90 days to CAT 2020: 4 Common Mistakes to Avoid

90 days – we do not say three months anymore. Three months is very mainstream, and in any case, we better count in terms of days. 3 months is so long; 90 days creates a sense of urgency. With about 90 days to go for the D-Day – 29 November 2020 – the panic is slowly getting into the minds of each and every CAT aspirant. Everything from not having completed portions yet to not having practiced enough CAT level questions to not having taken enough mocks already creates a sort of rush that is probably quite natural but should not be an organic offshoot of the CAT 2020 preparation journey.

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Having said that, what are the four common mistakes that people tend to commit in the last 90 days that might backfire later? This is an interesting question worth pondering. And as always, we do not stop with that. We also provide options that we have seen work like magic.

Let’s get started!

1) Gnothi Seauton – “Know Thyself”

As cliched as it sounds, there are lot of pointers to be delved into when it comes to knowing oneself with respect to CAT preparation.

The perfectionist wannabe looking to cover the entire syllabus

CAT aspirants, in general, want to cover a lot of topics. They keep track of the number of topics covered and those yet to be covered – 18, 24, 32 etc. With 90 days to go, this panic keeps skyrocketing.

The overemphasis on covering a lot of topics, while not giving adequate importance to revising concepts/taking mocks frequently can backfire big time as the D-day approaches. Take the plunge and start taking mocks.

Do not wait for the day you will cover all things CAT. That day never comes.

Own your preparation

These three words are taken to mean, “I have to frame a pitch-perfect preparation with a detailed break-up of hour-by-hour goals.” WRONG. The ’90 days on the calendar’ run-up does not automatically translate to over-planning and going into minute details by the minute.

Step Zero

Know your strengths and weaknesses, in terms of sections, topics and sub-topics. This will come a long way in the further steps.

Step One

Have a sense of how your strengths and weaknesses match up with a mock CAT paper.

For example, if you are weak in Logarithms and you see that there are only couple of questions, then you can maybe say, “I will focus on another topic to compensate and skip these two questions”, OR “Given that there are two questions, I will have a go in terms of preparing this topic and take the next mock better prepared in THIS topic.”

Step Two

Analyse your mocks to death. These 90 days, mocks should be your benchmark for where you stand and how you can go further from the position you find yourself in.

The analysis misconception

When people think of mock analysis, they often take it for granted that analysis = knowing the right answers for questions skipped/wrong attempts. This probably ranks at the top of the mistakes that one is not supposed to commit.

Analyzing mock does not just translate to knowing the answers. It is a lot more than that. You need to understand why and how you got certain attempts wrong, and whether or not you could have skipped those questions that fetched you negatives.

The other side of the coin is how you analyse your right answers. You have to still look at the methodology provided and see if there is a better, more efficient way to go about a question that would save you that extra 10 seconds of time.

CAT is an intensely competitive examination, and people are vying for the best places. Every second counts, and every 0.01%ile you earn for yourself could prove to be a decisive factor. You must have this in mind while analyzing mocks.

2) The crying need for revision

I have been stressing on this time and again; your preparation plan should include time slots for revision. There are simply no two ways about it.

Revision is really important. Do not underestimate that part of your CAT 2020 preparation. You have 90 days in the bag, you can surely allot time to read, revise, take mocks, analyse and repeat this grind.

The portion completion myth… again

Oftentimes, I have seen many students going topic after topic. They assume that a topic once covered is done and dusted with. And almost always, this proves to be wrong.

Do not wait for one round of portions to get completed before starting revision. Your preparation plan should organically include revision as an aspect of it.

Revision should not be overlooked, should not be taken fore granted, and should not be forgotten.

Initially, you must have started with 95% of learning and 5% revision. In the second phase of your preparation, the learning component should ideally reduce to 60% to 70% of your preparation time, as revision occupies the rest. The third sprint phase is when the learning component approaches zero, and the revision takes the driver seat.

How long can a topic remain untouched?

At this leg of your CAT preparation timeline, you must ideally be looking at a period of not more than three weeks. If this threshold gets exceeded, chances are you might lose the edge on that topic.

3) Veni Vidi Legi – “I came, I saw, I read”

No prizes for guessing. This, indeed, is inspired from “I came, I saw, I conquered”. How is it relevant with 90 days to go for CAT 2020, though?

Reading is very important. You cannot merely solve some 50 Reading Comprehension passages and be done with the VARC part. Remember, you are never an expert just because you solved n number of questions.

Cultivate the habit of reading. Some people have it intrinsically. It comes naturally to them. For others, it needs to be inculcated. Some people have a tough time getting used to reading. Others find it relatively easy.

In comes Bharath’s Reading List

With all these variations coming into the picture, this is where Bharath’s Curated Reading List comes in handy.

There are 600-odd articles that have been added to the repository. If you can start today and read about 400 article before the day of the actual examination, you should be good to go with VARC.

And, I say this with hands on my heart. The only caveat, though, is that you should take mocks and analyse them. Just these two steps will take you to a fabulous score in VARC.

4) Carpe Diem – “Enjoy this moment”

CAT preparation is usually not a thing that brings enjoyment as the predominant emotion. But, that need not be the case all the time. It need not be the aspect that brings in gloom, anxiety, stress and fear as well.

More often that not, I have seen aspirants planning, over-planning, planning some more, and then going into intricate details of the preparation plan. This is most likely to cripple the actual preparation mindset towards CAT 2020.

The myth of planning

This is not to say that planning is a useless chore. It is just that mere planning does not take you anywhere.

If you feel like you have not prepared enough, do yourself a favour. Go to the 2IIM Question Bank and solve some 15 to 20 questions. Even if you get one or two right, it is alright. Make sure to get all the explanations right. Analyse how you approached the question and how the actual method worked.

Like Rajesh keeps reiterating, remove the emphasis on output metrics (like scores, percentiles, target scores, colleges, etc.) and shift your focus to input metrics (number of hours, preparing, revising, solving, reading, relaxing etc.) It works like a charm all the time.