05/06/2016
"For all the working aspirants, CAT has always been a concoction of sugar and spice while juggling with the job and preparation. But generally the weekend is yours and you can devote more hours as compared to the hectic weekdays. Well, that wasn't the case with me. I always had office on alternate weekends with 12 compulsory working hours making the entire journey onerous. Even the weekdays weren't a cakewalk. The project I was associated with had rolling shifts including the dreadful night shifts. Being my first attempt at CAT, I needed more hours for brushing up my concepts followed by myriad mocks. The dream to join a premier B-School propelled me to not give up.
I joined the weekend classes at TIME and gave my first mock in January. For the next 9 months, intensity of my dedication kept fluctuating and so did my mock test scores. From the highest 97 percentile to the lowest percentile in 70s, I kept tussling with my weaker topics (Reading comprehensions in my case). So aptly said, "CAT is not a sprint, but a marathon." It is tough to maintain the same intensity especially when you start early, risking saturation. I ended my marathon with a mediocre score card - 96.88 percentile. Instead of sulking over the results, I started preparing for the phase most talked about - WAT/GD/PI. Got calls from all the new IIMs with interview scheduled in less than a week. This time the army was more than war ready. Cracked the interview and converted all new IIMs. Sigh of relief!
"
My take on phase 1 preparation:
As per the latest pattern of CAT, verbal section had more number of RC questions. A good reading speed will help you save minutes on a whole. Trust me, reading helps. A lot. Also, all your notes(Formulas and Tricks) should be ready to read anytime. Especially while revising before the D-Day. And the nitty-gritty of CAT - MOCKS! and more than that the analysis of your mocks. Do not shun the mocks with low score, pay more attention towards them. Because, before the curtain rises my dear friend, you better have had enough rehearsals.
All the best! :)"
- Shubha Singh