Mumbai boy Soham Katkar, who is a music and drama enthusiast, topped the Common Admission Test (CAT 2021) with 100 percentile, even as he was enjoying the India vs New Zealand cricket series a few days prior to the examination.
Of the 1.92 lakh candidates, who appeared for the exams, nine aspirants, including Soham, have scored 100 percentile.
In an interview to IANS, Soham spoke about his preparation and how he topped the CAT. Excerpts:
Q. What was your reaction on knowing your score?
A. I was happy with my score. When the response sheet was issued, I was confident that I will score well. My estimated score was 153 and I was trying to find out whether somebody else has scored more than me in slot 1, but I didn't find anyone. I kept my fingers crossed and checked the percentile. Was satisfied...
Q. What are your total and sectional marks?
A. The scores are VARC 47.73, DILR 53.06, Quants 58.35, Total 159.13. Percentile - VARC 99.33, DILR 100, Quants 99.99, Total 100.
Q. When you started preparing for CATS 2021, how many hours did you use to study?
A. I have appeared in CATS 2020 exams too and prepared for two-three months. This time, I started preparations two weeks prior to the exams as I was busy with some projects. I just needed revision as I had prepared for the exam last year too. In the two-week preparation, I used to solve one mock test of two hours and used to analyse it for 30 minutes to one hour.
Q. Have you taken coaching? What are its benefits?
A. No, I have not. But I had purchased a mock test series from Times institute. I believe that the CAT curriculum is not something we have not studied as it tests general aptitude and reasoning. However, for solving a paper, knowing its pattern is important. To score well, solving a good mock test series is important.
Q. How did you use to de-stress during examinations?
A. I did not allow myself to get too stressed. Stress never works. Hardly anything comes out of it... Sometimes some thoughts bother you about the exam, difficulty level of question paper, its result...To keep the negativity at bay, I used to chat with my friends, watch television. In those two weeks, I was busy watching a series match between India and New Zealand.
Q. Tell us about yourself, hobbies and likes?
A. I am a computer engineer by profession and hail from Mumbai. I love playing musical instruments, especially the flute. I love watching cricket and was a member of our college's drama team.
Q. Why did you want to study MBA?
A. I have read a lot about management studies and I think I have the skills required to study that. This course will help me achieve my goals. My target is the top IIMs of the country --Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.
Q. Who is your role model and why?
A. I don't have any ideals. I am inspired by different people based on their qualities and achievements and try to follow lessons learned from them in life.
Q. Do you have any message for future CAT aspirants?
A. Believe in yourself. Don't be afraid of failures. While writing the exam, don't worry about running out of time. Focus on accuracy instead of forcing yourself to solve the entire paper. It is better to write two accurate answers in four to five minutes rather than rushing and writing one right and two wrong answers.