The Common Admission Test (CAT) results have brought all smiles for Chandigarh students as more than 50 boys and girls from the city, most of them engineering students, have got calls from IIMs.

Punjab Engineering College student, Pavneet Singh Gulyani couldn’t have asked for more. 22-year-old Pavneet, a resident of Mohali have topped the IIM Common Admission Test with a 100-percentile score. Son of a shopkeeper, he is among the all-India toppers.

Sharing the secret of his success, an elated Pavneet said, “I would just put in a regular effort of three to four hours of study every day.”

As compared to the figure of 35 last year, more than 50 students from the city have belled the CAT with flying colours. Most of these successful candidates are engineering students from local colleges, primarily PEC. Besides Guliyani, two more candidates with 100 percentile have a Chandigarh connection. Siddharth Singh and Debanjan Dey of Delhi took mock tests at Pace Setters in Sector 9, Chandigarh.

According to Bulls Eye north head Hirdesh Madan: “Overall, close to 50 students from the region got calls from IIM. The results affirm our perception that more of non-engineers are making it to the IIMs. Even though most successful students from the region are still from an engineering background, there is a distinct bias in favour of candidates with strong linguistic abilities.”

Saurabh Verma who has scored 99.94 per cent, also a student of PEC said, “CAT does not mean rote learning and studying for long hours. I studied for not more than three hours a day. The regular mock tests held at the coaching centre were of great help.”

Another boy Movin Jain from Chandigarh who has scored 99.94 per cent said, “I am surprised and happy to receive calls from five IIMs. Though it is a great achievement, I am yet to decide whether I will peruse an MBA, because I have already cleared my placement.”