If you have already prepared for CAT once, how should you tweak your approach this time around? This is an intriguing question. Right off the bat, it becomes obvious that you have to make adjustments based on your previous attempt. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when it comes to CAT Retakers Strategies.
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1. If you got below 75 last time, then treat your CAT Preparation as that of a fresher’s.
If you’ve got below 75th percentile in your previous attempt, then your strategy this time around will be pretty much that of a fresher’s. Keep that in mind. Unless you have compelling reasons to believe that you are easily in the 95+ range and your 75th percentile last time was merely an anomaly, treat yourself and your strategies as that of a fresher.
Very often we find that CAT Retakers skip the fundamentals due to some misplaced sense of mastery and directly end up jumping to mocks without identifying their gaps. Don’t do that. Fill in your fundamental gaps first lest they come back to haunt you. You plateau out at 93-94 and seem to never be able to reach 98-99 because your basics aren’t solid enough.
2. Types of CAT Retakers and Appropriate Strategies:
a) They have clearly defined their weak sections.
Hypothetically, if this person has got 94 in Quant, 91 in DILR, but a 63 in VARC, then they are aware that VARC is the section to focus on more. In other words, identify and analyze your weak sections, build your fundamentals for that section before doing anything else. Orient your CAT Prep around that section first.
b) They’ve got 80ish in all three sections.
This type is a bit tricky. You need to have a tailored approach for each section with a prior analysis of knowledge gaps and weaker areas. Know where fundamentals are pulling you back and where the lack of practice is pulling you back. It is more likely that you will have to put way more time into the Drill part of your preparation.
There are quite a few students who manage to get whatever percentile by focussing more on certain topics and completely skipping other topics. I know quite a few students who are quite comfortable with Quant but detest Geometry. 2 things happen in this case:
- They know they hate Geometry, so they’re always worrying about it in the back of their minds. This kills their performance.
- If a paper is dominated by Geometry, safe to say they will be completely destroyed.
So find that weak topic within a section and nail it. Reorient yourself to fill that gap. When you’re looking to build that Drill Component, make sure you have multiple sources to keep hitting throughout the day. Chase and solve question after question to automate your solving and build ‘intuition’.
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3. Start taking Mocks.
Know the importance of taking Mocks. Start taking Mocks very early. Mocks should be the starting point of your preparation, not the endpoint. Don’t postpone the mocks to an imaginary point where you feel like you will be ready.
Your Mock schedule should be independent of your preparation schedule. Mocks enable us to stay in touch with the exam, build stamina, and help you analyze your weaknesses. They will give you the edge that you need in order to crack CAT this time around.
Check out this fabulous A-Z guide for taking Mocks and be one step ahead of the last-year-you!
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These 3 CAT Retakers Strategies are often overlooked or replaced with needlessly complex schedules and tips. It really boils down to this: find out where it went wrong last time, focus on that, and hit a couple more topics. Practice, analyze, and fill in the gaps.
Stay Safe and Best Wishes for CAT!
Rajesh Balasubramanian takes the CAT every year and is a 4-time CAT 100 percentiler. He likes few things more than teaching Math and insists to this day that he is a better teacher than exam-taker.
Very Helpful blog, Thank You Sir ?