While the world is going gaga over those who scored 100 percentile in the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2011, those who missed the feat by just a few points went unnoticed. PaGaLGuY talks to some of the 99 percentilers, who fell short of the perfect score by a scratch.

Srikanth Lanka, a final year student of chemical engineering at the University Institute of Chemical Engineering, Mumbai got a score of 99.99 percentile. Lanka said, I was thrilled to see my CAT score; getting so close to the perfect mark was overwhelming. With all the hard work and preparation, I had expected to get above 98 percentile.” He, however, isn’t really unhappy about falling short of 100 percentile by just .01 points. “Not scoring 100 percentile does not bother me because I have already got a score, which sort of ensures my entry into any one of the coveted Indian Intitutes of Management (IIMs).

Aakriti Aggarwal, pursuing a BTech degree from the J B Institute of Engineering and Technology (JBIET), Noida scored 99.78 percentile and seemed quite happy at that. “I was aiming to get 100 percentile as I always used to score more than 99 percentile in the mock tests. I am happy with the score I got, though I know a couple of more correct answers would have perhaps got me 100 percentile,” she said.

While there are some who prepared rigorously all through the year for the exam, there are a few who have tasted success with little efforts. Anand Vidhurpuri, a BTech final year student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi is yet to believe that he scored 99.98 percentile in CAT 2011. I had taken a few test series conducted by the coaching institutes and like the majority of test takers, I too, had appeared for the test aiming for the IIMs. I am happy that my efforts have yielded results. Lamenting over missing the perfect 100 percentile is out of the question.”

For Sanchit Bansal, a BTech student at IIT Delhi, appearing for CAT was a last-minute decision. I am amazed that with barely a month’s preparation I could get a total score of 99.93 percentile and score 99.99 percentile in the Quant and Data Interpretation section. I am sure if I worked harder I could have got the perfect score.”