Meet Swagat Subhakanta Das, a determined three-time CAT taker who secured the 99.85th percentile in CAT 2024 and made it to IIM Calcutta. Hailing from Puri, Odisha, and a Chemical Engineering graduate from NIT Rourkela, Swagat brings with him 18 months of work experience at Groww and Uni Cards. Despite facing setbacks in VARC in previous attempts, he bounced back with a focused strategy and aced all three sections this time (VARC - 97.11%ile, DILR - 99.91%ile, QA - 99.34%ile). His journey is a testament to resilience, structured preparation, and introspective learning, making him an inspiration for every serious CAT aspirant. Read his story below!
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1. Brief Introduction about yourself and profile?
I’m Swagat Subhakanta Das, originally from Puri, Odisha. I hold a B.Tech degree in Chemical Engineering from NIT Rourkela and have an academic profile of 9/9/8.After graduation, I began my professional journey as an Associate Data Analyst at Groww, followed by a role as a Growth Analyst at Uni Cards. By the time of my interview process, I had a total 18 months of work experience as of December 31st.
I secured a 99.85 percentile in my third CAT attempt, receiving calls from IIM Bangalore, Calcutta, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Indore, and FMS Delhi this time.
2. Why MBA?
During my college days, working with different student clubs in their management team, I realised the importance of effective leadership, collaboration in achieving desired outcomes. Let it be organising events or trying for sponsorship or getting event partners, all these experiences gave me a glimpse into the world of management and sparked my curiosity about how businesses operate beyond the technical aspects I was learning in engineering.
After graduation, I joined Groww and later on Uni Cards, where I contributed to data-driven decision-making processes. These roles exposed me to diverse domains such as finance, product development, strategy, and partnerships, all of which come together to drive business success. While these experiences broadened my perspective, they also made me aware of the gaps in my understanding of critical business concepts like strategic planning and financial decision-making. I realized that to grow in my career and take on more significant responsibilities, I needed formal business education.
An MBA felt like the natural next step for me. It would not only provide me with the structured learning required to fill these knowledge gaps but also give me access to a diverse peer group, mentorship opportunities, and a platform to refine my leadership and analytical skills to make a meaningful impact in my career and beyond.
3. How did you prepare for each section: VARC, DILR, and QA?
While I was doing decently in the DILR and QA sections, the VARC section had always been a challenge for me. In fact, it was the main reason I couldn't clear the sectional cutoffs in my previous two CAT attempts. This year, I made a conscious effort to improve by diligently following Gejo Sir’s VARC 1000 course. I also built a consistent reading habit and practiced the VARC module questions daily. His methodical approach to RCs helped me clearly identify where I was going wrong in comprehension, which significantly improved my accuracy—especially on the exam day. For DILR and QA, my preparation primarily involved practice from Arun Sharma books, along with regular mock tests and solving previous years’ mock questions as sectional practice.
4. How many mock tests did you take, and how did you analyze them?
I took around 40–45 mock tests in total, primarily from Career Launcher and TIME. My mock analysis followed a two-level strategy. At the first level, I tracked key metrics such as sectional scores, number of correct and incorrect attempts, silly mistakes, and sitters I missed. This helped me monitor my performance consistently and identify recurring issues. At the second level, I used to do a more detailed analysis by categorizing each question topic-wise and tracking my performance across these topics. This allowed me to pinpoint weaker areas within each section and focus my preparation accordingly. Additionally, I used to watch video solutions even for the questions I answered correctly. These often presented simpler and more efficient approaches that didn’t occur to me during the mock, helping me optimize my problem-solving strategies over time.
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5. What was your mindset during low phases of your preparation journey?
During the preparation journey, my mock scores used to fluctuate a lot—some days they were decent, and on others, they dropped so much that I used to question my capabilities. On top of that, juggling preparation with a full-time job was draining. During those low moments, what kept me going was constantly reminding myself why I started this journey in the first place. I’d think about the goal I had in mind—the kind of future I was working toward—and that helped me realign my focus. I used to picture how satisfying it would feel to see all the effort pay off in the end.
More than anything, I’m genuinely grateful to my family and close friends. They were always there to listen—no matter how many times I ranted about a bad mock or how burnt out I felt. Just having someone to vent to without being judged made a big difference. Their support really helped me hold it together and keep moving forward.
6. What are the B-school interview calls you get?
I had calls from IIM Bangalore, Calcutta, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Indore, and FMS Delhi.
7. How had you prepared for WAT-PI rounds?
For my WAT-PI preparation, I joined the InsideIIM WAT-PI Bootcamp and was also part of some really helpful prep communities like THEOMI and Underdogs. These groups made a big difference—they had a solid collection of resources, and the mock interviews gave me a good idea of what to expect. I remember how nervous I was before my first mock, but each one helped me get a bit more comfortable with the process.
I realized early on that I was a bit weak when it came to current affairs and revisiting my undergrad subjects, so I made it a point to focus more on those areas. I started reading the news daily—at least the headlines and important issues—and tried to connect them to broader topics that could come up in interviews.
Speaking was something I never felt very confident about. I wasn’t the kind of person who naturally spoke well or had quick answers. But I began practicing in front of the mirror—just talking out my answers to common questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Why MBA?” It felt silly at first, but over time, it really helped me become more confident and sound more natural.
The process of writing multiple drafts of my SOP and going through different iterations of behavioral questions also made me reflect a lot on my journey—what I’d done, what I believed in, and what I wanted ahead. That self-reflection part helped me be more honest and real in my interviews, which I think helped me crack the interviews as well.
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8. Interview experience from IIM-C?
My IIM Calcutta interview was mostly centered around my work experience. The panel seemed really interested in understanding what I actually did day to day at work. They asked me in detail about my role, especially around performance marketing—what strategies we used, why we used them, and what results we expected from them.
They also went pretty deep into the product side of things. I was asked to explain my company’s product offerings, how we stand out from competitors, and who our main competitors even are. At one point, the discussion became very detailed—they asked me to break down the entire product funnel. So I had to walk them through the user journey, step by step, and explain the conversion rates at each stage. They were particularly interested in understanding why users were dropping off at certain points and what we were doing to improve that.
Towards the end, they gave me a guesstimate—something along the lines of “How many demat accounts are there in India?” They were more focused on how I approached the problem and structured my thinking.
Overall, it was a really engaging conversation. It didn’t feel like they were trying to grill me at any point. They just wanted to dig deep into my experience and see how well I understood the work I’d done.
9. Did you follow any current affairs or specific topics to prepare for the interviews?
Yes, I made it a point to follow current affairs during my interview prep, especially topics related to the economy. I focused a lot on things like changes in the repo rate, GDP growth trends, key highlights from the Union Budget, and the Economic Survey. I felt these were important not just for interview questions, but also to understand the bigger picture and be able to talk about things with some depth.
Along with that, I also kept an eye on international news. I remember closely following what was going on with Trump back then—his decisions used to make headlines almost every day. I also tried to stay updated on major global conflicts or events, because those often come up in interview conversations to test the awareness.
I didn’t just try to memorize facts—I would usually read a few articles from different sources and try to form my own viewpoint so that I could express it if asked. That kind of preparation really helped me in the interviews, especially when panelists moved beyond the typical personal questions and started more open-ended discussions.
10. Final advice to CAT aspirants?
- Start early. Don’t wait for mocks to begin—just pick up previous years’ CAT papers or mocks and start practicing. It’s all about consistent effort.
- Till mid-July, focus more on the sections or topics you're weak at. Once mocks start, your strong areas will get enough revision through regular practice.
- Give a lot of mocks. The more, the better. But don’t just give them—analyze them properly.
- For VARC, don’t worry too much about speed initially. Focus on understanding the RCs well and summarizing them in your own words. That really helped me.
- For DILR, spend the first 5–7 mins scanning all the sets and picking the right ones. This one habit changed the game for me.
- For QA, try the ABC strategy—solve the easy ones first (Round A), then move to moderate and tough ones. It keeps your timing and mindset in check.
- Give some mocks in a noisy environment. It sounds silly, but it prepares you for any unexpected situation on the exam day.
- Once the admit card is out, give all your mocks in your actual slot timing. Helps your brain get into that zone naturally.
- Lastly, leave your ego at the door. If a question or set isn’t working out, skip it. I’ve lost marks in mocks just because I didn’t want to leave a question. Don’t make that mistake on D-day.
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11. Looking back, what would you do differently if you had to prepare again?
If I had to prepare again, I would definitely spend more time on the VARC section. It was the one area I consistently struggled with, and I now realize how much of a difference it could’ve made to my overall percentile if I had managed to get it right. I focused more on QA and DILR because I was relatively comfortable there, but in hindsight, putting in extra effort on VARC—like more reading, more practice, and regular analysis—could have helped me maximize my score across all three sections.
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