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CAT 2021 Topper Interview: Know How Ved Vineet Scored 99.4 Percentile
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
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.
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.
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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: What is sectional cutoff in CAT exam?
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 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:
- IIM Ahmedabad: 95 percentile
- IIM Bangalore: 85 percentile
- IIM Calcutta: 85 percentile
- IIM Lucknow: 90 percentile
- IIM Kozhikode: 85 percentile
- IIM Indore: 90 percentile
- IIM Udaipur: 93 percentile
- IIM Shillong: 75 percentile
- IIM Trichy: 93 percentile
- IIM Visakhapatnam: 80 percentile
- IIM Rohtak: 95 percentile
- 1IIM Nagpur: 85 percentile
- IIM Jammu: 93 percentile
- IIM Ranchi: 90 percentile
- IIM Sirmaur: 92 percentile
- IIM Bodhgaya: 93 percentile
- IIM Sambalpur: 93 percentile
- IIM Kashipur: 94 percentile
- IIM Raipur: 93 percentile
- 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.
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.
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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:
Q. Is it important to join a coaching institute for CAT preparation?
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 are also not released publicly. They are known after a few days of the result announcement when the IIMs and other colleges start their shortlisting process. The IIMs will open the shortlist window based on the CAT cut-offs two to three days after the result announcement. The CAT percentile of candidates shortlisted for the Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) can be considered the cut-off for that IIM. For example, if a candidate with a CAT percentile of 99 belonging to the General category is selected for the WAT/GD-PI of IIM Calcutta, then the CAT cut-off for IIM Calcutta is 99 percentile. Only those candidates who make it to the WAT/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:
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|---|---|
| CAT preparation: Your love for reading can get you the desired result |
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| CAT Preparation plan for data interpretation & logical reasoning |
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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:
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:
- IIM Bangalore
- IIM Lucknow
- IIM Ahmedabad
- IIM Calcutta
- IIM Kozhikode
- IIM Indore
- FMS Delhi
- SP Jain Institute of Management and Research
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.
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Sectional cut-off in the CAT exam refers to the section-wise percentiles required by the candidate to make it to the Personal Interview round of the IIMs or other top MBA colleges. The sectional cut-offs are lower than the 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