Rickshesh Manchanda’s story is one of rare, sheer brilliance. He scored a 100%ile at CAT. He was claimed as their student by at least 2 reputed CAT Preparation institutes – TIME and IMS – (we are not sure if there were any others in the fray as well). However, his interview with Careers 360 should lay to rest any such claims, as he clearly says that it was his last year’s CAT preparation along with some tests he practiced this year (so, he might just have been a Test Series student at one or more of these CAT preparation institutes) that helped him nail the 100%ile.
MBAGuru did not make a claim to his 100%ile performance – because he was not our classroom student at the CAT in which he scored a 100%ile. This time around, he was working in Pune after his graduation.
But in the final year of his graduation, when he appeared for the preceding CAT and cracked an almost equally impressive 99.99%ile, he was a classroom student at MBAGuru. And the fact that he didn’t need a classroom CAT preparation the second time around indicates 2 things –
- He was inherently gifted as far as exams like CAT go and
- the ADAPTIVE Prep he undertook for his first attempt at CAT from MBAGuru was solid enough for him to know where he really stood and what he needed next.
The truth is that such brilliant students, although rare, would crack the CAT regardless of which CAT Coaching they join (or whether they join it). We are proud of him and as proud of his 100%ile without our guidance as of his 99.99%ile previously with our classroom coaching. That he trusted ADAPTIVE Prep at MBAGuru when he prepared means a lot to us.
Apart from his obvious brilliance, his story is one of courage – he let go of the options he had at 99.99%ile because he wasn’t sure about his MBA plans then. And then once he was clearer, he went on that extra mile to add that lovely little 0.01%ile to his previous CAT performance. What he did in his final year though was to keep and build both options – job and MBA. That gave him the luxury of choice.
His clarity of thought and self-belief are two things we can look to emulate. It is true that every one of us cannot mimic his 100%ile or the 99.99%ile but with self-belief and the right guidance, you can give yourself a good chance of hitting a top percentile at CAT.
About the author: Deekshant has sleep-walked through several 100 and 99.9 %iles in practically every section of the CAT. That he is a cricket fan and he writes okay is evident from most of his posts. 1000s of our students swear that he can motivate almost anyone to double his/her percentile through very simple yet powerful inputs. And that’s why every MBAGuru student has direct access to him via mail and Telegram. Oddly, he somehow also finds the time to write songs professionally. And yes … almost missed this … he is an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Cal 