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Most CAT success stories start at 90+ percentile. Shivam Thakur’s started at 60.
No job. A five-year engineering degree. A gap year. And a first CAT attempt that went nowhere. By every metric, his profile looked weak on paper. But in SNAP 2025, he scored well enough to convert SCMHRD in the first merit list - and also got good percentile in CAT
Here's exactly how he did it.
Meet Shivam Thakur: A GEM Candidate With a Weak Profile
Shivam completed his engineering from Dayananda Sagar College, Bangalore, graduating in 2024 after five years. He scored 95% in 10th and 78% in 12th, but his CGPA in college dropped to 6.5.
After graduation, he took a gap year to prepare for CAT full-time. During that time, he also worked part-time as a personal trainer and won NPC Mr. Karnataka 2024 in bodybuilding.
The 60 Percentile Disaster: What Went Wrong in 2024
Shivam's first CAT attempt in 2024 resulted in around 60 percentile overall. As a GEM (General Engineer Male) candidate, this score wasn't close to any decent B-school cutoff.
Section | CAT 2024 Percentile |
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) | ~50 percentile |
LRDI | Very low (panicked during exam) |
Overall | ~60 percentile |
The core problem? He mostly watched concept videos and barely took any mocks. When the actual CAT Paper came, the questions were much tougher than what he had practiced. He panicked in LRDI, and too many negative marks in QA pulled his score down.
What He Did Differently in His CAT 2025 Attempt
After failing CAT 2024, Shivam joined Cracku's CAT Course in May 2025 and studied ~8 hours every day.
Here's how his preparation changed:
What He Did in 2024 | What He Changed in 2025 |
Only watched concept videos | Balanced concept study with heavy practice |
Rarely took mocks | One full mock every week |
No structured daily routine | 8-10 hours of study consistently |
Multiple random sources | One structured platform (Cracku) |
Panicked on exam day | Mentally prepared using stress management techniques |
One thing he admits doing wrong even in 2025: he started mocks a bit late. He began preparing in May but only started taking mocks around August. His advice now is to start mocks much earlier, ideally from the first month itself.
How Solving 3,000+ Quant Questions in Cracku's Study Room Helped in His Preparation
The single feature Shivam credits the most for his improvement is Cracku's Study Room.
He solved over 3,000 Quant questions using it alone and covered most of his VARC preparation there too. With seven months to exam, his large chunk of time was spent inside the Study Room.
He also noted that Cracku Mocks are slightly tougher than the actual CAT, which was one of the reasons he chose the platform. If you can handle harder questions in practice, the real exam feels more manageable.
CAT 2025 Score and Mindset on Exam Day
Going into CAT 2025, Shivam was targeting somewhere between 95 and 99 percentile based on his recent mock performance.
But on exam day, he kept a different mindset: since his last attempt was only 60 percentile, even 80 would be a real improvement. This took the pressure off. He stayed calm, didn't panic, and executed what he had prepared.
The result was a massive jump from his previous attempt, 96.37 percentile - good enough to receive interview calls from top B-schools.
How CAT Prep Doubled as OMET Prep
After CAT, Shivam also appeared for other MBA entrance exams. Since he had been preparing rigorously for CAT, he was already in good shape for most OMETs.
Exam | Score/Percentile |
CAT 2024 | ~60 percentile |
CAT 2025 | 96.37 percentile |
NMAT | 231 |
SNAP | 98.7 percentile |
For SNAP and NMAT, the questions are easier than CAT, but speed matters more. Shivam found that he was naturally fast at solving problems, which helped him perform well.
How He Prepared for the College Interviews
This is where many candidates with similar profiles get nervous. Shivam had a lot to explain: a five-year engineering degree, a 6.5 CGPA, a gap year, and no work experience.
What worked for him:
He prepared answers in advance through mock PIs: Instead of getting caught off guard, he had clear, confident responses for all probable interview questions.
He leaned on his unique achievements: Winning NPC Mr. Karnataka 2024 and building his own fitness website gave him strong stories to tell during interviews. These weren't just hobbies - they showed discipline, business thinking, and initiative.
He was honest about his journey: He didn't try to hide the academic decline or the extra year. He talked about what he learned from it and why he still deserved a seat.
SCMHRD GE-PI: The Group Exercise Topic and How He Got the First Merit List Seat
SCMHRD's selection process involves a Group Exercise followed by a Personal Interview. Shivam followed the advice he got during mock GDs to initiate discussions whenever possible.
The group exercise topic was related to electric vehicles, an area he was comfortable with. He started the discussion, stayed active throughout, and helped conclude it well. His PI went smoothly because he had practiced enough and had real stories to back his answers.
He was selected in the first merit list.
5 Lessons Shivam Learned the Hard Way
- Start mocks early, don’t wait for the syllabus to be completed.
- One structured platform beats five scattered sources.
- A low CAT score is not a permanent verdict.
- A "weak" profile can still convert top schools if you prepare well for interviews
- Skills from outside academics (fitness, discipline, entrepreneurship) matter in GD-PI
Going from 60 percentile to SCMHRD is not a story about talent. It's a story about fixing the right things after a failure and staying consistent. Shivam's profile had every "red flag" interviewers look for, and he still made it through. That's the part worth noticing.
