CAT Topper 2023: Know how Tarun Choudhary cracked CAT with 99.47%ile in first attempt
Common Admission Test 2024 ( CAT )
In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Tarun Choudhary shares his CAT preparation journey. He also talks about cracking CAT exam with self-preparation. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Tarun Choudhary aced CAT 2023 in his first attempt.
CAT Topper 2023 Interview: Tarun Choudhary 99.47%iler
CAT Topper 2023 Interview: With a 99.47 percentile, Tarun Choudhary is aiming for top 10 IIMs in India along with some best Business Schools such as MDI Gurgaon and FMS. Being a BSc graduate student, Choudhary decided to focus on his CAT exam preparation without any coaching. While sharing his reaction to CAT Result 2023, Tarun said that it was at par with his expectations. After cracking CAT 2023, Tarun wants to pave his way in the management field by targeting top b-schools in India.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Tarun Choudhary shares his CAT preparation journey. He also talks about cracking CAT exam with self-preparation. Along with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT, He further talks about how CAT is possible with self-study. Read further to know how CAT topper 2023 Tarun Choudhary aced CAT 2023 in his first attempt. CAT 2023 result was declared on December 21. CAT 2023 exam was held on November 26.
Q: How much percentile is a good score in CAT exam?
Q: How much percentile is a good score in the CAT exam?
Q: How is the CAT score and percentile calculated?
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CAT 2023 Topper Tarun Choudhary: Interview Highlights
Check out the table below to get an overview of the Tarun Choudhary CAT percentile 2023:
| CAT Sections |
CAT Percentile |
|---|---|
| Overall |
99.47 |
| 92.35 |
|
| 99.14 |
|
| 99.71 |
Also Read:
Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?
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Tarun: I am ecstatic with my CAT result as it was at par with my expectations, so I would say I am more than satisfied with my result.
Shiksha: Was this your first attempt at CAT?
Tarun: Yes, it was my very first attempt as I completed my graduation in 2023.
Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
Tarun: I started putting in consistent and dedicated efforts from March early this year after my graduation final year exams. Talking about my preparation strategy, I kept it a little simple as I first analysis my strength and weekness and worked on them accordingly. Also, I focused more on being best at the topics I am good at rather than just trying to complete the whole syllabus and obviously giving mock at regular intervals and thoroughly analysing it.
Q: What is sectional cutoff in CAT exam?
Sectional cut off in CAT exam refers to the section wise percentiles required by the candidate for making it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut offs are lower than overall cut offs of any institute. To understand better, check the table below for sectional CAT cut offs for IIM Ahmedabad:
Category | VARC percentile | DILR percentile | QA percentile | Overall percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
General | 70 | 70 | 70 | 80 |
NC-OBC-Transgender | 65 | 65 | 65 | 75 |
SC | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
ST | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC) | 60 | 60 | 60 | 70 |
PwD (ST) | 50 | 50 | 50 | 60 |
For sectional cut offs of all IIMs, check this article – IIM shortlist and selection criteria
Q: How many questions should I solve to score 99 percentile in CAT exam?
Q: What is the CAT cut off for IIM Lucknow?
Q: What are the qualifying CAT cutoffs for all the IIMs?
Q: Are CAT cut offs announced along with the CAT result?
Shiksha: Please share with us your section-wise strategy.
Tarun:
Talking about VARC,it was the section where I was not good at all when I started my prep so I focused more on improving my comprehension skills and for that I used AEON essays. Persistence is the key in case of VARC so I used to read whatever quality content I found and at the same time regular practice of VA questions and RCs somehow made me decent in this section
For DILR, I used to solve 3-4 quality sets daily my clock ticking and this helped me alot in getting a hold over my nerves during CAT exam. My personal opinion will be that mocks is the best practice for this section. Apart from that I used to solve challenging sets as it assisted me in improving my logical and critical thinking.
Quant- It was simply my favourite section, I used to enjoy solving tough quant questions. I was consistent with solving daily 20-25 questions of different topics and this improved my speed and question selection skills.
Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Mock Tests are game changers, says Dixit Choudhary, 99.55%iler
Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?
Tarun: I won't suggest any books as you will get more than enough content online through mocks and daily questions that they provide. So subscribe to a quality mock providing institute
Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?
Tarun:
I attempted maybe more than 50 CAT Mocks. Mock test series is a must for an exam like CAT as it tests you on multiple aspects like time management, decision making, critical thinking and a mock will help you improve all these skills, also one gets exam like environment beforehand.
Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does the coaching institute help in CAT preparation?
Tarun: No, I did self-preparation on my own.
Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?
Tarun: So the exam was on November 26 and I didn't study much from November 20 onwards as I wanted to be relaxed before the d-day. Apart from that my strategy was pretty simple, I treated it just like a normal day and this helped me a lot in holding my nerves during that 2 hours.
Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?
Tarun: I am targeting top 10 IIMs such as IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, IIM Mumbai, etc. and B-schools like FMS, MDI Gurgaon.
Shiksha: Tell us something about your educational background, family and hobbies.
Tarun: About my education background, I opted science for higher secondary education and after that, I pursued BSc in science stream. Talking about my family my father is a professional lawyer, Mom is a homemaker and I have a younger brother.
I have got many hobbies as I have a lot of interest in astronomy and cosmology, apart from that I like reading books (both fictional and non-fictional) and also knowing about different foreign cultures interests me.
Also Read: CAT 2022 Topper Interview: Know how Parul Garg cracked CAT with 99.93%
Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
Tarun: One advice I would like to give is to introspect yourself. An exam like CAT is not just about being academically good but always remember it's an examination that will get you into top-tier business management college in the country, work on your management skills accordingly. You don't need to do everything that is in the paper, so know your strength/ weekness and get to know which strategy suits you better, best wishes.
CAT 2023 Topper Scorecard
CAT Topper 2023 Scorecard
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The CAT (Common Admission Test) is a highly competitive entrance exam for admission to various management programs offered by top business schools in India. The percentile score in CAT exam is based on the relative performance of the test taker compared to all the other test takers.
The cutoff percentile for admission to top business schools varies from year to year and also depends on factors such as the number of candidates, difficulty level of the exam, and the number of available seats. In general, a percentile score of 90 or above is considered a good score and can help you secure admission to some of the top business schools in India. However, to increase your chances of admission to the top-tier business schools, a percentile score of 95 or above is preferred.