CAT Preparation – The three phases to prepare for CAT

You need to develop the intensity and momentum to succeed in CAT (Common Admission Test).

CAT preparation is itself an art as CAT exam is as is a perfect blend of Application of Knowledge, momentum and intensity with which one prepares just before the exam.

It doesn’t really matter how long you have been preparing for it, if you don’t develop the intensity and momentum in the final phase , you cant succeed in CAT. These CAT Preparation Tips may help you chart the way forward.

The CAT exam syllabus is very straight forward, but the exam is tough as it is highly competitive (as only 5% of total aspirants get these good seats) and is completely application based .

The lift off

When a satellite takes off from ground it consumes more fuel and energy in the initial 5 minutes than the rest of the journey .

Similarly , CAT preparation requires a focused rigorous 3.5 – 4 months of preparation to make you land in a college that can completely change your entire life.

There are 3 phases of Preparation:

Back to Basics – Phase I

In this phase the aspirant needs to lay the foundation for the exam . The following are the things that one needs to do in this phase :

1. Cover the basics for all the topics in quant.
2. For the verbal section, set aside two hours every day for reading.

Reading is irrespective of topic or genre. The topics and genre should not be cared about i.e it can be fiction, non fiction, politics, or anything , all the focus should be on building a reading habit and familiarizing yourself with analyzing written content.

Sharpen Your Axe – Phase II

This phase requires the aspirant to practice under constrained conditions .

These are things that one needs to do in this phase:

1. One should start taking topic or chapter wise test under a specified time limits of 25 to 30 minutes.
2. Start preparing for DI and Logical Reasoning.
3. Increase the intensity steadily by mixing up topics and setting varying time targets.
4. Try to avoid concentration lapses.

Phase I and II together goes for around 8-10 weeks.

Boost it Up – Phase III

This phase involves taking mock tests. This is just like fine tuning yourself to optimize your performance.

This phase goes on for next 5-6 weeks.

The following are the things one needs to do in this phase:

1. Give Mock Tests with full concentration
2. Spend time to analyse the paper and mark the question which should have been skipped and are wrong.
3. DO NOT waste time studying percentile.

Overlapping of the Phases I, II and III leads to a holistic preparation. If possible, intense short term preparation should be done.

If previously you didn’t succeed in CAT although you had all the knowledge, probably Momentum and Intensity were the things you lacked.

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