From 85 to 99.88 percentile in 45 days

About Neil:
He is Neil Merchant. His Grand Father named him so as he wanted Neil to be an astronaut! Well, he carved a different journey and has taken a giant leap now – he is pursuing PGP from IIM Calcutta..
He is a life-enthusiast and enjoys the variety it has to offer. Apart from indulging in the Goan susegad life, he gets a kick out of playing tennis, singing, and writing poems. Neil was very active in his undergraduate course, where he headed the sponsorship and placement departments of the campus. He has had diverse interesting experiences through his journey at the Jagriti Yatra, Lowfundwala (an advertising start-up based out of Mumbai) and TRRAIN, an NGO for the empowerment of people in the retail industry.

The only thing he will not divulge is his grades in Engineering 🙂

To know about how he went from 85 percentile to 99.88 percentile in CAT 2014, read on…

Neil’s Journey ussi ki zubaani :

I am Neil Merchant; I’m pursuing PGP at IIM Calcutta. As I had mentioned in a previous post, my scores were not up to the mark till I started following GP Sir’s blog. This was a month and a half to CAT when the exam pressure is at an all time high and one has a tendency to give up. Miraculously, my percentile in mocks improved from an average 85-86 to 99+ and I scored a 99.88 in CAT 2014. I have tried to consolidate my approach in this post; I hope it is helpful for the ones giving b-school entrances this year.
The first thing one must do is to give a mock test, regardless of prior preparation. This helps to get acquainted with the test environment, to assess one’s initial position and most importantly, to get the first-hand experience of what lies ahead for the rest of the season.

After you have set the ball rolling, go through the blog posts given below. These links are comprehensive and give the right direction required for the preparations. Read them patiently and imbibe them into the system, it will go a long way in strategizing and giving the tests. In my case, these helped in optimizing efforts and getting quick results.

In a nutshell it is, the commandments of CAT are:

  • You must not attempt the questions which you are not 100% sure of
  • You must attempt 100% of the questions you are sure of
  • You must give enough mock tests for practice

… But more importantly

  • You must thoroughly analyze each and every mock you give and not repeat the mistakes

It is imperative that you align your approach to these as much as you can. Trust me, nothing is more frustrating than seeing those negative marks on the questions one has spent a lot of time on, and in that process missing out on the easy questions at the end of the paper. In addition to that, giving mock tests without analyzing them is like shooting arrows without bothering whether they are hitting the target or not. It’s futile.

On the basis of the approach, the weekly schedule I prescribe for the test-takers is:

  • Step #1: Give a mock test, I usually gave it on Sundays
  • Step #2: Do all the questions attempted wrong or left unattempted in the paper
  • Step #3: Do a question-wise analysis, putting them into 6 categories (Good Shot, Risky Shot, Unforced Error, Double Negative, Missed Opportunity and Well Left). Refer to the third link shared above for details
  • Step #4: Do a sub-section wise analysis for the paper
  • Step #5: Identify weak areas (Points 2, 3,4 and 5 can be done on Monday )
  • Step #6: Solve questions from the weak areas, 3-4 days of the week dedicated to this
  • Step #7: If available, one must watch the corresponding “How I gave Mock CAT” videos. I can’t stress how helpful these videos were, I could write an entire post on it. Just imitate their techniques and the results would show. Here is the video snippet to one of the videos: http://youtu.be/0CAmIhFjer4
  • Step #8: Give the next mock!

I suggest you to take a mock test every week till one month to the exam, after which the frequency should increase to two mock tests a week. This shall give you sufficient practice required for D-Day. For your convenience, I have attached the analysis sheet I used for mock paper analysis (Click to download). The sheet has the question-wise analysis and the area wise analysis. I would like to re-iterate that analyzing mock tests is equally important, if not more, to giving them.

One thing I learned in the whole process is that it doesn’t matter where you start, you can always make it to where you want to be.

Never give up. Never compare. Keep the optimism. Keep improving.

I wish you all the best and hope that you succeed in obtaining a seat in your dream institute. It is not as far as you think it is.

 

Warm Regards,
Neil Merchant

For CAT aspirants;

In order to ensure that future CAT Aspirants do not need to go through hassles by visiting different sources to analyse each mock, CL has upgraded their Mock analysis through CAT Score Booster

  • The CAT Score Booster provides you with all the afore-mentioned articles in one place.
  • You get the full attempt videos by Gejo, Neeraj and I, so that you can identify yourself with different ways of strategizing for Mocks.
  • It takes your inputs regarding your areas of strengths and weaknesses (through the Strength finder widget) and divides each question into the 6 categories mentioned in the third link above.

Thus, all you do is feed in the modules you are comfortable/ not comfortable with and the system generates the result that Neil had to create manually for each mock.

To know more and experience the Booster Analysis Click here

This product might be the answer of all your queries wrt Mock Analysis. All the best!

131 Comments

  1. Sir I am non engineering arts PwD candidate female

    X : 90%
    XII : 88%
    BA : 56% from Calcutta University.
    Currently working as a sub editor in a newspaper.

    Should I even dare to think about IIMs with this profile? I am willing to go extra mile and prepare for 99+ in CAT

    • Dolna, there are few top B-Schools that do not consider previous academic records. You should focus on these colleges. All the best.

  2. Hello Sir,
    I’m an final year Mech engg grad with 6.9 cgpa . I haven’t prepared at all for cat but because I am free right now,I decided on giving xat a shot. I wrote my first mock today and I got around 70 percentile.
    Can you suggest ways on how I should go about the next 30 days inorder to give xat my best shot. Also can you please suggest a good mock test series and other online resources for xat. Google has got me confused!

  3. Sir, I just finished my 7th semester in BE but I have an arrear. I am going to write CAT 2016. I will clear my arrear at the end of 8th semester, but will it affect my chances of getting a call ? 8th semester exams would most probably take place in March 2017. Please tell me sir.

    • Vijay, your 7th semester arrears will not impact your chances getting interview call. For admission you should clear all arrears along with your 8th semester exams.

  4. Hello Sir,
    I scored 93% in 10th, 88.75 in 12th and 68.38% in my engineering UG and I am from the SC community. What are my chances of getting a call from any IIM , XLRI if I score above 95 percentile in CAT 16?

    • Vijay, if you can check your chances for top IIMs by using our tool IIM Profilizer . If you score 95%tile or above in CAT’16 and XAT’17, then you have good chances of getting into IIM or XLRI.

  5. Hello Sir ,
    I am basically an average student . I have 65% in both 10th and 12th exams . In my engineering degree ,I have 60% . But i wish to pursue MBA In A Standard Institute Like IIM’S . I am trying to work hard for CAT 17 and Pursue MBA . Will i be denied Because of my poor academics history even if i get 95+ percentile in CAT ?

    • Hariram, there are bleak chances to get into top IIMs. However, you can go for XLRI, FMS, JBIMS as academic scores are less considered in these institutes.

  6. Sir I am currently doing B.A. in English.
    I’ll b appearing for CAT ’17.
    I’ve got 95/92.4/ 65 percentages in my 10th/12th/fist year respectively. I see I’ll b getting points on my academic ground owing to the diversity factor. I won’t b having work experience or a sound internship. Also, I do not have remarkable co curriculars to mention. What I wanted to know was, do co curriculars have an explicit benefit? And also, lacking work experience or internship pushes me out of the race for institutes like IIM B? Or my academics r decent enough for a top notch IIM??

    • Shashank, co-curricular and work experience do have benefits as they raise the profile of the candidate. However, the selection majorly depends on your scores in CAT and GDPI. You should not consider your profile less than anyone. Given your academic scores, you have good chances for IIMB. It is advised to maintain good percentage in graduation as well to brighten your chances for top IIMs especially IIM B where academic scores play a major role.

  7. Sir,i’ll b starting CAT preparation from 1sept for CAT 16,i will be giving it for the first time.please guide me how should I go ahead,i had given an AIMCAT by TIME in which I scored73%ile..

    • PG, preparation for CAT demands sufficient time. Since this year will be your first attempt, you will need to start to from very basics. It is advised to start from this month as well. You can also refer to our article How to ace CAT in 150 days? for preparation strategy. if you start from September, then you should invest initial one month to brush up your fundamentals based on your strengths and weaknesses. Need not do all the topics. Attempt only those topics that can be easily managed by you. By the end of September, you should start taking CAT mocks. By oct increase your mock taking to 2-3 mocks per week. So by the mid-November, you will have enough practice for CAT.

  8. Hello sir,
    I am from Tamilnadu.I graduated in 2014.I start preparing for government job examination after my graduation. I am really worried about my year gap.How much percentile i have to score..to get into BIM trichy..pls help me sir.My category is obc…

    • Parthasarathy, you should aim for 90%tile or above for BIM Trichy. This year gap will not pose any hindrance as long as you can give logical reasoning for the same. You should also try to score above 95%tile for top B-schools.

    • Nasim, IIT Bombay SJSOM is one of the premier IIT offering masters in management. It is among the best B-schools best for operations management. Other IITs like IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi are also known for their management programme. Generally the cutoffs are around 93-95 for OBC.

  10. Good Morning sir, Sir I have graduated from NIT Durgapur in 2012, after that i started preparing for Civil Services examination,but couldn’t make it through in my 3 attempts, then to keep a pragmatic approach towards my career and future i started preparing for CAT2016, I have 82% and 62 % in class 10th and 12th and 7.2/10 in graduation but since i was preparing for cse have a gap of 3 years, now i am worried about my preparation strategy and career choices.. Please help me with the same
    Thank you !!!

    • Utkarsh, you should not think further about this gap. Now study hard for the CAT’16 and aim for top Bschools. You should take up a job and prepare along with it in order to fill in this year gap. Refer to our study plan for better preparation.

  11. hi sir, my 10th result is 58.6% (2009),12th is 57%(2012) and graduation is 75%(2015).sir i want to know that am i eligible for all iims.

  12. Yesterday, I received the result of the 1st proctored mocks for CAT conducted by you. It was 82.56. As I am a repeater, I prepared well in advance, trying to clear my previous shortcomings. I have not attempted many questions in QA, LR, because I have not yet finished studying some topics. Is it possible to convert my percentile to 100. My SIS id is twoiim@rediffmail.com

  13. Sir,
    I am currently in the 6th semester of my undergraduate program and would be giving CAT later this year.I have not yet appeared for any mock test.Though through sectional tests I have reached a conclusion that I have a good VA and LRDI whereas I need to work on QA.
    I plan to first prepare properly and improve my QA and then appear for mocks.I need suggestions a to whether my approch is okay or should I be working things some other way.I am aiming for A,B,C and have a good academic profile.

    • Nishant, firstly, you should work on your weak area. But a regular practice needs to be done to secure good CAT score. You can refer to our tool study plan for preparation tips.

  14. Hello, I started preparing for cat 2016 now,7 month prior to exams, and my aim is 99%tile my academic % are 10th-60%, 12th75% and did bachelor’s in management studies and scored somewhere around overall 65% is their any chances for me to get call from any iim’s and also m from commerce field so plz guide where to start as I dnt have any clue,plz

  15. Dear Sir ,

    I have
    X – 56%
    XII – 67.6%
    B.E. – 60%
    category – SC

    Please tell me what %ile required to get admission in IIM old or new or any top 25 MBA colleges.

  17. Hello sir,
    I have a screwed academic profile,
    X-82% (CBSE)
    XII-69.2% (CBSE)
    #One year gap in between 12th and College(I met with a deadly accident)#
    UG(B.Arch.)-8.2 CGPA (NIT, Bhopal)
    Non engineering, General, Male student (I am an Architect)
    My course is also a professional degree course, I will be a registered professional.(I have heard that B-Schools assign weightage to this)
    I am currently in my 10th semester and doing my 6 months Internship in Bangalore, after which I will continue working in the Firm for next one year (My job is…Designing Buildings, visiting site, Meeting clients)
    I have started preparing for CAT, What are the chances of getting some renowned marketing campuses like JBIMS, MDI, FMS, SP JAIN. What percentile should I target.

    • Gaurav, the gap between 12 and college will not matter. And for getting calls from these renowned colleges you should be aiming for 98+ percentile.

  18. Dear Sir,

    I have checked the answers against the CL answer key and according to CL percentile predictor i should expect 98+ % . I have a raw score of 165+ and my acads are 89.60 and 83.06 (X & XII resp.)
    Should i expect call from any of the 6 old IIMs?

    Note:- I am a Male Engineer with 75.2% in Engg.

  19. Dear Sir,

    My expected score as per the solutions given on career launcher site is around 149 in CAT 2015. How much percentile I can expect?

    Best Regards,
    Parveen

  20. Sir,
    My academics are
    Xth – 89%
    XII – 63%
    Grad(bsc cs) – 65%
    Do i stand any chance of getting a call from iims considering my academics.Ans how much percwntile should i aim for?

    • Shivani, 63% in XII and 65% in graduation reduce your chance of calls from the top IIMs, please check the CL’s IIM Profilizer for the list of IIMs from where call is possible for you based on your profile plus category and the scores required for the same.

  21. How many questions one need to do to get 70 percentile in cat 2015? and attempting wrong non mcq can affect our percentile?

    • Neha, a 70%ile should be possible at a score of 90-95, but are you not aiming a bit low?
      Accuracy is not a factor in percentile calculation or in normalization hence wrong non-MCQs will not adversely impact your CAT percentile.

  22. Sir,I am getting around 87-90 in the mocks..Exceling mostly in VA.How can I excel my score from this to 95-96 in the upcoming 21 days? I really need help on this Sir.

  23. hello sir,
    i am appearing for cat 15.
    X-76%
    XII-75.5%
    BE-77.5%
    workExp: 24months
    NC-OBC
    i am taking cl mocks. but scores are not seems to be good. i am getting around 70-80 marks. so far my attempts have been low. around 30-35. please help me out. what percentile should i except ?which all colleges should i apply?
    thanks.

    • Satyam, As a NC OBC candidate you should have at least a 90%ile to get into a good college. Call me at 9811155160 any time today or tomorrow to discuss the issue connected with your preparation.

  24. Hi Sir.

    Got 560 in gmat. 3 years work ex. any chances for Great Lakes PGPM? Should I target for any other college or re-take gmat?

  25. Hi sir,

    Have certain queries regarding cat.

    1)What is the new sequence of cat? is it VA/QA/DILR?
    2)Will there be unlimited rough sheets provided, just like last time?

  26. Sir, I have a very poor academic profile.
    10th-84.4%
    12th-71.4%
    B.Tech- I completed my course in 2014 and i had a good number of backlogs. The result of my supplementary exams was published last week and i couldn’t clear a backlog. I can only attend the respective backlog on April 2016 and the result may get publish on October 2016 . I had applied for the CAT, IIFT and XAT. I belongs to NC-OBC category and i regularly attends the mock cats and my percentile varies between 75 and 85.
    Will i get admission to any of the good b schools(if there is please name them) if i scores a percentile above 80 or is it better to aim for the CAT 2016 after completing the graduation.
    Please give me an advice sir.

    • Anand, Oct should be fine but the deadline for result submission is different for different institutes and you will need to check this for each institute separately.
      An article wll be published in a couple of days which will give the list of institutes from where you can get a call based on your category and target score.

  27. Hello Sir

    I am currently working and finding it very tough to prepare given long working hours. I have the basics with me (have attended all lectures from CL for 2014 CAT) and now with exactly 30 days left I want to give it my best. Even if it may be almost impossible now I still want to do all that I can. I am a Chartered Accountant, CS and International CFA currently working at a bank as a Credit Analyst. I have scored 95.8% in X, 94.3% in XII and 78.0% in B.com from Calcutta University.

    Last year I appeared for CAT with a score of 78 percentile. I had done the coaching but due to some serious family obligations I could not devote much time. Please could you suggest me a course of action?

  28. Hi,
    My marks in mocks are very low for all three sections and i really want to crack CAT this year itself. I am working so don’t get enough time to study. What should i do? Please help.

  29. Hi sir,

    With cat only a month away. i am still weak in my concepts and my speed isn’t improving. Kindly guide me the path to progress.Will doing the fundabooks again help or should i only focus on the mocks sextional tests and previous cat papers for improvement further?

  30. Dear sir,
    I have been religiously giving the mocks but my scores have not been very good. I am getting 99%ile in VA, but only 30-40%ile in Quant. In LRDI , I am getting 70%ile.
    My acads are as follows :
    10th – 95
    12th- 95
    college (persuing) – 83
    Please tell me my fair chances.

    thanks

    • Palak, apologies for the delay in responding to your message.
      With very good acads and a 99%ile in Mocks in VA a minor tweaking to the way you attempt QA and DILR can get you to top MBA institutes. Call me at 9811155160 anytime today or tomorrow to discuss the way forward.

  31. Sir,

    I am getting these scores in CL mocks:

    QA: 60-70
    DILR: 35-45
    VA: 50-60
    OA: 145-160

    Please suggest how to improve DILR as I am not able to attempt more than 18 questions in this section with 14-15 correct in the given time.

    Also how much percentile would this score fetch me in actual CAT.

    • Roshan, if CAT’15 is similar to CAT’14, this score should fetch you a 96 – 97 percentile in CAT’15.
      Consider taking more and more DILR sectional tests. Also, try an solving as many different kinds of sets as you can.

  32. Dear Sir,
    My Questions-
    1. I am not able to get slot in Bangalore for Proc Mock,If I will attempt those mock as Non-Proc mode, will it would be any changes in %tile shown.
    2. Could you please which mocks have video analysis or video of attempted by any faculty, So that I could attempt those paper firstly and analyise my attempt, and later attempt rest of mocks.

    Thanking You Sir

  33. There are almost 50 days left for the exam. My scores are not very good as of now because I attempted too many questions, now after reading these posts I won’t do the same mistake. I’m eyeing for just the right number of questions with a decent accuracy.

    What should be the topics in QA that I should strengthen or lay a little more stress on? (except for Percentage, Ratio, TSD, Geometry, I’m comparatively better at these topics. Rest are more or less okay type.)

    Although I’m not in names on the top but I’m not hopeless. by hook or by crook ho toh jaega kuchh. Eagerly waiting for your reply sir. You’re doing a great job. 🙂

  34. Hello sir,

    I am preparing for CAT 2015 for about 2 months now and have been religiously giving CL mocks. However, my percentile range varies drastically with each mock. For some mocks, I score around 97 percentile, while for others it goes to as low as 60 percentile. My QA scores range between 35- 50, LR (25-40) but VA varies from 68-30. Please suggest the way forward.

    • Isha, more that the score it is the percentile that matters. Analyse the mocks in which your percentile has been low. Try and find out the reasons why there has been a fall in the marks. The reason will be found only during the analysis.

  35. Sir,
    i scored
    X = 85%
    XII = 73.2%
    B.E. = 64%
    and have 1yr experience. Is there any chance for me to get a call from top IIMs ?
    If yes, then what score should i aim for?

  37. Akanksha, there is no bias against ‘droppers’ in any B-school. You need to have a good and logical reason as to why you chose to drop and year. Rest, it’s all based on your performance in CAT and the interview.

  38. Sir
    I took CAT last year and got 92.84. but I wasn’t able to convert the calls. I have taken a drop and will be taking cat again this time. I want to ask how tough is it for a dropper to get admission to the top 10 B schools? or is it that even a good score is not sufficient?

    • Akanksha, there is no bias against ‘droppers’ in any B-school. You need to have a good and logical reason as to why you chose to drop and year. Rest, it’s all based on your performance in CAT and the interview.

  39. Sir, I will sit for CAT-15 for evaluating my position but I am not expecting much.
    I am a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary engaged in a full time position currently.
    Please suggest me a strategy to fairly attempt CAT-15 and what are my chances with these academics-
    X – 89
    XII – 79
    B.Com – 74.
    Will I get any benefit of the Professional Qualifications?

    • Shubh, it will certainly help you at B-school such as IIM-B,K where there are marks for work ex. Plus, you’ll have much more to talk about during the interviews.

  40. Hello Gp sir,

    Today first day i attended your workshop in Ramjas school and it was amazing to get taught from you. Got new idea to solve questions and remember some repeating successive mutiplications.and I have a ques.. My name is prashant and my past academics score is pathetic . I belong to OBC and these are the percentages : X(87%), XII(64), Btech (56), work exp. (9 months). I very well know i m out of IIMA but what about others IIMB,C,L. Do i stand any chance for them or being a category student what percentile cud i be considered if yur answer is ‘yes’ above.
    Thank yu

  41. respected sir,

    i completed my b.tech(electrical and electronics engineering) in 2013.there is no acadamic gaps in my education.from 2yrs i’m preparing for ssc,rrb(junior engineer) but i did’nt get the job.so from past two months iam preparing for cat exam i have no work experience.my percentages are
    10th—85(2007)
    Intermediate—72(2009)
    b.tech–66(2013)
    am i eligible,is there any chance to get in a good iim,how much percentile required for a good college. i belongs toBC–D,kindly give your advise how to prepare for exam and how to get some good colleges.

    kindly&regards,
    sd.

    • Sd, calls from most of the IIMs is possible. Please confirm it using the IIM Profilizer.

      Analyzing each and every mock is very important.
      Each practice test and Mock CAT should be analyzed in detail to ascertain what worked or did not work for you. During this introspection you will realize which type of questions you are comfortable with. The analysis process is explained in my blogpost Things you must-do after every mock you take. Next mock onwards always go for these questions first. Please follow the R1, R2, R3 strategy.

      You must immediately begin with taking Sectional Tests. This way you would be dealing with each section more closely. If you realize that there is a problem with your basics, solve more and more Test Gym questions from the topics that trouble you.

  42. hello sir,
    i scored 96 %ile in quant section but only 68%ile in verbal section in cat 14. i dont like verbal part nd so i am unable to focus on it properly. what should i do to improve it?
    also can you let me know how many questions in verbal in cat 14 would have fetched me at least 90 percentile in verbal part and its corresponding(expected) equivalence in cat15?

    • Aman, the first and the foremost thing you should begin with is reading. Read newspapers, editorials, magazines. Make it a habit to talk to your family and friends in English. Apart from this, it is extremely important for you to go through the basics of Grammar. Going through the CL material would be a good way to go about this.
      Practicing frequently asked question types such as Parajumbles, Paracompletion, Summary, FIB, Critical Reasoning could be done through the Test Gym. It is more than important to go through each and every mock that you’ve given. Mark out the difficult words from the RC, learn their meaning and their usage in the context.
      You must go through the following articles as well:
      7 Rules to Excel in CAT VA
      The Art of Solving RC Passages
      4 Rules to Master Paracompletion
      This should considerably improve your scores.

      In CAT 2015, in VA, an attempt of 24-26 with 85% accuracy will get you a 95+%ile in VA.

  43. I graduated in 2015 from IIT BHU (8.5/10.00, OPJEMS award, IIT Color for extra curricular activities. DebSoc) and currently working with a top tier management consulting firm. I had attempted CAT 2014 with less preparation and scored 97%. This year, for a more dedicated approach, I have enrolled for TIME and CL test series. However, I have been unable to devote more than 2 hours on Weekday and 5 hours Weekends which is slowing my pace of preparation. Major hurdles being faced are –
    1. No score consistency in Verbal. Thus, overall score fluctuates from 97% to 85% in Mock CATs
    2. Will an average Xth – 93% and XII – 85℅ hinder my chances for getting a call from ABC at 99-99.5% in CAT?

    • 1.You must immediately begin with taking Sectional Tests. This way you would be dealing with each section more closely. If you realize that there is a problem in a specific topic, solve more and more Test Gym questions from that topic. Each practice test and Mock CAT should be analyzed in detail to ascertain what worked or did not work for you. Spot the important questions that appeared in the mock. These important questions should be revised once a week.
      The analysis process is explained in my blogpost Things you must-do after every mock you take

      2. Considering your profile you are eligible for all the IIMs. Please confirm this using the IIM Profilizer.

  44. Dear sir,
    I am student of CLs two year program for CAT in Bangalore, although I understand what is taught in the classes and solve the fundabooks and class sheets easily , I find the mocks very difficult. In VALR im getting 85-90%ile in mocks but in QADI im only getting 70 to 75%ile. With time running out, im confused whether to solve all the questions in the fundabooks or to concentrate on mocks and their analysis. Please help me

    Yours sincerely
    Ajay

    • Ajay, finish the Level-1 and Level-2 of all the fundabooks as early as possible. Analyze all the mocks that you have appeared for. Notice the type of questions that are consistently getting wrong. Go back to the basics in each of these topics and practice the Test Gym questions.

      Also, you must start solving sectional tests as well, at least one every weak. We are coming up with 24 sectional tests based on the new pattern of CAT.

  45. Hello GP Sir
    Should I go for CAT Preparation although I have not good academics records
    Category – General
    Class X – 72 %
    Class XII – 61 %
    Gap after XII – 2 years
    B-Tech (ECE) – 58 %
    Experience – No
    Please sir reply including any IIM or any other top B-Schools would prefer me if I secure better percentile in CAT entrance.
    Please sir I am confused suggest me some way sir 🙂

    • Rakesh, while most of the IIMs are unlikely due to your marks in XII and graduation you should still go for CAT preparation because almost all top non-IIM B schools have a low/no weight for past academics and will not be a problem for you. A 97%ile in CAT can get you calls from almost all top non-IIMs.

  46. Sir, I’ve taken admission in Mba business economics, south campus but i want to do general management. I had no other choice. I have joined CL test Series. I wanted your advice on whether i should continue college and prepare for CAT 15 or should i leave college and prepare?

    • Tushar, it is good that you are aiming for something that you aspire. You should not leave college at this point. Study hard to get through to a better college this year itself. If not try in the subsquent years.

  47. Respected Sir,
    I gave CAT in 2014 and scored 81 percentile (95 in VA and 57 in QA) without any prior preparation. I have been taking classes in CL since June but so far I have not come up with a proper study strategy. Please advise me as to what I should do in order to do better this time.

    • Sanjana, formulating a strategy is very relative. You need to identify your strong and weak areas.
      use the CAT Score Booster analysis for this purpose. This will help you identify whether you are choosing the correct questions in your mocks.
      You should also go through http://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=3463 to understand what you need to do in the upcoming months.

  48. Sir,
    I am continuously scoring beteeen 90-95 in my last 6 aimcats and mocks, but I am not able to convert it to 99s, before attending the analysis session with you, I was scoring like 85s and it has been a great leap for me that I have started scoring 94-95 but it’s not going beyond. Can I seek your guidance, if possible.
    Thanks.

    • Nikhil, please check the Mocks and find out the following:
      1. What is the number of questions that you attempted but should not have?
      2. What is the number of questions that you did not attempt but should have attempted?
      3. How many silly mistakes did you make?
      4. Where can you save time?

  49. Sir, I have two question and I would request you to offer your advice / thoughts on the same
    1) I appeared for CAT14 and managed to get some 90%tile score ( qa- 96.68 & va- 60), I wish to do well in CAT15. In recent mocks, I am able to scale up to 28 each in the sections with an average 80% accuracy. But my CL and AIMCAT %tiles are somewhere in 90-94% tile. What should I do differently that I could consistently solve more than 30-35 questions with ~90% accuracy. Besides I have tried some your tips of solving paper and it has helped.
    2) I have 89.5% (10th) 89.6% (12th), 8.52 cgpa(b.tech from tier 1 engineering college) and experience of 20 months working in Business Analytic, what %tile would fetch call from iim-b and what %tiles ensure high likeliness for conversion.

    • Rishav, with a good academic record and a 20 month work experience a 98%ile should be enough for a call from IIMB however suggest that you target 99%ile. For final conversion CAT score has a weight of 30-40% in most of the IIMs and hence it is your performance in the interview that is important.
      Coming to your CAT preparation, a 90-94%ile indicates that it is your test taking strategy that possibly needs to be reworked. Please go through the last few Mocks that you have attempted and check out:
      1. the number of questions that you attempted but should not have and
      2. the number of questions that you should not have attempted but did.
      If the number of questions in both the categories is more than 2-3 then you are wasting your time in difficult or time consuming questions due to which you are missing out the easy ones, this also could be the reason for 80% accuracy.

  50. Hello Sir,
    thanks a lot for your guidance and support. I am giving cat for the second time. Last year my %ile was 82(59-QA,93-VA). I have joined the online program of CL like last year. As you can see QA is my main problem and that is the main area of focus for me this year as well. But after giving the initial mock, i am still facing trouble in QA. During the analysis when i solve the questions at home,i am easily able to do 30 correct questions on an average in each mock but when i give it real time it drops down to 12-15(giving around 80 min to QA) . Can you please guide me how to increase my timing and tricks to avoid silly mistakes which is main reason for my bad QA scores.

    Thanks in advance.

    • Sameer, while revision is definitely required you should also look at giving 90 minutes to QADI. The extra 10 minutes could ease the time pressure and hopefully allow you to attempt more questions.

  51. sir,
    last year i got 90%ile in cat but my VA performance is too bad. i scored only 55 percentile in VA. what should i do to atlest score just more than sectional cutoff.

    • Rohit, the sections cutoff is usually 85%ile in VALR which has three areas Reading Comprehension, Verbal Logic and Logical Reasoning. If you are good in two of these then clearing the sectional cutoff is not a problem. Focus on doing well in your areas of strength and ensure a high accuracy with low attempts in your weak area and you could get over 95%ile.

  52. Hi sir,

    I am planning to take cat2015 exam,
    Can you please guide me for preparing for CAT.

    Thanks,
    Srujan kumar g
    9663677261

  53. Dear Sir,

    I gave XAT last year and got 98.25%tile. I am facing a lot problems in Sec2(VA). Even now in CL mocks i am scoring 90s in QA and 30s in VA. I really dont know what i should do to fetch at least 85% tile in VA so that i can get call. I am GEM too.
    Please tell me how should i prepare to get good score.
    Thank you

  54. Dear Sir,

    I gave CAT last year along with GMAT. Though my GMAT score was fairly good, I didnt do that well in CAT. GMAT was a 690 (40 in Quant and 45 in Verbal) whereas CAT was a mere 85 percentile. I have all your material as I took CL coaching in my final year of graduation in 2012 and I begun self-study. Please advise if joining the classroom teaching course at CL Delhi (CP) would be apt at this time or would it be taking away precious time of self-study. I will be enrolling for the mock test series ofcourse. I am determined to crack CAT this year. To add to that, I will be completing 3 years of work experience this year. Looking forward to your advise. Thanks!

    • Akanksha, Go for both CAT/XAT and GMAT. While you have a good GMAT score an improvement to around 720-740 in GMAT can get you top MBA institutes out side India.
      Your good GMAT score but a poor CAT score indicates that while you are sound in your fundamentals it is your art of taking the paper (CAT/XAT) that needs to be worked on. While in GMAT you have to solve all questions that come your way in CAT you shave to choose the questions to attempt.
      With your GMAT score I do not think that a classroom program is needed. Suggest that you consider enrolling for Smart CAT Cracker Comprehensive and/or CAT Score Booster. Smart CAT Cracker includes video sessions that will clear your doubts help you solve questions faster, Test Gym for practice and the Test Series.

  55. Sir,
    I am going to give CAT for the first time , but due to some unavoidable problems I have had to start the prep late .I am living in Guwahati.The CL center here said that it is already late for a course, so i had to take up an online course.Now I am also planning to start a CL online course , which one do you suggest ?
    P.S : The online course which i have taken does not have mocks.

  56. Respected Sir,
    I gave CAT-14 without any preparation at all and somehow managed 97.5 percentile(I gave it just because all of my friends were giving it; all of us being final year undergrads). This year I have made up my mind about getting an MBA. Please tell me how should I plan my preparation to get a good score.Thanks.

    Warm Regards,
    Rahul

  59. Hello sir,

    I had given CAT last year and scored just a 90%ile. Neither were my mocks good, I used to score around 80s with 90s in sec2 and 75s in sec1. Since CAT 2014 was easy i could manage a 90%ile. Sir, what strategy should I adopt so that this year i can score a good %ile? My weak area is section 1.

    Thank you.

    • NG, once you are in the 80s then further improvement is usually a function of your test taking ability and regular practice+testing + revision. You could follow the process adopted by Niel.

    • Komal, I expect CAT’15 to be slightly more difficult than CAT’14. Expect QA and RC to go up in terms of difficulty level but the other areas should be at the same level.

      • GP sir,
        What about your estimate of the scores in the individual sections that would fetch a 95 above %ile?

        • Apurba, net correct attempt of 30 in QADI and 27 in VALR would have resulted in a 95%ile in CAT 2014.

  61. GP sir,
    What is your take on the possible LOD of CAT-2015? Everywhere there is a unanimous verdict of it being tough this year. If so please tell which sections will be on the difficult side and hence the strategy, if any, to tackle this change of pattern. I know it’s too early to predict anything but kindly give an insight so that we can buckle up from now and be better prepared.
    Thank you.

    • Apurba, I expect it to have marginally tougher QA and RC but the LOD of VA, LR and DI would most probably be the same.

  62. Dude seriously?? I personally think that CAT ain’t that big of a deal. You just need to be thorough with the basics and not create so many charts if you want to get through. Six categories of questions? LOL . It maybe worked for you but trust me this time around the questions were pretty easy. The mocks have pretty difficult questions and I don’t think that next year’s CAT will be as easy as this one.
    For all the people out there, try to find your own approach. Trying to follow what others did never works. Try to study genuinely and it will work out. People can give you huge lectures regarding what the correct strategy is but it doesn’t really help. Watching these videos etc. to develop your test taking strategy is the best way to waste your time. I took all the mock cats and CAT-2014 solving all questions from first to last.
    You have enough of mock tests to zero in on your approach.
    My mock cat’s percentile varied from 94.7 in AIMCAT to 99.99 in CL. My final percentile in CAT2014 was 99.85. The only reason for a relatively lower CAT percentile was that this time the CAT was too damn easy. Next time it won’t be so. Prepare for the worst. Good Luck.

    • KP, congratulations on doing well in the CAT.

      Neil’s journey started with a very low score, in his first Mock CAT he scored 30/300, and he has shared what worked for him. So, request not to take condescending tone and believe that someone else’s plan of action is inferior.

      I agree with you that there is no one strategy, even among us (me, Gejo & Niraj) we have quite different ways of approaching the test. However, sharing these ideas is not a bad idea at all. One can get cues and create their own game plan. It would help CAT’15 aspirants if you too would share your preparation strategy. You can mail the document to me at gp@careerlauncher.com

      PS: Glad to know that your CAT score was similar to that in CL Mock CATs

      • Agreed with GP sir. I also followed SQC videos and other mock analysis put by gp sir and gejo sir. I agree that CAT is not too tough but it is for anyone who’s mind is not in sync with solving so many questions in such a less time. Even for PIs I prepared so many things but very few were actually asked . but it did give me confidence . I guess an elaborate plan rather than random shooting give u that edge. And it helps.

        P.S. : I am also joining IIM Calcutta this year.

    • Saurav, I am deleting your comment since it is not in good taste. You can disagree with KP but calling names is not acceptable. Let us stick to the issues and not convert it into a me vs you.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *