How to Start Preparing for CAT: Pre-Preparation Checks
Here are some preparatory measures which would help you bell the CAT in the best possible way!
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Familiarize yourself with CAT Building Blocks: You cannot participate in the CAT
race unless you develop an understanding of the rules and regulations. Here, the rules and regulations
will be under the guise of the CAT Exam
Pattern and CAT Exam Syllabus.
This would be the point of incidence for your preparation which gives an idea of topic-wise weightage
and evaluates the overall intellectual ability and level of knowledge amongst aspirants. Your CAT
preparation journey will be deemed incomplete and bumpy if you ignore these two attributes of the CAT
exam. Remember, the CAT exam is a combination of aptitude and accuracy.
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Assess your current level of knowledge: Knowing how to
start preparing for CAT requires an understanding of where you stand at present. Determine your
proficiency level in the sections that are tested in CAT (i.e. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension,
Quantitative Aptitude, and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning) by taking the CAT Readiness Test. The result of
this test makes it easy to decide whether you require coaching for CAT or not, which is the most
crucial piece of information to be known in the very beginning. If you plan to join CAT classes,
consider all the factors such as finances, location, and availability of time. Also, ensure you enroll
yourself in a program that will guide your CAT preparation in the right direction and provide constant
motivation through peer-to-peer learning.
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Develop a conceptual foundation: The most fundamental requirements to
score well in CAT are speed and accuracy. Both of which cannot be attained without having a strong
conceptual foundation. Hence, the next step is to strengthen your concepts. The way to attain strong
basics is through practice and revision. Practice several questions, with varying levels of
difficulty, from the topics you have studied. Revise what you have studied every weekend. This will
help you strengthen your concepts and also offer momentum to your CAT preparation.
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Make mocks a habit: As you kickstart your preparation for CAT, keep in
mind that mocks have to be a part of your preparation from the onset. Don't wait to take mocks at the
end of the road. This is a major mistake that most aspirants make. Take at least one mock per week
months in advance. As you get closer to the exam date start taking at least 2 mocks per week. Writing
mocks will help you understand the paper pattern, benchmark your performance across test takers,
familiarise you with the test-taking environment and prepare you for the D-day.
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Solve Previous Year CAT Papers: The CAT exam is taken by roughly 2 lack
aspirants every year. What will help you beat the competition? Effective Preparation! Practice CAT
level questions, take mocks that are closest to the actual CAT level and solve previous year's CAT question papers. Your
performance in a CAT level mock will not only tell you how prepared you are for the exam but will also
tell you how you are weighing across test takers.
How to Start Preparing for CAT: The VARC Section
Here are some tips regarding CAT VARC which will help you get a hold over this section:
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The Role of Reading: This might sound very boring and
procrastination-worthy. But honestly, reading increases your power of visualization and impact.
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Listen to your Mentor: In case you are going for cat
online classes, make it a point to listen to all that your teachers say. This would help you cement
your base and develop accuracy sooner than you expected.
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Crispen your vocabulary: You should be at least
acquainted with 2500–3000 difficult words and around 500 idioms before you walk in to give your CAT
exam.
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Read about Social Issues: Also, try to spend some time
reading your favorite magazines or articles and excerpts from the editorial section of newspapers like
Indian Express, The Tribune, The Hindu, etc.
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Get a Grammar Manual: This is the most efficient way
of improving your grammar. A high-quality grammar manual can help you improve your grammar skills by
offering various exercises and practice questions.
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Practice Critical Reasoning: Critical Reasoning is a
very crucial topic in verbal ability apart from odd one out, para jumbles and para summary. The basic
components of critical reasoning questions are: fact, inference, assumption and conclusion. You should
understand and answer the questions with respect to the relevant factual information present in the
question. You often need to identify unstated assumptions and inferences from the questions and
evaluate the present arguments. It is very similar to logical reasoning where you need to arrive at
warranted conclusions based on existing data.
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Practice the elimination technique for RC passages:
While solving an RC passage, try to make use of the “elimination strategy” i.e. eliminating
answer options that are not relevant to the passage.
Get a detailed understanding of the VARC section by clicking here
How to Start Preparing for CAT: The DILR Section
DILR proves to be the trickiest question of CAT owing to the unpredictability of the questions
and lack of syllabus. The section requires practice and familiarization with puzzles, graphs, and
data-based questions. As per CAT 2022
analysis, the DILR section was slightly more difficult as compared to CAT 2021, while CAT 2020
analysis shows that it was difficult as compared to the other two sections.
Here are some effective steps to kickstart your DILR preparation:
- Identify the Level of Difficulty: The candidate must identify the easiest set of
questions and the hardest in the first few minutes. Sparing these few minutes will allow the candidate
to attempt easier questions first, saving time and improving the accuracy of the attempts.
- Understand the Question: Identify the most appropriate way to present the information
given to answer the question. Candidates should not assume any information which is not present in the
data set.
- Focus on the Syllabus: Most of the logical reasoning questions would be on the
arrangement topics, so candidates should prepare the topic well. Another aspect is practicing caselets,
bar graphs, different types of charts (line, pie, radar), and table-based data interpretation sets.
- Solve Previous Papers: Preparing with the help of the previous year's papers will
allow candidates to grasp various types of questions and garner an understanding of the expectations
this section has from candidates.
- Work on Speed and Accuracy: When preparing the candidate must focus on steadily
improving their speed and accuracy. You can achieve this by setting timers for practice sets and slowly
decreasing the time.
To get tips for CAT DILR by GP sir, click here
How to Start Preparing for CAT: The QA Section
The Quantitative Ability section is the "make or break section" of the CAT examination. Most of
the CAT QA questions are application-oriented and evaluate your hold on concepts of algebra, arithmetic,
geometry and sometimes a combination of topics.
- Memorise the Formulae: Revise the basic concepts and memorize all the essential
equations of topics such as geometry, menstruation, and profit & loss. It will reduce time and improve
speed when attempting questions.
- Understand the Types of Questions: Many a time, a question can involve two or more
concepts and appears to be technical or difficult. You must be quickly able to identify these topics and
correlations to attempt the question. This will be achieved after memorizing and understanding the basic
concepts.
- Practice Questions: Pick up books that cover the syllabus of school mathematics and
begin practicing the questions. This will allow you to strengthen your understanding of various concepts
and formulae. It will also help you build on speed and accuracy.
- Mock Tests: While mock tests must be practiced for each section, the mock tests help
build a better understanding of the level of the QA section and your preparation. When you start
preparing for CAT, it will also help you identify the level you are at present and where you need to
reach.
How to Start Preparing for CAT: Mock Test
Mock simulations can be your holy grail when it comes to practicing for the competitive entrance. It will
help you manage your time and develop a test-taking strategy. They will not only help you keep your
preparation in check but also will help you efficiently manage your time and increase your
self-motivation. Here are some mock
tests that will help you prepare for CAT, section-wise and as a whole, free of cost.
Conclusion
By focusing on the key points mentioned in this article you will be able to keep your CAT
preparation in the right the time available competently, make full use of the resources available to you,
and keep yourself motivated throughout the journey. Are you ready to take the first step in your journey
to your dream B-School?