Every CAT Topper has its own unique journey, from the hardships, the hard work to finally the outcome. Each story becomes a guiding light for the CAT aspirants. Everyone struggles at the beginning, and with the right guidance, the path becomes easy. This blog shares one such story of a CAT topper that converted to IIM Lucknow in his second attempt. Read this blog to find out his CAT strategy and how iQuanta helped him scale from 74%ile to 96.82%ile in, what he called his most feared section, VARC!
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About the CAT Topper
The iQuanta student we are talking about is Harsh Khudania, now an IIM Lucknow convert. He pursued his B.Tech from NIT Surat in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, he began working in Deloitte Consulting for two years. Later, he decided to pursue MBA.
The reason he shared with iQuanta in his own words:
“Deloitte role was technical, and wanted to move toward a strategic and analytical role, where decision making is important.”
CAT 2025 Scorecard of the CAT Topper
| Section | Scaled Score | Percentile |
| VARC | 36.24 | 96.82 |
| DILR | 38.51 | 99.86 |
| QA | 40.81 | 99.93 |
| Overall | 115.56 | 99.93 |
Challenges Faced by the CAT Topper During His Preparation
Despite achieving an impressive overall percentile of 98.93 in CAT 2024, the topper faced a major challenge due to sectional performance requirements. While he excelled in most sections, his VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension) percentile stood at 74, which fell below the cutoff criteria of many top management institutes. As a result, he did not receive interview calls despite his high overall score.
His lowest score in VARC was 2 and in the CAT 2025 final he obtained a scaled score of 36.24 and a percentile score of 96.82.
Takeaway: This experience highlights one of the toughest aspects of CAT preparation, maintaining a balanced performance across all sections rather than focusing solely on maximizing the overall percentile.
How iQuanta Helped Overcome His Challenges?
In the CAT Topper’s Meet, here’s what the CAT Topper shared in his own words –
And in this journey, you gave two attempts. In the previous attempt and this attempt, what did you change in your strategy?
CAT Topper: “Sir, previously, I used to give less number of mocks. This year, I changed that. This year, I gave a lot of mocks. And from that, I got to know my strengths and weaknesses. After giving mocks, I analyzed my weaknesses and invested more time working on them.”
How many mocks did you give this year?
CAT Topper: “I gave around 30-35 mocks this year.”
Where did you give these mocks?
CAT Topper: “I gave iQuanta mocks.”
Anything you liked about iQuanta mocks?
CAT Topper: “Yes, iQuanta mock is a bit tougher than what actual CAT is. This year, the CAT paper was a bit unexpected and tougher than last year. Finally, during the actual exam, you don’t stress out as you have experience of giving such mocks with iQuanta.”
Generally, when people give mocks, it becomes excruciatingly difficult to manage that stress, right? How do you manage the stress of giving a mock, waiting for the result, what is that like?
CAT Topper: “Before giving any mocks I used to revisit my previous mocks, the best performing ones, and did the analysis. That gave me a sense of confidence before giving any other mock.
Talking about the stress after a mock, I didn’t take any stress because whatever is done is done. I just kept focusing on the next.”
He further added –
“Initially, I didn’t like giving mocks earlier. Later, I came across many resources from iQuanta like daily practice questions, mocks, and live classes. There is an ample amount of practice resources available.”
CAT Topper’s Advice For Future Aspirants
When asked about the one that he would guide his past self to avoid during the preparation phase, he said –
“Don’t be afraid of anything. Earlier I was afraid of VARC and I used to give less number of mocks. It became very clear later that I am not going to be afraid. I will look straight in the eye and face my fear.”
He further added that the most difficult section for him was VARC and his only mantra to score well in this section was –
“Practice! Practice as much as you can do.”
One Takeaway in The CAT Topper’s Words –
“Give as many mocks as you can. It will help you know your strengths and weaknesses. And you’ll get ample time to work on them.”
