How to prepare for CAT 2021​

Preparing for the CAT exam can often be a daunting task – There are so many resources, guides, and conflicting opinions that it might confuse where to start. Here’s a clear and concise article to help you crack the CAT in the shortest possible time.

Understanding the CAT Exam

In our student life, we have always been anchored to our curriculum. Often, our study starts from studying the entire portion, practising a few mock exams and then revising before the exam.

But the CAT is not an ordinary exam.

To crack the CAT, you don’t need to be a verbal wizard or a math genius. You need to focus on the 100-odd questions in front of you and select the correct option – no matter what your method. There are no bragging rights for getting all questions right, nor is there any sense in focusing on your weaknesses. Play to your strengths and build your test-taking ability.

What do I need to get started?

Firstly, you need the right resources to set you up for success. Here’s what to start with:

• Course material & Coaching: For a total beginner, I recommend signing up for a quick coaching or virtual learning course to bring you up to speed in the basic concepts quickly. For folks with more comfort with the curriculum, I recommend going for a correspondence course with some access to material, or directly skipping to test series. You can pick any coaching institute, as long as it works with your academic/work schedule, and is suited to your pace.

• Access to Test Series: You will need access to 2-3 test series to ensure you have enough mocks to practice and improve yourself. Test series also help you understand your relative position among other students – Though their percentile numbers may not be totally reliable. Some great options are as follows:
  • TIME: Many students usually subscribe to the AIMCAT series, and the papers are in line with past CAT papers.
  • IMS: IMS has another excellent test series called the SIMCAT series, and I personally found the questions and analysis very intuitive and helpful.
  • CL: Career Launcher’s test series is also another great option for test practice.
  • Others: You can also explore Bullseye, CatKing and CrackU.

• Mentorship & Community: Everyone’s CAT journey has some difficult situations, where you might need a helping hand. Getting stuck in a particular section, struggling with speed or accuracy or simply feeling drained – There are some sticky spots where you can end up wasting time by yourself. Here it’s important to have a mentor, an advisor or a community you can bounce ideas off and get guidance from.

These resources are sufficient to get you started – You can add more material or specialised help basis your progress.

What should my CAT prep schedule look like?

Part 1: Solve a mock (~1 day)

In my experience, it’s very critical to start your study with the exam pattern in mind. Hence, the first thing you should do (even before you start the basics) is attempt a CAT paper in its entirety.

You can pick either a past CAT paper, or any mock CAT. Don’t time yourself, don’t judge – Try to solve as much as you can, and get a feel for the exam questions and pattern. Once you’re done, analyse the answers to all questions – whether you got it right or wrong.

The benefit of this approach is that you have a very clear picture of the final exam in mind when you start your study process. There is no need to go deep into concepts or achieve perfection in all topics – Keep your study very outcome-based.

Part 2: Brush up the basics (4-8 weeks)

Once you’ve done the mock, you should start with a basic recce of the overall topic list for each section. The material you are using should have a good list of all these topics. One by one, start brushing up basic concepts and solve practice questions on each topic. You can also maintain a planner to help you track which topics you have completed, which topics are upcoming and where you face difficulties.

The time taken for this would depend on your pre-existing comfort with each topic and your ability to ramp up. If you’re signed up for coaching, you can plan the time taken as per the class schedule. It would be best if you aimed to finish at least ~80% of the topics within the time frame recommended.

Part 3: Mocks, Analyse, Repeat (~4 weeks)

When you’re comfortable with the basics, you need to start your real practice. For this, you need to practice mocks constructively. Create a comfortable and genuine exam environment to attempt any mock exam, attempt all questions seriously, and avoid random guesswork.

After completing the mock exam, your work is only half-done. Analysis is equally important for growth and improvement. Analyse the answer key for all the exam questions – What you got wrong, you skipped and even what you got right. Here’s why:

• Identify patterns – What topics are your weak spots? What topics are your strengths? Is there anything you need to brush up on before the next mock?
• Sitter questions skipped – Were there questions you could have solved but ended up skipping? Try reducing this number.
• Silly mistakes – Any questions where a small error made you goof up the answer? Identify the error and prevent it in the next mock.
• Speed boosts: For questions you spent a lot of time on – Was there a faster or smarter way to get the right answer? Were they worth the time?
• Conceptual brush-up: The answer key is also a great way to brush up some forgotten concepts quickly!

Ultimately, your goal should be to improve speed without compromising accuracy, maximising the questions you have attempted correctly.

Mocks are a great way to build a variety of skills you need – Not just concepts and knowledge, but also timing yourself, managing nerves and prioritising easy questions.

Part 4: Concept building, again (intermittent)

Use your extensive mock analysis to move to tougher problems and concepts. Focus on the complicated concepts from past CAT papers or trick question repositories. Focus on improvement, but also on making your strengths stronger. In my case, I found some online solved papers and notes to do the trick.

Part 5: Simulate the CAT (1-2 weeks)

Your final few weeks should be a simulator for actual CAT – Think of every mock as the final exam. Be serious. This will be draining, but it is the most critical part of the prep. Keep analyzing your performance, and focus on building the crucial test-taking muscle. Here are some tips to get this right:

1. • Pick your battles – The most important skill is understanding the difficulty level of questions on a relative scale. Pick the easy questions first, play to your strengths and be cognizant of a section’s level of difficulty. That level will determine how many questions are required to reach 99%ile.
   • Speed up – Accelerate mock-on-mock. Here is where you start watching the clock and shaving off minutes from each question.
   • Calculated risks – Take some calculated risks, e.g. entering the most probable answer in a non-MCQ quickly.

And voila, you should be ready!

This step-by-step plan worked for me. The timelines could be a bit flexible depending on your starting point. I was a non-engineer, and it had been ~3 years since I had last studied quant (on top of that, CA made me dependant on my calculator to add 2+2) so it took me a little longer to brush up on concepts. Tweak the timelines as per your comfort level, depending on how much time you have.

What other tips can you share?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a couple of other tips –

• Balance your workload – If you’re prepping for college exams or working full-time, ensure that you are making realistic timelines. De-prioritise what isn’t important. I had my final year economics mid-term the day before the CAT. I did not stress about it at all. Today, I don’t remember what I scored in that midterm, but I certainly remember my CAT score.
• Avoid comparisons – I never topped a single national mock. I doubt I was ever in the top 100 of a mock. But my CAT rank was ~AIR 20. So don’t focus on your comparative rankings, except when the final scores are out. Focus on tangible improvement.
• Cool-off periods – CAT prep can be exhaustive, especially the numerous mocks you take. If you find your energy flagging, take a break for a few hours or even for a week. Work when you’re effective. Don’t keep burning the midnight oil. Listen to the hints your body and mind give you.

What can I do close to the exam day?

In the final week before the exam day, focus on having a positive frame of mind. Do what makes you comfortable, be it a final practice mock, some concept revision or just some R&R. Do not be around negative people. Get enough sleep.

On the day of the exam, it’s time to stay calm. You’ve done everything that you could. Do not second-guess yourself. Stay level-headed, and think of this as one of the many mocks you took over the last month. Pick the easy questions, and don’t stress on the ones you miss. Breathe. You’ll do great!