‘XAT Not More Difficult than CAT’ Nandagopal V Busts the Myth; Scored 99.99%ile in XAT 2023; Declines Top IIMs to join XLRI Jamshedpur - MBAUniverse.com Interview

Last Updated on: April 18, 2025 by Bina Kumari

Nandagopal V

XAT Topper 99.99%

I scored 99.15 overall percentile in CAT 2022. I also appeared in CAT 2021 in which I scored 99.17%ile

MBAUniverse.com is excited to present inspiring success stories of XAT toppers who secured admissions in XLRI and after taking judicious decision made it to their dream B-school. Get motivated from their well-planned preparation strategies, valuable insights on MBA entrance exam readiness, Personal Interviews, and MBA college selection. Today, meet Nandagopal V from Kochi. He busts the myth that XAT is a higher difficulty exam. In his view XAT is not more difficult than CAT. He scored higher percentile score in XAT than in CAT. Nandagopal cracked XAT 2023 with 99.99 percentile and CAT 2022 with 99.15 percentile. He declined admission offers from IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode and joined XLRI Jamshedpur PGDM-BM 2023-25 batch as XLRI conforms to his criteria of choosing the best B-School.

Final Message

A B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani, Nandagopal has a work experience of 2 years in the Consulting area with ZS Associate, Pune from 2021-2023 where he drove customer engagement by 33%, and sales lift of 40% across the portfolio; Led end-to-end operations in the Digital Customer Engagement space for a Global 500 Client. His parents are Lawyers in the High Court of Kerala and his brother is currently in Class 12. A Quizzer, bits and pieces photographer, an avid cricket fan and a music enjoyer, Nandagopal’s CAT and XAT preparation journey is full of lessons. For instance, he overcome his weakness in DM section, and very well used previous papers and mocks to maximize on his strengths.

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