How to Prepare for CAT from July

How to Start my CAT Preparation from July

In this blog we will discuss in detail as to how to start your CAT Preparation from July. If you are someone who has begun their prep already, but got stuck somewhere and went nowhere with your prep, or if you are seriously considering beginning your Online CAT preparation (with classroom being defunct, online is the way ahead) from July, this is for you. Even if you are someone who has been preparing for a while, I can assure you this will help you course correct your CAT Preparation plan if need be. Without much further ado, let us jump in! First Things First, The Million Dollar Question.

Is there enough time if I start my CAT Preparation from July?

Sometimes aspirants go overboard and ask, is there enough time to prepare for CAT, the previous July. But again, let me assure you, there is always time if you can find about 300-400 hours of preparation. You have about 5 full months to prepare for CAT, so it is indeed sufficient. Which brings us to the next question, is it tougher to prepare from July, compared to Jan? Yes, of course a 11 month window is much better than a 5 month window, nevertheless, better late than never.

If you are starting from July, you can be assured that there is enough time, but gee yourself up for a really tight schedule for the next 5 months, as you should/will scramble for every extra ounce of time that you can lay your hands on. However because it is a sprint, you don’t have the luxury of taking a 3 week relaxation break, not being motivated, waiting for inspiration etc.

Now is the time for:

Now is the time for Action verbs such as Do, Solve, Read, Practice, Simplify, Compute, take mock. Enough of pontificate, plan, strategize etc.

How to Prepare for CAT from July

The more concrete plan includes 3 major tracks. Learning track, Practice track and Mock track.

For a more detailed take on 3 step preparation, read this article.

How Much Overlap between the 3 tracks?

Learning usually takes about 3 months, then comes the drill/grind 3 months, followed by aggressive mocks for 3 months. However, this is laid out in a fashion that warrants nine months of preparation. Given that you have 5 months in place of 9, there is going to be heavy overlap from day 1 between the three sections. 1st month can have slightly less number of mocks, and last month can have slightly less learning new ideas. Otherwise practically it is a marathon for the next 5 months.

Bad scores in Mocks: How to handle demotivation?

Few pertinent questions arise when someone suggests you to start taking mocks as early as today. The first question is, I have not completed syllabus. Yes, you have not, and there is still value in taking the mock today rather than postponing it to that dreamy day when you are done with your syllabus (for those who have completed syllabus, it is that day when you are confident enough to take up a mock). That monday never comes. So don’t wait for it, take that leap of faith, take your first mock today.

The next more important question is that “What if I get demotivated by getting a low score? How do I bring myself to take a mock again?”. Low/bad mock scores happen to everyone. We know people who score less than 1/16th of their score in the first mock, end up getting 95th percentile or more in many cases in their actual CAT. Check out this quora answer for more clarity on this.

A bad mock percentile need not translate into a bad CAT percentile.

You cannot afford to say, I will learn and practice, and then move on to mocks. Create a Schedule that accommodates mocks all the way to your CAT.

How important is Reading for CAT Preparation from July?

Beyond all this learning, practice and mocks, you need to read at least for an hour, every day. VARC is the scoring section for most students between 90th and 98th percentile. Hence if there is a chance that you can take to make your scores better, you should focus enormously on VARC, which kind of goes against conventional wisdom.

What needs to be my weekly schedule?

You will need to extract about 15-20 hours per week now, increase it to 20 + hours in a month’s time, and towards the end of this 5 month run, do about 25 hours per week. Even really super busy people manage to extract this 20+ hours a week to do something meaningful. This also might mean putting a break on several other things for the next few months, and that is expected out of someone who is ambitious enough to prepare for an exam that has about 15000 good quality seats with about 2,00,000 aspirants vying for those small number of seats.

Don’t give in to the belief that CAT preparation from July is going to be a scramble. If you stick a pin on things like instagram, whatsapp, dining out, movies etc for the next few months, this is something that you can pull off without struggling too much. That being said, don’t fall into the complacency trap, having slack in the system, giving in to procrastination etc.

I NEED A SCHEDULE TO WORK WITH?

If you are someone who is looking for a lot of handholding, head out here, click on what kind of aspirant are you, Fresher or repeater? and how strong or weak are you in Math and English, based on which you can download a schedule that is customizable to the day, and can help you prepare real well, with a complete structure.

https://online.2iim.com/schedule.shtml

Disclaimer: It goes without saying that, you should own the schedule, tweak it for YOU and make it work for YOU. Otherwise it is one more file in your downloads that will never see light of the day.