Mental health, Time Management, Constant Stress, Self Doubts, Competition, Low Scores, Heartbreaks, Personal Issues and what not
It is not just an aptitude exam, it is a test of your mental and emotional strength. How well you can handle pressure and how well your near and dear ones too. There will be days you will be on cloud nine and then the days you will cry like hell. There are days you will feel like giving up and it is not just about me it is about each and every CAT 99%iler that is built with consistency.
Here is my detailed journey on how I managed to reach the percentile I got.
It took me 2 years and 3 attempts to reach where I am today. A lot of people doubted me, motivated me, supported me, believed in me, stayed or left.
Some even doubted my 1st attempt’s score that it was a mere fluke. Some said, you are chasing a dream you can never achieve.
Going back to my desire to appear for the CAT exam, it sparked out of my interest in management and leadership when I led a lot of teams in my college days. Being someone who was naturally inclined towards management, I got to know about the CAT exam from a friend from IIM Lucknow. I immediately found the pattern to be quite pleasing and the exam definitely worth a shot.
I decided to do self study and went for my first attempt. Let’s look at my three attempts.
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CAT Topper’s First Attempt – CAT 2023 (99.47%ile)
I gave my first CAT attempt in 2023 with a mindset to just get a 99%ile anyhow, wasn’t even considering reattempt and was like “BC, jo milega, lelenge”. I gave my very first free mock test on iQuanta Platform with 0 preparation, that year iCAT 1 was free and scored 85 marks. I was like I can get this. And then, I used to give a lot of free mocks and PYQs. One thing was I did all the PYQs from the year 2000. Being a GEM, I didn’t get a BLACKIS or FMS call, but was likely to join whatever B-school I converted. Managed to convert, SIBM Pune, SCMHRD Pune, MICA Ahmedabad, New IIMs, etc., but my eyes were set at IIT Bombay. And guess what, towards the end I was waitlisted at 1. It appeared as if the doors were closed on my face. What happened after that was more draining and it was like continuous negatives adding. The time when no one actually knew how much I cried. I wanted to give up on everything, but somehow, I managed to hold myself up and joined a job.
CAT Topper’s Second Attempt – CAT 2024 (A Chance Affair)
I gave it as a trial attempt, with 0 preparation. I managed to score a 95.58%ile but guess what it was a 0 in VARC. Literal ZERO in actual CAT but I didn’t worry because I knew I prepared nothing at all.
CAT Topper’s Third Attempt – CAT 2025 (99.96%ile, LRDI 100%iler)
I wanted to go my all in for this one and didn’t want to hold back anything. I was having a full time 6 days WORK FROM OFFICE job, with 1.5-2 hours of travel either way. Used to leave home at 7:30 am and reach back sometimes at 9pm. So, my entire day was kind of gone. I used to get tired by the time I reached home. Somehow, I always used to force myself to study even if it was for an hour because that’s where consistency plays in. I gave my all in for this exam and was like I have to crack it this year anyhow. Gave a lot of mocks, analyzed and cried. Faced the toughest and the best of my days.
And I didn’t always used to score high, there were days I just used to score in single digit in a section, infact my lowest ever mock score was -5, yes negative 5 in the VARC section and that too in the month of November, I felt like giving up.
Plus, I was having certain issues in my personal life because of which my days were getting kinda rough but again I focused totally on my exam but anyways, the exam went well.
I was working with iQuanta and used to talk to all the amazing faculties over here at regular basis and constant guidance and motivation from Jeet sir was really helpful.
Exam Day Experience of a CAT Topper Anmol Gupta (99.96%ile)
“I couldn’t sleep properly a night before, had fever, woke up late. I was getting late and guess what my cab wasn’t booking. A cab booked, showed 7 minutes and guess what, he cancelled 2 streets before where I was standing. I was asked not to go via bike because of fever and headache, but, I had no option. Another cab luckily got booked, but the time said 15 minutes and I couldn’t wait that much. I took the step and booked Rapido because anyways, I had to give the exam. Later, I reached the centre just on time, but in a hurry, forgot to take my medicines, and fever was about to come. 12:28 noon, I started getting blanked out, asked for water, but no one was carrying a water bottle, and, I couldn’t go out from the room, because it meant, waiting, waiting and waiting and a chance to go through the re frisk process, I was like, leave everything, this is MY TIME. Initial 5 minutes, fever was taking a hold on me, and I couldn’t even read anything in VARC. I thought that my CAT dream was over. But, luckily, I composed myself, and decided to give it my all. VARC somehow passed and then there was no stopping back. I completed the LRDI section in 32-35 minutes and I was sure of getting 50+ in this section, luckily I touched 60. And, anyways, I got 40 in QA. And that’s how my exam went.
I would like to thank my entire iQuanta team for constant support and Jeet sir for guidance.”
