Journey of a Village Boy to IIM Bangalore
The CAT Exam is all about the right mindset, continuous practice, and sheer will. Here is the mind-boggling story of Govind Gupta who hails from a very small village in Uttar Pradesh. He did his schooling at UP Board (Hindi Medium). The Journey of a Village Boy to IIM Bangalore.
Despite all the challenges, he was able to crack CAT & converted the IIM Bangalore call.
Govind was a bright student from the very beginning. He scored 90+ percent in both 10th and 12th. He is an Engineering Graduate from IET, Lucknow.
Work Experience- 1 year at a Bangalore based company named Media.net.
The below article is for those students who do not believe in themselves, those who think that CAT is a very difficult examination or those who think that they belong to a small town so it is very difficult for them to do well in life. Govind is a perfect example for these people because of how he has come out of the odds and how he has struggled to reach the best of his life. Now, Govind is going to take admission in IIM- Bangalore and he has our heartiest congratulations for the same.
FundaMakers scheduled an interview with Govind and got an in-depth understanding of his mindset & preparation for the CAT Exam. Journey of a Village Boy to IIM Bangalore.
Watch the whole interview here:
Important takeaways from Journey of a Village Boy to IIM Bangalore:
From this mesmerizing Journey of Govind Gupta from a village to IIM Bangalore are enlisted below:
1- Your Past Doesn’t Matter-
It does not matter whether you are from a Hindi medium or an English medium school. What matters is that you should dream big and you should have the capacity to deal with the odds in life.
2- The Importance of Guide/Mentor-
In his interview, Govind mentions the importance of having a guide or a mentor who teaches you, who guides you and makes sure that you don’t stray from your path of achieving greatness. He mentioned about his school mentor Mr. Harnath Singh Rathor, his 11th& 12th Class teacher.
During his CAT Preparation, he found his mentor, Surya Sir, Founder & VARC Expert, FundaMakers, Lucknow. He guided him and made sure that he gets what he deserves.
3- Always welcome criticism:
Surya sir says, “I also teach students and sometimes I am a bit harsh with them and insult them badly but I think if seen from a training point of view, it is a very important component. A lot of teachers in school may have insulted you or during your CAT Preparation but they also might praise you behind your back.”
“A lot of students get hurt by it. They take it personally. They should understand that it is not personal, it is for their own good. Teachers want to see you improve. So, the advice is ‘Always welcome criticism and find new ways to turn them into praise.’”
What was his Preparation Strategy?
Preparation Strategy for Quants Section:
According to Govind, Engineers are gifted with an aptitude in Mathematics. They should not boast about it but this aptitude gives them a lot of benefits.
“So if we engineers properly prepare for Quants section, we can easily get 98%. If we work a little harder, we can even score 99% in Quants”, he said.
Preparation Strategy for VARC Section:
Govind said, “I got 84% in English in 2017 and then again in 2018 and 85% in 2019. So, according to me, English is that thing where the sins from your past lives show effect. English is that subject which you cannot master within 3 months of preparation. There may be some exceptions but mostly, English needs regular practice of reading which I did not adhere to.”
“My English has been bad consistently”, he added.
“For me, my accuracy in the English section used to be quite good even though the number of questions attempted were less. This is because my speed of comprehending the question in one reading was not apt. I had to do a second reading of the same question to understand it properly. This could have been resolved if I had practiced reading right from my first year.”
Preparation Strategy for DILR Section
According to Govind, “DILR is an unpredictable portion of the CAT exam. It is that part which can vary your score tremendously; it can increase or decrease it. So, it is a good thing if you practice it regularly but there is every possibility that your practice does not turn out to be fruitful enough in the exam.”
He added, “You do well in exam if you take it with a relaxed mental state. Suppose, my CAT exam is in 2 hours and I am still practicing the questions then I would not be relaxed or calm during the exam. I think I did well in DILR section because of the same reason. There were 6 sets of questions with 24 questions in total. I got 23 correct and scored 99.88% in this section. I had practiced the questions for one or two months well in advance but I was totally relaxed also during the exam. So I think one should stop practicing DILR at least 2-3 days before the exam.”
Importance of Mock tests for CAT 2021 Preparation:
Govind: “When I had attended classes for 2 months in FundaMakers, I had scored 99.41% in Quantitative Aptitude Section in Mock Test which was more than what people who were enrolled for the past 2 years had scored. Everyone was surprised at this. Competitiveness is a good thing for Quants. I had the habit of solving the questions in Quants class quickly than the others. Sometimes I used to be correct but I used to be wrong also a number of times. Still, I was always determined to answer faster than the others. So competitiveness makes you more efficient. You can prepare English as well as DILR on your own but for Quants, you need a competitive environment around you so that you get more efficient.”
“If a person replies faster than you then you should feel bad about it. If your ego does not get hurt, you cannot improve.”
Advise to students from B.A. or B.Com or non- engineering background & are terrified of Quants?
1- SWOT Analysis:
Identify your weak & strong chapters in Quants. How to do that?
Attempt Past Years’ Actual CAT Mock and after that do proper analysis to note down your Strong & Weak Sections and Topics.
If you are scared of Quants Section or any other section, firstly try to master your strong topics. This will increase your motivation level and you will feel good about it. Then move on to weaker areas. This should be your strategy in improving Quants or any other section of the CAT Exam.
2- Regular Practice:
If you have joined an Institute for your CAT Preparation whether online or classroom, attend the classes regularly.
If not, then we are providing FREE Practice sessions for CAT 2021 Preparation Online. Take live classes regularly and see the improvement.
3- Take Mock Tests:
Mock Tests play a crucial role if you want to score a 99+%ile in CAT exam. Start taking Mocks after 60% completion of your syllabus. Analyze them properly. Ideally, if you are taking a Mock of 3 hours, then the time taken for analysis must approximately be the same or even more.
Check for new methods or solving tricks of the questions even if you have got it correct. This will improve your learning curve.
4- Remember, Why you are doing it:
After few weeks or months of preparation, many students feel disheartened or demotivated when they see no improvement or are not able to handle things properly.
At that moment of time, give yourself a break and think about why you had started preparing for the CAT Exam in the first place. What will it do to you once you’ve aced it.
Remember, all the future plans that are associated with it. “A good decision and hard work can move your honeymoon destination from Goa to Switzerland or can help you climb up the corporate ladder.”
Inspiration :
Journey of a Village Boy to IIM Bangalore. Studying from a Hindi medium school, then graduating from a college like IET, working in a reputed company like Media.net, and then going to IIM Bangalore, Govind has achieved these things and this is a great success for FundaMakers and its teachers. We as teachers are very proud to have a student like him. May God bless him, keep him smiling.
Govind: “To be honest, I wanted to improve my English and that is why I wanted to join a CAT coaching. I was good at Quants but I was a little apprehensive about the DILR section because I did not know how to tackle the questions. Apart from that, when I joined the coaching, I attended the Quants classes and got the benefit of a competitive environment. English is something which if given a chance to go back in time, I would like to practice reading to improve it. I was really careless about it. In DILR, the role of a teacher is just to an extent whereas it is limitless in Quants.”
“In DILR, teachers can only inform you about the type of questions asked and guide you on how to approach them but ultimately it is you who has to practice and master it. It might happen that you encounter questions that are totally new for you and even for your teachers. You should not depend on luck for this. You should attempt the exam with a free mind. It might also happen that whatever you have learned so far for this section might turn out to be useless. So practice DILR to increase your efficiency but more than solving questions, you should focus more on their possible approaches because they matter.”
What are his views on FundaMakers?
“The best thing about FundaMakers is the individual attention paid to each and every student. For example, he used to solve questions in Quants class more quickly than others but the teachers used to take care that the others do not get demotivated by this. So this thing is appreciable because to feel bad is one thing but to totally give up is a totally different thing altogether which should not happen and that is where the role of teachers comes into play.”
“In English, my score was less but my accuracy was good and teachers are to be credited for it. My speed of reading was slow for which I am to blame myself. The English taught in engineering is way too straight- forward. For the CAT Exam preparation, teachers’ help is required for English as the questions relating to the author’s perspective or tones used in the passage, etc. are asked.”
“Overall, it was a wonderful experience for my CAT Preparation at FundaMakers. If you are struggling for your CAT Preparation, you can rely on the faculty members at FundaMakers.”
All the Best!!
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- Why, When & How to Take Mock Tests for CAT 2022
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