How to read this material

The material has been divided into 2 parts. (1) CAT Preparation (2)
Interview Preparation

Don’t read it like a novel. I have tried to keep it very short and to the point.
Refer to this during different times in your prep and try to implement the
suggestions. At times, the suggestions might sound stupid or simple, but it
is indeed the little things that matter.

It is about hard work and also about hard work in the right direction. This is
my attempt of giving the right direction to anyone reading this.

Happy Prepping 

Sanchit Garg

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 CAT Prep
A) Mindset

Mindset – Before you start with your prep, prepare a mindset to work hard.
It may sound simple or unneeded but without the right mindset, it becomes
very difficult to push through the tough parts.

1. Setting goals has proven really beneficial for me. Once there's a clear
goal in mind, you will find yourself searching for ways to achieve that
goal.

2. Set an audacious goal. I typically keep my goals to myself and work

silently on them. Tell yourself that you want to get 100%ile in
CAT/780 in GMAT.

3. It may sound unachievable but that's the beauty of it. Your goals
should excite you, should be outside your comfort zone. That's when
beautiful things begin to take shape.

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B) Your CAT preparation can be divided into 4 distinct parts (1)
Understanding Concepts (2) Practicing (3) Mocks (4) Analysis of Mocks

1. Understanding concepts

These entrance exams are all about practice and clarity of concepts.

Rote learning will not just waste your time but demotivate you
because of lack of results. Unfortunately, our education system
values memorizing. You need to consciously unlearn it.

If you can't explain a concept to a 12 year old, you DON'T have clarity
over it. Don't fool yourself.

Use Feynman’s technique. This link explains it briefly –

https://mattyford.com/blog/2014/1/23/the-feynman-technique-model

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 2. Practicing

Once, you have achieved clarity, you need to improve your speed.

Practice while pushing - It very important to push yourself during

practice.

A simple rule is that if you get x% of answers right in y mins, give

yourself 80% of y mins and work to hit that x%.

You will fail miserably initially. Don't worry. This is just practice. Don't
be afraid to fail during practice. It again circles back to your mindset.
You need to really push yourself and be okay in committing mistakes
and learning in the long run.

Over time, you will start developing awesome speed 

Here’s a short article to explain this concept in detail

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-ok-plateau-2013-11?IR=T

Bonus Content: I have stumbled across two videos from Career

Launcher which really helped me. (I have no affiliation with Career
Launcher)

 Special Quant Cracker – very helpful tips & tricks for Quant. My scores
increased by 10-15% after watching this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9vOX8v0TtA

 RCs - This videos decodes the traps that an exam setter sets for the
candidates. Again, I saw a significant jump in my scores through this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-NOqrPdxMs

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 3. Mocks

Try to subscribe to atleast one test series. During my time, I

subscribed to test series by TIME, Career Launcher & IMS.

Note that your percentile in these test series will be lower than what
you will get in the actual CAT exam as only the most serious
candidates give such test series.

There are different ways of attempting the paper. Attempting each

section in 3 rounds helped me the most.

Round 1 – I read every question/questions set and categorized it in 3

categories.

a. Easy Question – questions that I am very confident about. I

attempted them in round 1.

b. Moderate Question – questions I am 50-60% sure. I would

mark them as “To Be Done Later” and leave them for round 2.

c. Tough Questions – questions that I have no idea about. I

leave them for round 3.

Round 2 – Attempt only moderate questions

Round 3 – Attempt only tough questions

The idea is to make sure that one sees the entire paper and catch
low hanging fruits first. Many times, I didn’t even have the time to go
to round 3 and that is alright.

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 4. Mocks Analysis

By far the most overlooked part. Your mock analysis can go up to as

long as the length of the test.

There is no point in attempting mocks if you don’t analyze and learn

from your mocks.

Scan all the questions and divide it into 4 segments.

On the x-axis you have the reasons for not attempting/incorrect

answers. (1) Practise/Speed Issue (2) Concept Issue

On the y-axis you have (1) Answers Incorrect (2) Questions

Unattempted

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 A. Low Hanging Fruits – These are the most hurtful. Getting them
right would have increased marks by 4. (-1 for incorrect + 3 for
correct) Revisit the practise sessions for this concept.

B. Missed Opportunities – Try to understand why you failed to

recognise this question during your mocks. What confused you?

C. Unknown Gap in concept – Very tricky. Revise the concept using

Feynman’s technique and understand gap.

D. Known Gap in concept – Try to understand the concept to avoid

future mistakes. Kudos for avoiding these questions!

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C) FAQs

1. Which Institute to Join?

 Teachers/Institute is important no doubt. But all students of good

teachers don't make it neither do all students of bad teachers fail.
 Don't go by brand names. Each institution has good teachers and
bad.
 Do with what you have and put extra efforts for subjects which have
bad teachers. There are plenty of videos available.

2. Which Test Series to Take?

My personal recommendation is Career Launcher’s Test Series. They
show predicted CAT percentile and also videos of their teachers
attempting the questions.

3. How to Keep Myself Motivated?

Two things are extremely important – Peer Group and Mental State.
Make sure that your peer group has similar ambitions as yours. Keep
yourself mentally happy and don’t take things too seriously. Take a
day off every now and then.

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 PI Prep

Some Important Points

 Interviews are mostly taken by college professors and sometimes by

alums. Every person values different things and it very difficult to create
a playbook for interviews

 Take 5-10 mock interviews to get yourself used to the interview

conditions

 Create a booklet of answers to commonly asked questions. Don’t write

full answers & memorize. Just the basics

 Take suggestions of mock interviewers with a pinch of salt. Are they

qualified to be a mock interviewer? Do their suggestions have logic?

 Lead your interviews to areas you want to talk about. For example, end
your introduction with mentioning one of your hobbies. More often than
not, the interviewer will ask the next question pertaining to your hobby.

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Your interview prep can be divided into 4 parts. (1) Personals (2)
Academics/Work Experience (3) General Awareness (4) Interest & Hobbies

1) Personals

 These are basic questions like tell me about yourself, long term/short
term goals, hobbies and interests, work experience, family
 No one can answer these for you. Prepare some basic answers
 Get it vetted by some someone experienced

2) Academics/Work Experience

 Revise your major graduation subjects

 Prepare a 30 sec explanation of your work experience
 Your concepts might get tested. Again, rote learning won’t work
 You should know the practical relevance of your subject. Recent
breakthroughs in your field, noble prize winners, etc

(3) General Awareness

This can be divided into 2 parts. (1) General Knowledge (2) Current Affairs

 General Knowledge – World History, Geography, World Politics and

Important Events
 Current Affairs – What is happening in today’s world. Ideally, create a
group of 4-5 people where in each person reads upon a topic and
explains it in detail to the rest of the group
 It not just about “knowing stuff” but having an informed opinion of
what’s going around you

(4) Interest & Hobbies

 You need to know the history of that particular interest

 Recent breakthroughs, changes, achievement
 Important People in that field

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