Mumbai Boy Aces CAT 2021 With 100 Percentile In Maiden Attempt

Mumbai-based Chirag Gupta wanted to try something 'exciting' in his professional journey and decided to give a try to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) entrance exam — CAT 2021. He secured 100 percentile in his very first attempt.

Gupta is currently pursuing a BS-MS programme at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, and will complete his master's thesis this year.

Gupta opted for CAT 2021 and changed his career path from research to management as he wanted to do something "exciting". He pursued physics research earlier but later changed his research studies to water poverty, News18 reported.

Interested In Science And Research

In 2017, Gupta cleared his JEE Advanced with a rank of 5064, but instead of grabbing a seat at the prestigious IITs, he opted for IISER as he was interested in science and further research work. Initially, he wanted to pursue a Ph.D. and later become a professor and a scientist, but later his plans changed. "IISER is better than IITs, in terms of research," he said.

"I couldn't see myself pursuing research in the same path for the next 7-8 years. So I chose management to pursue consulting. It would be exciting to learn new things in every project you take up. In consulting, you don't work on the same thing for a long period. You change things after 5-6 months to keep things interesting," he told News18.

Gupta did his high schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Shahibaug, and his 12th standard from New Tulip International School with 83.8 per cent. Almost all his family members are from the management field. His father is a deputy general manager at SBI Life, while his mother is a homemaker. One of his sisters works in SBI and the other is doing a job in a market research firm.

Plans To Join Top Indian IIMs

Gupta now aims to join any of the top IIMs in the country. Later, he plans to opt for strategy consulting and work for either of the top three consulting firms — BCG, McKinsey, or Bain and Company.

He started his preparation for CAT around March last year and resorted to self-studying. "I used to self-study for five hours a day, including mock tests. I used to give another mock to get a better understanding of how much I have learned and how far I need to go further," he said. After IISER Pune was opened, he shifted to the college in June 2021 and did his preparations and research.

JEE Advanced and CAT preparations are not even remotely close, Gupta said. "For JEE, one needs to know all the formulas and concepts, while for CAT 2021, it is all about aptitude and how efficiently you solve basic questions which even a non-aspirant can solve provided they have time," he added.

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