CAT 2020 Topper Manas Kumar Pradhan Interview: Know How Manas Scored 99.78 Percentile
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 12 Nov '25
Manas Kumar made an entry to the 99 percentilers club of CAT 2020. Know what he has to say about his preparation strategy for CAT exam 2020 and his success mantra in the article below.
CAT Overall Percentile: 99.79
VARC percentile: 89.9
DILR percentile: 97.32
QA percentile: 99.49
Manas Kumar Pradhan is a final year engineering student of IIT Dhanbad. He hails from Sambalpur, Orissa. He is a Graphic Designer too and is a part of many clubs and cultural groups in his college. He received calls from some of the prestigious IIMs. Manas shares his CAT 2020 success journey with Shiksha. Read the article below to know more.
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Q1. Was this your first CAT attempt? Were you expecting this score?
A. Yes, this was my first CAT attempt. When I appeared for the exam, I knew that I attempted DILR and QA sections well, but I was not expecting the 89 percentile in VARC. I calculated my score and due to the scaled score difference, there was somehow a good percentile. So, yes, I was expecting this score.
Q2. Tell us about your preparation strategy.
A. I began my preparations from March onwards. I was also engaged with some Facebook groups such as IQuanta. I used to solve the questions that they shared on IQuanta. Apart from that I also appeared for many mock tests. I bought an IMS package for CAT mock tests and appeared for them. I majorly focused on mock tests and not any other book. Since I also appeared for JEE Main, I had an upper hand in my preparations for QA and DILR. For VARC, I was reading articles from magazines and newspapers and I used to frame questions and answer them from that particular article or passage. I used to understand and form a summary of the passage too to understand it better. For DILR, I did refer to CAT preparation books by Arun Sharma. I think if you are preparing for CAT along with attempting mock tests, then it is the best preparation strategy to have.
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Q3. How many mock tests did you attempt?
A. I attempted approximately 15-20 mock tests. I think that this is a good number for the CAT preparation.
Q4. Which books did you refer to for your CAT preparation?
A. I referred to CAT preparation books by Arun Sharma for DILR preparation. For QA, I referred to TIME study material and solved mock tests. And for VARC as well I only appeared for mock tests and read a lot.
Q5. What was your exam day strategy?
A. I was not acquainted with the new CAT exam pattern and it came as a surprise to me. I began with the Reading Comprehension section and I was lucky enough to get the easier set of questions to solve and that boosted the confidence in me. I attempted two questions and skipped the third which I found a little difficult and then I moved on to the other part of the question paper. I had para jumbles to solve. I only attempted the questions which were easy for me as VARC was not my strong suit.
I attempted only two sets of DILR as I found this section to be difficult too. But I attempted the questions carefully and scored well in the section.
For QA, I attempted the algebraic questions first and then dived into the geometric ones. So this was the strategy for the section.
Q6. What was your weak area(s) and what did you do to improve the same?
A. For me it was VARC. I think that I understood that it is important to focus on the number of questions you attempt when you are weaker in a particular section. My seniors suggested that if I attempt 12-13 questions with 100% accuracy then I could easily score well in that particular section. So, I focused on the number of questions to attempt. For example, parajumble questions were easier so I attempted those. I maximized on the other two sections.
Q7. Have you got interview calls from the IIMs? Which IIM/MBA colleges are you targeting and why?
A. Yes, I got calls from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Vishakhapatnam and all the new IIMs. But I am also targeting IIM B and IIM C.
Q8. Is it important to join a coaching institute for CAT preparation?
A. No, it is not necessary. They can guide the students but it ultimately comes down to how you yourself prepare for the exam.
Q9. Any specific strategy for WAT-PI?
A. None yet. I feel I will do well in the PI and WAT so I have not focused on the strategy yet.
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Q10. How did you deal with the stress of CAT prep and exam?
A. I was preparing for CAT and other entrance exams and also sitting for placements. So I was well prepared and was attempting mock tests so I was not stressed as such. I knew I can attempt CAT again if I did not score well in this one so I was okay with the prep stress.
Q11. Any tips for future CAT aspirants?
A. Make sure you prepare two sections very well. Maximize on two if not three. Practice a lot and attempt an ample number of mock tests.
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