Ayush Saxena, MAT 2018 topper with 99.93 percentile in an interview with Shiksha says “constantly practicing questions online for all the different topics and learning the tricks through YouTube” has helped him score good marks. A Post Graduate in Mechanical engineering, Ayush is currently the Deputy Manager in ICICI bank, Mumbai. He had a purpose in mind that he wanted to clear MAT exam with high score and this led him to start preparing for the test right from January 2018. To know more on it, read Ayush’s success mantra for MAT exam.
Q 1: Are you satisfied with your MAT result? How much score were you expecting?
A: I am totally satisfied with my MAT result and I was expecting above 95 percentile. But the result over exceeded my expectations.
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Q 2: Was this your first MAT attempt?
A: Yes, this was my first attempt
Q 3: When did you start preparing for MAT exam? What was your overall prep strategy?
A: I started preparing for MAT 2018 from January 2018. My overall strategy was to minimize the wrong answers and for it, I worked on the subject matters on which I felt I am strong at. This I did to gain maximum marks.
Q 4: Please, share with us your section-wise strategy?
A: For quant, I used to study through books of Arihant publication and online practicing of test papers from Oliveboard. For English, I was daily reading times of India and the Hindu. For Data analysis, I was practicing online papers as well.
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Q 5: Which books did you refer to for MAT preparation?
A: I did not specifically prefer any books for MAT; I was constantly practicing questions online for all the different topics and learning the tricks through YouTube
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Q 6: Did you join any coaching institute? How does coaching institute help in exam preparation?
A: No, I did not join any coaching institute.
Q 7: How important is practicing MAT mock test series?
A: It is the core of any success. Regular practice only makes us realize how and what type of questions can come in the exam. I constantly used to practice, ranging from 6 hours to 10 hours. a day.
Also Read: MAT 2018 Question Paper
Q 8: What was your exam day strategy?
A: On the exam day, I stopped looking into any new topics and was minimizing in think what time of questions will come. Staying focused is the key on exam day as many students discussed a lot and students tend to hear and nervous out themselves.
Q 9: Which other MBA entrance exams did you take or are planning to take?
A: I am planning to take XAT 2020.
Q 10: How did you deal with your strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the exam?
A: I wanted to hide or protect my weakness so my strategy was to study the topics, which are my strength. However, if we are not sure we should not guess out the answer, which only leads to revealing our weaknesses.
Q 11: Any tips for future MAT aspirants?
A: The only advice I will give is to focus on the goal and the exam day is the crucial thing.
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Student Forum
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Top management institutes accepting the MAT Exam generally expect a cutoff percentile between 75 and 90, while top-tier colleges may require 90+ percentile.
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To be eligible for the MBA scholarship provided by the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology via MAT, candidates must have secured 95 Percentile and above (applicable for December 2025 MAT & February 2026 MAT) (centre based/offline examination).
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Candidates who want to apply for Sharda University, Greater Noida MBA course must secure a CAT/ XAT percentile of 65% to skip SUAT. For MAT applicants, this score stands at 75% for MBA admissions at Sharda, Greater Noida.
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Contributor-Level 10