20 engineers score 100 percentile in CAT

Twenty candidates scored an overall 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test 2016. The test is taken by those seeking admissions to the country’s top business schools.

All 20 are male engineers. In CAT 2015, 17 had achieved the perfect score of 100 percentile.

Though no women scored 100 overall, many did in individual sectionals, according to Prof Rajendra K Bandi, convener of CAT 2016.

The test was conducted by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore across 138 cities on December 4, 2016.

The results were released early, taking many by surprise. The scorecards were uploaded on the official website and candidates received individual text messages and emails.

IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore announced a list of candidates shortlisted for interviews late on Monday evening.

Rahul Sharma and Akshay Mehndiratta, both from Delhi, were among the 100 percentile scorers.

Mehndiratta, an alumnus of IIT Delhi, had scored 99.34 percentile in his first attempt in 2015.

“I was targeting the Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta IIMs and with the previous score I couldn’t get in, so I made a second attempt,” he told DH. He has studied chemical engineering, and has been keen on a management career since his second year in college.

Over four months, Mehndiratta spent his weekends studying for CAT, taking mock tests.

“I attempted 81 out of 100 questions. Overall, the difficulty level was similar to last year, but the Quantitative Ability section was tougher this time,” he said. He hopes to get into IIM Ahmedabad.

Sharma is the academic head of a coaching institute with centres in Faridabad and Gurugram.

He completed his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad after writing CAT in 2008.

“The exam has changed a lot since then. I train students, so I thought it would be helpful to write the exam and see how it is now,” he said.