Introduction
Hey there, are you a CAT aspirant? Taking it the first time? Attempted it before? It doesn’t matter. If you’re an aspirant, that means you want to achieve a 99+ percentile. I’ve attempted CAT twice, tried 2 different coaching centres and attained some very useful insights. I am making this guide so that aspirants can get a clear idea in the words of a former student, not some coaching centre or a career counsellor.
About me
My name is Sanchit Chandna. I took CAT’18 and CAT’19. I joined TIME Delhi and then shifted to an online coaching Genius Tutorials followed by self-study. I got 96.64 percentile in 2019 and I would love to share what I have learnt from my experience and the perspective needed to approach the exam.
CAT Basic knowledge
- CAT is conducted every year in November.
- It is a computer-based exam.
- Each question carries 3 marks and a -1 for an incorrect answer.
- Certain questions are of TITA (type in the answer) type and they do not attract negative marking.
CAT Test-taking insights
For CAT 2019, following is a fairly accurate estimate of raw score to percentile conversion.
| Score |
Percentile |
| 105 |
90 |
| 122 |
95 |
| 128 |
96 |
| 134 |
97 |
| 142 |
98 |
| 148 |
99 |
| 166 |
99.5 |
| 190 |
99.9 |
As you can see, a score of 148 equals 99 percentile. Now, let us work backwards. How can we achieve this score? By attempting questions correctly, how many?
- Almost 50 questions with a 100% accuracy
- Around 56 questions with a 90% accuracy
- 60 questions with an 85% accuracy
Now, the exam is divided into 3 parts and we have to aim for a 90+ percentile in each of the three sections: VARC, DILR and Quants
Let us take Quants: The useful insight is, we need to get 20 questions correct for a score of 60, right? So, if we attempt around 22 questions and get 19-20 correct, there we have a 99 percentile in quants.
Trust me, if you have prepared well, out of 34 questions, 15-17 are of easy level and 8-9 are moderate, to be honest around 25-28 questions are doable. Rest 8-9 are difficult ones. This is what you ought to do: Find those 15 questions first, then find those 8-9 moderate questions, and if you have time left, take on the difficult ones.
Let us say, you could attempt 22 questions only but got 20 correct. BOOM! You get a 98+ percentile in quants. You can shape your preparation strategy in such a way, be fully prepared for those 15 easy ones and 9 moderate ones. In the quants area, I will discuss the concepts priority wise and the best way to prepare quants.
The bottom line is that this must be our strategy for the full exam: There will be easy questions, find them and attempt them and maximize your score.
Don’t let the exam trick you, trick the exam instead.
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VA-RC
VA-RC as the name suggests, is composed of two sub-sections. Reading comprehension (RC) and Verbal Ability (VA). Around 24 questions are from RC and rest 10 from VA. So, the main focus of preparation should be RC. VA consists of para summary, last line of a paragraph, odd one out and Para jumbles which are mostly of TITA type.
Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the make or break part of VA-RC. A passage is given and some questions are asked from the passage, like the unseen passage we had in school, only the level of passage and questions is way above the school level.
RC demands a balance of two skills: Comprehension and Speed.
The more important part out of these two is Comprehension. How well can you comprehend the passage? better your comprehension, better is your accuracy. A 60+ score is regarded as a 95+ percentile in VA-RC. So, well that means, out of 34 questions one needs to attempt:
- 20 questions with a 100% accuracy or,
- 23 questions with a 90% accuracy or
- 25 questions with a 85% accuracy
The target must be to attempt around 25-28 questions. This is where speed comes in.
Now many people are coaching centers make the mistake of focusing on the reading speed. Trust me, it is not the reading speed we want to achieve, it is the comprehension speed. The speed at which we can comprehend the passage. Simply reading is not enough we must understand it well to get the questions correct.
This is what I meant by balance between speed and comprehension. It is not an easy task to comprehend a passage a good speed.
To attain this kind of balance, we must first forget about the speed and focus just on comprehension. Now, how do we comprehend the passage?
Comprehension
To build up your ability of comprehension, the first step is to become a reader, it seems an easy task, but it is not, to comprehend everything in passage, you need to be a reader. The people who are avid readers are at an advantage here, they’ve developed this ability without any conscious effort with their reading habit. Now I was not a reader, I got into RC passages right away and it was very frustrating, I just could not get a grasp of it, after a lot of failed sectional tests and mocks, I finally faced the truth: I answered the questions based on my gut, based on what I felt seemed correct, I was not able to comprehend the passage well.
So, I started reading. I read extensively for months and after that when I attempted RC passages, I realized they seemed easy, I was able to form a logical picture of the passage because I had developed the ability to comprehend.
Since, there is still time for CAT 2020 (around 5-6 months, I am writing this in June 2020) you can still start reading. Apart from books, start reading editorial from one newspaper, I used to read The Hindu and articles from
www.aeon.co and
www.aldaily.com
This will develop your comprehension ability, along with this, I feel the best way to prepare the RC is to divide and conquer the RC approach
Divide and Conquer
Divide and conquer means split the RC into question types, prepare for each question type and then apply the knowledge attained from these to the whole RC.
Broadly the type of questions asked in an RC are:
- Which of the following is true?
- Which of the following is false?
- Suggest a title
- Appropriate summary
- Tone
- Which of the following can be inferred?
- Which questions cannot be answered from this passage?
- Which questions can be answered from this passage?
- Specific detail type questions.
The tone of the passage will get clearer as you read the RC passages and attempt more and more tone type questions, blindly mugging up the different tones seemed useless to me, once you come across these types of questions pay attention to the tone of the passage, then look at the correct answer, you will understand what the words didactic or factual mean. You will then truly understand what the different tones are (Didactic, Authoritative, Argumentative etc.)
Most of the other questions are logic-based or CR (critical reasoning type)
I did it by Gmat club
free resource.
Under this link, first, try all 500 type questions and then 600 types, so as you develop a comprehension ability by reading, you will develop the logical ability by practising this.
Getting in the RC practice
After around 2-3 months of extensive reading and divide and conquer practice, it is time to get into the RC passages. I followed these resources:
- RC 99 by Aristotle
- RC100 by IMS
- Time sectional Tests
- Past year papers
For VA, I followed Arun Sharma’s book: there is no hard and fast rule for VA. I felt that Just 10-15 questions of daily practice is fine. RC must be the main focus because a major chunk of the section is RC, further if we take an example of Para jumbles, the probability of getting a question correct is 1/120 since it is generally of TITA type. There are 5! Combinations and one of them is correct, nevertheless don’t completely ignore this as sometimes there are very easy questions in this section which must not be missed.
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LR-DI
LR-DI stands for logical reasoning and data interpretation. Recently, CAT has shown a tendency to be unpredictable in this section, with no fixed set of question types being asked, all the centers suggest Arrangement, games and tournaments, Distributions and selections for LR and different types of graphs for DI practice.
Try to understand this, it is not guaranteed that you will get typical arrangement questions or a distribution question in exam, the rationale behind practicing these questions is to develop a logical thinking ability.
Once you understand to think logically you can attempt any type of question, that being said for a beginner these types of questions are really good for developing the ability to think logically.
- Linear and Circular arrangements
- Selections
- Distributions
- Venn Diagrams
- Puzzles
- Bar charts
- Pie charts
- Line charts
- Tables
These are some of the important areas one can practice, after you have practised extensively in these areas, go for random sets and past year questions. The key is to be prepared for anything.
I used Arun Sharma’s book and past year papers for LRDI practice.
Another interesting way I practised LRDI was through TED riddles on Youtube, there are many challenging puzzles by TED riddles on Youtube, this prepared me for the surprise factor.
Set Selection
There are 32 questions in LR-DI section i.e. 8 sets of 4 questions each. Solving 4 sets correctly can get you a 95+ percentile in this section. The most common problem faced by aspirants is: Once you start solving a set, you spend 5-6 minutes, you feel that you won’t let it go and end up wasting 12-15 minutes on that set and still not able to crack it, the best way is to scan the whole sections first, spend first 2-3 minutes on going through all the sets just a quick glance and then choosing 3-4 sets which you feel would be easy, I’ve found it that the first set I solved was the last one!(29-32) though it is not a hard and fast rule, the point Is to not follow a pattern, Find the easy sets and solve them first and if you think you are getting nowhere in 4-5 minutes, leave it and move on to another set.
Selecting good sets and moving on are the two key elements of this section.
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Quantitative Aptitude
As I explained above, out of 34 questions, attempting around 23 with a 90% accuracy will get you 98+ percentile. So, it is better to do smart work. Prioritize and prepare accordingly. What I mean to say is you don’t need to spend that much time on trigonometry as you may want to spend on time speed and distance. The aim should be: prepare for less but whatever you prepare, you must have 100% confidence in it. Instead of doing 10 topics with 50% confidence in each, prepare for the important 5-6 with 100% confidence in it. CAT won’t give you rocket science, again I am repeating myself, 15-18 questions are easy. We just need to find those.
Following is a list of topics which are absolutely important :
Prioritise the following topics
1) Arithmetic
2) Geometry and mensuration
3) Progressions
4) Number system
5) Algebra
6) Pnc and Probability
Sources:
I recommend the following sources:
- Arun Sharma Quants book
- Sarvesh Verma Quants book
In the Arun Sharma book, focus most on the level 1 and 2 only, level 1 might seem very easy but remember: 15 questions are of easy-level only and if you attempt those 15 in first 30-35 minutes, you are doing great.
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Sectional tests
Sectional tests are a very important part of your preparation. They test your ability to attempt the questions in a time-bound manner in an exam setting. You may take sectional tests of any center: TIME, IMS etc. Don’t be demotivated if you get poor results though, they are a bit tougher.
This is where you will apply the concept you just learned, find the easy questions, solve them first then move on to moderate ones. It will take a few tests to adapt to this practice but if done right, this will be your mantra.
The most significant part of sectionals: Analyzing. Analyze and attempt the questions which were wrong and un-attempted and understand where were you wrong. After 9-10 tests a pattern will emerge which will tell you the areas you are weak in. This is the whole purpose of taking sectional tests. Identify and improve.
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Mocks
I took both IMS Simcats as well as TIME Aimcats. You may go for any of them, both are good enough. Keep in mind the following when you start taking mocks:
- Don’t get demotivated on mock scores, they do not reflect your scores in CAT, CAT is taken by approx. 2,50,000 candidates, mocks are taken by around 30,000 serious aspirants. Also, they might be a bit tougher than the actual exam.
- Treat each Mock as an actual exam to get the feel of it, you need to simulate as close as possible so that you may get accustomed to it and taking the actual CAT feels like yet another mock.
- ANALYZE: this is very very very important. Analyze each and every aspect of the test, where were you wrong, why were you wrong, why couldn’t you attempt. A good analyzation might take around 3 hours of time.
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Should I join coaching? Which coaching should I join?
A lot of aspirants have this question in mind. Personally, I think it depends on person to person. I joined TIME and then joined online coaching from Genius Tutorials and EBA (English By Akanksha) because online coaching and personal mentoring suited my needs. After sometime, I focused solely on self-study, I found Rodha channel on YouTube as a good option for someone who wants to aim solely for self-study.
Bottom line is: I realized in my journey that coaching plays 30% role, the other 70% is your own efforts.
If you are serious enough you can excel by joining any good coaching institute or by self-study
You may go for any coaching which suits your needs and what you expect out of it, ultimately your own efforts matter the most. A mentor plays an important role of constantly motivating you which, I believe is more important than blatant teaching.
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The most important part of the preparation:
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Consistency: If I decide that I have to practice 80 questions every day, there will be no slack. Results won’t bloom in a day; it takes months of consistent practice. It is not like somedays I am doing nothing and yet one day out of sudden burst of motivation I did 200 questions.
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Identification of weaknesses: While taking tests, it is very important to identify the pattern of weaknesses and then improvise that area. Unless you identify and improvise, you are just wasting your energy.
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Positive Attitude: Maintaining a positive attitude is the most important, trust me I got a 70 percentile in a mock I took 10 days before the CAT. If some of your mocks go bad, don’t get demotivated, it was just not a good day that’s it, learn from it and move on. Have a positive attitude especially on the day of exam and while taking the exam, it is just another mock, it is not the end of the world, just take it lightly without thinking about the consequences.
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Final Comments
Finally, I Hope you learnt from this Guide. CAT is not a big deal, it is not something very advanced, just basic aptitude. CAT is not just testing your aptitude; they are finding managers: someone who can take correct decisions within time and resource constraints. Around 60 correct decisions out of 100 alternatives with a set timeline of 3 hours. Approach the exam in this manner, keep a positive mindset and give your best. All the best!