Mumbai brothers compete, help each other crack CAT

Updated on: Friday, January 13, 2012

It was double delight at the Thakkar residence in Thane. Vishal (23) and his brother Amish (21) had cracked India’s toughest B-school exam, missing centum by the proverbial whisker. Vishal and Amish cracked CAT (Common Admission Test) with 99.81 and 99.99 percentile, respectively. Vishal is as an analyst in a private company in Bangalore while Amish is a final year engineering student of electronics at VJTI, Matunga. For Vishal, it was his third attempt at CAT.

Complementing each other in preparations, the brothers spoke of the jovial time they had studying together. “Having my brother at home to compete was a nice experience. We did not have to look outside for motivation. I have had the experience of writing CAT for two years. So, I could guide him along. On the other hand, he had more time to study. So, whenever he found tips, study material or a new pattern of questions, he used to update me,” said Vishal from his office.

Amish agreed. “We tried to compete with each other, pushing ourselves to do better every time. This helped, especially in the verbal section.”

CAT calls just got higher

Nine candidates cracked the CAT with a 100 percentile score, compared to eight last year Maharashtra has two boys—Ajinkya Deshmukh, an engineer, and Shashank Prabhu, a doctor, who scored 100 percentile. Last year, the state had three 100 percentilers. A total of 1,800 candidates scored between 99 and 100 percentile.

It is for the first time that the IIT B-schools are admitting students based on CAT scores. Last year, the IIMs together had 3,241 seats; this year’s student intake and fees will be declared once the governing council of each institute meets.

Several IIMs have decided to correct the gender bias and give additional marks to female candidates; girls made up 27% of this year’s CAT applications.

Mumbai brothers compete, help each other crack CAT

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