BIMTECH PGDM Admissions 2026
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CAT IIM Toppers Success Strategies: Cracking the CAT 2025 exaamination is not easy. It requires both smart work and strong perseverance. The CAT exam is attempted by lakhs of candidates, and to come out on top requires a tremendous amount of skills. So, it is necessary for all the candidates who prepare for the CAT 2025 examination to heed the responses of the CAT toppers who are currently pursuing their management degrees from the various prestigious Indian Institutes of Management. While each candidate may have their own CAT preparation plan, it is very beneficial for the candidates to listen to the success stories of the candidates and make slight changes in their CAT preparation plan. The first-hand experience of the CAT toppers will prove to be of great help for the candidates in devising their CAT examination strategy. This article also lets the candidates understand how to crack CAT by the toppers, which is the best way to prepare for the CAT exam, the last-minute CAT preparation tips and many more. The CAT 2025 examination will be conducted tentatively in November 2025.
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For those candidates who are planning to appear for the CAT exam, we have compiled a set of CAT preparation strategies with past years' toppers. Read below for their experiences and suggestions on how to prepare for CAT 2025.
Tanya Gupta achieved a high CAT percentile of 99.47 in CAT and secured admission to IIM Kozhikode. Tanya, who worked with JP Morgan in the Investment Banking Division before her admission into IIM, aims to become a financial market expert post her management course at IIM K. Tanya shares how she strategically prepared for the CAT exam by practising extensively for all four sections of the IIM CAT question paper.
CAT Topper Strategy: Start preparing for the CAT five months in advance. The strategy is to first solidify the basics for all four sections and then deep-dive into each one of them. Go for an exhaustive numerical practice and individual topic tests for each section.
Sectional tips: For the CAT Quantitative Aptitude section, practice numerals as much as you can. Read newspaper editorials and other online material regularly to help you with grammar and also your reading comprehension ability for the Verbal section.
Exam Day Formula: Divide time judiciously between your strengths and weaknesses. Build theoretical knowledge first, and then move on to extensive practice. Move to write CAT mock tests about 1.5-2 months before the exam, and devote at least 4-5 hours after each test to understanding your weaknesses. Practice more questions to deal with these points. During the CAT exam day, remember to keep calm, a positive frame of mind will always yield better results than a nervous one.
Know : How to Crack CAT: Strategies from Toppers
Soumik Biswas scored an admirable 99.94 percentile in the CAT examination and secured admission in one of the top B-schools of India- IIM Indore. The ex-IBM India employee shares the right strategy to be followed by the CAT aspirants, which can support them in scoring a high percentile.
Success Mantra: CAT does not require extensive study sessions as long as your basics are strong. The main concern is to develop speed, which automatically comes if you can systematise your CAT mock test. Around 140 minutes per week from your study and work schedule are enough to let individuals focus on IIM CAT preparation and achieve a great CAT score.
Section Wise Strategy: For Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, stress 3 points- speed, technique, and choices. A positive approach and reading all the questions in the stipulated time are very important for answering the questions correctly.
In Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, students can score maximum marks. For this section, the focus should be on increasing reading and vocabulary capabilities.
Exam Day Tip: Time Management is the key. Plan your time perfectly for each section. Winning over time will let you win.
Arijit Kumar Gorai cracked IIM Calcutta PGDM admissions with his high CAT percentile of 99.87. He had worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining his MBA programme at IIM Calcutta. A strong believer in practice and time management, Arijit shares his success mantra for IIM CAT.
Preparation Strategy: The primary focus should be on accuracy rather than maximising the number of attempts. Analysing the mock exams is a major help and should be meticulously done.
Sectional Tips: If your verbal section is weak, pay extra attention to topics like para-jumbles and CAT Reading Comprehension. Try to increase your speed along with accuracy. Practice reading newspapers or magazines to learn new words.
Exam Day Formula: Time management is very important in the actual CAT question paper. The focus must be on accuracy. Be sure that you spend around 2 minutes on each problem. It is important to let go of problems if you are stuck in a question. Wasting time on one question is a huge disadvantage. It is important to go through all the questions since the last 5 questions of a section might have some really simple problems that are very scoring and should not be missed.
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An Engineering graduate, Sneha Mittal prepared for the IIM CAT while working for Cognizant Technology. She cracked the CAT with 97.91 percentile and got admission to IIM Udaipur. Sneha’s entrepreneurial ambitions motivated her to join an MBA programme.
Key Strategy: Regular study, practice, self-analysis, and adaptability to tricks are the main stakes for preparation. Traditional methods may seem to be easy, but always use the tricks to solve the IIM CAT questions with speed and accuracy. And lastly, practice even before the exam day.
Sectional Plan: Quant & DI: The most important point to keep in mind is to stay calm and focused. While solving the QA & DI section, browse through the entire CAT question paper once. Attempt easier questions first, and do not waste a lot of time solving the difficult ones. This strategy helped me achieve a score of 98.23 percentile in the QA&DI section.
VA & LR: For the VA & LR section, solve the LR questions first. With the VA section, if you don’t know the answer, do not mark anything. This saves you from negative markings and lets you maintain your percentile.
Exam day Tips: IIM CAT is not a difficult exam. The right strategy, paired with a lot of practice, will guarantee you a good percentile in the CAT examination.
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Gagandeep Singh Pannu achieved a high percentile of 99.97 in IIM CAT and secured admission to IIM Rohtak. An Engineer by education, Gagandeep aims to become a financial market expert post his management course at the IIM. He also talks about his Time Management strategy, which led him to crack the CAT with a high percentile despite his hectic work schedule.
Key Advice: One word: Practice. You must practice to your full capacity. At the end of the day, just practice what you have done and learned.
Sectional Strategy: Learn basic Quantitative concepts; self-preparation would suffice. The focus should be more on brushing concepts and later switching to higher-level questions. VA and LR require speed to read and answer correctly. For this section, focus on increasing your reading abilities.
Exam Day Tip: On the day of the exam, first go through the entire questions and then attempt formula-based questions first. Keep a target of 15 Questions in 15 minutes.
Check out more interviews by CAT toppers:
| CAT topper Pulkit Daga | Rounak Tikmani CAT 2023 topper |
| CAT topper Nishakar Kumar | Shreemant Singi CAT topper |
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After deciding the right time to begin CAT 2025 preparation, candidates should start gathering their study materials without delay. There are plenty of resources available, which can make it tricky to pick the ones that suit individual needs best. To make this easier, Careers360 has reviewed and analysed the most important CAT preparation books. The recommended list is given below.
CAT Section | Book Name | Author Name |
Quantittaive Aptitude | Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations | R.S. Aggarwal |
Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT | Sarvesh Verma | |
NCERT Mathematics Books (Class 9–10) | NCERT | |
How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT | Arun Sharma | |
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT | Arun Sharma |
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT | Nishit K. Sinha | |
A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning | R.S. Aggarwal | |
Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency | Ananta Ashisha | |
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT | Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay |
Word Power Made Easy | Norman Lewis | |
PSC for VA for CAT | Nishit Sinha | |
High School English Grammar & Composition | Wren & Martin |
Careers360 provides a variety of resources to help with CAT 2025 preparation. These include detailed syllabus breakdowns, topic-wise study materials, mock tests, and expert strategy articles. Candidates can check out these resources through the links mentioned below.
eBook Title | Download Links |
3000+ Most Important Words - Vocabulary Builder | |
500+ Most Important Idioms and Phrases | |
300+ Most Important Phrasal Verbs | |
Permutation & Combination - Video Lectures and Practice Questions | |
Mastering DILR Questions with Expert Solutions | |
CAT 2025 Exam's High Scoring Chapters and Topics | |
Mastering CAT Exam: VARC, DILR, and Quant MCQs & Weightages | |
CAT 2025 Mastery: Chapter-wise MCQs for Success for VARC, DILR, Quant | |
CAT 2025 Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers | |
CAT DILR Questions with Solution, Download LRDI Questions for CAT | |
CAT 2025 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Study Material |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Most IIM CAT toppers preferred a self-study route supported by regular mock test practice and targeted mentoring, showing that a personalized, disciplined strategy can often outperform traditional coaching.
According to toppers like Soumik Biswas and Gagandeep Pannu, even a focused 2-3 hours per day or around 140 minutes per week can lead to a 99+ percentile, provided your basics are strong and mock tests are analysed thoroughly.
Successful candidates suggest mastering Quant through concept revision and intensive practice, handling VARC by reading editorials and improving vocabulary, and approaching DILR with speed-focused puzzle-solving techniques.
Toppers emphasise switching to full-length mock tests, analysing each one for weak areas, and dedicating 4–5 hours post-mock for review, while maintaining calm and strategic time management on the exam day.
Most toppers build their foundation using NCERT Mathematics (Class 9–10), and then progress to advanced-level books like Arun Sharma’s series for all sections, A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal, and Nishit K. Sinha’s CAT-specific guides to sharpen both conceptual clarity and problem-solving speed.
On Question asked by student community
HELLO,
With an overall 98.54 percentile ( QA/DILR 97.55, VARC 94.89) and strong academics 9/9/0, you have a good profile. As a B.Tech candidate you can expect calls from :-
Hope this will help you !
Hello aspirant,
Your kid has a good profile even in the general category with a BTech from IIT Delhi, three years of excellent job experience in a leading industry, and a 96 percentile in the CAT. He has a strong chance at reputable MBA schools like IIM Shillong, IIM Udaipur, IIM Trichy, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and others, depending on interview performance and profile match, even though the top IIMs often require higher percentiles.
Thank you
Hope it helps you
With an overall CAT percentile of 82.71 in CAT 2025 as a general category candidate, along with section-wise percentiles of 80.56 in VARC, 75.81 in DILR and 84.56 in QA, your chances at top IIMs are limited, as most older IIMs usually shortlist general category candidates at much higher percentiles. However, this percentile still keeps you eligible for admission calls from several Tier-2 and Tier-3 MBA colleges across India, especially those that consider overall performance, academic background and work experience along with CAT scores. You can expect calls from institutes such as IMT Nagpur, IMI Bhubaneswar, FORE School of Management (some programs), TAPMI Manipal (borderline), Great Lakes Institute of Management (Chennai or Gurgaon for PGPM/PGDM variants), K J Somaiya (depending on cut-offs), GIM Goa (through CAT or other exams), and state-level universities that accept CAT scores. Additionally, many good private universities and autonomous B-schools consider candidates in the 80–85 percentile range and conduct their own GD-PI rounds. To improve your chances, you should apply widely, prepare well for interviews, and highlight your academics, work experience, certifications and extracurricular achievements, as final selection is not based on CAT score alone.
All the best.
With an overall CAT 2025 percentile of 82.71, you are unlikely to get calls from the IIMs (including new or baby IIMs), as most of them generally shortlist candidates at 90+ percentile, even after considering category and profile factors. However, this percentile is still quite decent and opens doors to many good Tier-2 and Tier-3 MBA colleges in India that offer solid academics, reasonable placements, and good industry exposure.
At around 80–85 percentile, you have a strong chance of getting shortlisted by institutes such as IMI Bhubaneswar, IMT Nagpur, IMT Hyderabad, XIME Bangalore/Chennai, TAPMI Manipal (borderline, profile-dependent), IFMR GSB Krea University, FORE School of Management (certain programs), GIM Goa (specialised programs), LIBA Chennai (borderline), K J Somaiya Institute of Management (profile-based), Great Lakes Chennai/Gurgaon (PGDM – profile matters a lot), and Welingkar Mumbai (especially through profile + GDPI). Many reputed state universities and private institutes like PUMBA Pune, Delhi School of Management (DTU – if accepting CAT that year), BIMTECH (some programs), NDIM Delhi, ITM Navi Mumbai, and Jaipuria Institute of Management campuses are also realistic options.
Your sectional percentiles (VARC 80.56, DILR 75.81, QA 84.56) are fairly balanced, which works in your favor, as several colleges apply sectional cut-offs around 60–70 percentile. Final selection will depend not only on CAT score but also on academic background, graduation marks, work experience, diversity factors, and GD-PI performance. If you have work experience, it significantly improves your chances at colleges like Great Lakes, FORE, IFMR, and Welingkar.
In summary, while top IIMs are not achievable at 82.71 percentile, you can still secure admission into reputed mid-tier MBA colleges that provide good ROI and career growth if you perform well in the GD-PI process. It is advisable to apply broadly, focus on profile-based institutes, and prepare seriously for interviews to convert the best possible calls.
With 84.91 percentile in CAT (General, male, no work experience), top colleges like IIMs, IITs, FMS, MDI, etc. are not possible. You may get calls from private institutes such as IMT Nagpur/Hyderabad, IMI Bhubaneswar, XIME, SDMIMD, Welingkar (some programs) and similar colleges. Universities like Amity or LPU are also options.
It’s better to choose carefully, as placements and ROI may be average. Reattempting CAT or trying XAT/CMAT could improve options.
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