Lakshya Dugar scored a 99.44 percentile in CAT on his very first attempt and is set to join IIM Lucknow. A Statistics graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Lakshya has a 9/9/8 academic profile across Class 10, Class 12 and graduation. At the time of appearing for CAT, he had around 22 months of work experience in his family business.
With sectional percentiles of 99.23 in VARC, 98.56 in DILR and 95.31 in Quantitative Aptitude, Lakshya's preparation journey was built around careful planning, extensive mock analysis, and consistent execution.
Why Did Lakshya Decide To Take CAT?
Coming from a Statistics background and working in his family business, Lakshya saw an MBA as an opportunity to strengthen his understanding of business and management while opening up new avenues for growth. Like many aspirants, he knew that securing admission to a top B-school would require much more than academic credentials—it would require a structured and disciplined preparation process.
How Did He Approach CAT Preparation?
The foundation of Lakshya's preparation was planning.
Before beginning serious preparation, he spent time understanding what CAT actually tests. Instead of immediately solving questions, he first built a roadmap for the months ahead.
He started with broad monthly plans that gave him clarity on how much of the syllabus could realistically be covered. Every two months, these plans were broken down into weekly goals, and every week was further divided into day-wise tasks.
More importantly, he tracked whether those tasks were completed.
According to him, planning forces aspirants to confront an uncomfortable reality—you have far less time than you think. Once he realized that, prioritization became easier.
Rather than trying to do everything at once, he started with manageable targets and gradually increased his workload as consistency became a habit.
Which Resources Did He Use?
Lakshya enrolled in the IMS classroom program and completed almost the entire portal, including RCs, DILR sets, practice exercises, and benchmarking tests.
For VARC, he also enrolled in VARC1000 by Gejo Sir, which he considers one of the most valuable resources during his preparation.
He credits the guidance of Souvik Sir and Rohan Sir at IMS Andheri for helping him structure his preparation effectively.
What Was The Most Important Aspect Of His Preparation?
For Lakshya, preparation came down to three things:
Planning.
Following through on that plan.
And doing it consistently.
He believes CAT is much more preparation-driven than many people assume.
Interestingly, Lakshya tracked his progress mathematically. After plotting his mock performances, he ran a regression on his mock percentiles and found that his percentile was improving at a rate of approximately 0.139 percentile per mock.
While the number itself may seem small, it reinforced an important lesson for him.
Every revision.
Every mock.
Every study session.
Every analysis.
It all adds up over time.
Which Section Was His Achilles' Heel?
Despite being a Statistics graduate, Quantitative Aptitude was easily his weakest section.
He identified this weakness early and decided to address it systematically.
Since much of Quant relies heavily on formula application, Lakshya built his own formula sheets using his coaching notes. Rather than relying on material created by others, he preferred creating personalized notes that he could revise repeatedly.
The goal was simple: make recall automatic.
Repeated revision and practice eventually helped him improve his confidence and performance in a section that had initially troubled him.
How Important Were Mock Tests?
Mock tests formed a significant part of Lakshya's preparation.
He attempted exactly 49 mock tests, often joking that CAT itself became his 50th mock.
His primary mock series was IMS SimCAT, supplemented by 7-8 Career Launcher mocks and a couple of TIME mocks.
However, what truly differentiated his approach was the amount of attention he gave to mock analysis.
After every SimCAT, he would watch the detailed analysis videos. Towards the later stages of preparation, he built an Excel tracker that he called his "Endgame Sheet."
The purpose of this sheet was not to analyze a single mock but to identify patterns across dozens of mocks.
This helped him uncover insights that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
For example, while reviewing his VARC performance, he noticed that his accuracy in para-summary questions remained consistently high. Even though these questions sometimes took slightly longer, the data suggested that they were contributing positively to his score.
As a result, he consciously adjusted his strategy to attempt them more frequently.
These refinements eventually became an important part of his exam-day approach.
CAT 2025 Performance
Lakshya scored an overall score of 91.75 and secured an overall percentile of 99.44.
His sectional performance was:
- VARC: 44.93 marks | 99.23 percentile
- DILR: 28.23 marks | 98.56 percentile
- QA: 18.59 marks | 95.31 percentile
The performance earned him calls from IIM Lucknow, Kozhikode, Indore, Shillong, Mumbai, all second and third-generation IIMs, ISB, SPJIMR, MDI, IIFT, and NMIMS.
How Did He Prepare For Interviews?
Lakshya approached interviews through multiple tracks.
For current affairs, he relied heavily on UPSC-oriented resources because of their depth and balanced coverage. Later, he supplemented them with sources such as Zerodha's The Daily Brief and Palki Sharma's coverage on Firstpost.
For HR and personal questions, he created a Google document containing answers to nearly 30 commonly asked interview questions.
He revised and refined these responses repeatedly until they felt natural rather than scripted.
Alongside this, he thoroughly revised Statistics to prepare for questions related to his academic background.
What Was His IIM Lucknow Interview Like?
Among all the interviews he attended, the IIM Lucknow interview stood out.
The conversation was relaxed, engaging, and flowed naturally throughout.
The panel spent time discussing his background, experiences, and motivations, creating an atmosphere that felt more conversational than evaluative.
One question, however, left a lasting impression.
Towards the end of the interview, one of the panelists asked:
"You seem so full of life and driven. Tell me, what is the most notorious thing you've ever done?"
It was unexpected, but it perfectly captured the tone of an interview that felt genuinely enjoyable rather than intimidating.
Which Calls Did He Convert?
Lakshya converted IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Indore, SPJIMR, and multiple second and third-generation IIMs.
After evaluating his options, he decided to join IIM Lucknow.
Advice For Future CAT Aspirants
Lakshya's preparation journey reinforces a few simple lessons.
Plan before you begin.
Track your progress honestly.
Take mock analysis seriously.
Build your own notes.
And most importantly, stay consistent.
As his journey shows, improvement often happens gradually and quietly. The key is to keep putting in the work long enough for those small gains to compound.
For Lakshya, those small gains eventually resulted in a 99.44 percentile, multiple top B-school converts, and an admit from IIM Lucknow.