CAT 2023 Topper Shreemant Singi shares tips & hacks to score above 99 percentile in MBA entrance exam

Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )

DeskCalelnderAdmit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25

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Anum Ansari
Deputy Manager – Content
Updated on Dec 22, 2023 09:38 IST

CAT 2023 Topper, Shreemant Singi with 99.28 percentile shares his preparation strategy and important tips to crack India's biggest MBA entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know more about his CAT preparation journey and post-result career plans.

CAT 2023 Topper Interview: 99.28%iler

CAT 2023 Topper Interview: With a 99.28 percentile, Shreemant Singi is one of the above 99 percentilers of CAT 2023. Hailing from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Singi has completed his BTech in electronics and telecommunications from SGSITS, Indore. After cracking CAT 2023, Shreemant is aiming to pave his way in the management field by targeting top b-schools in India such as IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta and more. In his exclusive interview with Shiksha, CAT 2023 topper Shreemant Singi shares the CAT preparation strategy along with a few tips and tricks that helped him crack India’s largest management entrance exam, CAT. Read further to know more about CAT 2023 topper Shreemant Singi.

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Q:   What is sectional cutoff in CAT exam?
A:

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

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:

  1. IIM Ahmedabad: 95 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. 1IIM 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.

CAT Sections

CAT Percentile

Overall

99.28

VARC

93.91 

DILR

98.09

QA

99.61 

Also Read:

Also Read: CAT Topper 2023 Anmol Gupta, 99.47%iles talks about how to ace CAT with Self-study

Shiksha: Congratulations! Are you satisfied with your CAT result? How much score were you expecting?

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Shreemant: Yes, I am satisfied with my result. I was expecting more, but a slight fluctuation in the VARC section lowered my score. But yeah, overall, I am satisfied.

Shiksha: Was this your first attempt at CAT?

Shreemant: No, this was my second attempt. Scored 98.20%ile last year.

Shiksha: When did you start preparing for the CAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?

Shreemant: I started my preparation six months before the exam. I started focusing on all three sections, giving more time to the VARC section as it was my weaker point. But it took around six months of dedicated preparation to get this score.

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.

Shiksha: Please share with us your section-wise strategy.

Shreemant: In the VARC section, I usually attempted all 4 RCS within 28 minutes and rest time for VA. And for DILR, I used to scan the sets first and then choose which to attempt. For QA right from the beginning, I started with questions that did not take much time and came back with the ones that took more time.

Shiksha: Which books did you refer to for CAT preparation?

Shreemant: The material provided by Supergrads by Toprankers was enough for me to do the complete preparation. Their section-wise theory was to the point and helped me revise quickly before the exam. The practice questions discussed in class, the assignments, practice sheets and SuperCATs (full-length test series), were highly exam-oriented and contributed greatly to my preparation.

Shiksha: How many mock tests did you attempt and how important is a mock test series?

Shreemant: CAT Mocks are very important as they help you strategize how to attempt and make the most of the time. I attempted around 25 full-length mocks and 70-80 sectionals.

Shiksha: Did you join any coaching institute? How does the coaching institute help in CAT preparation?

Shreemant: Yes, I joined Supergrads by Toprankers. It helped me immensely to prepare and strategize how to prepare for the exam. Every class was extremely well-structured and interactive. From preparation to revision, short tricks and study techniques, everything I learned in the classroom has helped me achieve this score. I must mention, the key takeaways at the end of each class were extremely helpful as well!

Shiksha: What was your exam day strategy?

Shreemant: The same strategy that I had used throughout my entire preparation. Never change what you did in mocks, as it would surely degrade your marks. So, implement what you have prepared for throughout the preparation.

Shiksha: Which IIMs /Institutes are you targeting?

Shreemant: I am targeting old IIMs (IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta) and FMS, SPJIMR, MDI GURGAON, etc.

Shiksha: Tell us something about your educational background, family and hobbies.

Shreemant: I am an electronics and telecommunications engineer from SGSITS, Indore. In my family, I have my father, who is a businessman and my two elder sisters who are married and working in the corporate world and my mother is a homemaker.

Shiksha: Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Shreemant: Have faith in yourself. Never lose hope throughout the preparation. And practice how your mentors guide you.

CAT 2023 Topper Scorecard 

CAT 2023 Topper Scorecard

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