Born and brought up in Lucknow, Vivek did his graduation in Economics from Delhi University.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview:
 
Q: What is your CAT 2009 percentile?
A: My CAT 2009 score is 96.12 percentile.

Q: How many GD & PI rounds have you had? Please share your experience in detail.
A: I had my GD & PI in SCMHRD, SIIB, IIM Ahmedabad, NMIMS, TAPMI etc. I am sharing my GD & PI experiences in some of the notable MBA institutes.

IIM Ahmedabad: IIM Ahmedabad had a case study first where in I had a nine member group. Discussed points and in the end we had to write the summary of the discussion. After this I had a 20 minute interview with two panelists. Questions were from my subject and questions like what have u been doing since the last six months et al.

SCMHRD: My first GD & PI was at SCMHRD, Pune. It was the best conduction of the round. We were a group of six students and were assigned mentors who were with us right through. GD was a case study for 20 minutes where in we were able to arrive at a consensus. GD wasn’t an elimination round and everybody was interviewed. There were two panelists, one lady was friendly but the other panel member grilled me. Questions were from economics, my graduation subject and goals and situational questions. Since I am a fresher, I was asked more on subject.

SIIB: SIIB had a group task and essay writing before GD & PI. GD was a case study yet again and PI this time had two rounds. First was an HR round and the second was a technical round where in I was asked questions from my subject, economics.

NMIMS: NMIMS first had a GD which was a case study and had a 12 member group. We were given three topics out of which we had to discuss over one. Two minutes to decide over the topic and 18 minutes to discuss. PI had a three member panel. It lasted about 13 minutes and questions were from my subject, short term and long term goals and why NMIMs et al.

Q: Which are the institutes that shortlisted you for GD/Essay & PI rounds and offered you final admission?
A: I have got final offers from SCMHRD, SIIB, NMIMS, TAPMI, FORE, NIRMA, K J Somaiya and IIFM. IIM Ahmedabad has kept me on waitlist.

Q:  Which is the institute that you have decided to take admission and why?
A: I am waiting for IIM Ahmedabad to convert me from waitlisted to confirmed call. If I can get it then I don’t have to make a choice. Otherwise, I’ll go for SCMHRD.

Q:  What was your strategy for the written exam as well as the GD, PI & Essay writing preparation? Please share in details.
A: For GD PI rounds I tried to attend as many mock rounds as possible and to cover as many topics as possible that could have been given at various institutes. I had a great experience at McGrawHill Mindworkzz with Mr.Arun Sharma and Mrs. Meenakshi Upadhyay Sharma. They made groups and encouraged us to meet on a regular basis to speed up the learning process. They even monitored our practice sessions.

Q: How should the CAT 2010 candidates plan their study on the basis of different sections in the paper and time management?
A: For taking CBT CAT 2010, you must make yourselves comfortable with computer based testing. Take as many mock tests as possible. You should also look at last 10 years' papers to get the feel of the CAT paper.

Q: You were among the first batch of CBT CAT takers. How was your experience and what is your take on that?
A: My paper got cancelled once but I got a mail the same day stating the reschedule. I believe if managed properly CBT exam is a better way forward as it helps save time because students don’t have to manage a lot of papers pens pencils etc on one table and for other reasons.

Q: How did you prepare for the computer based format of CAT and what is your advice to the CAT 2010 candidates?
A: I took online tests from McgrawHill Mindworkzz. There were single time tests, double time tests, full length tests which helped me manage time. Also they had sectional tests and tests on particular topics which helped me strengthen my concepts.