My CAT Preparation Strategy | Suhani Singhal, IIM Bangalore, 2020-22

I completed my schooling from Brightlands School in 2017, scoring 98% and 98.5% in class X and XII respectively. I am currently on the verge of completing my graduation in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi and have a CGPA of 8.5. I scored 168.96 in CAT 2019, with a percentile of 99.46.  

Preparation Strategy: In Brief

To keep my options intact, I was preparing for campus placements due to which I could start my preparation only in the month of October post getting placed. With close to 40 days left for the CAT, I decided that proceeding with self-study would be a suitable option. I focussed on taking mock tests and building on my strategy through the analyses of these tests. The most important aspect was that of focussing on all the three sections equally and understanding that the CAT tests our analytical skills and not our ability to memorise- which is why it is redundant to memorise formulae or shortcuts to approach different types of questions.

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Self-Study vs Coaching

Self-study works better for those who want to go ahead with a more personalised study plan. In addition to this fact, why I preferred this approach was because of certain advantages I had: Mathematics has always been my favourite subject because of which I keep brushing up on quantitative concepts and solve quant-based questions on the go. Being a regular reader, I had a head-start with the VARC section too as a regular reading of contemporary issues in newspapers or magazines helps one analyse things in a better way. Moreover, for LRDI, I had a good set of resources in the form of 2IIM questions sets and sectional mocks which helped me develop a strategy for time management and set selection in this section. However, I do understand that coaching helps one go about his/her preparation in a more disciplined, guided and consistent way. Before making a decision, one needs to keep in mind the gap one has to bridge between his/her preparation and the desired result.

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Sectional Preparation

Taking the first mock before starting with any kind of practice/preparation worked well for me as it not only boosted my confidence despite having a lesser number of days in hand but also helped me formulate a strategy for myself. In the QA section, I always believed that learning shortcuts or formulae will not give me an edge but understanding the basics of concepts and going about practising questions will definitely help. We often skip the easy questions but even though they are not tested in CAT, I preferred solving them as this practice helped me build speed, accuracy and a better understanding of the higher-order questions. For the VARC section, I believe taking sectional mocks and analysing the same helps one realise whether one should go about solving all RC sets but only a proportion of questions that comprise the set, or solving a few sets but all the questions in those sets. A careful analysis of mock RCs helped me in selecting my strategy. We also have a tendency to rely on the TITA questions in this section but from my experience, the accuracy level in those remained low which is why a balanced approach worked better. Talking about the LRDI section, set selection strategy too can be framed by taking sectional mocks. The only key here is practice.

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A Test of Attitude

What really matters while taking the CAT is being calm and relaxed. No matter how overrated this statement is, it is perhaps the most important one as it forms the bottom line as to how one actually performs. Moreover, even during the time of preparation, if one is more composed, the efforts bear better results as our analytical abilities work their best.

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Number of Hours Spent

I do not plan my preparation in terms of the number of hours put in but in terms of which topics I cover. This mattered the most to me in QA as I did not practise questions from all the topics, but a selected few which I believed would help me complete this section with a good score. For VARC and LRDI, sectional mocks helped me sail through. Also, since I had a lesser number of days for preparation, I did not pressurise myself with a lot of sectional mocks or questions but practised effectively only to the extent I could do the same with a composed bent of mind. I took around 5-6 full length mocks, with scores ranging between 97.5%ile and 99.5%ile. The resources I used were 2IIM’s online questions and CL’s full-length mocks.

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Advice for CAT 2020 Aspirants

For CAT 2020 aspirants, my only piece of advice would be to create a personalised study plan keeping in mind a very realistic approach as to the amount of time and effort one can dedicate. Taking a leaf out of someone else’s book might not work for you, as everyone has different strengths and different gaps to bridge. Taking the first mock, unprepared, is important as it helps one frame the strategy he/she wants to go about. Moreover, solving questions without analysing the answers might not be of much help as it serves a singular purpose of testing your skills but not that of improving them. As I mentioned earlier, maintaining your calm both during the preparation and while taking the CAT is important as it is a huge determinant of the result one would get.

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