Suneet (extreme left) with his family
Suneet is also an entrepreneur. His venture – WordsForYou – deals with personalised content writing.
“With the venture doing well and a CAT score of 100 percentile, it is a very interesting time for me now,” he says.
Suneet also took CMAT in September and secured an all-India rank of 55. This is his fourth CAT attempt and each time he scored above 99 percentile.
Interestingly, Suneet played Sudoku and Kakuro right before the exam to sharpen his mind.
Now, tell us about yourself.
After passing out from IIT Delhi, I worked with
Global Analytics for a year. Since then, I have been pursuing my start
up, WordsForYou.
What is this start up about?
We are into personalised content writing. This is
very different from traditional content writing like website content,
copy writing etc. We also do all these things but our main product is
personalised feature and letters for people. We help them express
emotions through our words. We have many specialised writers and
freelancers on board.
Is this your first attempt?
No, this is my fourth CAT attempt. I have been
trying since 2010. In my first attempt, I secured 99.52. In my second
CAT attempt in 2011, I secured 99.84 and got calls from IIM Calcutta and
IIM Lucknow but couldn’t convert them. My third attempt went horribly
bad. I got 99.2 but with 69.4 percentile in Section-2. I never really
felt that my paper was that bad. In fact, I even mailed the CAT
authorities that my score was not reflecting properly. I moved on and
this year, I got 100 percentile.
What other exams did you take?
I took CMAT in 2013 (September test) and CMAT in 2011. I scored somewhere around 285 and got a rank of 55.
Did you take any coaching classes in the last four years of prep?
No, I was quite sure about Section 1 and Section 2.
At that time (2011), there were three sections. The only weak point was
Verbal Ability. I worked on it throughout the year. There’s a bit of
luck factor also in it. In my mocks, I would get good scores including
Verbal section. But on the day of the CAT last year, I didn’t get a good
score. But it happens. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have got a 100 percentile this year.
What is the ideal time-frame to prepare well for CAT?
It doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare well for
CAT. One should take a lot of mock tests and analyse the results well –
where one stands as compared to others. Once you get to know what your
weak points are through the mocks, you can channelise your efforts in
that direction. If I am getting good scores regularly in Section 1
during mock tests but not in Section 2, I need to focus on Section 2. I
buy a few books on verbal analytics, study it and try to get through
Section 2. Before my second attempt, I read a book by Suresh Kumar. I
concentrated on each type of question in that section – like
parajumbles, comprehensions, and odd words out – until I was getting
accuracy.
How long did you prepare for CAT 2013?
Difficult to say about time frame but I took the
mock tests regularly. Since my startup was picking up well, I couldn’t
concentrate much till a few months before the exam. In the last 10 days,
I gave a few more mock tests, prepared for the subjects I was weak. Due
to all the cumulative work I have done throughout the last four years,
it didn’t take much time to prepare.
How many mock tests should a student take before the exam?
As many as a student can. The more you solve
questions, the more your mind works, and the more questions you come
across, which will help in the final exam. I
also suggest people to solve puzzles like Kakuro and Sudoku in
newspapers. They help sharpen your mind and keep you alert. To be a bit
alert, I solved a Sudoku and a Kakuro before going for the exam in the
afternoon slot.
Since you had your own start up, what was your study plan? How did you manage time for preparing?
Due to cumulative effort of the last four years,
majority of the work was already done. I just needed to maintain the
consistency. I gave a test once a week so that I was in the frame and
prepared all the time.
Tell us about your family.
My parents and sister are very happy right now. When
the results came out, I was with my grandmother. I gave her a hug and a
kiss. I came back home and we celebrated it. My dad is a doctor and my
mom has done a PhD. My sister is a dentist. There was no pressure from
them and they were completely supportive through all these years – even
about my start up. It is not easy to start up on our own and make much
money. Rather you have to invest a lot of money and time in the
organisation. Only after a few years, you reap the results. But they
have been very supportive throughout the whole time. Even my business
partner has been very supportive. I took a leave of 10 days before my
CAT and he handled the business on his own.
Your father is a doctor. Never thought about pursuing medicine?
No, we were always against it. Even he didn’t want
me to get into the medical field. You work throughout the day everyday
and the results are not very rewarding. Also, I was very good at maths.
Have you got any calls from any institute?
Yes, from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow and IIM Shillong.
Which is your dream institute?
There is nothing like a dream institute, but, of
course, I would want to pursue an MBA from an IIM – if at all I get a
chance and if I want to do that.
Currently, my startup is also doing very well. There are a lot of things I need to sort out in the next six months before I join one of the institutes.
Currently, my startup is also doing very well. There are a lot of things I need to sort out in the next six months before I join one of the institutes.
Were you always a bright student?
No, in my school, I was not among the toppers, but
always performed well. I was known for my penchant for mathematics in
school. My mother spotted that and she would take me to all the exams
like Maths Olympiad.
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