CAT WhatsApp Group
Success Stories of Cracku's 3 CAT 2025 Toppers
Three students - different backgrounds, different journeys, one shared destination. Here's exactly what they did, what went wrong, and what finally worked.
Background of the CAT Toppers
Before diving in, here's a quick snapshot of who we're talking about:
Name | Background | CAT 2025 Score | IIM Converted |
Mukesh | CSE grad, 3 yrs edtech startup, managed team of 78 | 98.86 percentile | IIM Ahmedabad |
Maduwanthan | BBA from IIM Rohtak (IPM), family mutual fund business | 99.86 percentile | IIM Ahmedabad |
Rakesh | NIT graduate and 2 years Work-ex | 99.85 percentile | IIM Calcutta |
Read Also, How Cracku's Tejas, Yash & Srivaishnav Scored 99+ in CAT
Mukesh's Story: From 84 Percentile to IIM Ahmedabad
In 2024, he attempted CAT for the first time hoping to start his own venture. The result was a gut punch: 84 percentile overall, with just 41% in DILR. He thought maybe the IIMs weren't meant for him.
He studied consistently daily - from 9 PM to 1-2 AM - while running the business during the day. In CAT 2025, he scored 98.86 percentile and got calls from every IIM except Calcutta. He converted IIM Ahmedabad
What Changed From 84 to 98.86?
Two things: Overcoming fear and Preparing with a strategy.
With only four months to prepare (August to November), he broke it down by section:
- DILR - His weakest area. In 2024, he panicked the moment he saw DI sets and it snowballed. This time, he practiced every type of DI set without skipping.
- VRC - His section to maximize. He practiced 250+ RCs from Cracku steadily and at one point was at the top of Cracku's leaderboard - which kept him motivated.
- Quant - Already had a decent base in Algebra and Arithmetic. Used mocks and sectionals to sharpen it.
Final scores: VARC ~98.8 percentile | DILR ~95 percentile | Quant ~96 percentile
Read Also, How Debopam Converted IIM Ahmedabad with 5 weeks of Preparation
Maduwanthan's Journey: 4 CAT Attempts and Finally IIM Ahmedabad
Here's a quick look at his CAT journey before the final attempt:
Year | Score | Outcome |
CAT 2022 | 98.29 percentile | IIM Kozhikode interview - waitlisted at ~1000+ |
CAT 2023 | 98.62 percentile | Only IIM Shillong call - converted but didn't join |
CAT 2024 | 97.7 percentile | No IIM calls at all |
CAT 2025 | 99.86 percentile | Converted IIM Ahmedabad |
What was going wrong? He was collecting resources but not learning from them. He'd take mocks without analyzing them. He disagreed with VARC answer keys instead of treating them as benchmarks. He had poor sleep and irregular habits.
The Turnaround That Led to 99.86
From January 2025, he made a deliberate decision to change his lifestyle first. He started sleeping on time, stopped eating outside, and observed a self-imposed 40-day reset. Only then did he get into preparation.
From May/June onwards, he subscribed to CAT Mock Tests and also used CAT Daily Targets. He ended up taking 80 mocks that season - some days even 3 in a single day. His schedule: write a mock (4 hours on weekdays, 8-9 hours on weekends), analyze for 20-30 minutes.
The single biggest change in VARC? He stopped arguing with the answer key. Instead of checking his own answers, he'd wait for the educators' attempt to go live and try to match that. Minimizing deviation from the educator's attempt - not just checking right/wrong - is what pushed him to 99.82 in VARC.
Final scores: VARC 99.82 percentile | Quant 99.65 percentile | DILR 96.44 percentile | Overall 99.86 percentile
Read Also, How CAT Toppers Set Daily Targets for 99+ Percentile
Rakesh's First-Attempt Success: How a Core Engineer Cracked IIM Calcutta
Rakesh was an NIT graduate with 2 years of work-experience. This was his first CAT attempt, and he went in with a relaxed but structured approach. He started in August and spent the first month going through the syllabus:
Quant - Mostly revised topics he'd forgotten; basics were already solid.
DILR - Everything was new. He learned from scratch.
VARC - No reading habit at all. Had to build it from zero.
After syllabus completion, he shifted to one mock per day. His daily routine: wake up at 7, write the mock from 8-10 AM, analyze by noon. If he noticed a weak area, he'd go back to that topic. Simple.
The Mindset Shift That Made the Difference
He read The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt to build dense reading habits, which helped improve his VARC over time. He also moved from going by "hunches" in VARC to properly eliminating options - a shift that showed in his scores.
He took 50+ mocks in total. On the exam day, he was in Slot 2. DILR threw him off in the first 10 minutes (the person next to him had a system crash, with someone hitting the CPU to fix it mid-exam). He closed his eyes for 10-20 seconds, reset, and solved 3 sets. Quant he underperformed slightly - solved 15 questions instead of his usual 20 due to time lost in lengthy calculations.
Final scores: VRC ~40 marks | DILR 99+ percentile | Quant ~33 marks | Overall 99.85 percentile
He converted IIM Calcutta.
CAT Preparation Strategy: What Actually Worked for All Three
Despite different profiles and timelines, there are clear patterns in what worked:
Strategy | Mukesh | Maduwanthan | Rakesh |
VARC approach | Solved 250+ Cracku RCs | Analysed his answers with educator’ attempt | Read dense books, Eliminated options |
DILR approach | Practiced all DI set types | Focussed more on mocks and sectionals | Learned from scratch |
Quant approach | Mocks + sectionals | Concept videos, Practice under time pressure | Revised forgotten topics |
Study schedule | 9 PM-1 AM daily | 4 hrs weekdays, 8-9 hrs weekends | 8-10 AM mock, Analysis at noon, Revision in evening |
Start date | August | May/June | August |
The One Advice All Three Agree On
Analyze your Mocks - don't just take them. Maduwanthan spent 2 years taking mocks without deeply analyzing them. The year everything changed, he was spending 20-30 minutes after every mock going over what went wrong and why. Rakesh would revisit topics he identified as weak right after analysis.
Also, collection of resources is not progress - Maduwanthan said this explicitly. Having 5 mock series but barely attempting them gives you the illusion of preparation.
How Cracku Resources Helped Each Topper
All three toppers credited Cracku specifically and here's what they used:
RCs and Study Room: Mukesh did 250 RCs from Cracku and tracked his rank on the leaderboard. Rakesh found Cracku's Study Room RCs tougher than past CAT papers - which he says is exactly what prepared him.
Mocks: Maduwanthan took 80 mocks, using the educator's live attempt as his personal benchmark. Rakesh took 50+ mocks with a one-per-day schedule.
Daily Targets: Maduwanthan used these to structure his practice through the season.
DILR Sets: Praised by multiple toppers for being genuinely new questions - not recycled past papers - which is what made them feel like "a battlefield" and great simulation.
GDPI : Mukesh enrolled in the GDPI program for interview prep and gave 10 mock interviews with IIM mentors through it.
Read Also, These CAT TOPPERS Reveal What Actually Got Them 99+ %ile
IIM Interview Experiences: What Really Happens Inside the Room
Here is the Top IIMs Interview experience of the three.
Mukesh - IIM Ahmedabad
The panel opened with: "Draw your CGPA graph on paper." He said it'd look like a sine wave - they laughed. He then sailed through CS fundamentals (OOP, DBMS, palindrome algorithm) because he'd revised everything the night before. Work-ex questions went well too. It was current affairs and hobbies that tripped him - he doesn't follow cricket or football, and after losing his father, hadn't been able to pursue any hobbies. The interview ended there.
Result: Converted.
Maduwanthan - IIM Ahmedabad
The most intense of the three. A professor deliberately made a wrong statement about CAPM - implying all stocks have the same required rate of return - and was about to move on. Madhuantan stopped him and corrected it. That moment defined the interview.
What followed: correlation problems, conditional probability, hypothesis testing. He said "I don't know" plainly when he didn't - no bluffing. On hobbies, he simply said he had none. The panel accepted it. The interview ended with the professor saying: "Wherever you get admission, read more current affairs." He walked out unsure.
Result: Converted.
Rakesh - IIM Bangalore & IIM Calcutta
At IIM Bangalore, when panelists said AI would make his VLSI work irrelevant, he got slightly aggressive. He knew immediately it was a mistake. Rejected.
At IIM Calcutta, he stayed composed through a 12-minute interview covering maths, stats, and geopolitics. Converted.
Same person, two completely different outcomes - based entirely on how he handled pressure.
What to Do in a Stress Interview
Both Mukesh and Maduwanthan faced aggressive panels. The advice that emerged. “Immediately identify it's a stress interview. Keep your cool. Don't go into your shell. Appear like you're still trying."
The interviewers are not looking to reject you. They're looking for a reason to take you in. Even 70-80% of a good interview should be enough.
Read Also, How 3 Cracku Students Achieved 99.97 Percentile in CAT 2025
Success Stories of Cracku's 3 CAT 2025 Toppers : Conclusion
The journeys of these CAT 2025 toppers prove that there is no single formula for success in CAT preparation. Whether it was Mukesh overcoming a poor first attempt, Maduwanthan transforming his preparation habits after multiple setbacks, or Rakesh cracking IIM Calcutta on his first attempt, all three relied on consistency, mock analysis, and smart preparation strategies.
One common factor among all CAT 2025 toppers was their ability to learn from mistakes instead of blindly collecting resources. Their stories show that focused preparation, disciplined routines, and proper mock analysis can significantly improve performance in CAT and help aspirants convert top B-schools like IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta.
