Mumbai: A bunch of students made Maharashtra proud by cracking the tough Common Admission Test (CAT) - some scoring a perfect ten while some followed close at 99.99 percentile. Hardwork and dedication with a bit of luck are the keywords, they said.

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," said Lanka.

"However, not scoring 100 percentile does not bother me because I have already got a score which ensures a call from the coveted Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). I wouldn't ask for more if I get through IIM-Ahmedabad," he added.

Scoring a perfect ten was Ajinkya Deshmukh, 24, from Ambernath town in Thane district. He says he just cannot wait to get back to college and enjoy his days in a classroom. The IIT-Madras graduate is one of the nine MBA aspirants in the country to secure the top score this year.

Deshmukh is currently employed with a business analyst firm in Mumbai, which he joined after finishing his BTech in Computer Science. This was Ajinkya's third attempt at clearing the CAT.

Two B-schools on Deshmukh's wish list are IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bangalore. "I'm excited to go to the classroom once again after two years of job experience. But the experience will help me understand management studies better," he said.

Also partying hard are two brothers from Thane city, Vishal (23) and Amish (21) Thakkar cracking CAT by scoring 99.81 and 99.99 percentile, respectively.

Vishal works as an analyst in a private company, while Amish is a final year electronics engineering student at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute.

This was Vishal's third attempt.

Nine out of the 1.85 lakh students who took the CAT scored 100 percentile. Eighteen scored 99.99 percentile and over 1,800 candidates scored between 99 and 100 percentile. IANS