CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma: How a Working Professional Cracked CAT with a Smart, Realistic Plan
Author : Lalita Vishwakarma
December 25, 2025
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Overview: In this interview, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma shares how she juggled a full-time job, handled her fear of LRDI, managed a tricky VARC section on D-day, and still came out with an excellent CAT 98.15 %ile .
If you’re a working aspirant or someone scared of LRDI and time management, Rashmi’s journey with Supergrads by Toprankers is a very real, no-nonsense roadmap.
Tagline: Working professional who turned weekends + smart planning into a CAT 2025 success story
Biggest fear: Not clearing the DILR sectional
Sections she did well in:
DILR (after consistent daily practice)
QA (through timed, written practice)
Section that felt below potential: VARC (she felt she could have attempted more questions)
Signature habits:
At least 1 LRDI set a day, even on the most hectic days
Mocks only on weekends, with proper 2–4 hours of analysis
Weekdays focused on concept building when energy was low
Mixed Emotions After Results: “I Could Have Done More”
When the CAT 2025 results came out, Rashmi’s first reaction wasn’t just joy — it was a mix of happiness and that classic topper thought:
“Maybe if I had attempted a few more questions, I could have done even better.”
Especially in VARC, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma felt she didn’t maximise her potential on the number of attempts, even though the overall score was very strong.
That mindset – happy but still hungry to improve – is something every serious CAT 2026 aspirant can learn from.
Exam-Day Mindset of CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma
According to CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma, your exam day is not the day to stay mentally glued to your books or revision notes.
Her key exam-day principles were:
✅Disconnect from prep on D-day
Go in with a fresh mind, not a tired one.
✅Treat each section as a separate mini-exam
No matter how the previous section went, the next 40 minutes are a clean slate.
✅Main goal on that day
“Your score is to score.”
It doesn’t matter how many books you read — what matters is how many questions you get right in those 2 hours.
✅Be flexible with methods
If eliminating options works for you, do that.
If plugging values or approximations helps, use them.
The focus should be on maximising marks, not showing off methods.
For CAT 2026 aspirants, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma’s biggest reminder is simple:
👉 On exam day, performance > preparation guilt. Forget what you could have done. Focus on what you can do in those 2 hours.
In VARC, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma realised one big thing:
If you already have a decent command of English, your score is often limited by your attempts, not just accuracy.
Her approach to VARC:
If your English is reasonably strong:
Work on increasing the number of attempts.
More attempts = more scoring chances, as long as accuracy doesn’t collapse.
But if your accuracy is already low:
First fix accuracy before blindly increasing attempts.
Otherwise, you’ll just collect negative marks faster.
For aspirants with okay-to-good English, the Rashmi rule for VARC is:
“Once accuracy is under control, push your attempt count up — that’s where the extra marks are hiding.”
DILR Strategy: From “Scariest Section” to Stronger Area
For CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma, DILR was the scariest part of CAT.
She was genuinely worried about not clearing the sectional cut-off.
In her previous attempt, she had gone almost “blind” to the LRDI paper with barely any practice — and she paid for it.
This year, she flipped the script with one simple mindset:
“LRDI only works with regular, continuous practice.”
Her DILR approach:
Aspect
Approach of CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma
Frequency
Every single day
Minimum Target
At least 1 LRDI set (even on the most hectic days)
Ideal Target
1–2 good sets on regular days
Objective
Train the brain to think in puzzles daily
Outcome
Higher confidence & better performance on D-Day
For CAT 2026, if DILR scares you like it did CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma, start small:
1–2 good sets every single day will beat 10 sets done once a week.
Quant Strategy: Time-Bound Written Practice Over Passive Revision
In Quant, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma did not stop at revising formulas or watching concept lectures.
Her key realisations:
Concept learning is just step 1.
You never feel prepared in Quant if you’re only revising theory.
So she focused on:
✅Writing questions by hand
Solving on paper, not just in your head.
✅Time-bound practice
Doing questions in a sectional test format to build speed + stamina.
✅Timed sections over casual solving
Simulated the pressure of CAT so that the real test doesn’t feel shocking.
Takeaway from CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma for QA:
Don’t measure Quant prep by “chapters completed”; measure it by how many timed questions you’ve actually solved.
Practice vs Concepts vs Revision: Rashmi’s 40–40–20 Rule for CAT 2025
One of the most actionable parts of CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma’s strategy is her rough ratio for preparation:
With CAT patterns evolving, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma is very clear:
Don’t over-depend on a fixed pattern.
The number of questions, sets, or even sections can change.
Her philosophy:
40% of your strategy can be fixed
Your basic plan: order of sections, target attempts, time break-up.
60% should be dynamic, decided after you actually see the paper.
Her advice for CAT 2026 Aspirants:
Expect variations in:
Number of LRDI sets
Difficulty level of sections
Length of Quant questions
Focus on strong basics and flexible thinking, not memorising one rigid strategy.
Rashmi’s In-Exam Strategy: How She Approached Each Section
1️⃣VARC (First Section)
For VARC, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma went in with a clear script:
Start with Reading Comprehension passages
In between, pick some single (non-RC) questions
Try to cover all she could as per her plan
Even if the execution wasn’t perfect, having a pre-decided flow helped avoid panic.
2️⃣LRDI (Section)
Her LRDI strategy on D-day:
First, scan for the easiest doable sets
Don’t force yourself to complete a full set of one tough exercise. Instead:
It’s better to do two sets halfway
Then waste 20 minutes getting stuck on one impossible set
Strict time cap:
Don’t spend more than ~5 minutes stuck on one question
This is classic topper behaviour: cut your losses quickly, move to questions that can actually fetch marks.
3️⃣Quant (Section Section)
For Quant, her usual strategy was:
Do shorter, easier questions first, then move to lengthier ones.
But in CAT 2025:
Most questions were on the lengthier side,
So it was harder to identify “quick wins”.
Even then, the lesson from CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma is:
Have a default plan, but be ready to tweak it if the paper doesn’t behave as expected.
Dealing with Pre-Exam Anxiety: Was She Able to Sleep?
Like most serious aspirants, CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma also found it very hard to sleep the night before CAT.
But she consciously tried to:
Stay as calm as possible
Avoid overthinking marks and cut-offs
Prioritise not being sleep-deprived in the exam
Because at the end of the day, a tired brain can’t perform, no matter how good your preparation is.
Key Takeaways for CAT 2026 from CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma
Here’s a quick recap you can bookmark:
✅Treat Exam Day as a Performance Day
Your only job: score as high as possible in each section, independently.
✅If your English is Decent, Push VARC Attempts
Once accuracy is stable, increase the number of attempts to unlock higher scores.
✅For DILR, Consistency Beats Talent
1–2 sets a day → more valuable than a random “LRDI marathon” once a week.
✅For Quant, Practice Under Time
Solve timed sectionals, not just untimed questions.
✅Follow the 40–40–20 Rule
40% practice, 40% revision, 20% new concepts.
✅Working Professionals
Weekdays → concepts + light practice
Weekends → mocks + deep analysis
✅Be Pattern-Agnostic
Fix only 40% of your strategy; keep 60% flexible depending on the actual paper.
✅Use a Structured Ecosystem
Like Toprankers / SuperGrads, where mocks, sectionals, and material are all in one place, so your energy goes into solving, not searching.
Conclusion
The journey of CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma shows that you don’t need a perfect schedule or 10 free hours a day to crack CAT.
What you do need is:
A realistic plan that fits your life
Regular touch with all three sections
Smart use of weekends for mocks and analysis
And the courage to stay calm and flexible on exam day
If you’re a CAT 2026 aspirant, take inspiration from CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma:
You can balance a job, manage fear of LRDI, recover from a less-than-perfect section like VARC, and still finish as a CAT 2025 topper — as long as you stay consistent, reflective, and strategic.
How did CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma manage CAT preparation with a full-time job?
What was the biggest struggle for CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma?
What is the study ratio suggested by CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma?
What is the main advice of CAT 2025 Topper Rashmi Sharma for CAT 2026 aspirants?
About the Author
Lalita Vishwakarma
Content Writer
Lalita Vishwakarma is a professional content writer with 3 years of experience, distinguished by her ability to transform raw ideas into polished, high-impact content. She masterfully combines creative storytelling with strategic execution, ensuring that her work not only captures attention but also drives desired outcomes.... more
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