CAT 2023 Topper Interview: Know How Rounak Tikmani Scored 99.90 Percentile

Rounak Tikmani, CAT 2023 topper has bagged 99.90 percentile. He is an IIT Delhi almunus and aims to get into IIM Ahmedabad. Rounak has shared his preparation strategy and exam day experience in his exclusive interview. Read on to know his section wise score and percentile and preparation tips.

CAT 2023 Topper Interview

Rounak Tikmani, an IIT Delhi alumnus, has made a remarkable journey in his CAT 2023, an impressive overall score of 99.90 percentile. Born and raised in the small village of Teghra in Bihar’s Begusarai District, Rounak's academic journey took him to IIT Delhi, where he completed his B.Tech in 2021. Coming from a family with a business background, Rounak was determined to excel and study at the best institutes, a drive that led him to pursue the Common Admission Test (CAT).

Despite this being his second attempt at CAT, it was his first serious one. Initially, he appeared in the exam to understand its pattern, but without thorough preparation, he couldn't achieve the desired results. Besides his academic pursuits, Rounak has a rich personal life. He enjoys following cricket, watching sci-fi, fantasy, and thriller shows and movies and indulges in video gaming. He is a self-proclaimed Potterhead and Game of Thrones fan. Professionally, after graduating, he worked at Zomato and then moved to a remote role at a startup. Now, with his remarkable CAT score, Rounak is aiming for the best institutes, with IIM Ahmedabad being his dream school. In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, rounka has shared his preparation strategy and important tips for aspirants.

CAT 2023 Topper Interview- Rounak Tikamani

Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?

Rounak: Yes I am satisfied with my results, Before the response sheets were released there was a lot of anticipation and anxiety about the results. But once the response sheets were released I was confident enough to cross 99.8 percentile marks. Yet the results made me speechless for a while because it was a dream come true. Here's my CAT 2023 score:

• Overall: 99.90
• Sectional score
  • DILR: 99.71
  • VA: 98.21
  • QA: 99.78

CAT 2023 Scorecard- Rounak Tikmani

Shiksha: Please tell about yourself: educational background, family, hobbies, profession.

Rounak: I come from a small village in Bihar, it's in Begusarai District and is called Teghra. Most of my schooling was done in Muzaffarpur. For my undergraduate, I went to IIT Delhi and graduated in 2021. I come from a family with a business background, which makes it even more important for me to do well and study at the best Institutes. Post my graduation, I have worked at Zomato and currently working at a startup remotely. Being a GEM, I needed to make sure I scored a very high percentile to be able to get calls from the top IIMs. I love following cricket, watching sci-fi, fantasy, and thriller shows and movies, and Playing video games; I am a big Potterhead and a GOT fan.

Shiksha: Was this your first CAT attempt?

Rounak: No, this was my 2nd attempt and first serious attempt. Last year I appeared for CAT, but it was without any preparation just to gauge where I stood and to understand the exam pattern. I did not do well in my first attempt, but this year, I appeared with full preparation and was able to ace the exam.

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

Rounak: I made up my mind to prepare for the exam somewhere in October 2022, However, I started my preparation properly in May 2023. My preparation strategy was simple build your foundations by having conceptual clarity in the basics of each section. Then It was just mocks every day. I gave around 110 mocks and made sure I spent enough time analyzing them properly. Taking a mock is not as important as analyzing the mocks and improving on your mistakes.

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

Rounak: Here is my strategy for each section

• VARC: One needs to develop a good reading skill and to make yourself familiar with every sphere of life. Reading News-Paper on a daily basis, along with reading Aeon essays and books will develop this skill for you. Coming to the preparation initially, I think VARC1000 by Gejo is a very good starter course to get into the game. It really helped me understand how to actually approach this section. For attempt strategy, I tried to maximize my attempt; in my last phase and in the real exam, I was able to attempt all 24 questions of the section. It is very important to go with your first instinct and not overanalyze, In questions, don’t try to find the right answer rather, try to eliminate the wrong ones using the BEAST approach.
• DILR: Make yourself familiar with the basic sets of each topic, such as arrangements, games and tournaments, Cubes, Caselets, Puzzles, etc. Then it’s all about taking mocks and sectionals and understanding how to make the right set selection. Spend your initial 5 minutes to gauge each set based on Familiarity with the set, Length of the set, Questions about the set etc. Then go with the easiest set and hence move forward. Don’t leave any TITA question unattempt to make intelligent guesses.
• QUANT:  Being an Engineer, this was my area; it’s really important to cover the major topics first, which include algebra, arithmetic, and Geometry. Then move to numbers and modern Mathematics. Once done with basic preparation, one needs to devise an attempted strategy. For me, the strategy was simple give one minute to understand and gauge the question if you can solve it in next minute attempt it or skip it. After round 1, attempt those questions which you know you can do with some effort.

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Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?

Rounak: I did not refer a lot of books for my preparation, it was mostly the course material shared by my coaching, and for Quants in the early phase of my preparation, I solved Arun Sharma.

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

Rounak: yes, I did take online coaching. However, in my opinion, coaching is only helpful if you want some guidance to build your foundations. It just is helpful in the initial phase of your preparations to get you started. Post that, the most important thing, according to me, is to appear for as many mocks as possible and analyze them well. Anyone with good foundations can ace this exam with self-study mock-taking and analyzing.

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

Rounak: I attempted some 110 mocks in total. I took mocks from coaching centres and IQuanta. I think mocks are the most crucial part of one's preparations. They actually help you condition yourself for the real exam; no material has questions as good as the mocks have. Moreover, learning to attempt questions in the time limit makes you accustomed to the exam pressure. It helps devise your own attempt strategy and see what works best for you. Track your mocks in an excel sheet and see how you can improve and what are your weaker areas. It is most important to analyse each mock very well. For me, analysis of each mock used to take around 3 hours, and it was really important to improve my strategy in the next mock.

Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?

Rounak: It was plain and simple, be calm and trust yourself, I was clear to give my best no matter what, and that's what I did. I did not panic calmed my nerves, and just went ahead with the exam.

Shiksha: Who is your role model?

Rounak: My role model is my father, He has always been a source of motivation for me, and I wish to be as calm and hard-working as he is.

Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Rounak: First of all, congratulations on deciding you want to take CAT and pursue an MBA. Very few people in this world know what they want It is great that you have identified what you want to do. Now coming to your journey, I would say it is very important to stay motivated throughout, no matter how many ups and downs you experience. Maintain a regular and consistent preparation journey, don't ever lose hope, and in front of your study table, write down a commitment to score a 100 percentile in the next CAT exam. Also, paste a picture of your dream B school and manifest being there every day. From a preparation point of view, I would suggest developing fundamentals starting to give mocks, and making sure you analyze each mock very well. Having given some 100 mocks, I can say they are very integral to your preparation, All the best!

Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

Rounak: I am targeting the best of the Institutes, hoping to get calls from all the IIMs. The dream B-school for me would be IIM Ahmedabad. Looking forward to converting all my calls.

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• IIM Admission Criteria
• CAT Exam Cutoff
• CAT Result 
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