CAT Topper 2023 Kishan Agarwal, 99.61%iler, shares strategy to crack CAT in 4 months
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Kishan Agarwal shares his CAT preparation journey. He also talks about cracking CAT exam with just four month of preparation. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Kishan Agarwal aced CAT 2023 in his honest first attempt.
CAT Topper 2023 Interview: Kishan Agarwal 99.61%iler
CAT Topper 2023 Interview: Hailing from Durgapur, West Bengal, Kishan Agarwal has scored 99.61 percentile by preparing for approximately four months. By making it into the top One percentile, CAT 2023 Topper Kishan is aiming for all the top IIMs in India. Agarwal, who is also a Chartered Accountant by profession started his CAT preparation in August this year. Agarwal says, this was his first honest attempt for the CAT Exam. While sharing his reaction to CAT Result 2023, Kishan said, "I am happy that I could make it into the top 1 percentile considering the unpredictability of the exam." After cracking CAT 2023, Kishan wants to pave his way in the management field by targeting top b-schools in India.
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In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Kishan Agarwal shares his CAT preparation journey with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Kishan Agarwal aced CAT 2023 with just four months of preparation. CAT 2023 result was declared on December 21. CAT 2023 exam was held on November 26.
In CAT exam, each candidate gets 120 minutes to solve the paper. There are three sections in CAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Aptitude. For each section 40 minutes are allotted as sectional time limit. For PwD candidates, the sectional time limit is 53.20 minutes per section. Candidates have to complete each section within the given time limit. Since the CAT is an online mode exam, the test screen will move from first section to the next section automatically as soon as the time limit gets over. Thus candidates have to be mindful of the on-screen timer and pre-decide the number of questions to solve in each section. The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section of CAT has 24 questions, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section has 22 questions and Quantitative Aptitude section has 22 questions. It is not mandatory to solve all the questions in CAT so candidates can devise a strategy to use 40 minutes per section as per their strength and weakness.
CAT has a total of 68 question. Each section carries 3 marks for correct attempt and -1 marks for incorrect attempt. There is no deduction of marks for unanswered questions. Therefore, the total marks of CAT is 204.
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CAT 2023 Topper Kishan Agarwal: Interview Highlights
Check out the table below to get an overview of the Kishan Agarwal CAT percentile 2023:
| CAT Sections |
CAT Percentile |
|---|---|
| Overall |
99.61 |
| 91.62 |
|
| 98.09 |
|
| 99.85 |
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Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?
Kishan: I am happy that I could make it into the top 1 percentile considering the unpredictability of the exam.
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Shiksha: Was this your first attempt at CAT?
Kishan: This was my first honest attempt after preparations. Although, I wrote the paper last year to see where I am standing.
Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
Kishan: I started preparing for CAT in August this year. At first, I tried to cover the syllabus. Then I started giving sectionals from the fag end of September. Post that, I gave full-length mocks every 2 days. My overall strategy was to find out at which sectional my strength lies. During preparation, I was super comfortable while attempting the Quants section. I devoted some extra time to it and it helped me to balance my overall score on the D-day as well. Also, after every mock, I devoted significant time on the mistakes I made and tried to find alternative solutions to questions where I was consuming significant time
In CAT exam, there are 20 questions in the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section and the total sectional marks is 60 out of 198. In CAT 2020, there were 24 question on DILR and the sectional marks were 72. In CAT 2021 and CAT 2022, there were 20 questions and the sectional marks were 60. The 20 questions are equally divided into both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. That means, Both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning have 10 questions each. The questions are mostly in sets. There’s rarely any standalone question in DILR.
Some of the top MBA entrance exams carrying a high weightage of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning questions are MAH CET, ATMA, CAT, CMAT, XAT IIFT, to name a few.
Shiksha: Please share with us your section-wise strategy.
Kishan:
For VARC, I watched a lot of videos on various topics like- How to attempt RC, para jumble, Odd One Out, Summary, and Para Completion. At first, I was not able to attempt the complete VARC section during my mocks. So I used certain permutations and came up with a strategy to solve 3 most comfortable sets of RC first. Then move to Verbal and finally move to the 4th RC.
In DILR, I used the strategy to pick 1 out of the 4 sets and solve it completely. This will help in clearing the sectional cut-off. This also gives a mental peace as this section is the most unpredictable one in the entire paper. Then I tried solving the other sets based on my comfort zone.
In Quants tried to stick to building my concepts and revising entire quant syllabi every day from October onwards. Also, I developed tricks gradually while solving multiple questions.
Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Mock Tests are game changers, says Dixit Agarwal, 99.55%iler
Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
Kishan: I didn't refer to any book for VARC and LRDI. I bought Arun Sharma and solved LOD-1 & 2 level questions for Quants.
Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?
Kishan: I gave around 30+ full-length mocks and multiple sectionals before attempting the actual CAT. Sectionals were very helpful before giving full-length CAT Mocks. A mock test helps to find your weak areas and also provides insight on important formulas that you might have missed during your preparations.
Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does the coaching institute help in CAT preparation?
Kishan: I took mock test series from several institutes.
Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?
Kishan: The most important strategy that I followed was not to get nervous. This is an unpredictable exam. If any section has come tough, it will be difficult for the majority of the candidates. So, I maintained my calm and focussed more on accuracy.
Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?
Kishan: I am targeting all of the top IIMs- A,B,C,L,K,I such as IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore
Shiksha: Tell us something about your educational background, family and hobbies.
Kishan: I am a Chartered Accountant by profession and an alumnus of St Xavier's College, Kolkata. I hail from Durgapur, West Bengal. I belong to a business family and my hobbies are reading, traveling, and teaching
Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Know how Parul Garg cracked CAT with 99.93%
Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
Kishan: I have started my channel "Fin Tube" wherein I have started uploading lectures on Quantitative Aptitude including my detailed notes and practice questions for each topic in Quants. I am confident that MBA aspirants can largely benefit from the same. You can find the link to the channel here-https://youtube.com/@Fin-Tube?si=i91yZXFqGUquIlfF
CAT 2023 Topper Scorecard
CAT Topper 2023 Scorecard
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