A CAT topper isn’t just any topper—they’re part of a rare group in India. Cracking one of the toughest exams means they’ve outpaced lakhs of aspirants by changing their habits, mindset, and approach to learning. They don’t just practice regularly and eat healthy; they also prioritize their goals over vacations, hangouts, family events, and even close relationships.
But here’s the thing—they weren’t born toppers. They became toppers through dedication and hard work. Their stories deserve to be heard because they show that if they can do it, so can you. Remember, if you want something you’ve never had, you need to be ready to do something you’ve never done.
Today, we have Pradeepkumar Puchala, a CAT Topper who scored 99.75%ile in CAT 2024 from a small village in Andhra. Sharing his story with CAT top mentor Abhishek Leela Pandey, 99.93%iler. This is a story of pure grit, determination, and smart strategy!
Pradeep’s Introduction to iQuanta
Pradeep is a B.Tech graduate from NIT Calicut, Kerala. After graduation, Pradeep was planning for an M.Tech but his friend suggested to go for an MBA. However, due to a lack of guidance, Pradeep didn’t even know about the MBA or the CAT exam. Pradeep’s friend told him about the exam and the prestigious IIMs which provides a very fulfilling career after graduating. He even advised him to join iQuanta’s Facebook group to resolve his doubts and interact with other aspirants. iQuanta Facebook group is free for all and open for relevant communication.
Academic Limitations
Pradeep didn’t have the privilege that other aspirants have in their CAT journey. Even when he used to go to college, his daily commute was General Coach Train, an affordable and reliable option for him.
iQuanta Toppers Meeting Experience
After scoring a successful score of 99.75%ile. Pradeep was invited to join iQuanta’s Topper’s Meetup. He was not sure about attending the meeting since it was happening in Gurugram, Haryana and there were some reasonable limitations. Yet, iQuanta aids Pradeep by providing flight tickets accommodation, and all other amenities to encourage him and celebrate his success.
Even for Pradeep, his first flight experience came true. This much support from iQuanta before and after the preparation, Pradeep shares his words in the video.
How was your life back at home and village?
Continuing the talk, Abhishek Sir asked him about his life back home in the village. He shared that after he graduated from the college in May 2024. He used to help in his family business at a departmental store for the next three months. He also follows his habit of waking up early, running, and exercising. Yet, he was not sure about what to do next back then.
What was the reason for choosing MBA over M.Tech?
Asking about his background, Abhishek wanted to know why we chose to do an MBA over M.Tech when both things have their advantages. While Pradeep was patient, he shared that he was not particularly interested in engineering, he pursued it out of a strong belief in his village that whether you pursue MBBS or Engineering, there’s no third way. Since he was good at Maths. Pradeep decided to go for Engineering and see the other options after that.
But, he didn’t get to go to college because of COVID-19 for a year and a half. After which, he started participating in Clubs, and decided not to go for any software jobs or communities. Before he was introduced to iQuanta, he knew only two things: either go for an M.Tech or work in research or a thesis. Moreover, seeing his interest in management, his friend encouraged him to pursue an MBA.
Did your experience in family business inspire you to go for an MBA?
Pradeep shared about how he has been helping his family business for the past 2-3 years whenever he has free time. He used to communicate with customers daily and understand their needs through empathy, compassion, and understanding each other.
How was your family’s reaction to your result?
Pradeep shared that his mother’s first thought was about how they would be going to afford an MBA.
Pradeep got his schooling and graduation for free with the help of scholarships. However, his family was worried about how they could afford such high fees for two years.
Yet, Pradeep’s father supported him and showed his confidence in him. Whereas, Pradeep was not confident about himself.
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What were your lowest marks in Mocks?
Pradeep told Abhishek Sir that his lowest marks were 36 and he scored a single-digit score in Quants.
A lot are good in Maths but other sections in CAT are new to many students, so how you prepare for VARC, Abhishek Sir asked.
Pradeep shared about how it was his weakest section and how much even after consistent practice, he couldn’t score enough. He even thought to go for the GATE exam since there was no Verbal section in it. He thought, “Maybe CAT was not for me”, and “Maybe I couldn’t crack CAT” after seeing the single digit marks or even zero marks in the Verbal section.
Further, he extended his gratitude to the iQuanta CAT faculty and how they helped him in cracking his weakest section in the exam. Next, he described how he read editorials, essays, and resources shared with him regularly and how he tried to understand the meaning behind them first. Then, he started practicing more hard on verbal, dedicated three to four hours to verbal section only. He shared not only he read the articles/editorials/essay but also write summary on paper and then posted on the group to see others are doing and what was the actual meaning.
He further explained how iQuanta VARC Engineers Module helped him create a roadmap to regularly practice RCs and improve his accuracy and how easy the explanations were.
What is the ideal time to start preparing for CAT?
“There is no ideal time, but if you can dedicate consistent efforts, then three months is fine, and if not, iQuanta could help them like me by guiding them to a customized preparation plan according to the time left and their preparation”, shared Pradeep.
What was your daily timetable?
For me, the first thing was to read an article/editorial/essay during breakfast and then solve 10-30 Quants questions daily posted on the group. After that, I went for LRDI, trying not to cover only one subject in a single stretch. Then, come back to read for 40-50 minutes”, shared Pradeep.
Following that, Abhishek Sir spoke about the importance of reading carefully, understanding the words meaning and context, as well as understanding phrases with unique or historical meanings to comprehend everything and avoid mindless reading that leads nowhere.
On the other hand, Pradeep shared his other half of the day solving Quants questions or doing LRDI sets and before evening solving 3-4 RCs to master all the concepts. After taking 1.5–3 hours of break, he then appeared for the iQuanta evening live classes followed by application classes.
Pradeep also shared how much he liked to solve surprise quizzes and other questions on the group, challenging him every time to push further.
What IIM Calls do you have?
With a big smile on his face, Pradeep shared that he got all calls from BLACKI. After asking about his personal preference, Pradeep shared how he would love to convert IIM Bangalore or IIM Kozhikode.
Any message for CAT 2025 Aspirants?
“I am opinion is you should join iQuanta because you will never feel like it’s a college or a coaching center, you will feel like you have a group of online friends, and wherever you have any doubt, you can reach out to them and you will get instant replies from friends. It’s not like they are random members, they are like friends who want to help you. Try to be consistent and follow iQuanta’s schedule, “ shared Pradeep leaving some genuine suggestions for the CAT 2025 aspirants.
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