CAT Toppers Success Strategies 2026: Preparation Tips, Study Plan & Exam-Day Strategy

CAT Preparation Strategy by Toppers

For those candidates who are planning to appear for the CAT exam, we have compiled a set of CAT preparation strategies with past years' toppers. Read below for their experiences and suggestions on how to prepare for the CAT exam.

IIM Kozhikode- Tanya Gupta

Tanya Gupta achieved a high CAT percentile of 99.47 in the CAT and secured admission to IIM Kozhikode. Tanya, who worked with JP Morgan in the Investment Banking Division before her admission into IIM, aims to become a financial market expert post her management course at IIM K. Tanya shares how she strategically prepared for the CAT exam by practising extensively for all four sections of the IIM CAT question paper.

CAT Topper Strategy: Start preparing for the CAT five months in advance. The strategy is to first solidify the basics for all four sections and then deep-dive into each one of them. Go for exhaustive numerical practice and individual topic tests for each section.

Sectional tips: For the CAT Quantitative Aptitude section, practice numerals as much as you can. Read newspaper editorials and other online material regularly to help you with grammar and also your reading comprehension ability for the Verbal section.

Exam Day Formula: Divide time judiciously between your strengths and weaknesses. Build theoretical knowledge first, and then move on to extensive practice. Move to write CAT mock tests about 1.5-2 months before the exam, and devote at least 4-5 hours after each test to understanding your weaknesses. Practice more questions to deal with these points. During the CAT exam day, remember to keep calm; a positive frame of mind will always yield better results than a nervous one.

Know: How to Crack CAT: Strategies from Toppers

IIM Indore- Soumik Biswas

Soumik Biswas scored an admirable 99.94 percentile in the CAT examination and secured admission in one of the top B-schools of India- IIM Indore. The ex-IBM India employee shares the right strategy to be followed by the CAT aspirants, which can support them in scoring a high percentile.

Success Mantra: CAT does not require extensive study sessions as long as your basics are strong. The main concern is to develop speed, which automatically comes if you can systematise your CAT mock tests. Around 140 minutes per week from your study and work schedule are enough to let individuals focus on IIM CAT preparation and achieve a great CAT score.

Section-wise Strategy: For Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, stress 3 points: speed, technique, and choices. A positive approach and reading all the questions in the stipulated time are very important for answering the questions correctly.

In Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, students can score maximum marks. For this section, the focus should be on increasing reading and vocabulary capabilities.

Exam Day Tip: Time Management is the key. Plan your time perfectly for each section. Winning over time will let you win.

IIM Calcutta- Arijit Kumar Gorai

Arijit Kumar Gorai cracked IIM Calcutta PGDM admissions with his high CAT percentile of 99.87. He had worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining his MBA programme at IIM Calcutta. A strong believer in practice and time management, Arijit shares his success mantra for IIM CAT.

Preparation Strategy: The primary focus should be on accuracy rather than maximising the number of attempts. Analysing the mock exams is a major help and should be meticulously done.

Sectional Tips: If your verbal section is weak, pay extra attention to topics like para-jumbles and CAT Reading Comprehension. Try to increase your speed along with accuracy. Practice reading newspapers or magazines to learn new words.

Exam Day Formula: Time management is very important in the actual CAT question paper. The focus must be on accuracy. Be sure that you spend around 2 minutes on each problem. It is important to let go of problems if you are stuck on a question. Wasting time on one question is a huge disadvantage. It is important to go through all the questions since the last 5 questions of a section might have some really simple problems that are very scoring and should not be missed.

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IIM Udaipur- Sneha Mittal

An Engineering graduate, Sneha Mittal prepared for the IIM CAT while working for Cognizant Technology. She cracked the CAT with 97.91 percentile and got admission to IIM Udaipur. Sneha’s entrepreneurial ambitions motivated her to join an MBA programme.

Key Strategy: Regular study, practice, self-analysis, and adaptability to tricks are the main steps for preparation. Traditional methods may seem to be easy, but always use the tricks to solve the IIM CAT questions with speed and accuracy. And lastly, practice even before the exam day.

Sectional Plan: Quant & DI: The most important point to keep in mind is to stay calm and focused. While solving the QA & DI section, browse through the entire CAT question paper once. Attempt easier questions first, and do not waste a lot of time solving the difficult ones. This strategy helped me achieve a score of 98.23 percentile in the QA&DI section.

VA & LR: For the VA & LR section, solve the LR questions first. With the VA section, if you don’t know the answer, do not mark anything. This saves you from negative markings and lets you maintain your percentile.

Exam day Tips: IIM CAT is not a difficult exam. The right strategy, paired with a lot of practice, will guarantee you a good percentile in the CAT examination.

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IIM Rohtak- Gagandeep Singh Pannu

Gagandeep Singh Pannu achieved a high percentile of 99.97 in IIM CAT and secured admission to IIM Rohtak. An Engineer by education, Gagandeep aims to become a financial market expert after his management course at the IIM. He also talks about his Time Management strategy, which led him to crack the CAT with a high percentile despite his hectic work schedule.

Key Advice: One word: Practice. You must practice to your full capacity. At the end of the day, just practice what you have done and learned.

Sectional Strategy: Learn basic Quantitative concepts; self-preparation would suffice. The focus should be more on brushing concepts and later switching to higher-level questions. VA and LR require speed to read and answer correctly. For this section, focus on increasing your reading abilities.

Exam Day Tip: On the day of the exam, first go through the entire questions and then attempt formula-based questions first. Keep a target of 15 Questions in 15 minutes.

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CAT Preparation Books 2026

After deciding the right time to begin CAT 2026 preparation, candidates should start gathering their study materials without delay. There are plenty of resources available, which can make it tricky to pick the ones that suit individual needs best. To make this easier, Careers360 has reviewed and analysed the most important CAT preparation books. The recommended list is given below.