Right off the bat, I'm going to lay out some stats (and hence, a possibly gloomy introduction). My GPA mid-way through my engineering was 5.8 (5.33 & 5.38 in 1st and 2nd semesters respectively). And I do not come from a core or lucrative stream. I also do not possess any coding skills. However I had 10 CGPA in Class 10th and 95% in Class 12th (CBSE boards). This is going to be a detailed preparation guide from my side for anyone who is preapring to "bell the CAT".
The preparation for CAT began as an advice from a close friend, who cited that I have a penchant for human interaction and could also flourish in MBA (yet to test this statement *wink* *wink*). Also that I could give a shot at another 'All-India' exam if I had any fire within me after JEE 2 years ago. So there you have it folks, motivation or a start can come from anywhere and in this case, it was a passionate coder and a close friend (of course, the latter quality led me to take his advice and not his coding credentials :p)