CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Know How 80+ Mocks Helped Garima Score 99.64%
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
Garima Garg got her name included in the list of CAT 2022 toppers with an overall score of 99.64 percentile. She shared her prep strategy and tips for future CAT aspirants here.
CAT 2022 Topper Interview with Garima Garg
CAT 2022 Topper Interview: IIM Bangalore released CAT result 2022 on December 21. Garima Garg, a BCom student, scored 99.64 percentile to get her name included in the CAT 2022 toppers list. She is currently pursuing the final year of her bachelor’s course from Kirori Mal College, affiliated with Delhi University. She aims to convert calls from IIM A, B, C, L and FMS, Delhi. She is a music enthusiast and likes listening to podcasts across genres. In an exclusive chat with Shiksha.com, Garima shared her CAT preparation journey, with tips for future aspirants.
CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Highlights
| Name of CAT Topper |
Garima Garg |
|---|---|
| College |
|
| Overall |
99.64 |
| VARC |
97.84 |
| DILR |
99.91 |
| QA |
96.04 |
CAT 2022 Topper Interview with Garima Garg
Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? What was your expected CAT score?
Garima: Yes. As people say, luck plays a major role when it comes to CAT. It is all about handling the D-day pressure and selecting the right questions. When I came out of the examination hall, my eyes were wet. The paper didn't go as expected. The Verbal Ability section was my strength, and I believe I could have done better. Considering the level of Quant, I could have attempted a few more questions. Yet, I am satisfied with the results. The entire journey was worth the effort.
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Shiksha: Was this your first CAT attempt?
Garima: Yes, I am in my final year. This was my first attempt.
Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
Garima: I enrolled in a coaching institute in August 2021. I divided my entire preparation journey in three phases:
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.
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 |
- Upto June 2022: Cleared all the concepts, completed coaching material, solved some free resources available on internet
- From June to September 2022: Took 120+ sectionals per subject and 80+ mocks. My focus was on learning how to handle the pressure and trying out the different strategies in terms of number and kind of questions to be attempted.
- From September to D-day: Solved previous year papers, focused on revising the concepts
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Shiksha: Please share the CAT section-wise strategy followed by you.
Garima: My subject-wise strategy was as follows:
VARC: I used to read at least four articles per day from a wide variety of sources to be comfortable in all the genres and get a quick understanding of common technical words being used. Other than that, my focus was on solving 4 RCs per day. Reading helped me in solving the Verbal section as well. So, in my opinion, the key to this section is reading.
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DILR: I used to solve 5-8 sets per day. I loved solving the puzzles. I used to pick up sets from different websites, YouTube channels, and newspapers. My focus was on variety. I wanted to be comfortable in as many types of sets as I could. Although sets this time were extremely tricky and unexpected, solving different varieties helped me keep my calm and give it a shot.
QA: Coming from a non-maths background, I found QA the most challenging section. I focused majorly on arithmetic and Modern Maths, forming nearly 60 per cent of this section. I built the concepts and then used logic to solve the questions instead of memorising the formulas.
The answer to this question of whether an average student can get into IIM can be both yes and no depending on the definition of an average student.
- Based on Academics (Class 10/ Class 12/ Graduation): While a student with average scores in Class 10, Class 12 and graduation with a good CAT score certainly has good chances of getting a call from IIM-A, chances are less for someone with an average CAT score.
- Based on student category (General or Reserved): While it is tough for a General category average student to grab a seat at IIM due to high score requirements, a reserved category student can get admission being at average scores as well.
- Based on past work experience, diversity and other factors: Gender and academic diversity is also a factor on which students are shortlisted at IIM. IIMs judge the past academic category based on the degree obtained by the students before MBA and then a weightage is allotted based on that. For Engineers, the percentage for scoring the highest marks is higher as compared with other streams
- Performance in selection rounds: Once you make it to the final selection rounds, i.e., AWT/PI process, it can be considered a fresh start. At this stage, students can forget their past average-ness but definitely require good grasp over the past subjects as academics-related questions are asked in the interview.
Based on the above factors, it can be considered that while getting into top Management institutes, such as IIM is extremely tough, the past performance, CAT performance, student category and a lot of factors can be the reasons for a student to receive that final call.
No, IIM Bangalore or any other IIMs do not offer reservation of seats to the students. However, the qualifying criteria for General and reserved categories are comparatively different. Please find below the category-wise qualifying cutoff required by all candidates.
Category | Section-1 VARC | Section-2 DILR | Section-3 QUANT | CAT 2023 Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 80 | 75 | 75 | 85 |
NC-OBC | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
EWS | 70 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 65 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 55 | 55 | 55 | 65 |
PWD | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
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Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
Garima: I referred to my coaching material. Other than that, I used to pick the material from different edtech websites randomly. I was actively following a YouTube channel 'Anastasis Shankar' for LRDI and Quant.
Also Read: Best Books to Prepare for CAT
Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does a coaching institute help in CAT preparation?
Garima: Yes, I joined a renowned coaching institute. Coaching helped me maintain a schedule for preparation. Regular doubt solving sessions were extremely helpful.
Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?
Garima: I attempted 80+ mocks. I enrolled for a mock series from different coaching centres. Taking mocks helps to strategize the number of attempts, kind of questions to attempt first and obviously to handle pressure.
Shiksha: What was your CAT exam day strategy?
Garima: I had no particular strategy in my mind. I knew I had given my 100 per cent in the CAT preparation. With God's and my family's blessings and support, I went to the exam hall with a calm mind and faith in myself.
Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
Garima: The process of writing CAT can be overwhelming sometimes. You might want to quit sometimes. Whenever you feel like you can't, take a day or two off, remember why you started this in the first place, and you will be good to go. Don't take unnecessary pressure. You have enough time to crack this, stay motivated and enjoy the process.
Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?
Garima: I'm targeting the following bschools:
| What After CAT Result? | |
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