How I Scored 99.9%ile In CAT VARC | Ayush Patil, XLRI Jamshedpur'27
Verbal Ability is often the elephant in the room.
Verbal Ability is often the elephant in the room.
My journey to XLRI wasn’t something I had mapped out from the beginning. It slowly unfolded over the years, shaped by decisions, setbacks, and moments of reflection.
"Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally. It comes from what you do consistently." CAT is an exam of Strategy more than about real knowledge. You might know a lot, but it will be tough to crack if you don't have a plan to execute. With almost 5 months in hand, there is still a lot of time left to make an impact in your attempt. It is a test of your patience, consistency, and conceptual knowledge.
My Unplanned Journey to an MBA:
A “gap year” is often seen with scepticism by peers, recruiters, and even by ourselves. But in reality, a gap year, if managed with purpose and discipline, can be one of the most transformative phases of your life. I say this from personal experience. After graduating from IIT Delhi and working briefly as a consultant, I spent over three years preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination before pivoting towards management and securing admission to a top IIM.
When I started my CAT preparation journey, I didn’t have a strict routine or a master plan — just a strong will to try, fail, learn, and keep going. Here’s how it all unfolded — with all the ups, downs, and some unexpected fun along the way.
In 2022, I appeared for the IPMAT exam, hoping to get into IIM Indore through the direct entry route. But I missed the selection because I fell short in the Verbal Ability section. That one miss was tough to take. I still remember seeing the result and realizing how close I had come. I had dreamt of getting into IIM Indore for a long time, and this felt like the door had shut on that dream. But instead of letting it break me, I made a quiet promise to myself that I would come back stronger.
I graduated from IIT Tirupati in July 2024, but unlike most of my batchmates, I walked out without a job. It wasn’t due to a lack of effort — I had been applying, skilling up, and trying everything I could in a tough job market. Still, three months went by with no results. I had attempted CAT 2023 while preparing half-heartedly, scoring 96.45 percentile, but I couldn’t clear the DILR cutoff. Back then, CAT had been my Plan B. This time, though, with no placement and no backup plan, I knew I had to give it everything I had. Either I’d make it to a top B-school, or I’d have to start from scratch.