CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Know How Adarsh Khandelwal Scored 99.93 Percentile

Adarsh Khandelwal got his name included in the CAT 2022 toppers list with an overall score of 99.93 percentile. He shared his preparation strategy and tips for future CAT aspirants with Shiksha.

CAT 2022 Topper, Adarsh Khandelwal bags 99.93 percentile

CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Adarsh Khandelwal, a CAT 2022 topper from IGNOU, bagged 99.93 percentile. He is a Political Science graduate and has a keen interest in tennis and cricket. He says that he comes from a business family which gave him the impetus to pursue MBA. Adarsh began his CAT preparations six months prior to the CAT 2022 exam. The CAT topper, Adarsh, believes that having a positive mindset coupled with the ability to handle pressure will help you crack the CAT exam. Shiksha got in an exclusive chat with the CAT 2022 topper, Adarsh Khandelwal to know his CAT preparation strategy, recommended books, and a few CAT preparation tips for future aspirants.

Read this complete CAT 2022 topper interview of Adarsh Khandelwal to know about his preparation strategy.

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Name and College: Adarsh Khandelwal , IGNOU   

CAT 2022 score:

Overall score: 99.93%ile (114.15)

Sectional scores:

VARC - 77.59%ile (16.46)

DILR - 99.99%ile(48.31)

QA - 99.95%ile(49.38)

CAT 2022 Topper Interview with Adarsh Khandelwal

Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? What was your expected CAT score?

Adarsh: Thanks, overall I am satisfied with my CAT result, although my VARC score is a bit disappointing. During my mock tests, I consistently scored 99.9+ percentiles, so yes this was the score I was expecting.

Shiksha: Was this your first CAT attempt?

Adarsh: Yes, this was my first attempt.

Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?

Adarsh: I started preparing in June 2022, which is about 6 months back. I believe that CAT is an exam in which preparation does not merely benefit from how many questions you are solving, but requires one to have a positive mindset with the ability to handle pressures. As CAT exam tries to put us in such situations like introducing new types of questions (happened in VARC with the introduction of para completion) or changing the exam pattern of questions (happened in DILR a change from 4-4-6-6 pattern to 5-5-5-5), so we have to be flexible with exam taking strategy rather than following a rigid strategy and for that, I always gave most importance to taking mocks and solving previous years' CAT question papers. 

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Shiksha: Please share with us your CAT section-wise strategy.

Adarsh: 

VARC section - For practice, I used to solve 3-4 Reading Comprehension passages and 20-25 Verbal Ability questions daily along with reading articles from Aeon and The Hindu. In regards to the test taking, as we only have 40 mins per section so allocating time judiciously is crucial. I used the 25(RC) - 15(VA) strategy,  I knew that speed reading was not my area of expertise so I stuck to choosing 3 out of 4 RCs, as for VA I attempted 13-14 out of 15 questions. I first attempted 2 RCs then switched to VA, and if time permits went for the 3rd RC.
DILR section - I used to practice 8 sets daily. This is the most unpredictable section in CAT and a section for which any amount of preparation will feel less. But at the same time, a section that requires the least amount of prior knowledge as every set encountered is of a new type and as the name of the section clearly suggests we have to be logical. All the required information is provided, we just have to be calm and patient and make sense of the data provided. During CAT mock tests, I used to give 2-3 minutes to go through all the sets, I used to solve 3 sets and if time permits a few questions from the fourth set.

QA section- I used to practice 30-40 questions daily. While taking the test, I used to categorise questions, on the go, as easy, medium, and tough and solved them in that order. Categorizing questions requires a lot of practice and it is something that improves over time. I made a conscious effort to not spend too much time on a particular question as we have to understand that each question, easy or tough, will fetch the same marks.

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Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
Adarsh: I did not use any book, I used to refer to online materials available from coaching and mock tests.

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Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does a coaching institute help in CAT preparation?

Adarsh: Yes, I joined iQuanta. Having enrolled in any coaching helps to streamline one’s preparation strategies, as I mentioned I did not use any books for preparation, this was because I got a variety of questions, some inspired by previous years' question papers and many fresh questions from my coaching material that helped me not to waste too much time on switching across different materials.

Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?

Adarsh: As I mentioned in my overall CAT prep strategy, this is the most important dimension of any exam preparation. I started taking CAT mock tests by late August and took two mock tests every week and increased it to three mock tests a week in October. I ended up taking 35+ full CAT mock tests and many sectional mocks. Taking mocks and carefully analyzing them makes us know about areas to work on and common mistakes to avoid and at the same time experiment with different exam day strategies to find the best fit for oneself.

Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?

Adarsh: My mantra was to maintain composure.  I had taken many CAT mock tests, so I treated the CAT exam as another one among them.

Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Adarsh: I have mentioned CAT exam day strategies in detail, but I would like to add a few lines. “Ups and downs in life are very important to keep us going because a straight line even in an ECG means we are not alive.” - Ratan Tata. Road to CAT can be pretty tiring, so try to take out some time for things you enjoy doing.

Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

Adarsh: I am targeting the following colleges:

• IIM Ahmedabad
• IIM Kozhikode
• MDI Gurgaon
• IIT Delhi
• FMS, Delhi University
• New IIMs

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