5 Myths About CAT Preparation Busted
CL Team August 23 2025
Correcting Popular Misconceptions For CAT Aspirants | CAT 2025 & Beyond | Career Launcher South Ex
Introduction
The CAT exam has an almost mythical reputation — whispered stories of “superhuman” toppers, impossible schedules, and miracle strategies. Unfortunately, along with these stories come myths that mislead aspirants and derail effective preparation.
At Career Launcher South Ex, we’ve seen these myths trip up even the most talented candidates. Students often waste months chasing the wrong strategies, measuring themselves against exaggerated success stories, or giving up too early because of misplaced fear.
In this blog, we’ll bust five of the most common CAT preparation myths so you can approach your preparation with clarity, confidence, and strategy.
Myth 1: You Need 12+ Hours of Study Every Day
One of the most common myths is that CAT aspirants must live a monastic life, glued to their desks for 12–14 hours of nonstop study. You’ve probably seen viral posts claiming toppers worked “18-hour days” or “didn’t sleep for months.”
The Truth
CAT prep is a marathon, not a sprint. Studying excessively every day usually leads to fatigue, burnout, and reduced efficiency. The exam doesn’t reward who studies the longest; it rewards who studies the smartest.
The Smart Approach
- 3–5 hours of focused prep daily is enough if it’s high-quality.
- Use methods like the Pomodoro Technique — 25–30 minutes of focused study followed by short breaks.
- Balance concept learning, practice, and review instead of drowning in endless material.
Students at Career Launcher South Ex often find that by following structured guidance, they can achieve more in a few hours of directed work than in entire days of unguided slogging.
Myth 2: Only IITians Crack CAT
Another damaging myth is that CAT is designed only for IITians or students with elite engineering backgrounds. This discourages humanities, commerce, and non-IIT students before they even start.
The Truth
CAT doesn’t test your degree. It measures aptitude, reasoning, verbal ability, and logical decision-making. Over the years, many toppers and high percentilers have been from commerce, arts, science, and law backgrounds.
The Smart Approach
- Focus on building skills, not comparing backgrounds.
- Quantitative Aptitude can be mastered with systematic practice, regardless of your stream.
- Reading Comprehension and DILR success comes from habits and consistent exposure, not your college.
At Career Launcher South Ex, we’ve coached students from every academic stream. The ones who succeed are not always the ones with math-heavy degrees, but those who practice consistently and stay disciplined.
Myth 3: You Must Attempt All Questions to Score High
CAT aspirants often assume that success requires answering every single question, racing against the clock like it’s a 100-meter dash.
The Truth
CAT is not about attempting all questions. In fact, negative marking punishes blind guessing. The exam is about choosing the right questions and managing time effectively.
The Smart Approach
- Treat CAT as a selection test, not a completion test.
- Attempt the questions you’re confident about first.
- Learn the art of skipping tricky or time-consuming ones.
- Accuracy + strategy > raw attempts.
This shift in mindset helps many students jump from average to top percentiles. Our mentors at Career Launcher South Ex repeatedly emphasize that skipping is not weakness — it’s strategy.
Myth 4: Mocks Should Wait Until Syllabus Completion
A huge misconception is that mocks are only for the “final phase” of preparation, once the entire syllabus is finished.
The Truth
Mocks are not just tests — they’re learning tools. Waiting until the end robs you of insights that could have guided your prep from the start.
The Smart Approach
- Start with one mock every 2–3 weeks, even at an early stage.
- Use analysis to spot weak areas and adjust your prep plan.
- By the last 3 months, increase to one mock a week.
- Focus on quality of review, not just number of mocks.
At Career Launcher South Ex, students are introduced to mocks early. This builds exam temperament, stamina, and pacing skills — well before the final stretch.
Myth 5: CAT Is Only About Speed
Many aspirants believe CAT rewards only the fastest, imagining toppers as “human calculators.”
The Truth
While speed matters, accuracy and decision-making are equally important. Attempting 50 questions with 80% accuracy is better than 100 questions with 50% accuracy.
The Smart Approach
- Practice balanced section-wise time management.
- Develop fast calculation techniques but don’t sacrifice precision.
- Work on reading comprehension and logical reasoning habits that save time naturally.
The CAT is a test of strategy under time pressure, not just raw speed. Training under simulated conditions at Career Launcher South Ex helps students master this balance.
CAT-Style Sample Practice Questions
To bring the myths into perspective, here are a few sample-style practice questions:
Quantitative Aptitude
If you attempt 18 questions with 80% accuracy in a section, how many are correct?
Verbal Ability
In the context of CAT RC passages, the tone “didactic” most closely means: a) Humorous b) Instructive c) Sarcastic d) Apologetic
DILR
A student can solve 2 sets in 20 minutes and 3 sets in 40 minutes. What’s their average time per set?
What South Ex Mentors Recommend
Our mentors at Career Launcher South Ex constantly remind aspirants:
- Early mocks + deep analysis are the fastest route to improvement.
- Daily RC practice improves comprehension and inference skills.
- Error logs help track repeated mistakes and fix them permanently.
- Section-wise drills sharpen balance between speed and accuracy.
The goal isn’t just to study hard, but to study smart and strategically.
Final Words
CAT isn’t a mystery reserved for a chosen few. It’s a standardized skill test that rewards strategy, clarity, and consistent effort. The myths you hear — about needing extreme hours, elite backgrounds, or superhuman speed — are just noise.
When you cut through the myths and focus on fact-driven preparation, you’ll see steady improvement. You don’t need to study forever, be an IITian, or attempt every question. You need a smart plan, good mentorship, and disciplined execution.
At Career Launcher South Ex, we’ve built years of expertise helping students train smarter, not harder. Whether it’s mastering mocks early, balancing accuracy with speed, or keeping motivation high, our structured approach ensures that myths don’t hold you back from your target percentile.
The next time someone tells you that CAT prep is only for “geniuses” or “people who never sleep,” remember — myths don’t crack CAT. Strategy does.