CAT 2013 Topper: PV Krishna Koundinya is a basketball player and loves playing guitar

This year’s 100 percentiler, Venkata Krishna Koundinya Pillutla, loves playing guitar and is a hardcore basketball player. “I love playing basketball, and infact, have played a lot of tournaments for my college”, he says.
Currently pursuing his B.Tech (Bachelor’s in Technology) in Computer Science from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) – Bombay, he is a part of various college bands, one of them being ‘Maiden-Voyage’.
Even after securing a perfect 100 in CAT 2013, this native of Secunderabad says he still needs time to decide where to pursue his management studies from – India or Abroad!
Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

Where have you taken your coaching from?

TIME, Bangalore (during my internship).

Is this your first attempt?

Yes. This is my first attempt.

What other exams did you take?

Besides CAT, I have appeared for XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) and am waiting for the results.

What was your total score?

My total score was 359 out of 450.

What is the minimum time-frame needed to prepare well for CAT? How long did you prepare for it?

It was last summer, when I started preparing for CAT. You actually need few months to prepare for this exam. Infact, it’s just a matter of 5 months, wherein, in the first few months you do not need to put in much effort.
Let’s take English for example. If you just do some basic level of reading of the newspapers and articles for some-time, it will increase your general language ability which is not just targeted towards the exam.
I had given GRE as well. My basic idea was to improve my English and not really target the exam.

What was your preparation strategy? What was your study plan during preparation?

It’s very good to have an idea about your strengths and weaknesses. It always helps. I identified it quite early.
My English preparation was easier that what others would generally have to prepare and for the quant section, I was good at my basics but speed was my problem, which is expected in CAT.
My basic idea was to target my weaknesses and work on them.

What did you do to improve your weak areas?

Practice! Practice, until you’re conformable and feel confident. An overdose of practicing is not really good. Everyone has a time constraint.
You need to practice enough to make you feel comfortable.

How much time did you spend on revision?

There is no specific time for revision but it’s a continuous effort. Everytime you find something new, it needs to be done. I put it that way.
I do not have a separate time for studying something new. Everything keeps adding. No matter how many times you have done it previously, you’ll find something new in it and that’s how I look at it!

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

It’s not necessary but it makes your task easier.

Were you always a bright student?

Traditionally, what people call as bright, I guess... yes, I was!

Tell us about your dream institute?

As I have got 100 percentile and that’s the best so I’ll get calls from all the institutes I apply to. However, I am aiming at all the top IIMs but let’s see how it goes. It’s still not done and there’s a long way to go.

Tell us about your family.

Sure. My dad is an IIT - Madras and an IIM- Ahmedabad graduate. So, this was sort of an inspiration from me initially. My mom pursued her B.Sc in Agriculture and then did her MBA. I have a younger sister.

Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Stay calm during the exam and keep working continuously, I guess, are the tips I would like to give to the future CAT aspirants.