CAT 2020 Topper Gahana Agarwal Say, ‘Lots of practice is the only key to success’
CAT 2020 result was declared on January 2 in online mode. 2020 may not be a good year,however, with the announcement of CAT result, it definitely brings a smile on the face of Gahana Agarwal. With only 4-5 months left until CAT 2020, Gahana Agarwal, a Deployment Engineer at Comcast started preparing for the entrance test and scored 99.39. Changes in the CAT exam pattern has doubled the exam stress to candidates, but Gahana Agarwal did not let stress take a toll on her and hamper on her performance in the entrance test. During her preparation time, Gahana Agarwal watched a video of a mentor on youtube to keep herself motivated. Read the complete article to know how CAT topper Gahana Agarwal prepared one of the most competitive management entrance test.

Careers360 - Congratulations on your stupendous performance. What was your reaction? Were you expecting this?
Gahana Agarwal - Thank you so much! I was delighted when I received my scorecard. I wasn’t expecting this score because I had not done very well in the mocks during my preparation phase.
Careers360 - Share your overall and sectional percentile and scaled scores?
Gahana Agarwal - Overall percentile: 99.39. Sectionals are 93.19, 99.4, 98.66 for VARC, DILR and QA respectively.
Overall score: 108.69. Sectional scores are 30.49, 37.22, 40.99 for VARC, DILR and QA respectively.
Careers360 - How was your exam day experience?
Gahana Agarwal - I prepared myself to be calm on the exam day. Since my exam center was about an hour and a half from my house, I created a playlist of speeches which motivate me to listen to on the drive. Another thing that helped me boost my performance was to not let external factors affect my performance.
Careers360 - Share us something about your background. What inspires you to appear in CAT 2020?
Gahana Agarwal - I am an engineering graduate from VIT University (Batch of 2019). I currently work as a Deployment Engineer at Comcast. The reason I want to do an MBA is to advance my career for now and start my own business someday.
Careers360 - What are your exam strategies and mantras used to crack CAT 2020?
Gahana Agarwal - My exam strategy in VARC was to solve questions on a first come first serve basis, because I was quite comfortable with the section. For DILR, I rated the given sets from easy to difficult within the first 5 minutes and then proceeded with solving the easy ones first. For QA, I browsed through the questions and solved the easy ones quickly during the first round of browsing and repeated the same process until the time was up.
I had only 4-5 months to prepare for CAT. So, I started with taking a mock without preparation so I could see where I stand and to figure out how much time I needed to give to studying each day. My prep started with the basics from the popular Arun Sharma books for QA and DILR. I was quite comfortable with VARC so I did not give it much attention until later. Mocks played a huge role in the preparation phase. I gave around 40 to 45 mocks from various different institutes and analyzed them well. This helped me most to figure out which test taking strategy worked best for me.
Careers360 - What according to you is the toughest and easiest section?
Gahana Agarwal - Personally, I was average-good in all three sections, so I didn’t find any section especially tough or easy.
Careers360 - When did you start preparation for CAT 2020? How did you tackle your strong and weak areas?
Gahana Agarwal - I started my CAT prep in July. So, I had only about 4-5 months for preparation. As I mentioned, I did not have any strong or weak section as such. But, adjusting my strategies for every mock I took, helped me maximize my score in the end.
Careers360 - What are the factors behind your achievement in CAT 2020?
Gahana Agarwal - During the preparation phase I listened and watched videos of a lot of mentors on youtube which helped in keeping me motivated at all times. Secondly, I kept my options open incase CAT doesn’t work out so as to not put too much pressure on myself during the test. Thirdly, lots of practice is the only key to success, there are no other shortcuts and testing out strategies is required.
Careers360 - Which books you preferred while preparing for CAT 2020? Did you take any coaching for this exam?
Gahana Agarwal - I used Arun Sharma's books extensively for preparation.
Careers360 - Have you started preparing for GD/PI/WAT?
Gahana Agarwal - Yes, I have started reading the newspaper on a daily basis and preparing answers for basic questions for the interview.
Careers360 - Did you appear for any other MBA entrance exam? If yes then how did you manage your time with respect to preparation as well as exam day?
Gahana Agarwal - No, I did not.
Careers360 - What is your dream B-School? What career do you want to pursue after completing your MBA degree?
Gahana Agarwal - My dream B school is one of the top 3 IIMs (IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta).
Careers360 - What were your relaxation and recreation methods you followed during preparation for CAT?
Gahana Agarwal - As I am a working professional, I was juggling office work with my CAT prep, so I didn’t have a lot of time for relaxation. But on the weekends, I made sure I took out time to hang out with my family or friends.
Careers360 - Any message you would like to give to the next CAT aspirants?
Gahana Agarwal - It is necessary to keep yourself motivated by any means possible through the entire preparation phase and not to let mocks, scores and percentiles affect your mindset.
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Questions related to CAT
CAT score : 95.34 Acads: 10th : 85.5 12th: 88.2 B tech: 84 and 2.5 years of experience. please suggest the best colleges I can get to pursue MBA
Hi
Getting a call from a B- School depends upon a number of factors like your percentile score in CAT and academic profile i. e.percentage of marks obtained by you in class 10th, 12th and graduation, work experience. Your academic profile is good and work experience is also decent.
With your overall 95.34 percentile in CAT you have chances in following B schools which are listed below :-
*IIM Shillong
*IIM Kozhikode
*IIM Rohtak
*IIM Ranchi
*IIM Trichy
*IIM Raipur
*VGSoM, IIT Kharagpur
*IIM Bodh Gaya
*IIM Udaipur
*DoMS, IIT Madras
*IIM Kashipur
And more
For details you can checkout our page, the link for the same is provided below.
After getting a call , one has to go through WAT/GD/PI , and then he/she is finally selected for admission on the basis of performance in these rounds , percentile score in CAT, academic profile and work experience.
To get the list of colleges that you can get call from for your MBA, you can use CAT call predictor, the link for the same is provided below
https://bschool.careers360.com/pathfinder/cat
It will let you know the colleges from which you have chance to get a call for PGDM or MBA based on your category, your percentile score in CAT examination and your academic profile .
If you have any other doubt then feel free to ask them :) we are always here to help you out and guide you
Thank you
Can an indian black cat commando quit his job at age 30??
I hope my answer helps. All the very best for your future endeavors!
Will Delhi University be taking admission via merit this year along with the common aptitude test?
Hello,
Delhi University Admission 2021 will start in the month of March 2021. An entrance exam known as DUET is organised by NTA (National Testing Agency) to offer admission in various UG and PG programmes in the University.
Application form will be available from first week of March 2021 for UG courses (entrance based) and from third week of May 2021 for UG courses (merit based).
Delhi University Syllabus will be released by the authorities through online mode on the website. Syllabus will be different as per the courses.
Merit based admission fees is
- For general/ OBC category candidatesRs. 250
- For SC/ ST/ PWD candidatesRs. 100
Entrance based admission fees is
- For general/ OBC category candidatesRs. 750
- For SC/ST/ PWD candidatesRs. 300
https://www.careers360.com/university/university-of-delhi-delhi
You can refer to this link for more information.
Hope this helps!!!
I got 83.56 in cat 2020 (di 86 Qa 84 Va 64.25) and NC OBC and acads 10th 95 12th 75.2 grad 71. Got a letter from iim ranchi about Mba HR programmme. 2000 fees Is it worth filling the form???
Hello aspirant!
IIM Ranchi HR program is one of the best in the country and you should not miss the chance if you have got the opportunity. The placement report of the college is stellar (see link below)
https://iimranchi.ac.in/uploads/fp18-20.pdf
You have decent academics and should not face any issue in getting shortlisted for companies. Do not make the decision solely based on the fees or the ROI ratio. The main purpose of doing an MBA from a reputed college is to get a headstart in your career and start your career in management from a top tier company. It will be your launchpad into the corporate world and then you are free to explore on your own.
The post pandemic scenario should not haunt us for too long and the industry will be on its feet in no time. I would urge you to consider this as a good opportunity and consider admission this year only.
All the best!
i got 89.78 overall percentile in cat 10-82% 12-82% grad-70% gem is there ang chance of getting call?
Hi
Getting a call from a B- School depends upon a number of factors like your percentile score in CAT and academic profile i. e.percentage of marks obtained by you in class 10th, 12th and graduation, work experience. Your academic profile is average
With your overall 89.78 percentile in CAT you have chances in following B schools which are listed below :-
*TAPMI, Manipal
*Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
* Indian Institute of Financial Management and Research, Changambakkam
*SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
*Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore
*Prin. L N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai
*Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education, Mumbai
*Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy
*FORE School of Management, New Delhi
*University Business School, Panjab University, Chandigarh
For details you can checkout our page, the link for the same is provided below.
After getting a call , one has to go through WAT/GD/PI , and then he/she is finally selected for admission on the basis of performance in these rounds , percentile score in CAT, academic profile and work experience.
To get the list of colleges that you can get call from for your MBA, you can use CAT call predictor, the link for the same is provided below
https://bschool.careers360.com/pathfinder/cat
It will let you know the colleges from which you have chance to get a call for PGDM or MBA based on your category, your percentile score in CAT examination and your academic profile .
If you have any other doubt then feel free to ask them :) we are always here to help you out and guide you
Thank you