“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”
-Colin Powell
Only 45 days are left for you to bell the cat, and now is the time for you to apply your full potential and optimize your time and work on key areas where you feel you can do better. There will be many who started late for preparation in this sprint think that they have lost this sprint.
From the past week, aspirants are asking me queries on, “What strategy to apply? What routine should I follow for these last 45 days? I started my preparation just a month back only, will I be able to make it above 95+?”. I have known many who
scored 98+ percentile and cracked cat by just 45 days of preparation from my past interactions with CAT aspirants. They might be lucky, but they were smart enough to utilize these 45 days well for the preparation. Immediately a question popped up in my head, “What makes them different from others that they can do so well in just a few days?”.
According to them, CAT is not just about hard work you pour in but also about the
smart work. Coincidentally most of them have followed the same strategy with a little bit of variation. They divided these 45 days into
3 phases of 15 days each.
Phase 1:
Time Spent = 12-14 hrs a day.
- They started by solving a past year CAT exam and analyzed their weak sections.
- Practiced all the concepts from the weaker sections and studied a few important concepts from the remaining areas.
- Weekly gave three mocks and analyzed each question, including correct, incorrect, and unanswered questions.
Phase 2
Time Spent = 12-14 hrs a day.
- They solved the past 5 or 10 years of CAT. Like phase 1, the analysis was vital in learning about the type of concepts asked in the past years. A
- Also solved two sectional tests and one full mock on an alternative day basis.
- Gave daily 1 hour to reading articles on diverse topics from sites like Aeon, The Guardian, etc. Some of the times, one or two reading comprehension in CAT directly came from these sites.
Phase 3:
- This is a very crucial phase. Start reducing your study hours and try to relax in these 15 days.
- Take only 2 or 3 mocks a week and follow the time slot allotted to you for the CAT exam.
- Try not to study or focus on any new concept.
- Do weekly revision of flashcards and formula notebook.
- Analyze what all strategies during mocks worked for you and keep at least two in hand if one of them is not working for you while taking the exam.
- Give a demo test on the CAT website to be aware of the interface you will be dealing with on the d-day.
- Visit the cat exam center allotted to you once before the d-day and keep track of all the instructions mentioned on the admit card.
All the phases mentioned above worked for many, and I hope that it also works for you. So, it is better that you don’t lose hope and stay motivated for these remaining days to deliver your best on the d-day. Aspirants who are still struggling in scoring good percentile and can also follow the strategy as mentioned above. Stay fit and stay healthy.
All the best!
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