It is less than three months to CAT 2024 and a reminder to the aspirants to pace their preparations. The last date to register for the CAT 2024 exam is also near. If you still need to fill out the exam form, you should do it before 13th September, 5:00 p.m. to avoid any last-minute hassles. In this blog post, we have shared preparation tips and strategies for the last 75 days of the CAT 2024 preparation. The latter part highlights the unending question,” Has anyone cracked the CAT exam in x months?”
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Last 75 Days of the CAT 2024 preparation Plan
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September: Dedicate the Next 20 Days to Cover Any Topic that is Left
If you have started in the earlier months:- like May, June, or July you must be done with one of the major topics in Quants- Algebra or Arithmetic or have touched Number System. For the next three weeks of September plan to complete your left-out portion from Algebra, Arithmetic, and Geometry. Keep the weekends to revise concepts and important formulas.
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension:
Many people leave out preparing VARC once they find comfort in reading longer passages. This may be a wrong strategy as VARC is a scoring section whereas DILR and Quants are unpredictable. Dedicate 1 hour to this section and work on Reading Speed in RCs and Accuracy in Verbal ability.
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning:
There is no other strategy in DILR than to practice enough sets. Once you know all the important topics in the DILR section your target should be to solve 3-4 LRDI sets daily and take sectionals to improve your speed.
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2. Oct-Nov for Practice, Revision, and Mocks
Revise the concepts in the QA section before sitting for a mock. Keep a notebook separately for Quant's formulas where you can also note down difficult questions. QA has a vast syllabus and you will forget solving methods. By October ideally, you should not pick any new topic and practice more of what you have already learned. You can follow the given schedule based on your availability.
| Month |
Mocks |
Sectional |
QA |
VARC |
DILR |
| October |
Alternate days or weekends |
1 Daily based on your weak points/ PYQs |
20-30 Questions |
1 hour of reading a RC and 10-20 VA or Sectionals |
4-5 Sets Daily |
| November |
Once in two days before 20th November |
2 on alternate days (when you don't sit for a full mock) |
30-40 Questions |
1 article
and Sectional daily |
3-4 Sets Daily |
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Mocks, Sectionals, and PYQs
- When you are done with a certain portion of the exam, giving mock tests becomes important, not only to test your exam strategies but also to see if you can solve within the given sectional time of 40 minutes.
- After giving 4-5 mocks in a routine you will figure out which section needs attention. Give sectionals or topic tests for those weak areas.
- Solve PYQs. First cover papers from 2021-2023. If time allows, go for 2015-2019 papers. You will get an idea of the pattern and level of difficulty. Specifically for the Quants section, some question patterns come up repeatedly.
Has anyone cracked the CAT exam with 2-3 months of preparation?
This is for those who have not done anything till now. There are two things for sure: You can not complete the entire syllabus. Secondly, you must put in consistent efforts plus 5-6 hours of study daily to match others and cover the most important topics. If you are not someone who is good in math or has given the paper previously, scoring the top percentiles will be difficult. Of course, there are exceptions.
What should you be doing for the next two and a half months?
- For QA, cover algebra and arithmetic by the week of October 1. If time allows, go for the basics of Geometry or Number System.
- In DILR, get comfortable with the different topics and set a weekly target of 40-50 sets.
- In VARC read a good-quality article from any of these sources, target 10 VAs and 2 RCs daily. Start taking mocks in October.
Quick Links:
Preparation Strategies and Time Table for CAT 2024
List of Books for CAT Exam 2024
Free online cat exam coaching by ARKSS
CAT VARC Previous Year Question Analysis 2024-2021
CAT Quantitative Aptitude Topic-Wise Weightage Analysis 2021-2023
CAT Score Vs. Percentile 2023: Percentile Data and Insights
XAT Score VS Percentile 2024: Percentile Calculation, Scores & Top Colleges
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NMAT Score Vs. Percentile 2024 and Cut-offs for Top Colleges.