CAT 2024 Topper (99.92%)
"CAT is not like JEE. However weak you are, you can always make it. CAT is about practice. The more you do it, the better your chances for success."
Rushikesh Nikam is the prefect example of what it takes to crack CAT and get into top IIMs. After failing miserably in previous attempts (he scored just 78% in one of the sections), CAT 2024 was his third attempt. But this time he was ready for it! He not just cracked CAT 2024 with 99.92%, he aced his MBA interviews. Rushikesh received many Final Admit Offers from IIM Bangalore, FMS Delhi and others. He has decided to join IIMB because it aligns well with this career goals.
Speaking to MBAUniverse.com, Rushikesh shares his CAT success mantras. “CAT is not a JEE exam. Anyone with practice and crack it!” Read edited excepts from this interview with Mumbai resident Rushikesh Nikam, who completed his engineering from BITS Pilani Goa, and has worked as M&A Analyst at Deloitte USI.
Here are the Most Common Question answered by the topper itself:
Q: What was your CAT 2024 score and percentile? Which B-schools have you converted?
I scored 99.92%ile in CAT 2024 with roughly 127 scaled score. I had calls from all the IIMs except IIM Ahmedabad. I have converted IIM Bangalore, FMS and the results for the rest are yet to be announced.
Q: So have you decided to join IIMB or FMS…
I am interested in finance and consulting career post my MBA. I believe IIM Bangalore provides much more placement opportunities in both of the areas. I also do not want to lose out on campus life and international study opportunities through exchange programs. Hence for me it is IIM Bangalore over FMS Delhi! I have decided to join IIM B.
Q: Coming to CAT, what was your overall preparation strategy?
CAT 2024 was my 3rd CAT attempt. I had given CAT 2022 with 98.8%ile and CAT 2023 with 99.5%ile. I had given the CAT without preparation in 2022 and just prepared for 2/3 months in 2023. So, CAT 2024 was my serious attempt and I started my preparation in May.
Q: Tell us about your preparation strategy for all three sections in CAT Exam.
I was great at Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) from the beginning, scoring more than 40+ across mocks. I used to attempt all the 24 questions for VARC, with an average of 16 correct answers and about 8 wrong answers. I used to solve 1 RC set daily just to be in touch with the subject.
For Quantitative Aptitude (Quants) section, I aimed at finishing my syllabus before July and solved at least 10 questions daily for the topics I was studying. For Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), you just need to understand the approach for different types of questions. There isn't a lot of syllabus to cover for this section, and hence practice is the key.
I used to solve 2 DILR sets daily. Since August, I started giving mocks every week, and revising them thoroughly which continued to the D-day.
Q: Which section did you find toughest, and how did you overcome that?
DILR was the biggest hurdle for me. In CAT 2023, I did not get any good calls because I missed the DILR sectional cutoffs where I scored only 78%ile. So, practicing DILR was the key to my CAT 2024 preparation.
Q: Scoring less than 80% in a section must have been a shock! How did you come it?
My DILR performance in CAT 2023 was just my bad day at office. I knew I had much more in me! It hurt when folks got great IIM calls with lesser percentile than me, but had to take it in my stride... I was already working in consulting, so CAT never felt like the end-game. It took me some time, but soon I was back preparing for CAT 2024 with more hunger! I picked up each DILR topic, and solved 25-30 sets of each topic. Unlike the other 2 sections, you can practice 1000 DILR sets, but the question in the exam would be 1001st. So, building that aptitude and consistency is key. I completed 2 sets daily. I also solved Sudoku during my preparation.
Q: What were the top preparation tools and resources that helped you the most?
I used Cracku's intensive course. Apart from the style of teaching of Maruti sir and Sayali mam, it was also very helpful as they provide Daily targets where they give 1RC, 1DILR Set and 5QA qns daily. It helps build consistency. They also have a Cracku study room, which has more than 1-1.5k topicwise qns across the 3 subjects so you have a lot to practice. I also followed Rodha's and Raman Tiwari's Unacademy YT Channels for QA.
Q: Which CAT Mocks did you use?
I took Mocks by Career Launcher, Cracku and Arun Sharma. According to me, Career Launcher was the best and closest to the CAT exam. Cracku and Arun Sharma mocks were hard, and I had to grind a lot to get through these.
Q: Please share your IIM B Interview Experience.
IIM B was a very conversational interview. They had 2 Professors and 1 Alumni in the interview. It revolved mostly on my work experience in the M&A Consulting area. There were questions on Trump Tariff policies, and corporate governance. They also asked me questions about my Statement of Purpose (SOP). They picked points from my SOP and gave multiple case studies. Overall, it was a good interview for me and knew I'll be selected the moment I left the interview room!
Q: How did the FMS Delhi Interview go…
FMS was a short 8-10 mins interview. Questions revolved around my workex in the M&A Consulting area, some questions on NGOs, laws around them and finally some economy related questions like Repo Rate, RBI Governor etc. FMS Delhi also had an extempore round. My extempore topic was “Nice guys finish last”.
Q: Congrats again! What advice would you give to CAT 2025 aspirants starting now?
Consistency is the key for cracking CAT exam. Remember that CAT is not like JEE where you need a certain level of aptitude to go through. However weak you are, you can always make it. CAT is about practice. The more you do it, the better your chances for success. Giving mocks and analysing them is very important too. After giving 15-20 mocks, you understand what strategies work for you the best and be prepared for everything CAT can throw at you. Finally, I recommend that you should go searching for resources everywhere. Pick the best one for you, and follow through.
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