How to crack CAT in 2 months? Important CAT Preparation Tips!

CAT, which is the abbreviated form of Common Admission Test, is the foremost all India management exam conducted by IIMs. Every year, more than 2 lakhs students competed for 1550+ seats, which truly shows the true value of this examination in this country. The IIMs are the topmost management institutes in India which are established by an act of Parliament. IIMs also provide consultancy and research services in various business and management all over the world.

How To Prepare for CAT in 2 Months

Let us first check the structure of the exam. The CAT examination is divided into three sections and these sections are:

1. Quantitative Aptitude
It is further divided into:

• Arithmetic
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Commercial Mathematics
• Miscellaneous

2. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

3. Verbal Ability
It is divided into four parts:

• Reading Comprehension
• Verbal Logic
• Vocabulary
• Grammar Correction

The distribution of marks in CAT is usually as follows:

Section Name	Total Questions	MCQs with (-) marking	TITA	Max. Marks
Quantitative Aptitude	34	25/26	8/9	102
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning	32	24	8	96
Verbal Ability	34	24/25	9/10	102
Total	100	73/75	25/27	300

TITA (Type in The Answer): TITA are those questions which carry no negative marks for the incorrect answers.

As the changes occur every year so the students should be prepared for it because apart from the MCQs, subjective or word problems could also be asked in the examination. Students have to work hard accordingly as per the frequent changes occurring in the pattern of CAT examination.

Cracking Cat in 2 Months!

Well, this might have excited most of the students because many of them want to crack the examination just by preparing for very less time or may excite the students who must have realized that only 2 months are left for the examination. So, welcome students! No need to worry about the time passing by and realizing that only 2 months to go for the examination.

Some preparation tips which would help you accomplish your job:

Tip 1: Mock tests and revisions:

One of the most important thing in your strategy should be CAT practice test which is hosted by IIMs at iimcat.ac.in. Rather than taking a number of mock tests by coaching institutes, you should focus on the official CAT mock test as the final word will be said by this official CAT mock test only.

As you know, you just have 2 months to prepare for the examination, so you need to focus mainly on two things, i.e: a) Topic wise revision b) Mock tests.

Just a couple of months to go means that it’s really a high time now, you need to push more, give in some more hours in a day for the preparation. In these two months, you only need to focus and work on your strengths to make your strong point even stronger.

Tip 2: Be prepared for every uncertainty:

The pattern of the examination is changing every year which might put everyone in a doubt about the pattern that is suggested. If we see in this manner, all of you are on the same platform. So, rather than preparing on the basis of pattern, aim for the topics. There is a major chance that there could be an imbalance in no.of questions being divided among sections. But, it will not make any difference if you are equally good in all of these sections.

Try and divide your time for preparing two major sections and four subsections. If you are really strong in one of them, give it lesser time and go for improving the zones you are not so good at, because you do not want to lose these important marks in any section.

Tip 3: Basics are the most important:

You have to learn that any MBA entrance exam does not involve any sort of rocket science. The topics are of basic mathematics and aptitude. The major aim of any management entrance exam is to test a candidate’s aptitude and the ability to solve the problem. As long as you know the fundamentals at your fingertips, there is no looking back.

To just increase the no.of questions and to make students solve them in lesser time, there could be an increase in the no.of questions on basic English which could include more speech, tenses, word formations and phrasal verbs.

Tip 4: To gain a perfect score in CAT, you need to have speed and accuracy:

The basic thing is to solve questions quickly and correctly. Rather than spending time trying to learn the concepts, you can start solving questions from the beginning. Try avoiding wasting time in just knowing a concept. Start practicing its approach in questions.

Since only a couple of months are left for the examination, you must be aware of your weak and strong areas. If you are unable to understand the topics in which you are weak, do not waste time on them.
Try and start making your strong points even stronger which would be helpful in saving time.

Topic Wise Preparation Tips

It is important to ace each and every section in CAT. therefore below are the preparation tips for each section of CAT:

Logical Reasoning

On any given day, the questions that are based on logical reasoning could take up more time in a paper. You need to have proper tactics or strategies to solve these questions, as incorrect answers will make you lose your marks. Focus on the questions that are based on seating arrangements, relations, sets, premise, and conclusion. Everything will depend on your speed and accuracy. So, you need to improve your speed and accuracy.

Quantitative Ability

Remainder theorem, geometry, number system, probability, well these are the topics which we know since our early school days. A majority of the candidates are engineers, this section is expected to be the most scoring.

Data Interpretation

Visually understanding a data is one of the most important aspects for this examination. Graphs, pie charts, bar diagrams are the data which are rich in information, being presented as graphs. Graphs are basically to make things easier to understand. This section is scoring for those who has the ability to understand the data visually.

Important topics of CAT:

You can check here the important topics in CAT that you cannot afford to miss:

Quantitative Aptitude:

Number System
Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Permutation and Combination
Probability
Set Theory

Data Interpretation:

Data Sufficiency
Bar Graph
Tables
Case-lets
Pi-charts

Logical Reasoning:

Data Arrangement
Sitting Arrangement
Blood Relations
Family Tree
Venn Diagram
Matching Puzzles
Constraint Puzzles
Assumptions
Statements
Binary Logic
Syllogism
Proposition
Clocks and Calendars
Sets

Verbal and Reading Comprehension:

Fact Inference Judgement
Fill in the Blanks
Grammar
Para Completion
Para Jumble
Sentence Correction
Verbal Reasoning
Word Usage (Vocabulary)

Important Books For CAT Preparation

Here are some books that are highly recommended and the candidates can refer them for their practice:

Quantitative Ability:

NCERT Mathematics books (6-10)
How to prepare for Quantitative Ability for the CAT by Arun Sharma
Quantitative Ability for competitive examinations by Abhijit Guha
Quantitative Ability Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Verma
Quantitative Ability for CAT by Nishit Sinha

Verbal Ability:

How to prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Nishit Sinha
Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning:

A modern approach to Logical Reasoning by R.S.Agarwal
How to prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT book by Arun Sharma
How to prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT book by Arun Sharma
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit Sinha
Data Interpretation by Nishit Sinha

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