Sinha says the global downturn and the fear of not having enough job opportunities in hand had initially led him to sit for the CAT in November last year. However, after landing a job in the college placements in December, he is no longer sure if he wants to pursue MBA anymore.

“I am still debating if I would go for it,” says Nishant who hails from Patna. He is currently doing his final year in the Electrical Engineering department.

“The IIT Joint Entrance Exam had already prepared me for the quantitative analysis section. I only had to work hard for the verbal aptitude section,” he says.

Born and brought up in Patna, Nishant did his senior secondary from Hansraj Model School in Punjabi Bagh. After clearing CAT, he is now worried about the next step -facing the group discussion and interview. “I am more into academics and find it difficult to face questions in person. Clearing them would be a big issue,” he says.

This year, sources in IIT-D say as many as 26 students from the institute have made it to the 99-percentile bracket. Abhishek Gupta from Career Launcher says IITians have an edge over other students in CAT, as preparing for the IIT entrance test is a gruelling task that makes them better prepared. “Even while coaching them, we do not have to start from scratch,” he says.

Sandeep Manubhandhane, founder-chairman of PT Education Coaching Institute, says the overall result from Delhi this time has been good. “Our students have done well, with Amitabh Tandon from NCR scoring 99.49 percentile. However, a final assessment of the marks will be available only after a few days of analysis,” he says.