With 6 months left to CAT 2025, many students would be considering this question right now: Self-Study vs CAT Coaching, which is better? Your preparation strategy can make or break your chances of success, which makes deciding on the mode of studying a crucial step. Many students prefer enrolling in coaching classes as they believe they’ll be better guided and save time, whereas others think they’ll perform better with self-study.
Self-study involves preparing on your own using online free resources like Reddit forums, YouTube videos, free question banks, mocks, or offline study material. You have to create your own study plan and make sure you’re following it through. While self-study works for a lot of students, you miss out on a few key benefits of coaching:
- Tricks and techniques to improve accuracy
- Exam strategy to maximise score
- Guidance on how to improve mock scores
- Detailed mock analysis
- Working on weaker topics with a mentor
- Peer learning
Not only these features, but coaching classes also create a structured study plan allocating enough time to cover all the topics and keep you disciplined to be consistent in your preparation. Most coachings also provide you with mentors to help you analyse your mocks and prepare a plan to improve upon your weaker sections. This saves time, you would otherwise be spending on YouTube listening to various mentors all sharing different kinds of advice. Let’s look at a detailed highlight of the advantages and disadvantages of self-study and coaching:
Free Resources to Prepare for CAT 2025 without Coaching
Self-Study vs CAT Coaching
| Parameter | Coaching Classes | Self-Study |
| Cost | Expensive in comparison, but the results are worth the investment | Cost-effective, good option for students on a tight budget |
| Flexibility |
|
Very flexible, you set your own study timings and study schedule |
| Doubt Solving | Faculty, mentors, and peer groups are all available for doubt solving or guidance | You either have to spend hours figuring out questions on your own or consult free resources online |
| Time Management |
|
As you set your schedule, you can adjust it accordingly and manage your time efficiently |
| Peer Learning |
|
|
Online vs Offline Coaching: Pros and Cons
Hybrid approach
Recently, a lot of students have also started adapting a hybrid approach to coaching and self-study. A hybrid approach involves taking coaching for a particular section only or solely working with mentors to improve mock scores. This approach is great if you are someone who is only weak in one section, like VARC or Quant, and wants guidance to improve that section. This saves time as you won’t end up taking classes for subjects you are already confident in and are scoring well.
This approach is also for those students who have concept clarity across all three sections but are unable to score in mocks. Their exam strategy or time management might be causing them to lose marks. In this situation, connecting with mentors online who will analyse your mock tests and help you create an exam strategy to bring your mock scores up to your potential.
Before deciding between taking coaching vs self-study, you should consider factors like your current academic competency, learning style, available resources, and whether you’re self-motivated and disciplined, or will having a peer group will keep you more motivated. CAT isn’t just an aptitude test, it takes a village to support you and help you achieve your goals. It doesn’t just require concept clarity but also strategy, discipline, and a lot of perseverance to win the race.
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