Road to IIMs: Kirti Goyal, Gurgaon Girl & NIFT Graduate, Achieves 99.1%ile in CAT 2022; Secures IIM Kozhikode Admission! Read Her Success Strategies on MBAUniverse.com

MBAUniverse.com, in its series of interviews of CAT 2022 toppers, presents the inspiring success stories that showcase candidates from diverse background who cracked CAT or other exams, and also secured admissions into top B-schools. While preparing for your exam, these interviews will keep you motivated by their well-planned preparation strategies, valuable insights on MBA entrance exam preparation, Personal Interviews, and MBA college selection. So, dream big and stay focused on your preparation for a brighter future.

Today, we present a motivational interview of CAT Topper Kirti Goyal, who extended her domain from textile designing to join IIM Kozhikode’s MBA 2023-25 program. Gurgaon Girl, Kirti cracked CAT 2022 with 99.1%ile. She is a Textile Designer from NIFT Bhopal and has earned about 2 years of work experience as Textile and Rug Designer in different companies including Jaipur Rugs.

Kirti’s CAT preparation journey has a lot of lessons. For instance, how did she overcome her weakness in DILR section, and how did she maximize on her strengths. This was Kirti’s second CAT attempt. In 2021 she prepared with CAT coaching but modified her CAT preparation strategy for CAT 2022 and focused on self-preparation. Also, it is notable to know how she self -prepared with videos and You Tube, how she used Mocks in her preparation journey wisely at different stages of her preparation.

Kirti has a well-rounded personality and loves Cooking and Digital Art. Coming from a business family, Kirti has natural instinct to go for business management. So, with this introduction, let’s get going with the interview!

Q: Let’s start with the basics…How did you perform in CAT 2022?
A: I scored 99.1 overall percentile in CAT 2022. I scored 84.98 % in VARC, 99.91 % in DILR and 97.12 % in QA.

Apart from CAT, I didn’t take any other MBA entrance exam. 

Q: What was your overall preparation strategy for CAT?
A: My overall preparation strategy was to focus on mock and its thorough analysis instead of completion of study material

Q: Please share your VARC Section preparation strategy for CAT?
A: My Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Sectional strategy was mainly focused on reading from diverse sources on a variety of subjects, apart from that I also focused giving sectionals and mocks every day during the last 4 months of my preparation.

Q: How did you prepare for DILR Section in CAT?
A: For Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning preparation, I had primarily focused on solving sets with timers, consistently working on my weaker topics, giving mocks after carefully analysing the sets

Q: How did you prepare for QA Section?
A: For Quantitative Ability preparation, I worked on knowing my basic concepts and working on solving the questions that I already know would be solved quickly especially on the questions and concepts which became familiar to me. This built up my skills and strengths, improved speed and accuracy.

Q: Was there any particular section that you were weak at? How did you overcome this challenge?
A: I was particularly weak at DILR which I overcame by giving regular mocks and reading all the sets for first 7 minutes and subsequently doing sets as per my comfort and preparation.

Q: What role did Mocks play in your success? How many mocks did you attempt before the exam?
A: Mocks played a huge role in my success. Throughout my prep, I gave approximately 25 mocks and also attempted all the past CAT papers from 2017 onwards. Analysing the mocks regularly and being consistent with it plays a huge role in CAT.

Q: Did you self-prepare for CAT Exam or did you attend a Coaching Centre and why?
A: I self-prepared for CAT exam and took CAT Mock series from one of the coaching centres. The reason for self-prep was majorly because I had already attended a coaching centre class while preparing for CAT in 2021

Q: Which books did you refer during your preparation and how effective were they?
A: I didn’t really refer to any books. I took help of YouTube and videos from coaching centre for my preparation and they were quite effective in my preparation.

Q: Please share your strategy for the CAT Day. What was your last-minute preparation? How did you plan your CAT test taking?
A: I attempted my last mock 5 days prior to the CAT Day. My last-minute preparation was just going through the important quant formulas. My plan for CAT test taking was to really stick to the time that I had set for myself and not to waste my time on any particular question. Another thing I kept in my mind while giving the paper was first having a look on the overall section and attempting the easier questions first

Q: How did you prepare for GD/PI/WAT Rounds?
A: For GD/PI/WAT rounds, I decided to go for proper coaching. Going through all the business news of past 1 year, knowing basic concepts and a bit of static general knowledge is imperative

Q: Which all top IIMs and other top B-schools shortlisted you for PI round?
A: I was shortlisted for PI round by IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Shillong, SJMSoM IIT Bombay, DMS-IIT Delhi 

Q: Which top B-Schools you converted and which one you finally took admission in?
A: I converted IIM Kozhikode, IIM Shillong, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, SPJIMR Mumbai. I selected IIM Kozhikode for final admission

Q: As a creative Textile & Rug Designer you have earned about 2 years of Work Experience. Please share some details of your work experience
A: Yes, before joining IIM Kozhikode I have earned 23 months of work experience in the area of my graduation. I worked as Freelance Textile Designer at Art De Rug, Mumbai for 9 months from November 2022; worked as full time Rug Designer at Rug Artisan, United Kingdom from Sept 2020 to July 2022. I did my internship, Research & Development projects at Jaipur Rugs, Jaipur where I developed 2 collections on Hand-Knotted and Hand-Tufted Rugs and a collection of Kids Rugs

Q: What are your top three criteria for deciding which B-school to apply or take final admission?
A: According to me, the top three criteria for deciding which B-school to apply or take final admission are the curriculum, placement report and the ranking of the institute

Q: Finally, your message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2023
A: My message and tips for candidates preparing for CAT 2023 are:

• Start with mocks from day 1 to assess your preparation and being consistent with it
• Giving mocks as well as analysing it simultaneously to know your strengths and weaknesses is very important
• Keep reading newspapers regularly from the day you decide to write the exam
• Also, for GD/PI, do not wait for the results and start preparing as soon as you are done with CAT
• Time management and keeping you calm on the D-day is the most essential part that one should keep in mind