CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Maharshi Nagori Scored 99.68 Percentile
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 12 Nov '25
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.
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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.
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 and secure 90 percentile. The Institute considers Writing Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) rounds for final admission to IIM Ahmedabad along with CAT results. 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.
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.
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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.
The table given below mentions IIM Calcutta sectional and overall cutoff 2024 across all sections and categories:
| Category | Section - 1 (VARC) | Section – II (DILR) | Section – III (QA) | Overall Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN | ≥80 | ≥80 | ≥75 | ≥85 |
| EWS | ≥70 | ≥65 | ≥65 | ≥75 |
| NC-OBC | ≥70 | ≥65 | ≥65 | ≥75 |
| SC | ≥65 | ≥60 | ≥60 | ≥70 |
| ST | ≥55 | ≥55 | ≥55 | ≥65 |
| PwD | ≥45 | ≥45 | ≥45 | ≥55 |
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.
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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.
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