1. College Student: If you are a college student, you would be in a situation when you have to manage your college studies along with CAT preparation. To add to your pain, your college semester exams may be having dates close to coinciding with CAT. And yes, you have to manage both because you want to land into your dream B-school. Coming to the strategy, you should reserve at least 2 hours daily for revision and sectional mocks. Plan for at least 1 or 2 full length mocks per week and analyze them thoroughly. Figure out areas where you are strong and your weak areas as well. Note your mistakes and also new concepts that you get while analyzing mocks. Be consistent from the beginning of your semester so that you have enough time to balance both CAT and semester exams.
2. Working Professional: I belonged to this category and I understand that every day is dynamic and it is very difficult to follow a proper schedule for preparation. Whatever the situation be, if you really want to be in your dream B-School, you have to find time. Use weekends wisely, take mocks, and analyze them. In Weekdays take out time for sectional tests and revision from your busy schedule. If you are currently working from home, use your time judiciously. If you think you need a break before CAT, plan your leaves in advance and talk to your managers beforehand.
3. Dropper: You are at some advantage in terms of time you get for preparation as compared to college students and working professionals, use it judiciously. Revision is the key, keep revising the concepts. You can also make a proper schedule and take 2-3 mocks a week and analyze them thoroughly. If you have a group or mentor discuss with them and try to find out multiple ways of doing the problems. Keep reading regularly to boost your VARC preparation. Identify your strong areas through mocks and analyze your week areas.
Now that you know the strategy specific to your category, let me tell you the common important points which are applicable to all.
Try to complete your syllabus by September end so that you can have an ample amount of time for revision. For Quant- prepare a list of formulas that you can refer for revision; DILR- solve previous year questions (especially after 2015); VARC- Keep practising and reading, follow the editorial section of newspapers like The Hindu, The Indian Express or Live Mint. If you are yet to start your preparation it is still not too late.
The two most important weapons in the last 60 days are Mock tests and revision. Believe me, mock tests will help you improve in tremendous ways. But a mock test without analysis is of no use. After taking mocks make sure to analyze your performance thoroughly. At this point of time, knowing which questions to leave is also very important. It can save your time and help you improve accuracy. You should know your weak areas by now and should also be confident in leaving questions (identity from mocks which kind of questions you should leave). In CAT sometimes, leaving a question becomes more important than satisfying your ego.
You will receive the admit card exactly one month before the CAT exam. Try taking mocks in the same duration in which you have an actual exam. Don’t get devastated if you do not perform up to your expectations in some mocks. They are sources to learn and improve your performance not to judge your D-day score. On the D-day go with an open mind and give your best. Keep all necessary documents ready a day before leaving for the exam. Last but not least be physically and mentally fit and stay positive.
What after CAT?
You have crossed half a mile and the other half waiting for you. Yes, you guessed it right: WATPI. Prepare well for it. As per my personal experience, you can go for TIME WATPI preparation. Alternatively, you can keep following newspaper articles and practice writing on WAT topics from the internet.
Once you are done with WATPI, following brushing up the following skills can help you to prepare yourself for a B-school: MS Excel, PowerPoint, Google Digital Marketing Certification, Inbound Marketing: Hubspot. You can also refer to relevant courses on Coursera and Udemy.
To assist you I have compiled a list of links that can be useful to you.
1. Which mocks to take:
Time, CL, or IMS: You can go with one or a combination of two.
3. Previous year question papers: You can find slot wise previous year papers here.
4. Useful websites and Channels:
All the very best. May the force be with you and you land up in your dream B-school!
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Comments
Anubhaw Goyal
Nice article, but how did you calculate 60 days for CAT?
25 Aug 2020, 01.18 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Ankita Priya
I am currently pursuing an MBA at IIM Ranchi. I like writing, painting and cooking. I also love traveling.
You are right. Currently, there are more than 60 days to CAT 2020. This article focuses on how you can boost your last mile preparation. However, you can use most of these tips from now also. Hope it was helpful :)
25 Aug 2020, 03.24 PM |
T Manikanta
I am an Avid Reader, Public Speaker, and a Marketing Enthusiast. As an optimist, I always kept learning from the challenges and treasured all the lessons that life had taught me. As a firm believer in actions than words, I respond rather than reacting to situations. Openness to feedback and willing to improvise keeps me going and I love the same in person I interact with. After BE from Osmania University, I've worked with Wells Fargo as a Quality Assurance Analyst for 3 years. Currently, I am pursuing MBA from IIM Ranchi and would love to explore the opportunities that come along my way.
Beautifully outlined what each segment of aspirants should be doing. Well written. Hope many find it useful.
25 Aug 2020, 05.31 PM
SUBHAM SINGHA ROY
HR enthusiast | Tata Steel | Ex Cognizant| Storyteller and Podcaster, Subham Singha Roy is a student of MBA HR at IIM Ranchi. After his engineering, having worked as a software tester, Subham now plans to move on to the people side of Business with a keen interest in Emotional Intelligence. He has published 2 research papers in areas of HR and Marketing in reputed journals with high impact factor and ISBN/ISSN. He is also into Dramatics and has won several awards in Street plays, stage plays and radio plays. Subham has his own Podcast channel and is into storytelling and blogging. He is currently serving as an Executive Member, Media and PR Cell of IIM Ranchi. Apart from these a major part of Subham includes his liking for blue shirts.
Very inspiring! All the best!
25 Aug 2020, 08.20 PM
Subham Ranjan
Very helpful.. thank you!
25 Aug 2020, 10.19 PM
Periyasamy N
Fascinating article!
28 Aug 2020, 11.04 AM
sakshi bharuka
Very useful and thoughtful
28 Aug 2020, 11.16 AM
advait sathe
Thanks alot Ankita for this insightful article and congratulations for getting into an IIM. This article will surely help me to schedule my CAT Prep and make the most of this time available at my disposal ♥️??✌️
5 Oct 2020, 01.45 PMEdited