What is one thing that is common to most CAT 100-percentilers? Most of them were ‘cool as cucumbers’ on the test day. While most test takers were frantically turning pages of their formulae notebooks and worrying about that one probability question they weren’t sure how to solve, these toppers were basking in the gentle November sun and not losing any sleep.

“I went into the CAT centre with a peaceful mind, and was content with my preparation,” says Siva Surya Teja, a CAT 100-percentiler who hails from a small town called Samalkot in East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh. “The feeling has finally sunk in and I plan to prepare well to crack the interviews, which start in March.” Teja is aiming to convert his IIM Ahmedabad interview into an admit call. “IIM Bangalore and Calcutta are equally good but IIM-A is my dream B-school,” he adds. An Infosys employee for around two-and-a-half years now, Teja is a B.Sc. Computer Science graduate from JNTU, Anantpur.

START-UP SCORE Another curious case is of Kumbhat Suneet Sushil, a Mumbaikar who also figured in the top percentile. “I’ve been euphoric for the past couple of days and I think the next four to five months will be extremely important, as I will be able to decide my course and career.”

Suneet is an IIT-Delhi graduate who has been running his own start-up for around one-and-a-half years now. “I am not sure of which business school I would want to get into right now; if our start-up takes off in the coming months, I might give the MBA a pass this year,” says Suneet, though he definitely has his eyes on the top IIMs.

Suneet and his childhood friend Abhijeet Agarwal are working full-time on their start-up for customised content writing. “It was my sister's wedding and I had to give a speech. I had a tough time writing that speech, as I am not very good at expressing my feelings,” says Suneet. “I felt people like me could use a customised content service for such needs.” Suneet and Abhijeet left their jobs to pursue their newly-found passion. The duo’s Web site, wordsforyou.co.in, offers customised and regular content writing solutions along with a team of 70 freelance writers and a few marketing interns.

GOAL SCORED The top percentiler from Chennai, Abhiram Iyer, is an IIT Madras graduate who has been working in Ashok Leyland for the past one-and-a-half years and will quit the job if he gets a call from IIM-A. A Manchester United fan, Iyer looked for inspiration in a football match before the exam to cool his nerves. “I watched the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final where Manchester United beat Bayern Munich,” says Iyer. “This game epitomises the never-say-die attitude which helped me in the exam.”

Iyer cracked as many mock tests as possible before the real CAT and worked on speed and accuracy during his prep days.

Another top percentiler, Krishna Palitulla, is also an IITian. The IIT Bombay student and his parents were surprised to see his CAT score. “I knew I would do well but a 100 percentile was a pleasant surprise,” he says. Though Palitulla is keen on joining IIM-A, he holds a coveted job offer from Google too. “It's going to be a tough choice,” he says. Palitulla seems to be following his father P. Viswanath's footsteps, co-founder of the prep institute TIME and an IIT Madras and IIM-A alumnus.

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