CAT Preparation: 5 Things to remember when you start preparing

CAT Preparation: 5 Things to remember when you start preparing

With the 180-day countdown around the horizon. Most aspirants start their journey to conquer CAT, and it is common to have a ton of questions in mind. While many of you scour the internet to seek answers to specific questions regarding your CAT preparation. The most common one is, “Is six months sufficient to crack CAT? “

I assure you that six months or 180 days is more than sufficient to crack CAT. Here are certain things to keep in mind while you start.

• Start with the basics (A strong foundation helps you accelerate your preparation towards the end)
• Consistency is key (focus on small and steady steps)
• Timing is everything
• Procrastinate less, practice more
• Equal emphasis on all sections

Start with the basics:

  A good understanding of concepts will help you go a long way in your CAT preparation. Topics like progression, number systems and geometry etc. requires a strong understanding of basic concepts . The Quant part of CAT is always the application of concepts. The stronger you are, the faster you can solve them. Many online study materials and videos extensively focus on building the basics.

Consistency is key:

Most CAT aspirants are either working full-time jobs or preparing for campus placements in the final year of their college. So a common complaint amongst aspirants is the lack of time to prepare. It might be hard to accommodate two full hours a day continuously to prepare. You can still try and squeeze in a few quick 20-30 minute sessions to brush up on concepts and work out problems. There are apps and online sites that provide you quick access to crisp content and follow up problems to test your understanding in the palm of your hands.

Timing is Everything:

CAT exam will always be a race against time, so you might as well get used to it. Mock exams will give you a taste of what to expect in CAT under each section in terms of time management. It is always a good practice to time yourself to see how much time you take to solve a particular question or a set of questions. I firmly believe that it helps you understand your strengths and identify your blind spots in the early stages of your preparation.

Procrastinate less, practice more:

The internet is filled with a lot of content; while it is good to research where you stand and your prospects of getting into your dream colleges, don’t just dive into it and take your eye off the ball. We spend more time reading articles about how to prepare, what to study than preparing for actual topics.

Equal emphasis on all sections:

 Most of us overstress on Quant and tend to be lethargic about VARC and DILR. This might be a costly blunder. Reading articles goes a long way in solving RC questions and improves your vocabulary. It is strongly suggested that you spend some quality time every day reading through articles. Here is a list of articles which you can read through.

CAT is not an impregnable fortress as it looks, all you need is the right set of tools to tear it down

All the best for your journey ahead !!

Harish is an alum of IIM Bangalore who can’t stop talking about Chelsea FC