CAT is not always a pre-planned choice. For some, it is an instant realisation. With the right preparation, consistency and guidance, time matters less when it comes to CAT. This is one story that is a testament of the same. The story is of iQuanta student Krishnendu Ojha, who converted 8 top B-schools, including 6 IIMs. Learn his struggles and how he cracked the success code for CAT and qualified the exam in his very first attempt.
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About the CAT Topper
Krishnendu Ojha is an engineering graduate with an 8.58 CGPA. He scored 89% in 10th and 82.6% in12th. In his final year of B.Tech, while most of his batchmates were heading into jobs, the CAT topper made a different call entirely, sit out the placements and go all in on CAT instead.
CAT Topper Converts Top 8 B-Schools in India
The iQuanta student converted into:
- FMS Delhi
- IIM Mumbai
- IIM Shillong
- IIFT Delhi
- IIM Udaipur
- IIM Amritsar
- IIM Vizag
- IIM Jammu
Waitlisted: IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow and he finally decided to join FMS Delhi.
The Challenges That Could Have Stopped Everything
The decision was made, but the path ahead was anything but clear. Krishnendu started on his own taking help YouTube videos, free resources, random practice sets, whatever was available. There was no structure, no fixed roadmap. The effort was there but was scattered. It was pointed in too many directions at once.
This made it genuinely hard for him. The CAT topper spent his early months figuring out what to do more than actually doing it. He struggled more with the VARC section. It felt like a wall he couldn’t find a way around.
How iQuanta Entered the Picture?
When efforts failed like disappointment, the CAT topper came to know about iQuanta through his senior who were IIM converts themselves. They recommended iQuanta especially for its doubt solving support. Based on the recommendation, Krishnendu enrolled with iQuanta in the last batch.
When Things Started to Click
Having the course didn’t fix things immediately. VARC was still a struggle. He shares that iQuanta’s VARC lectures helped him a lot. The CAT topper further adds that the mentor ‘s way of breaking things down cut through the confusion in a way that nothing else had managed to earlier. In case of LRDI, iQuanta’s IIM ABC practice batch was a great help. It pushed him to a level that random practice simply couldn’t.
More Challenges Faced by CAT TopperÂ
Despite everything falling in place, there there was a bigger issue sitting underneath all of this. The CAT Topper was putting in hours, but without any real goal or structure. And then, with just two months to go, the mock scores showed exactly where things stood. He was stuck between 80 and 85 percentile, with no improvements
That honest look at the numbers was the turning point. He put together a proper schedule, stopped studying randomly, and started being intentional about every session along with iQuanta’s guidance. By November, he was consistently landing between 97 and 99 percentile in his mocks.
The Day That Mattered for CAT TopperÂ
Krishnendu was in the third shift on CAT day. VARC went exactly the way he’d hoped. LRDI also held up well; he got through almost three sets. Coming out of those two sections, he felt good about where things stood. Then came Quant. A few particular sums got him stuck. He shared that the performance was average, not what he’d have wanted. But one rough section couldn’t undo what had been built across the rest of the paper. The results made that clear.
How iQuanta Made the Difference
Here’s what actually worked, based on the CAT Topper’s own experience:
24*7 Doubt Solving SupportÂ
The entire reason the CAT Topper chose iQuanta was its doubt-solving reputation and it was his seniors, people already inside IIMs, who specifically pointed him there. It helped him get his doubts cleared quick and in the right way.
Shabana Ma’am’s VARC Lectures
VARC was his biggest weakness walking in. He credits Shabana ma’am directly for the turnaround, calling her the best VARC teacher out there. It stopped being a problem section and started being one of his strongest on exam day.
The IIM ABC Practice Batch
LRDI didn’t improve by accident for the CAT Topper. The IIM ABC practice batch gave him the right difficulty level and enough volume to actually see the change in his performance. It showed up exactly when it needed to, that is, on the actual exam.
Key Takeaway
Krishnendu’s story isn’t about a perfect start or a carefully planned timeline. It’s about a last-minute decision, an honest mid-course reality check, and the discipline to change how he was preparing before it was too late. The converts list speaks for itself.
