CAT 2023 Topper Interview: Know how Vishesh Jain, 99.68%iler cracked CAT without coaching
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
CAT 2023 Topper, Vishesh Jain with 99.68 percentile shares his preparation strategy and important tips to crack India's biggest MBA entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know more about his CAT preparation journey and post-result career plans.
CAT 2023 Topper Interview: 99.68%iler
CAT 2023 Topper Interview: With a 99.68 percentile, Vishesh Jain is targeting IIM BLACKI. Jain has completed his BSc in Applied Statistics from NMIMS, Mumbai. After cracking CAT 2023, Vishesh is aiming to pave his way in the management field by targeting top b-schools in India such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and more. In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Vishesh Jain shares the CAT preparation strategy along with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know more about CAT 2023 topper Vishesh Jain.
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CAT 2023 result was declared on December 21. CAT 2023 exam was held on November 26.
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CAT 2023 Topper Vishesh Jain: Interview Highlights
Check out the table below to get an overview of the Vishesh Jain CAT percentile 2023:
| CAT Sections |
CAT Percentile |
|---|---|
| Overall |
99.68 |
| 99.13 |
|
| 92.62 |
|
| 99.74 |
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Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?
CAT is a speed based test of analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems.
However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.
Usually, it is recommended to start CAT preparation about a year or nine months in advance. However, one can prepare for this exam even in six months if they put 8-10 hours daily into it. Candidates who have attempted the CAT before may not face a lot of hurdles in six-month preparation as they have a foundation in CAT preparation from previous year, but candidates who are appearing in the exam for the first time may face obstacles, mostly related to accuracy. The syllabus of CAT is vast and includes a lot of reading.
One also has to spend a lot of time in practice sessions and mock tests to be able to master all types of CAT questions - easy, moderate and tough. If you are a student of engineering/technical or commerce background you will need to pay extra attention on VARC .
However, you'll be able to manage the syllabus of DILR and Quantitative Aptitude with adequate practice of topics. But if you are a student from Arts background, it is advised to start CAT preparation much earlier because you will have to brush up a lot of Mathematics. Reading Comprehension is one subject that cannot be mastered by student belonging to any academic stream, if their English comprehension is not strong. To develop reading habit all CAT aspirants will have to start much earlier.
Vishesh: Yes, I'm satisfied with my result. I was expecting a much better score in VARC (99.9+) due to it being my strongest area.
Shiksha: Was this your first attempt at CAT?
Vishesh: This was my first genuine attempt. I had attempted cat last year without much preparation.
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Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
Vishesh: I started preparing in April this year. Focus on studying the basics of all sections, especially QUANT until July. After July only did mock tests and analysis.
Shiksha: Please share with us your section-wise strategy.
Vishesh:
- VARC - Reading is crucial but more importantly is solving a lot of RCs. There is a huge difference between being able to read/understand and being able to solve the RC questions. VA is underrated and hard work in VA may give you great ROI.
- DILR- Solve 500+ sets ranging from all topics. Many people recommend sudoku, puzzles, etc. but it is the last priority. First, you should be able to solve a variety of easy-medium sets and master a few types of sets.
- QA- Focus heavily on arithmetic and algebra. It makes up a significant portion of the test. You need to solve at least medium level of questions with ease, as we have seen in this cat paper, with a majority of LOD 2 questions.
Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
Vishesh: Solved Arun Sharma for Quant. For the other 2 sections, books aren't as useful.
You should start preparing for CAT exam at least nine months ahead. CAT preparation requires long term planning thus you must start early. Best time to start CAT preparation is in March. Starting early will also help you decide that whether you need to join a coaching institute or not.
Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?
Vishesh: Attempted around 60 CAT Mocks tests. Mock test is THE MOST CRUCIAL aspect of the cat preparation journey. It will help you build your test-taking strategy and stamina and prepare you to make the right question selection.
Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does the coaching institute help in CAT preparation?
Vishesh: No coaching institute for preparation. Only for mocks.
Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?
Vishesh: Overall Strategy - Don't keep any targets and be free of any constraints. You have to solve as many questions as correctly as possible. Having a range is good but keep it flexible, as we have seen in this year's difficult paper.
VARC- Spend 30 seconds scanning for the best RCs. Did 3 of them consecutively in 30 minutes. Spent the rest 10 minutes solving all VA questions. In a difficult section like S2, accuracy becomes crucial and after solving many mock tests, you'll be able to judge the level of questions asked.
DILR- SET SELECTION is crucial. Spend 5 minutes going through all 4 sets and the approach to solve them. Spend around 5 minutes on a set. If you cannot crack that set, move to the next one. You need to maximize the questions solved, not the sets. Hence it is okay to solve 2-3 questions from each set. This strategy becomes critical when no one set is a sitter.
QUANT - The strategy of leaving questions in 10-20 seconds will be a disaster in this year's difficult paper. You need to give adequate time(2-3 minutes) to calmly solve around 10-15 questions with extremely high accuracy. Being able to guess smartly is also an underrated skill.
Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?
Vishesh: I am targeting IIM BLACKI (IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore) and FMS, SPJIMR
Shiksha: Tell us something about your educational background, family and hobbies.
Vishesh: I have studied BSc in Applied Statistics from NMIMS, Mumbai. My father is a businessman and my mother runs a baking institute. My hobbies are to read to business books, researching stocks, and cooking.
Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
Vishesh: CAT is a game of strategy. You might only be able to solve easy-medium questions and be average in all sections and still score 99+. What you need to focus is on reducing the gap between your actual mock scores and the potential score (which is high for any well-prepared candidate)
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 18 hours ago
Candidates with a valid score of CAT/ GMAT/ GRE score are exempted from the written test. These candidates still need to complete the form by paying the application fees. However, these aspirants may get called for the IIM Trichy - Chennai campus PGPBM interview round.
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Contributor-Level 9
Answered 19 hours ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for admission to PGDM at IPE Hyderabad. Candidates with a good score in CAT can also get a scholarship. However, CAT is not mandatory. Aspirants with a score in MAT, XAT, ATMA, GMAT or CMAT exams can also get admission in the PGDM course.
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No, candidates who wish to apply for the Global MBA course at Lexicon MILE are required to clear the LAT conducted by Lexicon MILE. The CAT exam score at Lexicon MILE is only used for deciding the PGDM admissions along with several other entrance exams.
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Answered 2 days ago
CAT is one of the accepting exams for MBA admission at Karunya School of Management. However, it is not compulsory. Aspirants can also apply through XAT, MAT or KMAT scores. Candidates must also complete graduation to apply for MBA at KSM Coimbatore.
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No, CAT exam is not mandatory for VIT-AP MBA admissions. Candidates who are interested in the MBA course offered by the institute can also apply through the scores in the XAT and MAT as well.
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Yes, Manipur Institute of Management Studies, Manipur University does accept CAT scores for admission to its MBA course. Students can also submit scores of other national-level exams, such as MAT/ XAT/ CMAT/ GMAT/ ATMA etc.
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Contributor-Level 9
Yes, CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of the candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion.