#NewsBytesExclusive: CAT-2019 topper Somansh Chordia on preparation, challenges, and more

On scoring a 100 percentile in CAT-2019 and being one of the toppers, Somansh said, "It feels good. I was surprised by the score...I was expecting somewhere about 99.99 but 100 percentile was a shock."

When asked if he was expecting to be among the toppers after the exam, he said, "Not after giving the exam, but after seeing the answers (answer key)."

Somansh, hailing from Maharashtra's Nagpur, is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at IIT-Bombay. He completed his schooling in Nagpur before joining IIT-B.

Notably, he was also a Design Engineer at IIT-Bombay's Team SHUNYA (Sustainable Habitat for an Urbanizing Nation by its Young Aspirants), which built a zero-electricity fully-functional, well-furnished house that not only runs on solar energy but also generates electricity for future use.

Explaining why he appeared for CAT, despite having an engineering background, Somansh said, "I was interested in the managerial side since school days probably because I realized...it's one of the things that could have a large impact on society."

"After coming to college (IIT-B), I got exposed to different (management-related) options we could pursue through different (guest) speakers...and that increased my interest," he added.

Somansh had joined the TIME coaching institute for CAT preparation in January last year.

Asked when he started preparing to crack CAT 2019, he said, "In the initial 3-4 months I gave mock tests without analyzing them, just to understand the pattern of the paper."

"But then from August, I started studying for CAT a bit more seriously," he said.

Further, talking about how he prepared for CAT in the last 1-2 months, Somansh said, "Finally, in October, I decided to give more time to preparation, analyzing mock tests, identifying weak areas, and practicing those topics from TIME material."

"Towards the very end, I used to study the entire day for CAT. I also used to solve previous year CAT papers."

Somansh also gave some advice and tips for CAT aspirants and NewsBytes's readers. He said, "The CAT paper is not as difficult as other entrance exams are. It is simple."

"Just analyze your weak areas and keep practising. Once you have clarity about the basic concepts, then practice is the only thing that needs to be done," the CAT topper added.