Here’s the Interview of iQuanta CAT Full Course student Rounak Tikmani, who cleared the CAT exam with a huge score of 99.9%ile and took more than 100 mocks.
Q: Congratulations Rounak on clearing the CAT exam. We know that you have just given the IIM Ahmedabad Interview, so how was the experience?
ROUNAK: It was a very good experience as the only thing that I can remember is the toffee that they gave me in the last. Apart from it, it was a decent experience as there were some things where I messed up but there were a few good things also as when I told them that Cricket is my hobby then they straight away asked me how the cricket ball swings and spin and what is the science behind it. So, overall it was a decent experience.
Q: Apart from the IIM Ahmedabad interview, what other interviews did you give and out of all the interviews, which one question was the toughest among all?
ROUNAK: As of now, I am done with the SP JAIN and CAP interviews and after that I have IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore and IIM Calcutta interviews lined up. So, IIM Bangalore is the next interview that I am targeting.
I remember there was one question in the SP Jain interview, which they asked me right after my introduction. The question was “What is the darkest thing about you which makes you the person that you are?”. So, for that question I had to think so much and then answer so that I do not give a bad impression about myself to the interviewers and also give a good answer to it at the same time.
Q: What made you decide to go for an MBA and also please tell us about your profile.
ROUNAK: When I was working as a Product Analyst in my company, I knew that I was having the technical skills required for my job but working the product managers I realized that I lacked a business related perspective to tackle the problems and needed some real world experience related to business. So, from there I got to know that MBA would be a decent option for me.
I did most of my schooling from Muzaffarpur, Bihar where in 10th standard I scored 95% and in 12th I scored 93.4%. I was good in academics from childhood so I got the chance to study from IIT Delhi, where I did chemical engineering. Apart from my learnings in chemical engineering, I learned machine learning too and also got a job in the machine learning field itself. So, in my graduation I scored 8.7 CGPA and then I worked for 1.5 years in Zomato and that’s where I decided to prepare for the CAT exam and go for an MBA.
Q: There was a year gap too in your CAT preparation journey. So did the interviewers ask about it?
ROUNAK: Yes, I was asked about this gap in my interviews where I explained to them why the gap had happened. I told them that during my job itself I had realized that I need to do an MBA and that’s why I had left the job. I told them that I did not score well in my first attempt and then I assisted my father in my family business and also started looking for jobs along with that. But then I saw that the jobs at that point of time in the market were not according to what I wanted. So from there I decided that I should appear again for the CAT exam and then I went on for my second attempt. I told the interviewers what all I learned during that gap and what all skills and experience I had learned and also what skills I needed to learn next.
Q: How much time did you take to prepare for the CAT exam?
ROUNAK: I started preparing for the CAT exam in the month of June in full fledged as before that it was not in a proper manner. I completed the syllabus in 2 months and then just focused on giving more and more mocks and daily practice.
Watch Rounak’s Full interview here :
Q: How and when did you come across iQuanta?
ROUNAK: When I started my preparation in the month of June, I had concern in my mind that I have to succeed this time as it’s my second CAT attempt so from there I searched for some coachings online and from everywhere I heard one name only and that was iQuanta. So, this was something that got my attention and then I decided to join iQuanta and now I think that it was the right decision to make.
Q: What were your sectional percentiles and what were preparation strategies for all of these 3 sections?
ROUNAK: Talking about the VARC section first, as an engineer it was quite tough for me as we all know that engineers are not that good in the english language. So initially in the mocks, I was scoring in single digits only in the VARC section but then with practice and focusing more on sectional mocks I was able to score good and that made me score 98.3%ile in VARC in the CAT exam. iQuanta also helped me a lot in preparing VARC as there were daily articles and RCs posted in the group for practice, So that really helped me a lot. In VARC, I believe that you have to attempt a large number of questions in the mocks because it will give you a more clarity on what type of questions you will be getting in that particular question.
Then DILR I think it is a game changer section for some people because you cannot be sure about this section as talking about the pattern, it is very unpredictable. So, for that the Application classes and of course the live classes of iQuanta helped me in understanding the basics of it so that I would get ready to attempt any type of question that would come in the section. Apart from it, the mocks also help a lot in preparing for DILR as the most important thing in DILR is to select the right set. So, in DILR my score was 99.7%ile.
Quant was something where being an engineer I was strong right from the beginning. In the mocks also, I was able to score well and attempt most of the questions. But on the exam day I messed up in my quant section and was able to attempt only 12 questions in the quant section but somehow 11 of the 12 sections were correct and the score that I got in the exam was 99.8%ile. So, in quants what I feel is that you have to clear your basics first and then try to solve at least 30 questions on each and every question because you do not know which question can come in the exam. And also in the first minute itself you have to analyze which questions you are going to attempt because the time is not enough to solve all the questions.
Q: What did a day in your life look like while preparing for the CAT exam?
ROUNAK: I will tell you about the last 3 months of my preparation. I would wake up at around 10 in the morning. Then, I would get ready and sit to take mocks. I would take 2 hours to finish the mock and then straight away start analyzing it and it used to take 3-4 hours to analyze the mocks. Then at night, I would solve the questions that were posted in the groups of iQuanta and that was how I would end my day.
Q: You were a part of the iQuanta CAT+IIM ABC Batch where the curriculum is very rigorous and there are a lot of things like the Live classes, practice sessions, conceptual classes and also the assignments on the dashboard. So how much of it were you able to cover on a daily basis and what was your daily target?
ROUNAK: I wanted to keep the things in a sorted way and did not want to do all the things. I was not someone who was preparing 100-200 questions, but would majorly focus on the mocks and see what all questions are necessary for me and what are not. Apart from that, I would solve the IIM ABC batch questions in the night time. Talking about the dashboard, Initially I did some things there but in the end I did not finish it. I would not suggest anyone to complete all the things that are there in the curriculum, only the things that are required for you basically, is what you need to do. For doubts, the iQuanta community was really helpful as it is very active. Whenever there is any doubt posted in the group, it gets resolved within minutes only and that’s what I really liked.
Q: How many mocks did you take, what was your highest and the lowest score in the mocks and how would you analyze the mocks?
ROUNAK: My preparation strategy was quite different and the number of mocks that I gave is something that I would not suggest anyone to give. It was actually 110 mocks in total. I gave mocks from other institutes as well but what I found was that iQuanta mocks were the best because they had detailed solutions and AI analysis which was really very helpful for understanding the mistakes in detail. The highest score I got in iQuanta mocks was 121 and the lowest score was 59. But on average my score in the iQuanta mocks would be around 93-94.
Talking about my analysis strategy, I used to see where I made the mistakes and then would re-attempt the whole mock so that I do not repeat the mistake. It will not only help in understanding better but also will increase your speed to attempt the questions
Q: What was the thing that you liked the most about iQuanta mocks?
ROUNAK: There was an error tracker kind of thing in the mocks which really helped me in mock analysis to know what kind of errors I was making. There was a B-school predictor also, which was also good.
Q: Were there any kind of distractions in your preparation journey and what was the best piece of advice that you got while you were preparing for the exam?
ROUNAK: There was not any specific kind of distraction but yes there are distractions of course when you are preparing in an online mode. Sometimes, you jump to Netflix, sometimes Instagram and all but you need to have a focus and that is very important. I would get engaged in all other things as well but moreover I was dedicated towards my studies.
The best piece of advice that I got during the preparation was that It is very important to have an attitude where you are thinking that you have nothing to lose but everything to gain because this is what helps you to give your best.
Q: How do you maintain consistency while preparing for the CAT exam?
ROUNAK: I think it is quite difficult to maintain consistency during the preparation of CAT because sometimes you give mocks and the scores are not good and that’s where a gap comes and someone starts getting demotivating. There, it is good to have a break for 2-3 days but not more than that because then you start losing interest. So, it is important to maintain consistency because it is a kind of exam where you need to have a lot of focus and you have to be consistent. If you have that fire in yourself then whatever happens you will not break down and will have consistency.
Q: What are the 3 things that you learnt in your B.tech and you think that will help you in your MBA?
ROUNAK: One of the things that I learnt and think is most important is that you need to have a good connection with people and a good peer group.
Second thing that I learnt is that I come from a place where I was a topper when I was in the School but when I came to IIT Delhi, I got to know that there are many more like me. So, there I learnt humility.
Third thing that I learned there and I think that will help me in my MBA is that sometimes you have to take risks in life. I was in chemical engineering but still I explored and did many things. I worked in marketing, learned machine learning and worked in some other field as well, which I think gave me an ability to take risks and do new things.
Q: As you said that your first CAT attempt did not go well, So according to you how important is it to have a Plan B?
ROUNAK: The CAT exam is very unpredictable. Even if your preparation is great, you don’t know what can happen in the exam. So, you need to have a plan B so that you can get that nothing to lose attitude and that’s what will make you succeed not only in the CAT exam but also in life.
