Many of this year’s CAT toppers – namely Gaurav Malpani, Shashank Samant (both from IIT Bombay), Deepak Mehta from Bits Pilani and Vidit Agarwal from BIT Mesra say that they did not expect to top CAT 2010. All were pleasantly surprised to know that they were among the 8 toppers declared with 100 percentile by CAT.

Gaurav Malpani

Gaurav Malpani from IIT B said that while he was expecting a good score, topping was totally out of his mind. Yes, I had put in the hard work and worked on my English etc but to top is something else, he told Pagalguy. Talking about his prep work, Gaurav said that he had regularly practised on problem solving and kept going with the preparation, not once taking it easy.

Gaurav saw his results this morning around 1.00am. As soon as I saw that I had topped I called my family back home in Kolkata and they were began rejoicing, he said. Gaurav has already got calls from IIM A,C B and is looking forward to joining the grand league of IIMs.

Though Gaurav wants to do a lot with his MBA degree, he definitely wants to bring about changes in society and the world at large. There are lots of things that need change and I hope I can help bring them about. Society needs to change and if I get a platform like the government to do so, I will, he told Pagalguy emphatically.

Deepak Mehta

Deepak Mehta was hanging out with friends last night when news about CAT results came to him. I check and after about half hour got my results. I could not believe myself at all. What a pleasant surprise, he told Pagalguy.

Immediately I called my father and mother and also spoke to my younger sister who were simply delighted, he said.

Eversince then, Deepak has only been attending to calls and emaisl from friends and relatives congratulating him. This despite the fact that most of today Deepak attended classes as he is still on his internship.

So far the Bits Pilani student has got calls from IIM A, C, L, R, but will take a final call only after he knows which he has converted.

So what did he do so right that he became a topper this year? I dont know. I did not study too hard since I did not have time. I was on internship the same time that CAT prep was on so I got just a few hours late at night to do any kind of preparation work. But I worked on my concepts well and that helped. Besides, in my mocks I scored a maximum of 99.88 so I never thought I would actually top, Deepak added.

The Bits Pilani student added that the topper news shocked him even more snce all through college, he was not among the top in class, though he was a topper right through his school life.

The topper has not charted out his future academically but expect his MBA degree to give him the confidence to go right ahead. I want to start something on my own, like may be start my own firm and I hope this is the start to that, he said.

Meanwhile, Bits Pilani Goa is celebrating Deepak’s victory. Suddenly everybody knows Deepak and the topper is busy basking in every bit of the adulation. Adding to the celebration is the fact that the college has a huge list of 99.99 percentilers. Vineet Dhanawat, one of the students is maintaining a list of all students of BITS Pilani Goa Campus score and calls at http://www.vineetdhanawat.com/cat “

Shashank Samant

For Shashank Samant, the other IIT-B topper, the thought has still not sunk in. I still cant believe it totally. I really wasnt expecting to top, he said. As soon as Shashank saw his results last night post 11.30 pm, he called his mother and family in Borivali (Mumbai) and gave them the news. There is no looking back since then. Everybody is just so happy around me, he said.

Shashank was a topper all his life, be it school or college and so topping this time was not a totally new experience. But he gave CAT 2010 only for kicks. I gave only about two mocks tests and did not really put in so many hours of study since I work the whole day,said Shashank who works for Morgan Stanley.

Shashank actually only studies for a day before his exam !

Like Deepak, Shashank too wants to start his venture and some day own a rocking business.