How to Score 99.99%ile in CAT 2026, Strategy by Maruti Sir

How to Score 99.99 Percentile in CAT 2026?: Tips by Maruti Sir

With around 6 months left for CAT 2026, this is exactly the time to stop thinking and start doing.

Whether you're a fresher whose college exams are wrapping up, or a CAT repeater who didn't get the result you wanted, now is the moment to reset and start focusing again.

If you're a repeater and you're disappointed, that's okay. Give yourself a day or two. But after that, channel that energy into preparation. Keep thinking about last year's result won't change it. What will change things is what you do in the next 6 months.

As Maruti Sir put it simply: "Focus on what is in your hands."

Section-Wise Preparation Tips for CAT 2026

Quantitative Ability (QA)

This is probably the most reassuring thing Maruti Sir said about quant, and it's something every non-engineer needs to hear:

CAT quant is essentially Class 8, 9, and 10 maths.

That's it. There's no rocket science involved. The only real challenge is speed. If you gave a CAT quant paper to a smart Class 10 student with unlimited time, they'd solve most of it. The problem isn't the concepts, it's that you have to solve those questions fast.

What should be the approach:

If you're a non-engineer or struggling with basics, buy NCERT books for Class 9 and 10. Go through them. Nobody needs to know. What matters is that you build the foundation.

Focus hard on these three topics i.e Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry. All three are non-negotiable if you want 99+ in QA. Don't skip any of them.

Watch Cracku's Complete Quant Revision for CAT video. There is a complete series of playlists that you can watch.

Also watch the 7.5-hour Complete Formula Revision stream that Cracku did last year. Each formula is explained and followed by a solved question. If you go through it properly, you'll make massive progress in one sitting.

Then solve questions, lots of them. Every single day. Maruti Sir shared the story of a non-engineer girl who was weak in quant, subscribed to Cracku's Study Room, set herself a target of finishing every single quant question in the question bank, and ended up converting IIM Bangalore. She solved 30-40 questions every day without fail. That consistency made all the difference.

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (DILR)

DILR is the trickiest section to plan for and Maruti Sir was very direct about this. Unlike QA and Verbal, your DILR score can swing wildly from attempt to attempt. One good set selection can make your day. One wrong choice can ruin it.

So here's the strategy he recommends:

Set a realistic target and stick to it:

Your goal going into the exam should be to get 2 sets correct. That's it. Not 4. Not 3. Just 2. If you're doing very well in QA and Verbal, getting 2 DILR sets correct is genuinely enough to hit 99.9+ overall. This target also takes the psychological pressure off. Instead of feeling like you need to conquer the entire section, you're just hunting for 2 good sets.

Spend the first 2-3 minutes scanning all sets:

Before you start solving anything, quickly browse through all 4-5 sets. Get a mental map, is it a table-based DI set? A Sudoku? Venn diagrams? Sequencing? Just understanding what each set is about helps you:

Make a priority order (attempt easier sets first)

Stay calmer because you know what's ahead. Avoid getting stuck and panicking about what to try next. Yes, you're spending 2-3 minutes without solving anything. But you're buying composure. And composure in DILR is worth a lot.

Don't ignore TITA (Type-In-The-Answer) questions:

Maruti Sir was passionate about this. TITA questions in DILR have no negative marking. And they're not pure guesses either, if you've scanned the set, you often have a rough sense of the answer range. Is it a single-digit number? Is it between 4 and 8? Make an educated guess.

He shared the example of a student with a 3-year UPSC gap who guessed 3 TITA questions correctly in DILR. Those ~9 marks were the difference between getting and not getting an IIM Ahmedabad shortlist. He's now joining IIMA.

For daily practice:

Solve 2 DILR sets every single day from now until the end of September. Every day. No off days.

Download CAT previous year papers for free from our website and solve the DILR sets at your own pace. Getting a set correct, even slowly, builds tremendous confidence.

Use Cracku Study Room for diverse DILR sets with video solutions. The variety helps you get faster at recognizing set types, which is exactly the skill you need for those first 2-3 minutes of scanning.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Verbal is the section where consistency pays off most visibly. Unlike DILR, your verbal score tends to be more stable and can be improved systematically.

Maruti Sir's advice here was clean and simple:

Read 3-4 articles every single day from publications like The Hindu, Indian Express, or The Guardian. You can also refer to CAT daily articles, where we upload 3 articles every single day from different genres.

But here's the important part - don't just read what you like. Deliberately read articles from topics you wouldn't normally pick. Science. Economics. Philosophy. Art. History. Why? Because RCs in CAT can be on anything. If an unfamiliar topic shows up in the exam and you've never read anything in that domain before, you'll find it harder to concentrate and engage with the passage.

Exposure to diverse reading topics makes you a more confident reader overall.

Solve 1-2 RCs every single day in addition to your reading habit.

In the exam, unlike DILR (where you pick sets strategically), Maruti Sir advises attempting all questions in Verbal. Don't selectively skip verbal questions the way you'd skip a hard DILR set.

Previous CAT papers are again your best friend here - free, real, and high-quality.

Mocks.

When to Start and How Many

Start now. Don't wait until September to take your first mock.

For someone aiming for 99 percentile, mock scores right now are not the main thing to worry about. What matters is that you're taking them consistently and analyzing them.

The students Maruti Sir interviewed who converted IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta, they all started with modest mock scores. 50s. 60s. Slowly building to 80-100. One IIMA convert even took 80 mocks total, sometimes more than one a day (though Maruti Sir doesn't recommend that pace for everyone).

General guidance:

25-30 CAT mocks is a good target for most students.

Take one mock, analyze it properly, identify mistakes, then take the next one.

By the end of September, you should be occasionally hitting 80+ marks in mocks. If you are, you're firmly on track for 99 percentile. Analyze every mock. A mock you don't analyze is a mock wasted.

Should You Repeat CAT or Join Wherever You Got In?

Maruti Sir addressed this directly and firmly. His view: unless all three of the following are true, don't repeat.

• You have a job.

Repeating CAT without a job is high-risk and high-stress. The exam-day pressure when you have no fallback is often crushing. Find a job first.

• Your profile is strong.

ideally 9/8/8 in academics, decent workex, and good diversity factors.

• There's a clear, fixable reason you underperformed

You choked in one section, or didn't prepare enough in a specific area. If you can point to the reason and know how to fix it, repeating makes sense.

Note: If all three aren't there, just join the college you got into and make the most of it.

Free Resources You Should Use Right Now

Everything below is completely free on cracku.in:

How to Score 99.99 Percentile in CAT 2026 : Conclusion

There's no shortcut to 99.99. But there is a very clear path:

QA: NCERT basics + lots of practice + focus on Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry

DILR: Scan all sets -> pick 2 -> get them right -> make educated TITA guesses

Verbal: Read diverse articles daily + solve RCs consistently

Mocks: Take them regularly, analyze them seriously, and build momentum through September

The students who convert the top IIMs aren't always the most talented. They're the most consistent. Start now, stay consistent, and the percentile will follow