CAT WhatsApp Group
Rishabh’s IIM Ahmedabad Story with 99.95%ile
The CAT exam is now just a few weeks away, and this is usually the time when aspirants deal with the highest pressure, panic, self-doubt, and the constant fear of underperforming. To help students stay focused and calm in these final days, we spoke with Rishabh Sethi, who scored 99.95 percentile in CAT 2024, improving upon an already brilliant 99.89 percentile in the previous year (CAT 2023).
Rishabh is an IIT Guwahati graduate, a former UPSC aspirant, and after that worked at Cracku for 1 year. His story is powerful because it shows his resilience, strategic decision making and shows how he bounced back from the setback.
His message is clear:
“CAT is not just about knowing things, it’s about staying consistent and composed under pressure.”
Here’s how he improved further and what he believes every CAT aspirant must do in the last one month.
Rishabh Sethi’s VARC Strategy:
Train Your Mind for Difficult and “Boring” Reading
VARC was Rishabh’s weakest section in CAT 2023. So this year, his mission was to remove the fear of heavy, abstract reading, the kind CAT often tests through philosophy, sociology, and law-based RCs. He followed a powerful method taught by Sayali Ma’am (Cracku): summarizing the “main point” of every paragraph while solving RCs. This not only improved comprehension but also helped him maintain clarity and retention of information given in the passage.
Along with that, he deliberately started reading “boring” articles, topics he would normally avoid. According to him, this practice changed everything. When actual CAT passages appeared, nothing felt unfamiliar or mentally draining. He could stay focused, understand meaning faster, and approach questions with confidence rather than frustration.
His biggest advice to aspirants is simple: don’t escape boring content — embrace it, because that is what strengthens your mental reading stamina for D-Day.
Rishabh Sethi’s LRDI Strategy:
PYQs + Composure = A Winning Formula
For LRDI, Rishabh believed consistency mattered more than anything else. He did not rely on random puzzles, instead, he went straight to the source: past 7 years of CAT LRDI sets. This helped him recognize patterns, understand what CAT expects, and build a realistic test-like problem-solving mindset. He said CAT daily targets helped him a lot, due to which he never took a day off from CAT preparation.
He shared that LRDI is the most unpredictable section, where stress can easily derail performance. This year, when the number of sets increased from 4 to 5 in his slot, many aspirants panicked. But Rishabh stayed composed, quickly assessed the difficulty distribution, and focused on solving more sets accurately, because the paper was slightly easier (Slot -3).
He believes the real skill in LRDI is keeping your thinking clean under pressure. If you lose your calm, even easy sets become impossible. But if you maintain control, LRDI can become your highest-scoring section.
Also Read, Akash Dwivedi’s CAT 2024 Journey: From 97.4%ile to 99.97%ile
Rishabh Sethi’s Quant Strategy:
Strong Basics + Daily Practice Rhythm
Quant has always been a comfortable zone for Rishabh, thanks to his engineering background. But comfort never made him careless. He spent the initial phase of preparation solidifying his basic concepts from every important chapter, especially Arithmetic and Algebra.
Once concepts were sorted, he built a daily routine of solving 20–25 questions, ensuring that Quant remained sharp throughout. He credits this slow and steady momentum as the main reason for his improvement. He deeply values mock test analysis as well — even when his scores dipped, he never panicked. He reviewed errors, understood patterns in weaknesses, and made course corrections immediately.
His message is clear: Quant success comes from daily discipline, not random bursts of problem-solving.
Rishabh Sethi’s CAT Mock Test Strategy
Rishabh strongly believes that mock tests should never be treated as a score-chasing game, especially in the final month before CAT. He emphasizes that the purpose of mocks is not to feel good with high percentiles every weekend, but to expose weaknesses before the real exam. Every mock he took was followed by a detailed analysis session where he broke down each mistake, revisited the concept behind it, and checked whether the error occurred due to speed, comprehension, or panic. He advised not to take too many mocks to avoid burnout. He used to take 2 mocks per week in the last month before CAT.
He shares that consistency in giving mocks matters more than the number of mocks given. Rishabh suggests that aspirants must take mocks at the same time slot as their actual CAT exam. He recommends aspirants aim for improvement in accuracy, question selection, and mental stamina with every test. According to him, if you fix your mock mistakes honestly, CAT Day will become 2 hours of execution, not experimentation.
Also Read, CAT Study Material 2025, Questions, Test Series, Formula PDF
Rishabh Sethi’s Exam Day Strategy
Calmness is Your Biggest Weapon on CAT Day
Rishabh strongly feels that the real battle in CAT is mental, not academic. When the paper appears slightly different or tougher than expected, most aspirants start overthinking, doubting themselves, and rushing, and that is where their performance collapses.
He emphasises that the calm mind solves the highest percentile. If you carry confidence from your preparation and trust yourself during the exam, you will automatically make better choices, handle surprises more efficiently, and avoid silly mistakes. Even a tough paper cannot stop you then.
Rishabh Sethi’s Final Message to CAT Aspirants
Rishabh encourages every student to stay consistent, trust their preparation, and use each day wisely. Mocks may still fluctuate, accuracy may still dip, and pressure may rise, but these are signs that you are moving closer to the finish line, not reasons to lose hope.
“CAT tests aptitude, and aptitude develops only through regular practice. Keep going. The real score that matters is the one you get on the exam day.”
Rishabh’s IIM Ahmedabad Story with 99.95%ile: Conclusion
Rishabh Sethi’s journey from 99.89 to 99.95 percentile in CAT shows that success comes from consistency, calmness, and confidence. He improved by practicing tough RCs, solving CAT PYQs for LRDI, and keeping a steady Quant routine. His story proves that both mindset and preparation matter to crack IIM Ahmedabad.
For those aiming for a 99+ percentile, Rishabh’s journey is a great example. With discipline, focus, and smart planning, even small improvements can lead to big results. Keep reading daily, take mocks seriously, and stay calm on exam day—because CAT rewards consistency more than perfection.
