Abhishek
Abhishek Dhawan
Assistant Manager – Editorial Content
Updated on Jan 4, 2022 15:09 IST

Shiksha had an exclusive interview with Ved Vineet, CAT 2021 topper. Read the interview to know how he scored 99.4 percentile in CAT 2021.

CAT 2021 Topper

Name: Ved Vineet

Overall CAT Percentile: 99.4

Sectional Percentiles:

  • VARC: 98.11
  • DILR: 97.03
  • Quant: 98.9

Ved Vineet, a graduate of IIT BHU has been able to fetch the 99.4 percentile in CAT 2021. He holds a BTech in Metallurgical Engineering degree. After passing out in 2020, he has been working as an Operations Manager in Tata Steels. While preparing for the CAT exam, he found his weak spot in the DILR, yet has scored 97.03 percentile in the section. Shiksha was able to speak with the CAT 2021 topper, Know what he has to say about CAT 2021 score, his preparation strategy and more in the article below.

Explore colleges based on CAT

Ahmedabad
#1 NIRF
₹12 L - 25 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Bangalore
#2 NIRF
₹12.5 L - 24.5 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Kozhikode
#3 NIRF
₹20.5 L - 22.5 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Kolkata
#5 NIRF
NA
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges

Want better recommendations?

There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
Delhi
#4 NIRF
₹12 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Lucknow
#7 NIRF
₹7.6 L - 12.6 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Mumbai
#6 NIRF
₹14 L
Ranked in the top 10 by NIRF
Indore
#8 NIRF
₹17.25 L - 20 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Rohtak
#12 NIRF
₹18.92 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
Gurgaon
#11 NIRF
₹8.25 L - 26 L
In Top 10 %ile by Average Salary of MBA Colleges
View allCollections

Q. Was this your first CAT attempt? Were you expecting to score so well?

A. This was my second CAT attempt. I scored 99.33 in my last attempt. I was expecting to do better than that this time.

Q. Tell us about your preparation strategy?

Q:   How much percentile is a good score in CAT exam?

A:

The CAT (Common Admission Test) is a highly competitive entrance exam for admission to various management programs offered by top business schools in India. The percentile score in CAT exam is based on the relative performance of the test taker compared to all the other test takers.

The cutoff percentile for admission to top business schools varies from year to year and also depends on factors such as the number of candidates, difficulty level of the exam, and the number of available seats. In general, a percentile score of 90 or above is considered a good score and can help you secure admission to some of the top business schools in India. However, to increase your chances of admission to the top-tier business schools, a percentile score of 95 or above is preferred.

Q:   How much percentile is a good score in the CAT exam?

A:
The Common Admission Test CAT is a national-level management entrance examination conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission to various postgraduate management programs in India. The CAT score is measured in terms of percentile, which indicates the percentage of candidates who scored less than the candidate in the exam. Since CAT is a highly competitive exam, a good score percentile is dependent on various factors such as the number of candidates who appeared for the exam, the difficulty level of the exam, and the admission criteria of the participating institutes. However, in general, a percentile score of 90 or above is considered to be a good score in the CAT exam. With a percentile score of 90 or above, candidates can expect to receive calls for interviews from some of the top management institutes in the country. However, it's important to note that the admission process for management institutes is holistic and takes into account various factors such as academic performance, work experience, extracurricular activities, and the candidate's overall profile. Therefore, a good percentile score is just one of the many factors that are considered during the admission process.

Q:   How is the CAT score and percentile calculated?

A:
As there are many confusions in percentage and percentile. So, percentage is a ratio expressed as a fraction of 100. Whereas, percentile is dependent on the highest marks. It is a measured by using the statistics indicating the value below which a given percentage of observations of candidates fall. Talking about how the CAT exam percentile is calculated, so assuming that 2,00,000 people appeared for CAT exam in a particular year. The net score of everyone is calculated, and all test-takers are sorted in descending order as per their marks in CAT. Assuming your rank is 1500. So, in this case, your percentile score will be: Total No. of Candidates-your rank Therefore 200000-1500=198500 (198500/200000)x100 = 99.25 percentile. And if there are three decimals in the answer like 99.258, so it will be rounded to 99.3. So, like this, the percentile of CAT exam and similar exams are calculated.

A. The key thing required for solid preparation while working is regularity and perseverance. You need to be very regular with your practice and take mocks periodically. Assessing your strengths and weaknesses through a thorough analysis of the mock tests is very important.

Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates

SRCC GBO Admit Card Release

5 Feb '25

SBEST Result Announcement 2025

6 Feb '25

ATMA 2025: Last Date of Fee Payment

9 Feb '25

GE & PI Shortlist Declaration

14 Feb '25

IRMASAT Personal Interviews

20 Feb '25

IBSAT 2024 Selection Process (...

15 Feb '25 - 24 Feb '25

Amrita CAT 2025: Last date of ...

28 Feb '25

Issuance of Admission Order (v...

28 Feb '25

MAT 2024 Registration Process ...

24 Dec '24 - 2 Mar '25

JET 2025 Registration

20 Nov '24 - 28 Feb '25

Q. What was your exam day strategy?

A. You need to stop yourself from thinking about the CAT results and believe in the hard work you've put in.

Q. What was your weak area(s) and what did you do to improve the same?

A. My weakest area while preparation was Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. I made it a habit to solve at least 2 DILR sets in the last three months before the exam.

Also Read:

VARC preparation tips and tricks

DILR preparation tips and tricks

QA preparation tips and tricks

Q. Is it important to join a coaching institute for CAT preparation?

Q:   What is sectional cutoff in CAT exam?

A:

Sectional cut off in CAT exam refers to the section wise percentiles required by the candidate for making it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut offs are lower than overall cut offs of any institute. To understand better, check the table below for sectional CAT cut offs for IIM Ahmedabad:

Category

VARC percentile

DILR percentile

QA percentile

Overall percentile

General

70

70

70

80

NC-OBC-Transgender

65

65

65

75

SC

60

60

60

70

ST

50

50

50

60

PwD (General, NC-OBC-cum-transgender, SC)

60

60

60

70

PwD (ST)

50

50

50

60

For sectional cut offs of all IIMs, check this article – IIM shortlist and selection criteria

Q:   How many questions should I solve to score 99 percentile in CAT exam?

A:
It is tough to give an accurate number as an answer to this questions are the number of questions have been changing in CAT in the last three years. Moreover, percentile also depends on the difficulty level of the exams and the number of test takers in a particular year. However, one can say that it is safe to solve at least 2/3rd of the total questions in each section of the CAT. So, if CAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section has 24 questions, candidate must attempt 16-18 questions correctly. If the CAT Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning has 20 questions, the candidate must solve about 12-14 questions correctly. If the CAT Quantitative Aptitude section has 22 questions then candidates must solve about 14-15 questions correctly. For further understanding you can check detailed analysis here: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/how-many-questions-to-attempt-in-cat-to-score-99-percentile-blogId-19639.

Q:   What is the CAT cut off for IIM Lucknow?

A:
The CAT cut offs for IIM Lucknow is usually around 97-99 percentile. The two courses - PGP Agri-Business Management (ABM) and PGP Sustainable Management (some) are extremely popular among MBA aspirants who wish to make a career in these areas. The institute also offers PGP programme. The qualifying CAT cut off for IIM Lucknow's Written Ability test (What) and Personal Interview PI is 90 percentile for General category students, whereas for SC candidates, it is 70 percentile. For ST and PwD candidates, it is 60 percentile. Given below are the sectional and overall qualifying CAT cut offs for IIM Lucknow PGP course. General category: 85 VARC 85 DILR 85 Quantitative Aptitude 90 (Overall) NC-OBC category: 77 VARC 77 DILR 77 Quantitative Aptitude 82 (Overall) EWS category: 77 VARC 77 DILR 77 Quantitative Aptitude 82 (Overall) SC category: 55 VARC 55 DILR 55 Quantitative Aptitude 70 (Overall) ST category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall) PwD category: 50 VARC 50 DILR 50 Quantitative Aptitude 60 (Overall) Click here for detailed IIM Lucknow admission and selection criteria: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/iim-lucknow-shortlist-admission-criteria-blogId-18509.

Q:   What are the qualifying CAT cutoffs for all the IIMs?

A:
Qualifying CAT cut off percentiles of Iims for Written Ability Test (What) and Personal Interview PI for the batch of 2023-25 are listed below. Candidates who MET the qualifying CAT cut off, were eligible for What-PI round. These qualifying CAT cut offs are for General Category. The cut offs for Reserved category students are lower: 1. IIM Ahmedabad: 85 percentile 2. IIM Bangalore: 85 percentile 3. IIM Calcutta: 85 percentile 4. IIM Lucknow: 90 percentile 5. IIM Kozhikode: 85 percentile 6. IIM Indore: 90 percentile 7. IIM Udaipur: 93 percentile 8. IIM Shillong: 75 percentile 9. IIM Trichy: 93 percentile 10. IIM Visakhapatnam: 80 percentile 11. IIM Rohtak: 95 percentile 12. IIM Nagpur: 85 percentile 13. IIM Jammu: 93 percentile 14. IIM Ranchi: 90 percentile 15. IIM Sirmaur: 92 percentile 16. IIM Bodhgaya: 93 percentile 17. IIM Sambalpur: 93 percentile 18. IIM Kashipur: 94 percentile 19. IIM Raipur: 93 percentile 20. IIM Amritsar: 90 percentile For complete details of IIM selection and admission process read this article: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/iim-shortlist-selection-admission-criteria-blogId-18787.

Q:   Are CAT cut offs announced along with the CAT result?

A:
CAT cut offs are not announced along with the CAT result. The cut offs also not released publicaly. They are known after a few days of result announcement when the IIMs and other colleges start their shortlisting process. The IIMs will open shortlist window basis the CAT cut offs two to three days after the result announcement. The CAT percentile of candidates shortlisted for Written Ability Test (What), Group Discussion GD and Personal Interview, PI can be considered the cut off for that IIM. For example, if a candidate with CAT percentile of 99 belonging from General category is selected for the What/GD-PI of IIM Calcutta, then the CAT cut off for IIM Calcutta is 99 percentile. Only those candidates who will make it to the What/GD-PI round of IIMs will get to know the cut offs.

A. No, it is not at all important to join a coaching institute for CAT preparation. You just need to prepare in a disciplined manner.

Q. Which books did you study for CAT preparation?

A. For Quantitative Ability, I studied from Arun Sharma's Quant book. While, the preparation for DILR, I referred to Nishit Sinha's DILR book.

Also Read: Best Books to Prepare for CAT

Q. Did COVID-19 affect your preparation/performance?

A. With the second wave stabilised during the preparation phase, COVID-19 did not seem threat while preparing.

Also Read:

Articles for CAT Preparation

Best books for CAT recommended by experts

CAT Preparation: Best strategy to crack CAT

CAT preparation: Your love for reading can get you the desired result

CAT Preparation plan for verbal ability

Quantitative Aptitude preparation plan for CAT

CAT Preparation plan for data interpretation & logical reasoning

Q. How much time did you devote to CAT preparation?

A. Along with the CAT preparation, I have limited time on weekdays. I devoted two hours on all the weekdays. However, had to stretch during the weekends; thus, 4-5 hours of preparation on the weekends helped me score well. With this schedule, I was able to prepare in four months

Also Read:

How to prepare for CAT without quitting your job

CAT Preparation in 3 Months

Best Time to Start CAT Preparation

CAT Preparation in 6 Months

Q. What is your plan after completing your MBA?

A. I'm already working in the lower level of management and therefore know the associated limitations. My plan is to hone my management knowledge and skills through a formal degree and elevate myself to the upper echelons of management.

Also Read:

Q. From which MBA colleges are you expecting admission calls?

A: With a 99.4 percentile, I am expecting admission calls from the following colleges:

Check Cut offs of top MBA entrance exams and predict calls from IIMs and other Top MBA Colleges. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and eligibility of all MBA Colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict IIM & Non IIM Calls

Check CAT cut offs and predict calls from IIMs and Non-IIMs accepting CAT score for admission. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and Eligibility of all CAT participating colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict CAT Admission Calls

Q. Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

A. Just believe in yourself and keep the flame within you alive. Only you know how much effort you have to put in to crack the exam. Just be true to yourself and work hard.

Read More:

About the Author
author-image
Abhishek Dhawan
Assistant Manager – Editorial Content

With a creative soul, Abhishek is inclined towards anything in the creative space be it drawing, painting, craft, or writing. He has been working in the ed-tech industry since he started his career. Besides creative... Read Full Bio

Download Important Dates for MBA/PGDM Exams

News & Updates

Latest NewsPopular News

Explore Other Exams

Jan '25

XAT 2025 Cut Offs Release

17 Jan '25

XAT 2025 result

8 Jan '25

SNAP 2024 result announcement

21 Dec '24

SNAP 2024 session 3

13 Jan '25 -

17 Jan '25

NMAT 2024 Exam Window (second ...

5 Jan '25 -

10 Jan '25

NMAT 2024 Scheduling Window (s...

17 Oct '24 -

5 Dec '24

IIFT 2025 registration and app...

24 Dec '24 -

2 Mar '25

MAT 2024 Registration Process ...

24 Dec '24 -

9 Mar '25

MAT 2024 Registration Process ...

Feb '25

IBSAT 2024 Selection Process (...

28 Dec '24 -

29 Dec '24

IBSAT 2024 Exam

31 Jan '25 -

2 Feb '25

CMAT 2025 Answer Key Release a...

25 Jan '25

CMAT 2025 exam date

25 Dec '24 -

10 Feb '25

MAH CET 20245 registration pro...

Mar '25

MAH MBA CET 2025

24 Jan '25 -

21 Feb '25

TANCET 2025 Registration

Feb '25

TANCET Admit Card Download

Feb '25

IRMASAT Personal Interviews

Mar '25

IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno...

The list of exams are recommended based on what other exams do the students in your area show interest in
qna

Student Forum

chatAnything you would want to ask experts?
Write here...

Answered 21 hours ago

  1. University Business School (UBS), Chand

...Read more

S

Shiv Kumar

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

Yes, students can get admission at Centre for Liberal and Advanced Studies MBA without CAT. The institute accepts admisison based on entrance exams. The institute accepts other national exams such as MAT, XAT, CMAT, and others. Candidates can appear on any of the exams accepted the institute. It is

...Read more

A

Akansha Gaurav

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 2 days ago

It is mandatory to clear CAT examination to seek admission at IIM Ahmedabad. The Institute considers CAT percentile for the admission to MBA, along with the understanding of the CAT percentile for IIM Ahmedabad that reached up to 99.6 in the past years which shows how challenging it is for a candida

...Read more

A

Aishwarya Sharma

Beginner-Level 5

Answered 5 days ago

Yes, the CAT 2025 exam will be conducted in three shifts. Until 2019, CAT was conducted in two shifts and the exam duration used to be 180 minutes. However, in 2020, the number of shifts were increased to three and exam duration was reduced to 120 minutes in order to follow the social distancing gui

...Read more

C

Chanchal Gaurav

Contributor-Level 8

Answered 5 days ago

Yes, candidates can get into the Vidyasagar University MBA course with the CAT percentile. As per the admission guidelines of the university, candidates are shortlisted for the MBA course based on multiple national-level exams such as MAT/XAT/ ATMA/ CMAT. Candidates must make sure to apply for the e

...Read more

P

Parul Gulati

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 6 days ago

No, CAT is not compulsory for admission to AIMS Mumbai. Aspirants with a valid score in any of the accepted entrance exam such as XAT, CMAT, ATMA, MAH CET, etc. can get admission provided they also fulfil the eligibility requirements. Candidates need to provide the entrance exam score in the applica

...Read more

N

Nishtha Shukla

Contributor-Level 10

Answered a week ago

Mewar University MBA course admission is entrance-based. Candidates must participate in national-level exams such as CUET-PG, MAT, CMAT, CUET, and MUEE. Therefore, candidates can get admission to the MBA course without a CAT score since candidates can opt for any on of the entrance exams mentioned a

...Read more

T

Taru Taneja

Contributor-Level 6

Answered a week ago

During CDAC C-CAT counselling process, the candidates will be allotted as per their obtained rank, preferences, category and seat availability. It is important for the candidates to select the correct order of preferences for allotment. The authorities will prepare the allotment list carefully after

...Read more

S

Shiksha Garg

Beginner-Level 4

Answered a week ago

No. The authorities will not allow fresh choice filling for the second round of CDAC C-CAT counselling. Candidates will have to make their selection during the first round of CDAC C-CAT counselling. No changes can be done once the choices are submitted. Fresh choice filling can be done only during t

...Read more

S

Saakshi Varsha Lama

Contributor-Level 10

Answered a week ago

During the CDAC C-CAT counselling process, the candidates will have to select their choice of courses before the final date. It is to be noted that the selection of courses has to be done in the order of preference. This is important as the order of preference will be considered for allotment of sea

...Read more

J

Jasleen Shukla

Beginner-Level 4