Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Exam On - 30 Nov '25
In an exclusive interview with Shiksha, Akshit Agrawal shares his preparation strategy and tips for future CAT aspirants. Read further to know more about CAT 2022 topper Akshit Agrawal.
CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Akshit Agrawal, a final year B Com Honours student from Ramjas College, DU, cracked India’s biggest MBA entrance exam, CAT 2022 with a 99.91 percentile. Akshit is aiming for the top IIMs such as IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore along with FMS Delhi. In an exclusive interview with Shiksha, Akshit Agrawal shares his preparation strategy and tips for future CAT aspirants. Read further to know more about CAT 2022 topper Akshit Agrawal.
IIM Bangalore declared CAT 2022 result two weeks earlier than usual, i.e. on December 21. CAT 2022 exam was held on November 27.
Overall Percentile: 111.36 (99.91 percentile)
Sectional:
Akshit: Thanks a lot and yes, I am very content and happy with my score. My target percentile from the day I got to know about CAT was 99.5 because it sort of guarantees calls from all the top colleges. Any score above that would have made me very happy.
Akshit: Yes, it was my first attempt since I am in the final year of my graduation.
Akshit: I started a bit late which was February 2022, this was because I had already done a lot of my preliminary preparation during other competitive exams such as IPMAT. I feel that this previous experience and preparation really aided me in my CAT prep. Throughout my prep, I focused on the quality of my study time over its quantity.
Yes, IIM Bangalore is one of the toughest business schools to get admission to, and every year, even CAT 99+ percentilers miss out on a call from the institute. IIM Bangalore uses multiple parameters, namely academic performance as well as candidates' scores in CAT/GMAT to select candidates for the PGP programme. IIMB adopts a two-phase selection process and accordingly, these selection criteria are applied in two phases. The first phase of the process is applied to all eligible candidates who appear for CAT to determine candidates to be called for a personal interview (PI). Candidates selected for the PI process will be additionally required to take a Writing Ability Test (WAT).
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.
Akshit: DILR and VARC have always been my strong suits, so a bit of further prep for CAT level questions was all that I needed in this year. I covered this through sectional tests and Arun Sharma LOD 2. Aeon essays made sure that I had something to read on a daily basis.
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Quants was where I struggled a bit. These questions weren’t merely about the underlying mathematical concepts but about the ability to think through them in a short span of time. A few YouTube channels turned out to be the holy grail for me when it came to QA.
Akshit: I referred to Arun Sharma LOD 1 and 2 for both QA and DILR.
Akshit: I sat for a mock test at the start of my preparation to understand where I stood. That one paper really helped me understand what my strengths and weaknesses were and what areas I needed to focus on. Apart from that, I appeared for 4-5 more mocks in the remaining months. I felt that the papers weren’t helping me the way I needed them to and therefore I kept the number of mocks to a minimum.
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 |
Akshit: No, I did not join a coaching institute. I felt that the key contribution of such institutes is that they ensure consistency, if I could ensure that for myself on my own, an institute wasn’t needed.
Akshit: My exam day strategy started with reaching the center well before time to ensure I got comfortable in the environment. Once the test started, I focused on maximizing my attempts in the first 2 sections and then going for the Arithmetic and Algebra questions in QA as those were my stronger suits.
Akshit: I am aiming for IIM BLACK (IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore) and Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.
Akshit: I have been born and brought up in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and did my entire schooling from DPS Varanasi. Right now I am in the last semester of my BCom Honours from Ramjas College, DU. My dad is a business owner and my mother is a homemaker. In my free time, I like engaging with puzzles whether it be Rubik’s cubes, crosswords or Sudoku.
Akshit: One thing that I felt was crucial was the first mock I gave, it really helped me gauge my standing and plan my strategy moving forward. I feel that the way one analyses that first mock test can be the make-or-break step in their preparation.
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