Delhi topper took CAT to teach students how to ace it

NEW DELHI: Rahul Sharma, one of the 100 percentilers from Delhi this year in the CAT exams, sat for the test because he wanted to teach his students how to score well. He is an instructor with a coaching institute and handles the academics for it. Now, he is one of the top scorers. A graduate of IIM-Ahmedabad, he says the test now has become easier.

“When I gave the exam in 2008, it was still on pen and paper. Now it has become online, I need to know what I'm teaching,“ Sharma told TOI. According to him, this test was a good balance between all three sections -Quantitative Ability, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation, and Verbal Ability . “But the amount of marks given to Verbal Ability is a lot more than other sections. Which means, even if you don't score well in the other sections, you can get a good score,“ he said.

Already two jobs down, Sharma got into teaching after he took two CAT aspirants under his wing. Ever since then, it has been his passion.But he is sad that this year only engineers have managed to get a 100 percentile. “We should have people from other fields too in the top lot."

Akshay Mehndiratta, another 100 percentiler from Delhi, made it to the top in his second attempt. “The first time, I got a score of 99.34. I wanted to get a call from one of three top IIMs, but did not. So I decided to have another go,“ said the IIT-Delhi graduate. Currently employed with an analytics firm in Gurgaon, the 22 year-old said he had been preparing since June, working hard over week ends to manage the CAT preparation with his routine office work.

For Arpit Singh, it were the test templates provided by his coaching institute that helped him get the top score in the first attempt. “I started preparing in September 2015 and completed the six-month course with my institute," said the IIT-Delhi student. “I then would only practice the modules over the weekend, analyse my performance and pace myself accordingly," he said.

Now, he says, his sole focus is on getting through the next round, and preparations are on.