Shivam Sharma Profile

• Current College: Symbiosis
• Programe: B-Tech CSE
• Year of Graduation: 2023
• CAT Percentile: 99.63

When and why did you think of appearing for CAT?

Shivam Sharma: Around August, i decided to appear for cat, as it seemed very lucrative at that time

Did you join any coaching institute ? If yes, which one and why ? If not - Why did you go for self preparation?

Shivam Sharma: I started my prep just 50 days before CAT, so it was too late for any coaching classes

What was your preparation strategy for Verbal?

Shivam Sharma: I started off with trying to improve my reading skills, being able to focus for long. I bought a Kindle and read 2 novels. After reading them, I had drastically improved my speed and concentration. I had no other prep for varc, only strategies

What was your preparation strategy for DI and LR?

Shivam Sharma: Dilr turned out to be my most feared section. I started off thinking, it's just logical reasoning, child's play for me, but in mocks I could just solve 1-2 sets, with low accuracy, as I am very prone to Silly mistakes. So after a while, i just tried to improve my set selection, focused mainly on what to select and what not to, just tried to stick to my strengths.

What was your preparation strategy for Quant?

Shivam Sharma: As i had very little time, all my prep was about quant, used to give a sectional atleast per day. For me, more than concepts, it was about practicing selection.

How were the last few days before the exam?

Shivam Sharma: Very stressful for non cat reasons. I had to do interviews, end sem, projects, presentations etc. For the last 10 days, I couldn't even touch the CAT at all.

Which mocks helped you crack CAT?

Shivam Sharma: I have tried various mocks, cracku, byju, ims, unacademy, Ranking wise-, Ims, Byju, Unacademy

Byjus are something I preferred before cat, as they are not unnecessarily tough, and don't hamper confidence. Unacademy's last mock really instilled belief in me.

One mistake which you think you should not have made (During the exam or during the preparation phase)?

Shivam Sharma: A lot of mistakes

1) Should have left everything and focused on CAT, my focus on college exams hampered my performance

2) Panic- i froze in QA section, which was my strongest suit, from scoring 40+ consistently i came down to 24 in a fairly easy set

3) Not completing syllabus and depending on arithmetic - yes it comprises more than 50% of the paper, but it also has toughest questions. Algebra and geometry and modern math are way more rewarding

4) Giving tough mocks

Please recreate the moment for us when you first saw your result?

Shivam Sharma: Online predictors showed 99.3, which was a fairly okayish result. I was scared though, what will happen if i don't even get 99. What will I do? How will I show my face? I had to get at least 99 somehow, so I finally pressed the download button. 99.63. I shouted YES! for a split second and then just shunned down, acted cool, went to my dad and said 99.63, saying as if yaaa it's a normal thing for me, but internally, i was so relieved

What next? Which colleges are you targeting based on your profile and percentile ? And how do you plan to clear the GD PI?

Shivam Sharma: Only ABC FMS xlri

Still no idea for gdpi, any help will be useful, so feel free to contact me

Which other exams did you appear for ?

Shivam Sharma: XAT, SNAP, GRE, Toefl

What are your long term goals and how do you think getting into your dream college will help you achieve that?

Shivam Sharma: Honestly I have no long term goals

What should be an ideal 6 months strategy to prepare for CAT?

Shivam Sharma: Biggest tip ever- QUANT IS THE CHEAT CODE. For varc, lrdi, you need natural talent, which might take quite some time to build, where quant is all about preparation. No talent as such needed, someone who puts in more effort will always score more in quant, so just ace quant.