From IIT to IIM Lucknow to Corporate: What 2.5 Months of CAT Prep Can Teach You
We often assume that cracking CAT requires a year of preparation.
But what if you have only 3 months?
In my conversation with Mridul Gupta, IIM Lucknow alumnus, 99.6%iler and Lead at Unilever, we went beyond the usual “how many hours should I study?” conversation.
Mridul started preparing for CAT while working a demanding corporate job. He had planned for 3 months, but because of COVID, his actual preparation time came down to around 2.5 months.
And his approach was refreshingly simple:
Commit completely.
Start mocks early.
Analyse relentlessly.
Work on your weaknesses.
He didn't wait to finish the syllabus before taking mocks. After spending around five days on theory, he started using mocks to identify exactly where he was losing marks — whether it was time management, question selection or conceptual gaps.
We also spoke about something every CAT aspirant experiences: bad mock scores.
A 90 percentile one day and 70 the next can make you question everything.
His advice?
Don't overthink the score. Analyse why it happened and keep moving. Over time, consistency follows.
But the conversation wasn't just about CAT.
We also spoke about what actually changes after an MBA — how IIM Lucknow changed the way he thinks, prioritises, delegates and approaches his work.
The job didn't necessarily change.
He did.
And perhaps the biggest takeaway for anyone preparing for CAT:
Don't ask, “Why am I not improving?”
Ask, “What exactly is going wrong, and what can I change?”
Stop thinking.
Start analysing.
Watch the full conversation in the embeded video. 🎙️
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