Cracking CAT: It's not how good you are but how fast

Srikanth Lanka, a student of Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai scored 99.99 percentile in CAT 2011. Here's how he did it.

When he appeared for CAT 2011, Srikanth Lanka was confident of cracking the CAT. He just didn't expect 99.99 percentile.

The final year student at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai has already received calls from IIMs across the country including Ahmedabad and Calcutta, which are his top two choices.

In an interview, Srikanth Lanka tells us how he prepared for CAT in five months... and cracked it!

So what is the secret? How did you get this fantastic a score in your first attempt?

When I first started preparing for CAT, I enrolled in the IMS classroom programme. I studied through the material and gave the 12 mock tests. Besides this, I also came across a website called Testfunda.com that had some very good mock tests.

I appeared for 15 of those. The mock tests on Testfunda.com were really tough. That helped me prepare harder and better.

By the end of five months, I had appeared for 27 mock tests in all. I suppose somewhere along I knew I was prepared.

Did you think you'd crack the CAT in the first attempt?

I was scoring 99.5 percentile in most of my mock CATs so yes I did expect a good score but never once did I think I'd get a 99.99! That was a bit of a surprise.

I was part of IMS classroom programme. I did all their material. Besides, there is a site called testfunda.com took that their tests very good quality. They were challenging prepare you better for CAT harder but made you better equipped.

Could you tell us how you planned for CAT in those five months?

The idea was to give as many tests as possible and perform optimally and analyse the results.

What sort of feedback did your counsellors give you during this time?

Since I was scoring 99 percentile and above, they just pretty much told me to keep doing whatever it is I was doing. I was however weak in the verbal section.

I suppose Quant (which a lot of students find difficult) came naturally to me because of my engineering background. On the flipside like many engineering students I too struggled in the verbal section but I basically kept at it. I read a lot -- newspapers essentially -- and tried to practice solving those areas particularly.

Were you always the studious kind?

(Laughs) No not really. But I did pull up my socks from the tenth grade onwards.

What would you say your learnings were while preparing for CAT 2011?

A lot of engineering students get into a comfort zone the moment they get their admissions. If we are in a good institution, we know we will get a good job so it is simpler to just pass your examinations and get through college. Studying for CAT got me out of that comfort zone.

I realised that to achieve something extra, I had to work extra hard. Each day I had to keep aside two to three hours to prepare for CAT. Almost every second day I would take a mock test.

All of this meant I had to sacrifice there were aspects of my life I had to give up -- basketball for instance. For six months I stopped playing basketball altogether.

Also when you're in your final year, you tend to get emotional about college and you want to take part in every single activity. Trying to manage your time around that can get a little difficult too.

When you're preparing for CAT, I suppose you learn that it's ok to sleep and party less and work more.

What would be your advice to people appearing for CAT?

I believe CAT is given way too much importance. One must understand that this is just one of the exams in your life and isn't the end of the world.

You always have the option of taking a break, gaining work experience and giving it again. So it's ok to go easy on yourself if you can't make it.

However if you want a go at it, you better work really, really hard towards achieving your goal.

Which IIM would you like to opt for and what would you like to specialise in?

Because of its reputation and all the things I've heard about it, IIM-A would be my first choice. Followed by that, it'd have to be IIM-C. I am not sure what my specialisation would be. It's something I really need to give a thought to and consult some counsellors before I take a step in that direction.

What are your future plans? What would you like to be?

Definitely an entrepreneur! I'd like to start and run a chemical engineering plant. I don't think I am cut out for a corporate job.