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1 month ago

AMA with CAT 99%ler | IIM Bangalore Convert

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We’re excited to host an AMA session with a stellar CAT 99.56 percentiler and an IIM Bangalore convert. With a BTech in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and 4 years and 5 months of experience as a Scientist-SC at ISRO, Bengaluru, his journey is nothing short of remarkable. From launching satellites to cracking one of the toughest management exams, he’s done it all. Curious how he managed the CAT alongside a demanding job? Drop your questions below—he’ll be answering them all soon.

31 Replies

  • Can someone with a 2-year gap after graduation and 1 year of work experience still get calls from top B-schools like IIM A, B, and C?

    Definitely! Calls from IIMs are not dependent on the gap year but a lot of other factors. However, justifying gap year during interviews is crucial. If you have a genuine reason, then you can always justify it during interviews. 

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  • Will reading Durjoy Dutta books help crack CAT VARC??

    never heard of her. But if reviews are good, definitely have a go.

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  • Bhaiya 


    Do EWS candidates with average profiles (like 70/70/70) have a realistic chance at new IIMs if they score 90+ in CAT?

    Don't aim for 90. That should be your worst case scenario. Always aim for the best. You'll land up somewhere good. Any doubts regarding preparation strategy, you can shoot it here. 

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  • Ca  you describe in detail what your first month of CAT preparation looked like? How did you assess your starting point, choose your resources, and decide your initial strategy?

    First have a wide view of course in VARC, DILR, QA.
    Then skim through CAT papers of last year. Try attempting those questions without time limit and gauge how you feel. Its ok if you can't solve. But just see if those concepts, questions look familiar. That will give confidence that how much effort is needed to be put in and in what direction.

    For resources, I studied Arun sharma book for QA and DILR. For VARC i took an online course. 

    For studying you can choose self study or coaching as per you convinience. But have mock test series of atleast 2 coachings. 

    Initial strategy was simple, went with my gut feeling. Later improvised on it seeing mock results. Same you follow too.
    Mostly try to explore different strategies and have a best one ready by mid october. Will work fine !!

    Trust me, CAT is about hard work and consistency. Work hard and attempt smart. That is CAT all about !!

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  • Durjoy Dutta
    Durjoy Dutta

    1 month ago

    Will reading Durjoy Dutta books help crack CAT VARC??

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  • Heyyyy Shikhar!! Please give us a roadmap for VARC preparation. QA and DILR has a defined syllabus, and we can do the preparation based on it. VARC... is such a nightmare. Does Aeon essays help??

    For VARC,  i never specifically studied aeon essays as such. Even when i tried, i got bored because they are around 3000 words (as against 1000 in CAT) and didn't felt much helpful.
    I rather would recommend taking a VARC specific course. In it attend lectures, do exercises and sectionals and analyse thoroughly. That would be much more beneficial in my opinion
    Also, dont just mark the correct answer in VARC but also when analysing have a justification of why other options were wrong. Then verify your logic with answer key. That will help giving you confidence that your logic application is correct.

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  • I am planning to start my preparation.  Is this the right time to start prep? I feel like I am already late.


    Also my profile is not that good so please suggest me what all the things I can do to improve my profile.


     

    Whenever you start, it is the best time. Still 6 months to go. 
    If you are a serious candidate then dont delay further.
    Buy mock test series and course materials and aim to finish the course by September end.
    Then in last 2 months focus on practising and improving with mocks, sectionals, question banks. 
    That will help scoring high and building exam strategies

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  • Hi Aswin bhaiya! Big fan! Saw you on the youtube live the other day. Very well spoken 🙌

    Thanks Aswin !!

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  • Bhaiya 


    Do EWS candidates with average profiles (like 70/70/70) have a realistic chance at new IIMs if they score 90+ in CAT?

    Focus on scoring high in CAT. Definitely if you are EWS general you will get good calls. I am not so sure about percentage cutoffs for 10th , 12th class if IIMs have.
    But for now dont think about calls, just aim to score high in CAT.
    All those are things to worry about in december.

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  • Can someone with a 2-year gap after graduation and 1 year of work experience still get calls from top B-schools like IIM A, B, and C?

    Definitely !!. For now focus on scoring high percentile. Above 99.75% will guarantee you all calls if you are GEM
    Later, for interview have a good justification for gap year. 
    My senior had a 2 years gap. Preparing for UPSC. Later she converted IIM A, B.
    So not an issue

     

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  • Mohit MV
    Mohit MV

    1 month ago

    Bhaiya 

    Do EWS candidates with average profiles (like 70/70/70) have a realistic chance at new IIMs if they score 90+ in CAT?

    Report
  • Sahil Sharma
    Sahil Sharma

    1 month ago

    Can someone with a 2-year gap after graduation and 1 year of work experience still get calls from top B-schools like IIM A, B, and C?

    Report
  • Hi Aswin bhaiya! Big fan! Saw you on the youtube live the other day. Very well spoken 🙌

    Report
  • My QA is weak and I have completed number system. Please guide me how to proceed further? 


     

    Hi Isha! Completeing Number systems is a great start. Moving ahead, you can start with Arithmetic and then go to Algebra. These two are the most important topics when it comes to CAT. They carry the highest weightage. First focus on understanding and learning the concepts, then solve atleast a 100 questions of LOD 1 from each topic. And then, go on with LOD 2. 
    And Quant is not that difficult. I'm non-engineer. Trust me, if I have done that, you can do it too. :)

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  • Happy kid
    Happy kid

    1 month ago

    I am planning to start my preparation.  Is this the right time to start prep? I feel like I am already late.

    Also my profile is not that good so please suggest me what all the things I can do to improve my profile.

     

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  • Monu
    Monu

    1 month ago

    Ca  you describe in detail what your first month of CAT preparation looked like? How did you assess your starting point, choose your resources, and decide your initial strategy?

    Report
  • We can start, I am ready

    Let's goo!! Looking forward to have an interative session with you.

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  • Bhaiya, what topics to study on priority for quants?

    I would recommend you to start early probably best time now. Study all the topics well so that you dont miss easy questions from any topic. 
    Rest give mocks and you will get an idea which subjects you r performing well and at which the score is low. Then try to practise higher difficulty questions from your strength topics more.
    Also, don't completely ignore the weak topics. Have basic understanding of it. 
    For me, I was not very good at geometry, but had studied well enough to solve easy-medium question of it.

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  • Sumit Mittal
    Sumit Mittal

    1 month ago

    Heyyyy Shikhar!! Please give us a roadmap for VARC preparation. QA and DILR has a defined syllabus, and we can do the preparation based on it. VARC... is such a nightmare. Does Aeon essays help??

    Report
  • Monu
    Monu

    1 month ago

    Bhaiya, what topics to study on priority for quants?

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  • Sumit Mittal
    Sumit Mittal

    1 month ago

    Hii!! Is the session live now??

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  • Kunal
    Kunal

    1 month ago

    Sir, how to manage work and CAT preparation together? 

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  • Isha
    Isha

    1 month ago

    My QA is weak and I have completed number system. Please guide me how to proceed further? 

     

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  • Mihir
    Mihir

    1 month ago

    Shikhar bhaiya,
    Mere profile 5/7/8 hain. I'm willing to work hard. But my profile demotivates me everytime. I don't know what to do. I am happy with new IIMs as well. Should I prepare for CAT?? Or look for study abroad?

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  • We can start, I am ready

    Report

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