Adit Sanjanwala, a young and aspiring student, made headlines when he scored a whopping 99.99 percentile in the CAT 2022 examination, one of the toughest management entrance exams in India. What sets Adit apart is not just his excellent score but also his unique approach to the exam. He firmly believes that one does not necessarily need to complete the entire CAT question paper in order to score well.
Adit Sanjanwala, who achieved a remarkable 99.85 percentile and secured the top spot in the CAT 2020 exam, graduated from the Electronics and Communication department at NIT Surat.
In this article, we will delve deeper into Adit's experience and learn from his success story. We will explore the tips and tricks he used to crack the CAT exam, and understand how his perspective on time management and strategy can help future aspirants achieve their dreams.
Interview Questions with Answers
Collegedunia: Adit, you scored 99.99%, tell me how did you do it?
Adit Sanjanwala: Practice, practice, practice. It’s all practice. And I didn’t have a fixed time for topics, instead I studied and practiced them till I was confident and satisfied with myself that I can solve those problems.
Collegedunia: But how do we get value out of our practices?
Adit Sanjanwala: To be frank, if you look at my score, you’ll find that 50% of my total score was from Quants. I scored 110 marks, out of which 55 were from Quants. Then I got 95% in the remaining two and my total jumped to 99%. The key is to pick a section from the three and make it your best section. So, if you get good in that section and get 95+% in the other two, you’ll have a respectable total score. And it’s different for everyone which section they are comfortable with, you just have to be so good at that section to be able to pull your percent up with that section. As for me, I cleared all the Quants concepts but when I sat down for the exam, I could only solve up to 60% in the limited time given to me. So, it was not fair to me that I could only do that much when I had selected Quants as my main section. And I noticed in all my mock tests that the more practice I did in Quants, the better I was getting and the faster I was solving. And that’s exactly what I did. I cleared all the concepts and in the last month, all I did was solve questions just to get in that frame of mind that allowed me to solve any type of question in the exam. I think I must’ve solved more than 1000 questions in the last month. And I did that because I wanted to increase my calculation speed. Of course, there were some questions I could not solve, some wrong and some omitted, but in my CAT exam, I could solve all questions just from those practices.
Collegedunia: Well, Adit, since you’re from engineering background, it’s very viable to think that you must have a good quant knowledge. How much of it is true and applicable?
Adit Sanjanwala: Being an engineer, you’re always in touch with quant in 10th, 12th, and graduation. As for non-engineers, they lose their touch after 10th or 12th. And most quant questions asked in CAT are on a 10th standard level. There are a few permutations and combinations that are above 10th, and if you look at the syllabus, everyone studied that up to 10th class. The main difference is that since engineers are in touch with quant all the time, their methods and ways of calculation are a little different and that is beneficial to engineers. Other than that, the level is the same. And since we get less than two minutes for each question, both engineers and non-engineers must learn different types of approaches to solve the questions.
Collegedunia: Let’s say there is a question where we have to find minima or maxima. For non-engineers, they’ll do a trial-and-error method, and as for engineers, they’ll differentiate and get the answer easily. And since non-engineers do not know such tricks, don’t you think engineers have an edge in such scenarios?
Adit Sanjanwala: Definitely, there’s an edge in such cases, but the thing is such questions only add up to like 10% of the total questions. And CAT is an exam where if you just score 50% marks, you can reach 99 percentiles. You don’t need to solve all the questions in CAT, you can do about 50% and that’s already good. So, why would you sit and waste time with those types of questions that make up just 10%. Solve the other questions.
Collegedunia: My next question is why do students perform better in VARC as compared to quants?
Adit Sanjanwala: The main problem is people are not able to perform well in quants. They can do normal or better in VARC and comparatively, they aren’t doing that good in quants. Because I think most people are scared of quants, too scared to even practice. And the type of questions they ask in CAT, if you give it to a 10th standard kid and tell him to solve it in a day’s time, he will solve at least 80% because the concepts are not alien. But if you tell him to solve it in an hour, he won’t be able to solve even 25%, because we won’t be able to solve the questions in time if we use the methods we’ve been taught in schools. So, learning that approach is more important, and with that, speed will improve.
Collegedunia: My next question is, being an engineer, how did you tackle VARC?
Adit Sanjanwala: When I was doing my mock tests, I noticed that both the VA and RC parts depended more on reading comprehension. If you can comprehend the questions easily, you can do well in both VA and RC parts. It's not GRE where you need to have a perfect vocabulary or know complex words. In CAT, if you can find the context and structure, you don’t need to know the meaning of every word because most questions are inference based, and there are no questions that ask synonyms or antonyms. So, if your comprehension is good, you’ll do well in VARC. Thing is that most people are not interested in reading passages. Other than reading, if you listen to say interviews, podcasts, or audio books, you’ll start to comprehend faster in English and that will give you a better understanding of the questions on exams. And the more you practice, the better you’ll be.
Collegedunia: In my opinion, that is a long-term process, like reading a book or listening to podcasts. For example, I have just two months to prepare for CAT and I want to do well in VARC. How do I approach it?
Adit Sanjanwala: I’d say, start with mock tests for the first week to find out what you’re comfortable with – VA or RC. Once you find out what you’re comfortable with, stick with that and practice that more till you have a good accuracy. Keep practicing so you can do excellent in one part and even if you do ok-ish in the other part, you’ll get a much better score this way than giving equal time and doing moderately good in both parts.
CN: Adit, let’s talk about luck next. According to you, how much of a big factor is luck in CAT?
Collegedunia: According to you, how much of a big factor is luck in CAT?
Adit Sanjanwala: Yes, luck indeed is a big factor, and what also plays is how much calculated risks are you taking. Say, you’ve eliminated two options in a question and you’re sure that the answer is in the remaining two options, you have a 50-50 probability of getting it right. That will favor your luck compared to guessing a question where you’re not sure of the options and you’ve to select from 3 or all 4 options. I mean, if you take more calculated risks, luck will favor you more.
Collegedunia: What was your strategy in LRDI?
Adit Sanjanwala: LRDI is a section where everyone gets stuck and it is such that if you do excellent in just a set out of the four sets, you can easily reach 95 percentiles. And if you do well in two sets, you’ll reach 99+ percentiles easily. In a normal setting, LRDI questions need time to think and find the answer, but CAT expects us to do that in a very short span of time. And for that, you need your brain to be going fast, and you have to make your brain used to such questions. So, we need to practice it in a way till the exam day so that our brain is running fast. So, to make a frame of mind, I would suggest you start with the basic logical and reasoning part. Then you’ll find the basic approach and know what types of questions may come. Then, go to more tougher questions and start solving puzzles simultaneously as that will increase the analytical bent of mind. Just solve anything sudoku, or any puzzles that you have to solve with numbers and that will start processing numbers in your head. And it is very important that you’re used to numbers in LRDI to process it faster in each phase one after another. You can find all sorts of question banks, just pick them and start solving. Keep solving till you get used to solving different types of questions so that your brain starts finding its own way to solve problems even when you find a type of question you haven’t solved before. Then and only then, start solving caselets, which are the type of question asked in CAT. They’re a little complex no doubt, but just do it. It’ll take time and you may take a lot of time in solving a caselet but take your time and solve it on your own, so you understand the logic behind it. Once you find the logic, you’re able to navigate through it, and you’re able to explain it to someone else how you navigated it, then you’ve done good, and you’ve understood well. And next time, if you find such a caselet in an exam, it’ll take you just one and half hours compared to the three hours you needed to solve it before.
Collegedunia: How many mocks did you attempt?
Adit Sanjanwala: I have attempted 30 to 35 mocks.
Collegedunia: How did you hit 99 % with just 30 mocks?
Adit Sanjanwala: Once you have completed one set of mock tests, subsequent ones may not offer much novelty. For instance, if you have already taken 40 mock tests, taking an additional 10 will likely not introduce any new material. Therefore, it may be more beneficial to dedicate your time to regular practice rather than wasting it on mock tests.
Collegedunia: If you found out midway about your weakness what should be your approach?
Adit Sanjanwala: If you identify a weak point in your knowledge just one week before your exam, it may be best to move on to other topics that you are more comfortable with, instead of spending too much time trying to master it. However, if you discover the weakness a full two months before the exam, it is wise to dedicate time to study the topic, using resources such as informative YouTube tutorials to help you understand it. In this scenario, it is recommended to spend at least two to three days watching such videos, if you have given yourself a week's time to prepare for that particular topic.
Collegedunia: What's the value of the previous mock tests?
Adit Sanjanwala: Speaking from personal experience, I found that I was not performing well in the verbal and reading comprehension (VRC) section of the CAT exam. However, after practicing with actual CAT papers, I was able to improve my scores significantly. I recommend that others in a similar situation should try practicing with CAT papers, but only after they have exhausted other resources and are still struggling to perform well in mock tests. Practicing with actual CAT papers can be a great way to boost one's confidence and improve their performance in the VRC section.
Collegedunia: What are the topics that you personally find challenging, and which are generally considered difficult for CAT aspirants?
Adit Sanjanwala: Personally, I found the VRC (Verbal and Reading Comprehension) section of the CAT exam to be quite challenging. However, I did not find the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section to be as difficult. On the other hand, I felt very confident and sure about my abilities in the Quantitative Ability (QA) section of the exam.
Collegedunia: Did you join any coaching institute?
Adit Sanjanwala: I did not enroll in any coaching institute for CAT preparation; instead, I opted to purchase mock test CDs to aid my studies.
Collegedunia: Do you believe it is essential for students to enroll in a coaching institute? What is your perspective on this matter?
Adit Sanjanwala: It's difficult to give a straightforward answer to whether or not students should opt for coaching for CAT preparation, as each individual's circumstances are unique. For instance, non-engineering candidates who have an affinity for mathematics and are confident in their abilities may not require coaching. Conversely, candidates who require a structured and supportive environment to keep up with their studies and succeed may benefit from coaching, as self-study can be time-consuming and may not offer the clarity required to master concepts before the exam. Ultimately, the decision to enroll in coaching should be based on an individual's preferences and needs.
Collegedunia: In CAT preparation, to what extent is reading newspapers beneficial?
Adit Sanjanwala: Newspapers cover a diverse range of topics, providing exposure to a variety of subjects. Unlike books, which typically focus on a single genre or style, newspapers present information in a unique way, offering a different perspective on every topic. Regularly reading newspapers can help individuals develop the habit of consuming different types of content and styles of writing.
Collegedunia: Which newspaper would you recommend for CAT aspirants?
Adit Sanjanwala: As someone who hasn't read newspapers extensively, I would not recommend any specific newspaper for CAT preparation.
Collegedunia: Which books offer the best overall guidance for CAT preparation?
Adit Sanjanwala: Well, in my opinion most coaching institutes strive to provide their students with high-quality study materials. So, It is recommended that students seek out study materials from reputed institutes, as their primary objective is to produce successful students. I believe those institutes take great care to ensure that their study materials cover all necessary topics and provide comprehensive preparation to their students.
Collegedunia: What is the most effective way to revise for CAT?
Adit Sanjanwala: Revisions before the exam vary from person to person. While some individuals prefer revising until the day of the exam, others do not revise at all. In my opinion, students should avoid starting new topics a few days before the exam. Instead, they should focus on reviewing the topics they are comfortable with and that are not time-consuming. It's essential to make note of the questions that one finds challenging during practice. Also, keeping a formula book that can be reviewed before the exam is necessary.
Collegedunia: What advice would you give to new candidates appearing for CAT 2023?
Adit Sanjanwala: I would suggest not getting discouraged if you feel overwhelmed during practice. Keep pushing forward because the material may seem difficult at first, but it will become easier as you practice. Remember that you don't need to solve every single question, rather, focus on learning and improving with each practice session. It's also important to take breaks during study sessions, but don't give up entirely. Persistence and determination are key to success in CAT preparation.
Comments