He Scored Negative in DILR Mocks. Then One Rule Took Him to 91.74 Percentile in CAT
Siddharth Sharma knew DILR was holding him back.
In his early CAT preparation, he repeatedly chose the wrong set to solve first. The result was sometimes a negative score in DILR mocks. During his CAT 2024 attempt, he scored only 47 marks overall, with DILR pulling his performance down.
A year later, he scored 91.74 percentile in DILR and 97.27 percentile overall in CAT 2025.
The biggest change was not solving every question. Siddharth learned to identify the easiest set first, solve it accurately and leave questions that were consuming too much time.
That lesson came while he was working full-time, teaching students in the evenings and preparing for CAT around both schedules.
He eventually converted IIM Shillong, IIM Ranchi, IIM Raipur, IIM Kashipur, IIM Trichy, IIM Nagpur and IIM Visakhapatnam. He chose IIM Shillong for its PGDM 2026-28 programme.
Preparing for CAT with a full-time job and evening classes
Siddharth worked as a Technical Analyst at SysTools from 2023 to 2026, focusing on organic marketing, SEO and technical website audits. He also taught Mathematics and Science to students in Classes 9 and 10.
That schedule left little room for long weekday study sessions. He had to rely on shorter, consistent preparation during the week and use weekends for full-length mocks and detailed analysis.
He used Oswal Books for chapter-wise and topic-wise preparation. For Quantitative Aptitude, teaching school-level Mathematics kept his arithmetic, geometry and algebra foundations fresh. This allowed him to spend more time on advanced applications.
He also used Cracku’s formula PDF, attended its free sessions and took Unacademy’s Free All India Mocks for CAT.
His preparation began with a decision that many students may find uncomfortable: he took a mock before preparing.
Why Siddharth took a mock before studying the syllabus
Instead of waiting until he felt ready, Siddharth took a baseline mock to find out where he actually stood.
The result showed him which topics and sections needed attention. He then worked on those weaknesses and repeated the process through more mocks.
This prevented him from spending equal time on every topic. His preparation was guided by the mistakes appearing in his performance.
He also trained himself to work faster than the actual CAT time limit. Since each section gives candidates around 40 minutes, Siddharth often practised with a 30-minute timer.
The shorter timer made him uncomfortable at first. Over time, it helped him make decisions faster and handle pressure better.
The DILR habit that changed his percentile
DILR was Siddharth’s weakest area. His main problem was set selection.
He would often begin with a difficult set, spend too much time on it and lose the opportunity to solve easier questions. The problem was not always his ability to solve the set. It was choosing the wrong set at the wrong time.
He began treating DILR as a daily discipline. With regular practice, he started recognising familiar patterns and became more comfortable leaving a difficult set unanswered.
His focus shifted from trying to solve everything to choosing carefully.
“You don’t have to solve everything. You just need to select the easiest set and start from there.”
Siddharth believes that solving 10 questions accurately out of 20 can be enough to earn a strong percentile. That approach helped him move from negative DILR scores in mocks to a 91.74 percentile in CAT 2025.
What he learned from taking almost every mock
Siddharth attempted almost every mock in the Unacademy Free All India Mock series.
He admits that he was not fully serious during his first few attempts. Even so, repeatedly sitting through the simulated exam environment helped him become familiar with the fatigue and pressure of the actual two-hour CAT paper.
The mocks also taught him when to leave a question.
Over time, he developed a personal “leave-it” strategy. He learned to recognise speed-breaker questions early and move on before they damaged the rest of his section.
For him, a mock became useful only after the analysis that followed it.
The hours after a mock mattered more than the score
Siddharth’s most important preparation advice is to treat mock scores as data.
A low score, a negative sectional score or a bad percentile can feel discouraging. He found it more useful to ask why a mistake had happened.
Was it a conceptual gap? A calculation error? Poor question selection? A failure to manage time?
He reviewed each mistake and tried to ensure that the same error did not appear in the next mock.
“True preparation happens in the hours after a mock test.”
That review process helped him separate problems that required more study from problems that required better exam judgement.
The preparation rules Siddharth followed
Siddharth recommends taking a baseline mock before beginning serious preparation. It shows candidates where they need to focus.
He also suggests practising with an accelerated timer. If the section gives you 40 minutes, try solving with a 30-minute clock during some practice sessions.
For DILR, his priority is set selection. Finding the easiest set can matter more than trying to prove that you can solve the hardest one.
He also advises candidates to avoid relying heavily on the on-screen calculator. He believes it can interrupt the rhythm of the section and that candidates should build their manual calculation speed.
Most importantly, he does not want students to treat a negative score as a final judgement on their ability.
A negative score shows where the current strategy is failing. It can change when the strategy changes.
How he prepared for MBA interviews
Siddharth prepared for interviews alongside his job and teaching commitments.
He joined THEOMI, a volunteer programme started by former IIM students, for guidance on Statements of Purpose, Written Ability Tests and interview preparation. He also watched interview experience videos on YouTube.
Because he could not attend all the live sessions, he used the interview transcripts and other resources to create AI-based mock interviews.
That helped him structure his answers, but Siddharth now considers relying only on AI for interview practice a mistake.
He believes candidates should also practise with real people. AI can help organise a story or generate questions, but it cannot fully reproduce the body language, expressions and pressure of a real interview panel.
The IIM Shillong interview tested his ability to think under pressure
The IIM Shillong selection process had two stages: a Group Case Study and a Personal Interview.
The six-member group case involved an employee-centric pet products company that was losing market share while considering extending office hours late into the night.
Siddharth suggested staggered shifts so employees would not all have to work late. He also challenged the idea of moving the company online, pointing out that the case identified in-store sales staff and customer interaction as the company’s main strengths.
The group ran out of time before reaching a perfect conclusion, but Siddharth felt the logic of his points held up.
The Personal Interview was less comfortable.
When asked about his favourite undergraduate subjects, he named two subjects without being fully prepared for detailed questions on them. The interviewer knew those subjects well and questioned him further.
Siddharth struggled with some of the answers.
His takeaway was direct: never bluff about an academic subject. If you mention it as a favourite, the panel may expect you to know it in depth.
The interview then moved to his professional experience and his interest in starting a business. Siddharth spoke about an agro-tech startup focused on Makhana farming and was asked to design a marketing campaign for it on the spot.
The panel also tested his awareness of current affairs and basic concepts, asking which industries might benefit from the Iran war and then asking him for the binomial formula.
The questions were unpredictable. His preparation had to be broad enough to handle the change in direction.
From negative DILR scores to IIM Shillong
Siddharth’s CAT journey did not turn around because he suddenly became capable of solving every DILR set.
It improved when he stopped treating every set as equally worth attempting.
He took a baseline mock, studied his mistakes, practised under tighter time limits and built the habit of leaving questions that were slowing him down. That approach helped him raise his DILR performance to the 91.74 percentile and his overall CAT 2025 result to 97.27 percentile.
He is now joining IIM Shillong.