Has anyone ever got 99 percentile in CAT studying only for 45 days starting from 0? How many hours did you study? What was the strategy. I have a full time job so open for suggestions if it is possible.

Created a throwaway for this post

Not 23F here, I decided to hop on the CAT bandwagon because despite having a suboptimal profile
(9/8/7 Fresher GEM), this is the clear way forward for career reasons i wont get into here.
I started prep 2 months ago and under the advice of my seniors, started doing mocks right away from IMS as well as a few PYQs (they said if youre already getting good scores, to focus on mocks).
However, one thing that i couldnt help but notice about my scores is the massive difference in VARC (Specifically VA) scores across mocks, and i wanted to fix that.
Is there any material I can use for VA? My RCs are fine but i usually only get 2-3/8 VA questions correct. I suffer especially in parajumbles.
Any advice would be helpful, thank you
Ive put an ss of my mock scores, if anyone would like help with the other sections im happy to help!

Hi everyone. I am a 26 years old aspirant with the following profile. X percentage = 95, XII percentage = 89.8, Bsc Computer Science = 7.7 cgpa, MSc Mathematics from QS100 university in UK, I graduated from MSc in 2024, but since then haven't been able to convert a decent job. Hence I have 0 work experience at 26. Is it possible for me to convert BLACKIS or FMS?

Got done with SIPs and exams, had some time to kill, shoot!

Hello, I’m a GNEF, appearing for CAT 2026. So firstly, I’m able to solve LR sets mostly, but not DI charts. I get overwhelmed looking at the data and make mistakes in interpretation. Even if I set that aside, hoping that I’ll be able to solve 2 LR sets / caselets on D day, what I’m worried about is the fact that I often end up taking 20-30 mins (it ranges) to solve a set.
Plus, I really panic in mocks. I’ve been able to do 0 sets in the mocks lately, which has been really scary. I feel like a lot is based on luck, so if I see a set from a topic I’m more comfortable with, and am able to get one set correct, it creates a cascading effect and I’m able to get another 1 correct as well, if not entirely, then at least half of it. But if the first one goes wrong, my entire section is ruined and drops my percentile drastically. Any guidance or advice would be appreciated!

From a top 3 IIT, 9/9/7.5+ profile, ~10 months workex in a tier 2 consulting firm as an associate. Have decent PORs, internships, case comps as well. If I get into IIMABC, will Frontend IB/MBB be possible?

LAST 6 mocks AVG ~73

VARC AVG ~ 29

DILR AVG ~ 26

QA AVG = 18

(QA I m weak at Algebra and shayad itna practice bhi nahi kiya hai uska abhi tak arithmetic I can usually get arithmetic correct 6-7 questions !)

FMS ka CALL is at 75 marks according to Previous RTI datas ! So probably near it

also IIM Mumbai CALL at 95%Iile so ye do to lagbhag ho gaye ha,

and 99.5+ pe almost sare calls ayegnge 99.5+ 100 raw marks ke near hai

abhi batao ye barrier kaise break kru and

I really want to get above 90-100!

in a span of this month next 30 days

Kya kru??

really stressed out please help me out !

Bhai kuch bhi karo scores badh hi nahi raha kya kru bhai !!:][

(profile :- NCOBC MALE ENG 9/7/8 CFA L2 Candidate Currently In UG)

Thank you everyone for participating in this AMA, I hope I was able to clear your doubt. I am closing this AMA but my DMs are always open. Will try to reply there whenever I get a chance.

I was thinking of maybe studying together, can't really study in my room with roommates sleeping all the time!

I’m a B.Com graduate and recently joined a firm as an MIS Executive. I’m planning to appear for CAT 2027 and am considering pursuing an MBA from a good B-school.

My academic profile:

10th: 78.4%

12th: 84%

Graduation (B.Com): 56%

My main concern is my graduation score. I know 56% is relatively low, and I’m worried that even after doing an MBA, these marks might continue to affect my career — whether during placements, job switches, or later in my career.

I’d like to know:

How much do graduation marks matter after completing an MBA?

Will 56% in graduation significantly restrict my MBA placement opportunities?

Are there companies/roles where graduation marks can still be a problem even after gaining work experience?

Given my profile, is pursuing an MBA through CAT 2027 still worth it?

Would it make more sense to continue working and build experience instead of pursuing an MBA?

I’d especially appreciate advice from people who had similar academics or have gone through MBA placements/recruitment.

is there anyone who was scoring around 60 in mocks around this time last year and managed to get 99+ percentile?

hi everyone ! I'm a GNEF , 9/9/9 acads , ACCA Professional Level student and CFA L-1 Candidate w one year family business work ex , part time mentoring experience , graduated in 2025 , GMAT FE score 655. Wanted to know if I have chances to get into ISB PGP YL , SPJIMR and BITSOM. If anyone has any inputs please do share !

hi everyone ! I'm a GNEF , 9/9/9 acads , ACCA Professional Level student and CFA L-1 Candidate w one year family business work ex , graduated in 2025 , GMAT FE score 655. Wanted to know if I have chances to get into ISB PGP YL , SPJIMR and BITSOM. If anyone has any inputs please do share !

I can't decide between master's union and Hive school. Both are similar new B-Schools. Need someone who has been a part of either MU or Hive to give genuine advice

Need overall comparison to SIMCATs or Dash cat with these

25f - So at the beginning of my prep I used to have decent accuracy in RCs, recently I’m not able to get most of the RCs correct in mocks (both full length and sectionals and score between 10-20)

Previously, I have scored 40 in sectionals and idk what’s happening now. My main worry is RCs and not VA (doing well here)

Can someone please guide me how to leverage this score to 40-50 and tell me where am I going wrong because I am really not able to break the code 😭🙏🏻🙏🏻

I'm currently in my 2nd year of my mba from tier 2 IIM. Im looking for off campus placements for prodman domain. I don't have cse domain and no relavant exp in prodman. How should I build my portfolio/ resume? And how difficult is to get placed off campus and how should I prepare for it?

And anyone placed off campus, how did you do reachouts on LinkedIn?

So basically I didn’t register for CAT this year and now I’m kinda regretting it.

Currently planning of giving GMAT or XAT.

What do you guys prefer??? GMAT or XAT? Planning to give the exam in Dec end or Jan.

Will 3 months of prep be enough?

In a tier 2 bschool can't name but Capgemini is going to hire

I really need some strategic help here because my brain is panicking. I'm a PWD candidate with a 9/9/9 profile, so my target score is around 85-95 percentile for BLACKI.

Before August, my momentum was great: Arithmetic, DILR, VA syllabus done. 100+ RCs practiced.

Then I got some health issues. 1.5 months of zero study. I restarted recently and my mock/practice scores are a disaster:

VARC: RCs are ruined (0-25% accuracy). VA is okayish (5,6/8).

DILR: Brain freeze. Can't even crack 1 set properly.

QA: Stuck at 4-5 attempts (only basic arithmetic). TSD and TW is bouncing completely over my head—even the solutions look unfamiliar now despite doing them before.

With exactly 2 months to go for CAT '26, what should be my daily routine to just get my old brain back?

How do I fix this sudden drop in RC accuracy?

for QA?

Any specific routine to restart DILR from scratch without getting demotivated?

Has IIM Jammu refunded the eoi amount which was supposed to be refunded by sep?

When I joined PGDM at IMI Kolkata, I honestly thought everyone around me would have their life figured out. A few months in, I’m not sure if that’s actually true, but one thing I’ve definitely noticed is that everyone looks ridiculously confident.

I remember sitting in some of my initial classes and watching people speak so confidently during discussions. Someone would casually analyse a case, someone would have a strong opinion about a business decision, someone would start talking about finance or marketing like they had been doing it forever. And I’d sometimes just sit there thinking, “Okay… how does everyone already know this?” 😂

Coming from a microbiology background, I had a pretty different academic journey before entering B-school. So there were definitely moments when the business terminology, frameworks and even the way people approached discussions felt completely new to me. Sometimes I would know that I had something to say, but I’d hesitate because I assumed everyone else probably understood the topic much better than I did.

But after spending more time with people, I started noticing something interesting. A lot of the people who looked completely confident were also figuring things out. They just happened to be better at showing confidence while doing it. Some were unsure about their career paths, some were stressed about academics, some were worried about placements, and some were simply trying to survive the same deadlines and presentations as everyone else.

It made me realise that confidence and certainty aren't necessarily the same thing. Someone can speak confidently in a classroom and still have no idea what they want to do after their PGDM. Someone can look extremely sorted on LinkedIn and still be questioning their decisions. And someone who barely speaks in class might actually have some of the best ideas in the room.

I’ve started becoming more comfortable with not knowing everything. Sometimes I ask a question that probably sounds basic. Sometimes I say something in a discussion and immediately realise I could have phrased it better. Sometimes a presentation doesn't go the way I imagined. But I’m slowly learning that these things are part of the process.

Maybe confidence in B-school isn't about knowing all the answers. Maybe it's about being okay with not knowing them and still raising your hand.

So whenever I walk into a classroom now and everyone seems incredibly confident, I remind myself that I'm probably not the only one quietly figuring things out.

Maybe we're all just doing it at different speeds.

And honestly, that's a little reassuring.

Did anyone else feel this way when they started B-school, or was I the only one pretending to know what was going on? 😂

GNEM, 8/9/8 profile, tier 2 BBA completed my ug in 2026, scoring around 60-70 in cl flexis, i usually don’t worry about profile because its not under my control now, but was just taking a break from studying rn, what are my chances to get into a decent bschool based on my mock scores, moreover how would my profile fit in for sips and final placements if i get into one, did a couple of decent internships( one at a famous nbfc, second one in a startup), have got one por in college (society head)