CMAT February 2015 topper Supreet Gupta believes desire for success should be greater than fear of failure

CMAT February 2015 results declared!

This year’s fourth CMAT topper Supreet Gupta mantra for success was simple: “Your desire for success should be greater than fear of failure.”

A BTech pass out from Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT), Gandhinagar, Gupta has been working as a Senior System Engineer with Infosys for the last three years.

“In preparation you will have to compete with yourself. Time comes when you feel distressed. But you will have to pull yourself and keep calm. My mantra to motivate myself was “Your desire for success should be greater than fear of failure,” says Gupta.

His CMAT February 2015 scorecard reads:

Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation: 87 (99.97 percentile)

Logical Reasoning: 90 (99.75 percentile)

Language Comprehension: 65 (99.41 percentile)

General Awareness: 49 (99.74 percentile)

CMAT total results: 291 (99.99 percentile)

In an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com, Supreet Gupta speaks about his preparation strategy:

 

 

Q: Congratulations!

A: Thank you.

 

Q: What is the minimum time frame needed to prepare well for CMAT?

A: There is no such criteria or minimum time frame. If one is good with basics such as aptitude section, then two to three months are enough to prepare well for CMAT exam.

 

Q: What other exams did you appear for apart from CMAT? How much have you scored in those exams?

A: I appeared for CAT, SNAP and NMAT.

SNAP percentile: 99.90, NMAT percentile: 99.34  and CAT percentile: 96.4

 

Q: Which is your dream college?

A: I have got calls from IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore. So, my first priority is to crack the interviews in these two IIMs.

 

Q: Do you have a specific MBA specialisation in mind?

A: I have a keen interest in finance. I would like to see myself in giant finance consulting firms such as BCG, Goldman Sacks, McKinsey four to five years down the line of my career.

 

Q: Is it necessary to join a coaching institute or is self-study good enough?

A: There is no hard and fast rule to join a coaching centre. But, if you are new to MBA preparation, then you must join a coaching centre. It helps one in being regular with studies and get proper guidance. On the other hand, there are people who can get good ranks without taking any coaching classes. Because of my background in engineering, I did not take any coaching.

Right guidance plays a very vital role in any student's life but at the end it’s all about your efforts and hard work.

 

Q: What study plan did you follow for your MBA prep?

I read editorial columns in Indian Express daily. Due to my work schedule, I dedicated three to four hours daily for MBA preparation. And in the weekends, I gave seven to eight hours per day.

 

 

Q: How did you divide time for each section? Which sections did you spend more time on?

A: CMAT is a three hours exam with four sections. During the test, I devoted first 50 minutes to quant section, another 45 minutes to reasoning, 45 minutes to verbal section and 10 minutes to GK. Then I dedicated the remaining half hour to solve the tough questions.

In the first round, I solved all the easy and less time-consuming questions across all the sections. The last half hour was devoted towards tough questions.

Accuracy is the key here, because CMAT provides adequate time to solve all the 100 questions. So one shouldn’t commit silly mistakes while solving the questions.

 

Q: How should be a candidate’s preparation strategy for CMAT exam?

A: In CMAT, GK is the key factor which can make or break the score. So focus more on GK preparation if you want to secure good rank in CMAT.

 

Q: How did you work on improving your weak areas?

A: My weak area was reasoning section. Practice is key to come out from all weaknesses. In preparation, one has to compete with themselves. Time comes, when one can feel distressed. Pull yourself and keep calm. My mantra to motivate myself is “Your desire for success should be greater than fear of failure.”

 

Q: How much time did you spend on revision?

A: Last two or three months before the exam, I started giving mock exams. The more questions you practise, the more you will come closer to your success.

 

 

Q: Suggest some tips for students.

• I will suggest quantitative book by Arun Sharma along with basic study materials from any one of the leading coaching institutes such as T.I.M.E , Career Launcher and IMS.
• For vocabulary, go for ‘Word Power Make Easy’ book
• Take up mock test series from T.IM.E or CL.
• Time management in preparation is very important. Allocate your efforts towards it.

 

 

 

Q: Any useful study material/ reference books you can recommend for CMAT and other MBA prep?

A: For vocabulary, go for ‘Word Power Make Easy’ book.

For quant refer to Arun Sharma Level 1 and Level 2 questions for CMAT, SNAP and NMAT exams. For CAT, XAT and IIFT, refer to Arun Sharma level 3 questions.

For Reading Comprehension, editorials from Indian Express and Hindu.

For Grammar, any standard reference book.

For static GK, Lucent's General Knowledge.

For current affairs, newspapers and magazines.

And Test series from T.I.M.E and CL.

CMAT syllabus 

Q: What did you do right to crack it?

Determination and hard work. Sometimes, you’ll feel disappointed when your friends are partying and you are surrounded by books. But if you do well in exams right now, rest of the life will be a party. So I focused on studying and everything else was taken care of.