 98.17 in IIFT entrance exams.
Siddharth has keen interest in long driving, analyzing the automobiles and himself is a car racer. According to him “I’m a petrolhead who loves going on long drives and analysing the automobile market in India. I have built my own buggy powered by a nitro engine and I’m a national level RC Car racer. I play online strategy games and I love solving puzzles.” His source of inspiration is his father, says Siddharth.
MBAUniverse.com: What was your preparation strategy for CAT 2015?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I started early, took my time and made sure I was well prepared before the exam. This included taking lot of mock tests to understand my strengths and weaknesses and prepare accordingly.
MBAUniverse.com: How did you prepare for each section QA, VARC & DILR? What study materials and books did you use?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I focussed most of my preparation on QUANT. I made notes on all the concepts and practiced daily. DILR was my strong point naturally but I made sure I solved enough questions to cover all variants. I didn’t find it productive to go through a lot of theory for VARC so I focussed more on solving a variety of questions.
MBAUniverse.com: Was there any particular section that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I initially wasn’t very good at VARC so I analysed where I was going wrong. I solved many different types of questions and tried to understand solutions to each and every one. Once I got a hang of how the solution is arrived, I started improving.
MBAUniverse.com: How can candidates use Mock tests better? What is your advice?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): Mock tests are the most important aspects of one’s preparation. It is imperative to get accustomed to the test taking mind-set. A candidate must develop multiple strategies of test taking to account for all scenarios that could occur during an examination. This is the most important aspect because a lot of well-prepared candidates lose out due to stress during the exam. Taking multiple mock tests can help avoid this. Apart from that, mock tests help one to identify their strengths and weaknesses and give the candidates an idea of where to dedicate their time and effort.
MBAUniverse.com: Did you go to offline coaching centre? What role does a coaching centre play?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I attended classes at VistaMind, Chennai. A coaching centre helps a candidate to interact with fellow aspirants. Coaching centres also provide learned mentors who can be very helpful for clueless aspirants.
MBAUniverse.com: Other than CAT, which exam did you appear?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I appeared for IIFT, XAT, SNAP and NMAT.
MBAUniverse.com: Which institutes did you apply for admission?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I had applied to all the top B-schools.
MBAUniverse.com: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): Over the course of my preparation, I kept making notes of all the concepts, in order to have something that I could refer to in the end. On the last day I opened this note and took one last glance at everything. On the test day I was calm and made sure I didn’t get stressed at all. I reached the test centre ahead of time. I had taken enough mock tests in advance so I knew that almost nothing could surprise me. I kept track of time and kept a level head while solving the paper.
MBAUniverse.com: Which B-school you decided upon and why?
Siddharth R (CAT topper): I decided to join IIM Indore since it brings with it the IIM brand value. It also has excellent teaching faculty who are well known in the industry. IIM Indore has one of the best B-school campuses in the country, located in a big city and I knew I would have a good experience doing my MBA from here.
MBAUniverse.com: Any message you would like to share with the candidates preparing for CAT 2016.
Siddharth R (CAT topper): Have a structured approach for your CAT preparation. Make sure you are equally prepared for all sections and have a level head during the exam.
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