Online Preparation Strategies For CAT 2020

With the Covid-19 pandemic and the shutting down of physical coaching centers, preparation for CAT 2020 will mostly be online. While attending coaching classes in person may no longer be an option, there are a lot of resources available on the internet that you can use for preparation. So, with three months to go, how do you start preparing?

Preparing a schedule

The first step towards starting preparation is understanding the exam pattern. While this may sound trivial, understanding the different sections and the topics in each section is crucial in determining your strengths and weaknesses. Historically, CAT has a total of 100 questions divided into three sections – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA). The topics under different sections can be found here.

Not all these topics need the same depth of preparation. Some topics are considered more important than others in terms of the number of questions that have been asked in the past. For example, some essential topics in QA include arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, mensuration, and number theory. Focussing on the fundamentals of these topics may be more beneficial than concentrating too deeply on complicated mathematical concepts.

In VARC, reading comprehension makes up the majority of the marks allocated to the section. However, questions from Para Jumbles, grammar-based questions, and critical reasoning questions can be highly scoring for a student with practice.

The DILR section includes topics from both Data Interpretation as well as Logical Reasoning. For Data Interpretation questions, time management is vital, as they can become very tedious and time-consuming. The level of practice a student has also plays a crucial role in this section. Logical Reasoning questions may include puzzles, case analysis, Venn diagrams, and other reasoning based questions. Each puzzle usually has a few questions associated with it, and correctly solving a puzzle will be a significant boost as 4-5 questions can be answered correctly based on that.

If you are yet to start preparation, take a week off, and prepare a weekly schedule of topics to be covered.

• Go over the list of topics in the topic list
• Practice 30-minute quizzes on each of the topics
• Identify areas of strength and weaknesses
• In every week, allocate an equal number of easy and difficult topics, and an equal number of topics from each of the three sections
• Try to wind up topic-wise preparation at least a month before the exam date and switch to attempting mock tests and mixed question banks.

You can attempt short quizzes for free on several platforms. Many coaching institutes like TIME are also providing online materials and quizzes, which can be useful in identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses.

While preparing the schedule, ensure that enough time is given every week for attempting full-length mock tests. Practicing mock tests consistently and analyzing your performance will provide you with significant insights into your current preparation level, and the steps you need to take to improve your performance.

Attempting as many full-length mock tests as possible is critical in building up your stamina for the D-Day.

While attempting mocks, the effort must not be to attempt all 100 questions. The negative marking in CAT sharply penalizes incorrect answers. Instead, attempt to maximize your accuracy by attempting questions you're sure of first. In the initial mocks, when you have just started preparation, try to maximize your accuracy for the topics you have studied already. Your aim should be to keep up your concentration levels throughout the three hours of the test and build up your stamina in preparation for the final day.

Remember, CAT is as much about stamina as it is about practice.

You do not need to attempt all 100 questions to score high percentiles in CAT. As previous years' data shows, a score of around 168 out of 300 ensures a percentile of over 99.5, which is good enough to get a call from the top B-schools. What is essential, however, is that you maintain high levels of accuracy and minimize incorrect answers.

Following a mock test, an in-depth analysis is required, preferably immediately after you finish the test. Go over each mistake and analyze where you went wrong. Keep track of the sections which continuously get you low scores and keep pushing to improve your performance in those sections. Also, keep track of the sections where you get maximum scores. In the final exam, make sure to attempt questions that are a strength to you in the first pass.

Certain times, the performance in either of the three sections might be lesser than your performance in the other two. Identify your weaknesses and dedicate extra time in your schedule to practice questions of that section.

Resources for Online Preparation

The most significant resource for CAT will undoubtedly be past question papers. Practice solving previous year questions regularly to gain an idea of what the text demands. Question papers for the past 4-5 years can be downloaded from the internet. For more intensive practice, consider purchasing a compendium of question papers, like Career Launcher's CAT 2020: 30 Years' Topic-wise & Year-wise Solved Papers 1990-2019.

Many coaching institutes like TIME, Career Launcher, and others are offering online coaching for CAT 2020. Along with online classes, they often also provide access to resources like topic-wise quizzes, full-length mock tests, and projected score and percentile information. With the pandemic making regular coaching impossible, online CAT coaching has become a time-saving and cost-effective alternative. It is also highly suitable for working professionals to utilize their time well since most video lectures can be watched as per convenience.

Whether you choose to pursue coaching for CAT or not, subscribing to an online test series is highly recommended. For example, TIME's AIMCAT series is a comprehensive series of CAT mock tests distributed over the months leading to CAT. Such a test series can help you in many ways.

• They build up your stamina to take the stress and pressure associated with a 3-hour test
• They provide a reliable way to access your strengths and weaknesses and modify your study schedule
• The mock test analysis gives you innovative ways of solving certain kinds of problems
• Test series provide a benchmark of where you place amidst the competition

Remember, in CAT percentiles are more critical than your scores. So always make sure to give it your best irrespective of the score you are aiming for.

Keeping up your motivation

Preparation for CAT can get tedious over time. Among the numerous people who start preparing for CAT each year, only a tiny percentage of them manage to give their best on the final day. Often people get demotivated or lose stamina in the process of attempting numerous mock tests and juggling between work/college life and practice. Therefore it is highly necessary to keep up your motivation levels throughout the process. Talk to people who have attempted and cleared it in the past years and gain their insights. Seek help when your preparation strategy seems inefficient, and mock test results seem unfavorable over time. Above all, never give up and keep persevering till the last minute.

Every person who successfully cracked CAT will agree that there are only two things that push an average attempt to a great one - lots of practice, and the motivation to keep striving till the last second.