CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Maharshi Nagori Scored 99.68 Percentile
Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )
CAT 2026 application submission
3 Aug '26 - 22 Sep '26
Maharshi Nagori scored 99.68 percentile in CAT 2021. Check here CAT 2021 topper interview where he talks about his preparation strategy.
CAT 2021 score
Overall Percentile: 99.68
Sectional:
- VARC - 99.70 percentile
- DILR - 99.64 percentile
- QA - 94.46 percentile
Maharshi Nagori topped CAT 2021 with 99.68 percentile. He is from Ahmedabad, Gujarat and is currently working as a Senior Sales Engineer with an automation company. He passed BTech from Indus University in 2019. He started preparing for CAT in the month of February. Initially, being a working professional, he was preparing for CAT and working full-time simultaneously. For an additional effort, he took leave from the office two months before the exam. Read further to get detailed insights on the preparation strategy of CAT 2021 topper, Maharshi Nagori; here he shares his preparation strategy and tips for future aspirants.
Q: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?
A: I'm satisfied with the score I achieved. I was expecting somewhere around 99+. So I have no complaints.
Explore colleges based on CAT
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
Q: Was this your first CAT attempt?
A: Yes, this was my first attempt at the CAT exam.
Q: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
A: I started doing my research on CAT and MBA colleges around February. Once I was convinced about perusing an MBA degree, I started with daily one hour reading newspapers and solving arithmetic questions. With the exam approaching, I took a leave from work for two months and focused entirely on exam preparation. I will always advise any working professional to prepare for full-time at least for a month. While preparing for exams I used to indulge in my hobbies so that the exam stress does not overwhelm me. I believe taking a good number of quality mocks is the key to good preparation.
Commonly asked questions
Yes, IIM Bangalore is one of the toughest business schools to get admission to, and every year, even CAT 99+ percentilers miss out on a call from the institute. IIM Bangalore uses multiple parameters, namely academic performance as well as candidates' scores in CAT/GMAT to select candidates for the PGP programme. IIMB adopts a two-phase selection process and accordingly, these selection criteria are applied in two phases. The first phase of the process is applied to all eligible candidates who appear for CAT to determine candidates to be called for a personal interview (PI). Candidates selected for the PI process will be additionally required to take a Writing Ability Test (WAT).
Sectional cut-off in the CAT exam refers to the section-wise percentiles required by the candidate to make it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut-offs are lower than the overall cut-offs of any institute. To understand better, check the table below for sectional CAT cut-offs for IIM Ahmedabad:
Category | VARC percentile | DILR percentile | QA percentile | Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
NC-OBC-Transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
PwD (ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
For sectional cut-offs of all IIMs, check this article – IIM shortlist and selection criteria
No, one can't join IIM without CAT. Candidates seeking admission to the IIM Ahmedabad MBA course must appear for CAT. The institute sends call letter to aspirants with score equal or above qualifying cutoff for Analytical Writing Test (AWT) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds. Students must meet both, the overall CAT cutoff percentile and the sectional cutoffs.The Institute does not release CAT cutoffs in the public domain and are exclusively accessible only via account login to candidates who have appeared for the exam.
Also Read:
Q: Please share with us your section-wise strategy.
A: There is one common strategy, which is you need not solve all the questions in cat exams. We need to work on our strengths and achieve the highest possible accuracy in that topics. For VARC, reading always helps. And the habit of reading a complete newspaper taking 1-1.5 hours daily helped me to score well. For Quant, we need to understand that we don't need to cover all the topics. I did complete Arithmetic and Geometry because they have a max number of questions in the exam. Every other topic I learned while analyzing mocks. And for Lrdi, the strategy is fairly simple, solve as many varieties of questions as you can.
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
MAT
24 Sep '26
26 Sep '26
20 Aug '26 - 10 Oct '26
14 Oct '26 - 17 Oct '26
15 Sep '26 - 22 Nov '26
24 Oct '26 - 28 Nov '26
30 Nov '26
12 Dec '26
10 Oct '26 - 11 Jan '27
Also Read:
Q: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
A: I did not refer to any particular books for any of the sections. From engineering time, I had a habit of learning from the Internet. So, for CAT, I did the same. I use to learn the concept from YouTube or other sites. But for practising and taking mocks, I used an online mock test with AI features and It was very helpful.
Also Read: Best Books to Prepare for CAT
Q: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?
A: I took 20 -25 mocks before the test day. And I will recommend anyone to take at least 15 -20 mocks. It helps to understand strengths and to make test-taking strategies. As CAT is the game of figuring which questions to leave, knowing those questions is possible only if one has taken enough mocks.
Q: Did you join any coaching institute? How does the coaching institute help in CAT preparation?
A: Yes, I joined a coaching institute in Ahmedabad. In normal times joining a coaching institute had many benefits like peer learning and competition. But when everything was online these benefits ceased to exist. Though mentors helped to a certain extent. But it is always one responsibility to work hard. That is what it should be. Saying that, joining a coaching centre when you are appearing for CAT first time, always helps.
Also Read:
| Articles for CAT Preparation |
|
|---|---|
| CAT preparation: Your love for reading can get you the desired result |
|
| CAT Preparation plan for data interpretation & logical reasoning | |
Q: What was your exam day strategy?
A: I stopped studying a day before the CAT exam. I had the test in the third slot, so I woke up late on the exam day, got ready, had lunch and rushed for the exam centre. In this way, I had no time to stress over the exam. And it surprisingly worked.
Q: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
Know yourself and know your strengths and choose strategies that suit you. Every individual is different, and what works for one, does not work for all. So, one must use techniques that are suited to one's strength. And to know one's strength, we will need to solve a lot of questions. Most importantly, do not overthink or stress out. Enjoy the process and then enjoy the results.
Q: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?
A: I, being from Ahmedabad, wish for IIM Ahmedabad. Besides IIM-A, I will be happy to get into any of the following top MBA colleges in India:
| What After CAT Result? | |
Q: Tell us something about your educational background, family, hobbies, profession.
A: I am an Electronics and Communication Engineer. Currently, I work as Sr. Sales Engineer for Shubham Automation Pvt Ltd. I have a keen interest in fitness and nutrition and believe in living a sustainable healthy life. Because of my interest in the field, I also hold a certificate in Food and Nutrition. I am a big sports buff, I enjoy every sport. Additionally, I have been part of football and basketball teams at school and used to play cricket at University. I have always been inspired by my mother, and she is the strongest person I know. She completed her PhD at the age of 50+ while working as a professor and taking care of two sons. This gave me the motivation that I can prepare for CAT while working a full-time job. I will always dedicate whatever little bit of success I get in my life, to my mother.
Read More:
- IIM shortlist process 2022 to begin soon; check details
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Chirag Gupta Scored 100 Percentile
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Mohit Babu Scored 99.85 Percentile
- CAT 2021 Topper Bir Anmol Singh's Interview: Know How He Scored 99.94 Percentile
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Vishal Gowda Scored 99.92 Percentile
- CAT 2021 topper- “Smart work rather than hard work”-Vinayak Prabhu, 99.82 percentiler
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Chetan Bhatt Scored 99.77 Percentile
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Mayank Kapur Scored 99.69 Percentile
- CAT 2021 topper interview- “Mock test is single largest ingredient of one’s success”- Sagar Sengar
- CAT 2021 Topper Ved Vineet's Interview: Know How Ved Vineet Scored 99.4 Percentile
- CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Vinay Kotwal Made it to the 99 Percentilers Club
- CAT 2021 Topper Sareen Shah Interview: Sareen Shah - 99.35 Percentiler
- CAT 2021 topper- Shreshth Khare, 99.28 percentiler
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
15 Jul '26 - 6 Dec '26 | XAT 2027 Registration |
Oct '26 | XAT 2027 Form Correction |
21 Aug '26 - 25 Nov '26 | SNAP 2026 Registration Process |
24 Sep '26 | SNAP 2026 Mock Test 1 |
20 Aug '26 - 10 Oct '26 | NMAT 2026 Registration Window |
20 Aug '26 - 22 Oct '26 | NMAT 2026 Scheduling Window |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
20 Sep '26 | MAT September 2026 CBT |
17 Sep '26 - 20 Sep '26 | MAT September 2026 CBT Admit C... |
26 Sep '26 | IBSAT 2026 Mock Test |
24 Oct '26 | IBSAT 2026 Mock Test |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
To choose the best CAT coaching institute in Siliguri, evaluate centers based on faculty expertise, mock test quality, batch flexibility, and physical location convenience.
S
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
As of September 2026, IIM Indore has not announced the CAT form correction dates. Past trends indicate that the application form correction window opens a few weeks after the registration window is closed.
Check: CAT Correction Window 2026
B
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Yes, candidates are facilitated with a window to edit exam form once the CAT registration concludes. However, candidates will only be able to edit photo, signature, and test city preference using CAT correction window. IIM Indore will announce the dates for CAT form correction window once the regist
J
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
IIM Indore has not announced the last date extension for CAT 2026 yet. However, past trends indicate CAT registration extends by a few days. If CAT 2026 registration is extended, candidates will find an update on the official website.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Yes, both Oral Extempore Presentation and PI round are mandatory for candidates who apply forAlliance School of Business MBA admission with CAT results.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, in recognition of outstanding performance in CAT, MSB awards special scholarships as follows:
- INR 1,50,000 for students securing a minimum 90 percentile
- INR 1,00,000 for students securing a minimum 85 percentile
- INR 75,000 for students securing a minimum 75 percentile
G
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Students pursuing PGDM from Jaipuria Institute of Management Jaipur and having 65% CAT score can get scholarship of INR 1.50 lakh. Students must have documents proving their eligibility to avail the scholarship benefit.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can strongly aim for interview calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Calcutta if you have a stellar high school profile and a high CAT score. Top IIMs calculate interview shortlists using strict mathematical formulas. These formulas evaluate your CAT score, Class 10 marks, Class 12 marks
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, you can and should attempt previous year papers and mock tests as part of your preparation for CAT 2026. You can attempt it on official CAT website.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Students interested in MBA at any of the Symbiosis Institutes need to take the Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP) Computer Based Test which will be conducted at designated test centres.
However, the institute does offer special pathways to Indian students allowing them to register for classes even i
A
Contributor-Level 10
Abhishek Dhawan is a content writer and editor with 7+ years of experience in education journalism. He holds a BA degree from the University of Delhi. At Shiksha, Abhishek primarily covers MBA and BBA entrance
Read Full Bio