Today we are having a very special conversation and iQuanta’s own John Snow, Rahul Aggarwal. He hails from Chattarpur, a district from Madhya pradesh, he had crossed many hurdles to be here and with his hard work and dedication he scored 99.92 percentile in CAT 2020.
Q : What is your educational background, what factors led you to MBA?
Rahul : I belong from a very small town of Madhya Pradesh and did my graduation from IIT Roorkee and currently I am a working professional. Apart from studies I do standup comedy, write scripts and comic scenes for plays.
Q : You are a complete package of talent. With all these hobbies scoring 99.92 is really great. Can you tell us about your percentile in each section and how much time you took in preparation?
Rahul : I had given two attempts in total, my first attempt was in 2019 with self practice I scored 99.46 and second attempt was with the help of iQuanta, I scored 97.8 in VARC, 99.76 in DILR, 99.86 in QA. My journey has been long. I started my preparation when I was in college but an average person should start their preparation in January if they are targeting CAT exam because January will be perfect right time to check on their performance to each section. You can figure out which section requires more practice and focus because it is a one whole journey and it can’t be covered overnight. Despite having an engineering background it took me 2 years on and off to achieve this so consistency, dedication and hard work is required.
Q : What are the difficult challenges you faced during this journey and how did you overcome this?
Rahul : I had faced many challenges like one of them was that I was not a confident speaker, which used to make me reconsider about my choice whether I should go for MBA or not. It was very difficult for me to stay motivated about this and another challenge I faced is that it is not necessary that you will excel in CAT, it is difficult to be consistent on your mock scores, I sometimes got near around 65 in mocks but I didn’t lose hope and gave mock everyday and in the end I eventually scored with consistency.
Q : Even if you scored 65 in your mocks you still can succeed in CAT with consistency and good strategy. What was your strategy, what pattern did you follow throughout the journey and how much effort and time you gave ?
Rahul : It is necessary to understand the topic in depth and understand the nature of questions wisely so that you don’t get stuck in any question and choose your mentor wisely to clear your doubts immediately because for the same question many other students were also on the same position. You just need a mentor either from iQuanta or as per your availability. You should prepare everything step wise and systematically. Eventually you will feel that it’s difficult but ultimately with your good strategy and practice you will score good and it will be easy. Regular practice, consistency and hard work is required to clear CAT.
Q : So, this was your second attempt, what is the difference between your first and second attempt?
Rahul : In my first attempt my focus was to use the resources which I have and for the next attempts my seniors suggested me focus on my weak areas and work more on that rather than repeating everything. I had very less time to prepare and as a source I only had iQuanta because my seniors had also prepared from this platform. I joined the crash course batch of iQuanta and with rigorous practice in every section, it helped me to focus on my weak areas and it made a habit of daily practice and consistency.
Q : What do you think how iQuanta is different from other platform, how it helped you?
Rahul : The main difference is consistency. iQuanta focuses on daily practice at any time which makes students consistent and obviously daily practice helps in scoring good grades. I had a very hectic schedule of 9-5, after my work hours I watched sessions of iQuanta. Two of the specific features of iQuanta helped me. One of them is LRDI sessions which helped me focus on my weak areas and other is RC sessions and covering all these 2 particular things with rigorous practice helped me alot.
Q : What was your favourite aspect about iQuanta which helped you scoring above 99.9?
Rahul : iQuanta motivated me daily, like there are also days when you feel like you should give up or you will not achieve good but the community of iQuanta helps you in overcoming every phase. If you are feeling low you can post there. Many people will come up with same feeling to help you and mentors help you like friends. They help you in gaining positive attitude and brings your confidence back. If you are dedicated towards CAT then the atmosphere of iQuanta helps you to do so.
Q : Is there any one you want to dedicate for your success or anyone who helped you throughout the journey?
Rahul : All who were a part of this journey helped me but Indrajeet sir played an important role. His friendly approach like even if he is explaining any topic you can ask your doubt and next moment he will help you in resolving your doubt and other one is Jainam Shah. Whenever I feel low and want to overcome that, I used to talk to him. He helped me alot with his positive approach and lastly my mother and seniors. They played very important role in this.
Q : What is your final word of wisdom for aspirants who are preparing?
Rahul : You have to maintain a strong aim and focus to crack this exam. You have to be motivated about the CAT exam. There will be times when you will score low, but there will be a time when you will also score good. Only consistency, hard work, focus and practice is the key to clear this exam. If you have any doubts you should ask it immediately and mentors in iQuanta will help you at any point.
If you are looking for structured CAT preparation along with 24*7 doubt-solving, you can rely on iQuanta’s CAT 2024 Course.
