Parul Arora Profile

• Graduation College: NIT JALANDHAR
• Course: BTech - CSE
• Year of Graduation: 2020
• CAT score: 99.93
• Work experience: 2.5 Years
• Compnay – Accenture
• Profile - Coding

How difficult is it to prepare for CAT being a working professional?

Parul Arora: It’s all about time management, I used to have classes early in the morning and would prefer to finish all my tests and assignments before my office started. I would set a target for the day and if it isn’t achieved in the first half I made sure that it’s completed after my office hours.

When and why did you think of appearing for CAT?

Parul Arora: It was around March when I thought of appearing for CAT. My long term goal was to see myself in a good company at a higher position which would have been possible only after completing my MBA. It was in April then when I joined the coaching institute.

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

Parul Arora: Yes I had joined Sony Goyal Sir’s coaching Missioncat , it is very important to join a coaching if you think you cannot be regular on your own. I knew I had this weakness and it would be good if I joined one. Sony sir's regular testing , early morning classes kept me on track and his personal mentorship helped me during the low times of my preparation. It is also very important to appear for mocks and then analyze the same.

What was your preparation strategy for Verbal?

Parul Arora: For Verbal, one should go through novels, articles from different genres , we should include all subjects in our reading like Science , Philosophy etc. Also past year questions were of great help.

What was your preparation strategy for DI and LR?

Parul Arora: For DI and LR , past year questions and Sony Sir's questions were of great help.

What was your preparation strategy for Quant?

Parul Arora: In Quant , my engineering background helped me alot. I also practiced Arun Sharma along with questions provided by Sony Sir to improve my speed and accuracy.

How were the last few days before the exam?

Parul Arora: Last few days before the exam were quite hectic both from exam and job perspective. I had my formula notebook ready , I just revised that and appeared for one final mock.

Listening to calm music helped me alot.

Which mocks helped you crack CAT?

Parul Arora: Mocks again provided by Sony SIr , it was quite accurate . I scored around the same marks I was scoring in my mocks. Analyzing the mocks is an important step in the preparation , for 2 hours of a test 4-5 hours were given for analysis of the mock.

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

Parul Arora: Never underestimate yourself , calmly go through the preparation journey and also attempt the paper with a calm and composed attitude. Fear and rushing through won't lead us anywhere.

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

Parul Arora: I was relaxing at home , had no idea the results would come out so soon , when I got the news that the results were out , I was nervous and excited at the same time. I entered my roll no and when I saw the results I was shocked and happy at the same time , I had expected a good percentile but 99.93 that was really huge. My parents were really happy seeing the same . I called up my mentor Sony Sir , he was really happy for me . This was all the happiness and anxiousness in those moments.

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

Parul Arora: I'm targeting IIM A/B/C/K/I/L . I'll be preparing for GDPI along with Sony Sir

Which other exams did you appear for ?

Parul Arora: XAT, IIFT, SNAP

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

Parul Arora: In my long term goals I see myself at a very high managerial position and getting into my dream college will be a stepping stone towards that goal.

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

Parul Arora: Step one should be to clear your basic concepts in 1-2 months , then practice questions starting from basic to the advanced levels and then at last appearing for as many mocks as possible and then analyzing them as well.