CAT Toppers Reveal IIM ABC Conversion Strategy, Check Now

Vinayak (99.99), Vihaan (99.99), and Amish (99.98) cracked CAT 2025 with very different backgrounds - an author-turned-EdTech professional, a teenage freelancer, and an IIT Delhi physicist. Here's what they did differently, and what you should take away.

Who Are These Toppers?

All of them followed different paths. That itself is the first lesson. Here is a brief about their background.

When Did They Start Preparing for CAT?

Vinayak started preparing in September, with primary focus on practice and mocks. Vihaan joined coaching in June but only got serious in mid-September. Amish started around 100 days before the exam and his engineering background helped him with Quants.

The takeaway? A late start does not mean a weak result. What matters more is how focused those final weeks are.

How Many Mocks Per Week Should You Give for CAT

All three tried the "one mock a day/two days" approach at some point. All three dropped it.

Vinayak: Started with five mocks a week, then settled on three. Beyond that, analysis quality dropped.

Vihaan: Switched to two or three mocks a week after watching a strategy video. Scoring just 2 marks in Quant two weeks before CAT shook his confidence - but he came back.

Amish: On days without time for a full CAT Mock, he did a 40-minute CAT Sectional instead. The pattern is clear - fewer, higher-quality mocks with thorough analysis beat daily mock-writing.

CAT Section-Wise Strategies That Actually Worked

VARC

Vinayak, despite being a published author, scored only 95.6 percentile in VARC in his previous attempt. His problem? He was reading like a writer, not like a CAT test-taker.

The fix that worked: writing a one-line summary after every paragraph while reading. He tried it four days before CAT. On exam day, he scored 50 marks in VARC - his best section.

Vihaan was already confident in VARC and did minimal practice there. Amish, from an engineering background, found VARC naturally strong and didn't spend much time on it either.

Quant

Vihaan made a deliberate call to skip Geometry entirely and double down on Arithmetic and Algebra. Given his limited time, it was the right trade-off. He completed around 500 Quant questions on Cracku Studyroom to build his basics before moving to sectionals.

Amish treated CAT PYQs (previous year questions) as the gold standard - not just for mocks but as individual sectional practice.

LRDI

All three agreed that this section demanded the most deliberate practice. Vihaan and Amish both solved large numbers of CAT LRDI sets to get comfortable with different set types. Amish specifically targeted weak set-types rather than random practice.

Balancing CAT Preparation With Other Commitments

Vinayak (Working professional): His first mistake was attempting mocks right after work. He was too tired. His fix - a one-hour nap after office, then the mock. It made a noticeable difference in both concentration and scores.

Vihaan (College student, DU): Flexible attendance helped. He stayed home and studied consistently without worrying about college.

Amish (IIT Delhi, Final year): Used small time pockets smartly - solved daily Quant targets during low-priority lectures. Also had a PPO in hand, which took placement pressure off.

What Actually Happened on the Exam Day

Vinayak - Stuck on a Quant question

He spent five minutes on a single Rhombus question in Quant, even though he knew the right move was to skip it. That broke his rhythm. He ended up solving fewer Quant questions than usual. LRDI saved him.

Lesson: Knowing the rule isn't enough. You have to actually follow it in the exam.

Vihaan - LRDI Breakthrough

His first two sets in LRDI went nowhere. He expected to solve just two or three sets total. Instead of panicking, he kept experimenting. One small breakthrough unlocked the section, and he ended up solving far more than expected.

Amish - The Misread Condition

He misread one condition in a Circular Arrangement set and wasted eight minutes. When he reread it, everything clicked. He then built momentum through the rest of LRDI. One LRDI TITA question near the end was a guess - it turned out correct.

What They Did a Few Days Before CAT Exam

Amish's point is worth noting: if your practice on actual CAT papers is going well, there's no reason to damage your confidence with unrealistically hard third-party mocks right before the exam.

One Advice From Each CAT Topper

Vinayak:" You don't drown because you're underwater. You drown because you stop trying to come back up."

Don't give up after a few bad mocks in the early months. Scores can improve by 20-30 percentile points with consistent effort. CAT is not the only path in life, and that perspective helps you stay calm.

Vihaan: Your CAT score is what matters - not your mock scores. Bad mocks are just learning tools. He scored 2 in Quant two weeks before CAT and still hit 99.99 on exam day. Don't compare your journey with anyone else's.

Amish: Luck is part of CAT. A misread condition, a correct guess, an easier slot - these things happen. You can't control the paper. You can control how well you prepare and how calm you stay. Trust the process.

Key Learnings from CAT Toppers Journeys

• 2 mocks per week with proper analysis beats daily mock-writing
• Sectional tests are underrated - use them heavily, especially for LRDI and Quant
• PYQs are the best practice material - they reflect the actual exam better than anything else
• Identify your weak section early and spend most of your time there
• Don't let mock scores kill your confidence - fluctuation is normal even close to the exam
• On exam day, skip tough questions fast, don't break your rhythm, and keep experimenting in LRDI

All three toppers used Cracku's mocks, sectionals, and CAT Daily Targets as their primary preparation platform. The platform's VARC strategy sessions and Quant questions were specifically mentioned by them as difference-makers.