There are so many things that every CAT aspirant should keep in mind before starting their CAT preparation. Many students waste their time thinking about the things that don’t even matter so much. Hence in this blog, you will get to know about the 5 important things every CAT aspirant should know before starting their preparation

Have to cover everything to score good percentile

To score a good percentile anywhere from 95 to 99 – we need to study everything from geometry to number system, from arithmetic to algebra and whatnot, I have heard this statement many times from my CAT aspirant friends. If you have gone through the previous year’s question papers or if you do your arithmetic properly you can score 90 percentile from the Quant section itself. If you keep doing everything, no particular topic will be your strength and you will end up scoring less than you had expected.

“So most important part to keep in mind is to focus on the quality of your preparation and not on the quantity of it and this goes to all three parts of the section”.

Have to attempt 75 to 80 questions

Accuracy is everything in this exam. If you attempt 60 to 62 questions with 90% accuracy you will score a good percentile. In the same exam if you attempt 80 to 85 questions but the accuracy is just 70% it’s of no use, that will only be the difference of 20 to 25 questions. One should always focus on getting the answer right and then focus on speed. It’s ok to get an answer right in 3 minutes rather than getting an answer wrong in 90 secs.

For example, if you attempt 63 questions and get 52 of them right then your percentile will be 98.3

“Second suggestion is to focus on Accuracy.” 

Vocabulary should be really strong

Vocabulary plays a very important part in this examination. Write down the words and their meaning as it will help you to understand different words. Reading novels, newspapers and other articles will help you to identify new words and even if you get stuck in reading RC you would know the meaning of the particular word. Hence reading will help you to increase your speed which is beneficial in many ways.

“Third suggestion is to read a lot.”

Should give full mocks when you have covered most of the syllabus

Aspirants think that they should give mocks in the last week of September or the first week of October, but this concept is the wrong strategy. Sitting in one place for 3 hours with full concentration does not come easily hence you should start giving 2-3 sectional mocks as soon as you have completed a few sections. Ideally, you should start with two mocks in august and then every mock per week will help you

“Fourth suggestion is to start giving mocks as soon as you can.”

CAT is extremely difficult

Yes, CAT is difficult, but is it that difficult? No, it is surely not. You don’t have to sit for 10 to 12 hours per day or you don’t need 12 to 15 months for preparation, you just need to be focused and consistent to score well in your exam. This is something most people will tell you who have scored well in CAT. You should consider this exam as a normal exam and not build too much in your head that you start sweating each time someone mentions this exam.

“Final suggestion is to be calm and believe in yourself.”