Want to make it to a top MBA college? Here are the best expert tips for you

An IIM Indore student has recently been offered an annual salary package of ₹56.8 lakh, suggests a PTI report. According to the report, the 210 firms who participated in the placement procedure of IIM Indore, offered an average annual package of ₹23.6 lakh to the students. Well, IIM students always make it to the top-most layer of the entire workforce. So, it’s no wonder that the competition for entry into the top MBA colleges of the country, like IIMs, is steep. The first step for admission to a prestigious management institute is to crack the Common Aptitude Test (CAT).

“On an average, above 2 lakh students appear for CAT every year. But there are roughly 10-15 thousand seats for MBA in top management colleges including the 20 IIMs of the country, IITs and other good institutes. A candidate needs to be in the top 1-5 percent of the total number CAT examinees to get a call from the best institutes. This is what makes MBA admissions so challenging. However, CAT score isn’t the only deciding factor behind a candidate’s chance to make it to a top management institute. Colleges also factor in the overall profile of the candidate, work experience, and even extracurricular activities,” says Amit Poddar, Senior Regional Head, T.I.M.E, a CAT coaching institute spread across India.

Well, the path to success for an MBA aspirant is tough for sure, but not impossible. Here are the best expert strategies to help you inch closer to your dream B school.

Understand CAT exam pattern and syllabus

This is crucial for an MBA aspirant. You need to know your exam format and syllabus really well to plan your preparation strategy. CAT, which is an online exam, consists of three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), Quantitative Aptitude (QA). “The duration of this MBA entrance exam is three hours, with 60 minutes allotted to each section. However, last year, the time span was cut short to two hours due to the COVID-19 crisis. The number of questions was also reduced and students had to wrap up each section within 40 minutes. But this year, we are expecting CAT to resume to its 3-hour format,” says Poddar. You have to complete one section before moving on to the next. The questions are a combination of MCQs and non-MCQs.

Start your preparation early on

Each student is unique while it comes to strengths and weaknesses. So, the prep time also varies. “For an average student, approximately six to eight months of dedicated effort should be good enough for CAT preparation. But it is difficult for a graduation student to take this time out in the final year of graduation. So, we generally advise MBA aspirants to start preparation from the pre-final year of graduation,” says Poddar.

Make a section-wise preparation plan

All the three segments of a CAT exam need equal attention and strategic planning. Here is how to ace them all.

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): This section broadly is a combination of reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning. In this section all the questions revolve around paragraphs and passages. “In VA, students need to go create the summary of a paragraph. Then there are paragraphs with statements that don’t fit in. Candidates need to find these odd statements out. Apart from these, there are jumbled paragraphs too. Here, students are asked to rearrange the statements in the best possible manner,” says Poddar.

For RC, there are five passages generally. Candidates need to read and answer questions based on them. “All these require a lot of reading. So, one has to develop the habit of reading extensively. But a strong vocabulary and good grammar skills are necessary for successful reading and comprehension,” says Poddar. According to him, these are the best tricks to strengthen one’s vocabulary:

• Write 20 words with meanings every day.

• Resort to the root method. It allows you to identify the base of an unknown word, helping you guess the meaning intelligently.

• Read extensively and mindfully to develop the skill of contextual understanding. This is important because it’s impossible to know the meaning of each and every word.

• Practise answering questions, passages and grammar regularly.

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR): This segment is a test of your analytical capacity and logical reasoning skill. DILR is an application-based section of the CAT exam. Most of the questions are based on puzzles, graphs and tables, requiring students to make arrangements and selections. “So, getting a strong hold on the concepts of different types of charts and tables is very important for this segment. Also, students need to interpret them well. Additionally, students need to master the technique of approximation to reach the answers quickly as some questions in DLIR are quite lengthy,” says Poddar.

Quantitative Aptitude (QA): This section challenges you with questions from Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Mensuration. “For this section, candidates have to sharpen their mental ability. Practise mathematics questions of class VIII, IX, X and XI and then move on to the tougher ones of the same type. Also, it’s very important to understand the short cuts as there are a lot of fast ways to do the calculations,” suggests Poddar. “If a student isn’t confident about maths, then he or she should devote more time to QA than other subjects during CAT preparation,” he adds.

Practise model papers and take mock tests

This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and sharpen your time management skills. “While solving model question papers, make sure that you attempt a variety of questions on the same topic,” suggests Poddar.

Mock tests are an important element in the preparation regimen of any exam, including CAT. “During the six to eight months of preparation, students should aim at 20-25 of these tests. Stick to the sectional and overall time limit during the mock tests. Also, practise both the 40-minute and 60-minute time limits as the format of CAT isn’t yet known.” Analyse your mock test performance and work on the areas that need improvement.