Every CAT journey has its own highs and lows. Some sail through smoothly, others battle waitlists, rejections, and self-doubt before finally making it. This blog is about one such journey of Vansh Arora, who went from scoring 44%ile or 14 marks in his very first iQuanta mock to achieving 98.47%ile in CAT 2025 and finally converting MDI Gurgaon. This blog covers the detailed journey of a topper, about the weaker sections, major challenges faced by him during CAT preparation and how iQuanta’s application classes helped him understand the actual difficulty level of the CAT exam and finally leads to the success for converting one of the top B-schools in India i.e, Management Development Institute.
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Scored Just 14 Marks in First Mock & Ended Up Converting MDI
The iQuanta student we are talking about is Vansh Arora, now an MDI Gurgaon convert. The GEM fresher appeared for both CAT and XAT. What makes Vansh’s story truly special is where it started. His first iCAT Mock 1 in August 2025 gave him a percentile of just 44. Fast forward to CAT 2025 day, he walked out with an overall percentile of 98.47. Before we begin with his success story, tabulated below are the CAT Topper’s first mock scores and final CAT 2025 scores.
First Mock Scores
| Sections | Score | Percentile |
| VARC | 14 | 70 |
| DILR | -2 | 32 |
| QA | 2 | 34 |
| Overall | 14 | 44 |
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CAT 2025 Scorecard
| Sections | Scaled Score | Percentile |
| VARC | 38.25 | 97.66 |
| DILR | 29.91 | 99.06 |
| QA | 11.26 | 83.64 |
| Overall | 79.43 | 98.47 |
What Are The Major Challenges Faced By CAT Topper?
Despite strong CAT and XAT scores, the journey wasn’t over yet. Being a GEM (General Engineer Male) fresher, Vansh faced multiple waitlists and rejections during the admissions process. There were days of overthinking, constantly refreshing portals, and genuinely questioning whether things would work out.
In his own words,
“Honestly, after getting strong CAT and XAT scores, I thought the ride ahead would be smooth. But reality had other plans. Being a GEM fresher, the journey came with multiple waitlists, rejections, and moments where things genuinely felt uncertain.”
But through all of this, he held on to one realization:
“Consistency matters more than confidence on most days.”
How iQuanta Helped In His CAT Preparation?
Vansh has been vocal about the role iQuanta played in his preparation. He credited the iQuanta team, especially Shabana ma’am, and Sajjan Barnwal for his on-point DILR approach. He also thanked Indrajeet Singh for always pushing him toward the application classes to improve better practically so that the performance will simulate the exam-like conditions.
In his own words,
“All thanks to the amazing JADUGARS!!! Shabana ma’am my FAVV and Sajjan Barnwal sir for his LRDI approach, on point. Indrajeet Singh sir for always convincing me saying application classes will only help you succeed, study!!”
He also thanked iQuanta for helping him cruise through both CAT and XAT preparation.
