Every new CAT aspirants have a boatload of doubts regarding the exam and how to prepare for it. Starting from profile building, to when to start preparing, to guidance for every section - there are various questions in a CAT taker's mind. To help you out, we have compiled an essential list of 25 Q&As from the recent live discussions to help everyone out there who's planning to prepare for CAT. Some of the most asked questions are answered by Vaidehi who scored a 99.42%ile in CAT 2021. Read on!
Q1. VARC accuracy is terrible. How to improve my scores in VARC?
Ans. The most important thing that matters for VARC is comprehension. RCs are 2/3rd of the VARC section and if you get a stronghold on them, then you can definitely ace this section. It is a common practice that we tend to neglect the VARC section and focus more on the other two. So, no matter how cliched that sounds, reading is the key. I can personally vouch for it because, though VARC was my strongest suit since the beginning, I had a target to get the maximum score in it to compensate for QA. Thus, what helped me here immensely is the habit of reading at least 2 articles a day and practising at least 3 RCs. You won’t get instant results, but that’s when you have to be firm and continue this practice consistently for weeks or months. Be patient and you’ll surely see results.
Be ready to change your strategy as and when required. I’ll give you an example, my strategy for this section in mocks always used to be to attempt all the questions. But, during the actual exam, I realized that if I look at solving all the RCs, I might end up risking my accuracy. And hence, I improvised on the spot. So, this is something that you should do while attempting mocks or sectionals. We tend to forget the VA part and take it lightly. This is detrimental because your VA part can either make or break your percentile in this section due to the fact that majority of the questions here are TITA-based. Hence, I’d also suggest you to work on the VA part separately by first working on the concepts and then moving on to practice.
Q2. Chances of getting into a B-School with a poor profile?
Ans. This is a very subjective question as the admission depends on a lot of things like your category, your interview, but most importantly, your CAT score. So, you should just focus on the CAT right now and not worry about the other factors which aren't in your control.
Q3. Where can we get free resources for CAT?
Ans. YouTube is a great place to look for practice material. InsideIIM has some useful resources too like the
Mini Mock Series. You can check out their website and can integrate those resources into your daily schedule.
Q4. When is a good time to start preparing for CAT 2022?
Ans. CAT being an aptitude test, can be cracked easily by preparing for about 6 months. What you should do right now is try to get the best score possible on your 10th board exams as these scores play a huge part in the admission process.
Q5. Weak in Quants due to fear of numbers. How should one approach the QA section?
Ans. Quants was the most difficult section for me as well. And, it would be hard to believe but till a week before CAT, my Quants percentile in mocks was stuck in the 85-90 bracket. But in the exam, I ended up getting the highest sectional percentile in Quants (99.67) mainly because of my consistency. From April to November, there wasn't a single day when I didn't practice Quants. So, no matter how difficult it looks right now, don't stop practising. Also, make a priority list of the sub-sections that you'd target in the exam and prepare accordingly. For example, my focus in Quants used to be on Arithmetic, Geometry, and Modern Math.
Q6. Poor academics with just a year of work experience. How to get into a top B-School?
Ans. Just focus on giving your best in the CAT exam as everything else is secondary. A 99+%ile will definitely give you at least an interview call in some decent colleges (depending on your category and academic background).
Q7. How much time should be invested in preparing for the 3 sections individually?
Ans. I used to give the maximum preparation time to Quants as it was my weakest among the three sections. For the other two, I used to set up daily targets and focused on meeting those targets without thinking about the number of hours involved. So, do two things: (i) Give the maximum time to your weakest section, (ii) In the process, don't forget to focus on your strongest section as well.
Q8. How to prepare for CAT - by joining a coaching or self-study?
Ans. Coaching is not imperative for the CAT exam. Though I joined coaching, the only benefit I derived from the same is that it structured my preparation a bit in the earlier stages and it gave me a mentor to talk to whenever I got stuck. But, if you think that you need flexibility in your preparation schedule, then you can do equally well through self-preparation as well.
Q9. Which mock series should one go for while preparing for CAT?
Ans. I'd recommend you choose any 2 from TIME, IMS, and CL.
Q10. Is it important to have internships, work experience, hobbies and others things in your profile?
Ans. Having these things don't play any part up to the point of getting interview calls. However, these can be a good talking point in the interviews. I'd suggest that you can focus on these activities to develop your profile until June, and after that, focus on your CAT preparations as that is the entry point to even reaching the interviews.
Q11. Is IMS test series the best one among all for good mock tests similar to CAT?
Ans. The VARC section of last year's CAT was the closest to IMS and the QA was closest to TIME. But again, it won't be the same each year as even the coachings are just trying to make mocks closest to CAT and even they don't know the type of paper that would come.
Q12. Suggest resources for individuals who rarely reads.
Ans. For CAT, what's important is to: (i) Read across topics, and (ii) Understand passages of any difficulty level. Thus, I'd suggest you read articles on varied topics from websites such as The Smithsonian, Guardian, and Atlantic.
Q13. Can one get a 99+%ile in CAT if he/she starts in May?
Ans. Well, I started my preparation at this exact time last year and I ended up getting a 99.42. So, I believe that if I can, then anyone can. Thus, yes, you definitely can get a 99+ %ile if you start preparing diligently from this point onwards.
Q14. How to improve vocabulary for RCs?
Ans. Here, it is important to understand that knowing the meaning of words is not important for CAT, but understanding their context in the relation to the sentence is what's important. Hence, I'd suggest you focus on solving RCs of an increased difficulty level as it'd not only help you learn new words but also to improve your comprehension skills.
Q15. How to handle central theme/main idea questions in CAT RCs?
Ans. The ease with which you answer such questions will depend on the way in which you read an RC. Sometimes, we reach a situation where we're just reading and not understanding what's actually written, and once we realize this, we again go to the beginning of the paragraph and start reading again. So, to avoid this, I used to read the RCs in such a manner that I used to take a pause after every paragraph to summarize the gist of the paragraph mentally. After doing it for all the paragraphs, I then used to summarize the entire passage mentally. Doing this really helped me in solving questions related to the central theme and main ideas. In order to start with this practice, you can initially use a pen and paper, but once it becomes a habit, you'll see that you'll then be able to do it naturally in negligible time.
Q16. How many mock tests should one ideally give before CAT 2022?
Ans. I gave a total of about 50 mocks in my entire journey. Mocks are the key to cracking the CAT exam. They help you prepare yourself for the dynamics involved in the test like time management, strategy, and instant improvisation.
Q17. How to manage time while preparing for CAT?
Ans. Instead of focusing on the number of hours, I'd suggest you focus on setting daily targets and completing them according to your strengths and weakness.
Q18. Did you join any coaching institute and how long did you prepare for CAT 2021? (No. of hours per day as well)
Ans. 1. Yes, I was a student with IMS. 2. I started serious preparation in April when I started giving the mocks. There weren't any set number of hours that I used to study but I made it a point to give at least a little time to each of the three sections on a daily basis. 3. I mainly preferred YouTube channels of Rodha Academy and Unacademy for QA and DILR. For reading articles for VARC, I preferred The Smithsonian. And in addition to these, I used the previous year's mock papers of different institutes like TIME, IMS, and CL for each of the three sections.
Q19. Should one get work experience if the past academic record is poor, to get into a top B-School?
Ans. That can be an option, but I'd suggest you give it a shot as a fresher itself. If you're a non-engineer, then you can get some good options if you end up scoring a 99.5+. As I said, everything else is secondary, just focus on getting a good score at CAT because that is the only thing you can control right now.
Q20. How to make one's profile stand out?
Ans. Throughout this admissions process, I've realized that it's not about making your profile stand out, rather it's about making your personality stand out. When you exit an interview room, it's not your list of certificates or competition prizes that the interviewers would remember, rather it's the way you talk, the way you carry yourself that will leave a mark on their minds. But, right now as you have time, you can take up a few valuable internships where you're actually learning something every single day.
Q21. How to improve my scores in DILR?
Ans. The only key to doing good in DILR is practice. Start by first understanding the question types. There's Belvi Sir on YouTube whose videos I referred to for my DILR prep. After you understand what are the types of sets, take up the mocks of the last 5 years of institutes like IMS, TIME, or CL, and start solving the sets on a daily basis. The greater the variety of the questions you solve, the more will you develop an aptitude for DILR.
Q22. How should a current 1st-year student start preparing for CAT?
Ans. Ideally, you can start from the 3rd semester of your college. If you're planning to join as a fresher, then you should give your first attempt during your 3rd year.
Q23. Should Arun Kumar's book suffice, if one's QA is really weak?
Ans. Arun Kumar's book is a great tool to start your preparation. If it helps you in getting clarity of concepts then it is sufficient as your practice part should majorly be covered through previous year mocks. If you don't get conceptual clarity from the book alone, then you can refer to Rodha Academy on YouTube.
Q24. What was your schedule like when you were preparing for CAT?
Ans. I didn't have a huge pressure of college academics, and hence, I could devote my maximum time to CAT prep. My day used to start with reading articles, after which I'd move on to solving a few RCs. Then I used to practice QA mostly during the day, and when it became monotonous, I'd solve a few sets of DILR to rejuvenate myself.
Q25. I tend to get tensed as exams approach which affects my scores. How to manage stress?
Ans. I understand how overwhelming the CAT exam can be. And, managing the stress is equally important for this test as improving your aptitude is. You should just tell yourself that you are going to give your best, and even if the results don't come as you expected, you need to remind yourself that this is not the end. Try to stop thinking about the results and focus on the process, as it would itself teach you a lot of important lessons.