CAT 2014 topper Aditya Vikram Singh loves debating
Twenty-one-year old Aditya Vikram Singh is on cloud nine. After all, scoring 100 percentile in India’s biggest management entrance test is no easy deal.
“Actually, I didn’t really study for very long. I studied for one and a half month, two hours a day,” says Aditya, unable to stop smiling.
Aditya loves debating and even represented IIT Guwahati in the World Debating Championship 2014. Aditya also loves to play guitar and listening to music.
CAT 2014 results were declared on December 27.
From being a debating champion to CAT 2014 champion, Aditya Vikram Singh narrates his journey to success and discusses preparation strategy exclusively with Shiksha.com:
Q: Congratulations!
Aditya: Thank you so much.
Q: Please introduce yourself.
Aditya: I am Aditya Vikram Singh. I am currently studying mechanical engineering at IIT Guwahati. I am originally from Delhi.
Q: What are you studying at IIT Guwahati?
Aditya: I am pursuing mechanical engineering, last semester.
Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?
Aditya: Yes, it was my first attempt.
Q: Do you have a placement offer right now?
Aditya: I do I have a placement offer from Imbibe which is Mumbai based educational start-up.
Q: What is the minimum time-frame needed to prepare well for CAT?
Aditya: I think it depends on the person. If you are comfortably with mathematical or logical questions then the preparation time required is less. But if you haven’t been doing it regularly or out of touch, then preparation time required would be slightly more. On a rough estimate, I would say for a good attempt anywhere between three-four months is more than enough.
Q: Is that how long you took to prepare?
Aditya: Actually, I didn’t really study for very long. I studied for one and a half month, two hours a day.
Q: Did you join a coaching institute?
Aditya: I did. I joined TIME coaching classes in the summer of 2014. I took the vacation batch. They had a few classes – somewhere around 20 to 25 classes. No other coaching apart from that.
Q: Do you think it is important to join a coaching centre or self-study is good enough?
Aditya: Again it depends on the person. But I would suggest to join a coaching centre. One can get all the tips and tricks on the internet as well. But it’s better to have a mentor personally teaching everything. Personal touch is generally preferable in these kinds of situations.
Q: Have you received any calls so far?
Aditya: Yeah. I did make the shortlist for IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta. These are the only two that are out right now.
Q: What is your dream institute?
Aditya: Yeah, IIM Ahmedabad, because they currently have the senior most faculty. Also because it is ranked really high and I am sure there must be a reason behind it.
Q: Tell us a little about your family.
Aditya: My mother, father, elder brother, my grandparent and…. my dog. My father runs a packaging consultancy firm, my mother is a house wife and my brother is working in technical innovation with an IT firm.
Q: Do you have a back-up plan? Is there something else you would like to pursue if anything doesn’t work out?
Aditya: There’s no back-up plan. It’s just this plan. I focus only on one thing.
Q: What is your hobby or do you have any special passion?
Aditya: I have many hobbies. I do a lot of things, try and keep myself busy. I am an avid debater. In last three-four years I have been debating quite often. I represented my college in the world university debating championship, held in Chennai (2014). Apart from that I love music, playing guitar and listening to music.
Q: Are right now in a party mode that you have scored 100 percentile?
Aditya: Yes, definitely for a little while. But I have to get to studying for my interviews as well.
Q: Coming to interviews what are you planning to do? What are your plans for GD/PI/WAT?
Aditya: From the information that I have from my seniors and mentors, I think it would be best to focus on the technical aspect of the interview and mechanical engineering side as well. I will also look at current affairs and finance side as well.
Q: Do you have any particular MBA specialization in mind?
Aditya: I would like to pursue MBA in finance.
Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirant?
Aditya: Have fun while preparing. Because if you are not enjoying your preparation you are going to get really tired soon especially because you are a bit new to that kind of questions. So make sure you think it of as a game. Just try and beat your high score and try and have fun with it because I think that’s the most important aspect. And other than that just relax and don’t take too much pressure.
CAT 2014 topper profiles:
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