How to start preparing for CAT? CAT (Common Admission Test) is one of the toughest exam to crack. It is the gateway to getting into prestigious IIMs and other top B-schools of India. A lot of CAT aspirants ask me how to prepare for CAT. Here I am sharing a few tips which I feel helped me in cracking this exam and score 99.41 percentile.
Understand the syllabus
This is a useful tip for almost any exam. Understand the syllabus by going through past year’s papers and official guidelines. CAT can be segmented into four broad parts-
- Quantitative Ability
- Data Interpretation
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal Ability
The concepts used in this examination are broadly of class 10 level. However, the questions are little bit tricky to solve and require good amount of logical thinking. But it can be developed by practice.
Begin with the end in mind
Start your preparation with sheer determination. Whenever you feel demotivated, you can dream about the day when you will crack the exam and it will definitely motivate you. March-April is a good time to start preparation for the exam which will be held in October-November. However, if you are starting late, say 3 months before the exam, you still have a decent time to prepare and crack this exam. It all depends on how efficiently you can utilize your time.
Should you join coaching?
This is based on a lot of things. If you have a lot of time, you can go for coaching. However, if you are into a hectic job and get very little time to study, you can prepare on your own without wasting that time in going to coaching. Coaching will only give you guidance. Rest depends on how sincerely you practice.
Also, the syllabus of this exam does not require any special training. Most of the things we already study in our school. There are few concepts which can be revised from books and other material. Rest is a lot of practice.
Books and material
I have prepared complete list of books and material you will need for your CAT preparation which can be found here: List of Important CAT Preparation Books
First of all, get CAT preparation material of some good coaching institute.
For Quant, there are two good books- Arun Sharma & Sarvesh Varma. You can refer to any of these. I referred the latter one as suggested by one of my friends. However, I think the former is more popular with the students. Both the books are good. But don’t buy both. No need to unnecessary collect a lot of books & material. If you have limited time, solving one book is enough. Go for the second book only when you have finished the entire syllabus.
No special book for concepts of Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability. You can rely on the coaching material for all the concepts and can solve all the practice questions. However, you should refer to more books on these topics only after you finish the entire syllabus.
For verbal, you also need to read “Word Power made Easy” by Norman Lewis. It is a very good book which helps in increasing vocabulary not by memorizing stuff, but by understanding the ideas behind the words. It is distributed into 45-47 sessions meant to be read one at a time. It is a must-read book and should be completed within two months of starting your preparation.
You also need to read a few good story books as explained in the next point.
That’s it. Yes, you do not need any other book for concepts. This much is enough.
Reading, reading & reading
Many students, specially engineers are already good at quant but perform badly in verbal. Earlier, CAT was heavily based on vocab and grammar concepts. But these days, it is more of a general English exam which tests one’s command over English in common usage. You should be very much familiar with English.
The only way to improve your verbal score is to read a lot of good books written in standard English. These can be fiction, non-fiction or anything, just written in good English.
I have already written a detailed article to help you develop your reading habit. You can find it here: How to develop the habit of reading.
In the article, I have also mentioned the example books. Reading 4-6 books during your preparation would increase your familiarity with English and you can easily score good.
Test Series
This is like the Holy Grail of CAT preparation. Subscribe to one good Test Series and write all the tests very sincerely in simulated environment. Fix a day, say Sunday, fix a time, say 9 AM, and give the test every week at the same time. Sit in proper position while attempting the test and tell all your roommates or family members not to disturb you at that time.
Once you write 15-20 such tests, CAT will no longer be a stranger to you. When you will sit for actual CAT, you will feel as if you have done this a lot of times and it will help you to remain confident during the exam.
Most coaching institutes try to set the Mock Question paper to be as near to the real exam as possible. Subscribe to a test series which is more difficult than actual CAT. You may find it difficult to score good in the mock tests. But it will boost your confidence when you will find the actual CAT to be easier than the mock tests. Many good test series are available.
News coverage for post-CAT preparation
Once you clear CAT, you need to qualify the Personality Test rounds of various colleges which include Group Discussions, Written Tests and Personal Interviews. Qualifying CAT makes you eligible to attend this stage and its your performance in these rounds which finally help you getting selected. Preparing for this stage immediately after CAT result can be difficult. Try to follow the basic news in your daily life from today itself. This will ease down the load of preparation for Personality Test rounds and boost up your confidence as well.
And that is all. I followed these things and I feel it helped me to get through this exam. I hope these tips will help you in preparing well for CAT. All the best for getting into an IIM!
Hello sir, i wanted to ask that would I be able to get admission in top iim’s as i have academic scores like this– 10th- 9.4CGPA, 12th- 80%, graduation- 68%
hi…am studying b.sc 2nd year and i want to do mba after b.sc . so can u tell me, which part is tuff in cat exam.
I just finished my BE. I finally decided to appear cat i have approx 4months fo r prepration please give me a guidence
For how can i start prepration by myself i dont trust any institutes here!
Hey , i wanted know how your past academic record affects your chance for getting into IIMS ?scoring around 60% average or 55% through out would make one ineligible for IIMS even if you have scored 99%ile in cat or xat ?
Plus if you have 2 year job experience of sbi ! Could one get call from IIMs ?
Yes.
Past academic record does affect chances in getting into IIMs because IIMs have huge weightage for academic records at the moment.
hi,
i am a mbbs student doing MD in Pharmacology.i am interested in doing MBA from a good college.kindly suggest me how to prepare for it and what branches should i take? and what are the scope for a MD doctor after MBA?
I do not have a lot of knowledge about MBBS branches & courses. However, being a doctor in a top B-school, one has many good options/opportunities.
Copy-Pasting my comment regarding a similar query I answered earlier on this blog- A lot of health care companies can offer unique profile where the job requires medical domain knowledge as well.
Regarding entrepreneurship, one of my doctor friend in MBA wants to start a Medical Tourism company.
hi sir i am currently pursuing b.tech from IIIT BBSR ,….sir i want to know that are there any chances of my getting into top b schools my 10th and 12th board % are between 80 to 90 ……even if i get a good score in cat exam …..shall i get a call from top 10 b schools
Yes. Work hard and you will study in top B-school.
Sir have u heard about npti faridabad, for the admission the cat score required, I am not going to any coaching institutions. So guide me how to study at home and what are the relevant books I have to concentrate to get good score in cat
Being an b.e (electrical) student my dream is to study MBA in power management at npti
85%ile for General Category.
Hi Zaffer,
I have not heard about the institute you mentioned.
You can follow the books which I have mentioned in this article.
Hi sir , I’m in MBBS 1st year . Are their any opportunities for a medical student in MBA and after that ?
Sir, i harish completed my +2,can i start preparing for cat or it is just waste due to low leavel
yes of course its open there have been times when
even the medical student were in the toppers
Hi Saurav,
Yes. A lot of health care companies can offer unique profile where the job requires medical domain knowledge as well.
Regarding entrepreneurship, one of my doctor friend in MBA wants to start a Medical Tourism company.
Hello sir, M Shalu, a studnt of 2nd year perusing bachelors in journalism and mass communication from xaviers ranchi. I hav a dream to start my career in PRO n i wanna go for MBA in PRO. As i m long way from maths but i had it in my school days till 12th. So i wanna knw how should i prepare for my CAT exams so that i can clear my cat exams with a good percentile .!
Hi Shalu,
CAT exam has only 10th level Maths, so you need not worry about not having Maths as a graduation subject. You just need to practice well and you will be able to crack it.
Thnku so much for ur great concern sir.!
Can you hint me wit a query that which institute provides MBA in PRO.?
Practice means should i join institute or else study on my own.? Like what should be mantra for a student to pursue a goal ?
Do you mean Public Relations? If yes, you can opt for a marketing specialization in MBA which is available in all premier B-schools.
If you have time, you can join an institute, or if you are working/studying, you can get some preparation material and start preparing at home, but revise what you study & practice a lot of questions. Give special emphasis to test series.
Hi Sir,
I am a student of B.sc, pursuing my 1st year. After reading this article I am inspired to go for IIM,desperately which I always wanted to do.When will be the right time. please suggest and how to prepare at home to get good percentile……….nd what book shoud I prefer for these sections.
You will be eligible for writing CAT in your final year. You can start now with basics and can scale up your preparation in your 2nd year of B.Sc.
Hi.. I am currently working for a reputed PSU Bank. Lately I have decided to join a good b school in India. How long do I need to study a day considering the fact that I am into 10 to 5 daily job ? Also I am posted in a remote area where there are no coaching institutes. Kindly help me out….
Hi Sneha,
Regularity is more important than number of hours a day. Studying an hour daily is much better than studying for 5 hours once a week. I would advice you to try to study at least 1-2 hours daily on working days and whole day on weekends.
Apart from these, try reading English novels/books/newspapers etc. They will help a lot in preparation for verbal part of MBA entrance exams. If you have a smartphone, you can use various reading apps available for this purpose.
Living in a remote area is not an issue as you can do away with coaching. If you have internet access, you are good to go. A lot of info regarding preparation is available online.
Also, enroll to an online test series and sincerely attempt all the tests.
All The Best!
Thanks for replying to my previous query.I also wanna know that does the college from where I do my bba Hons also matter?As I can’t get an admission in Du bcz I don’t have maths and I don’t wanna go too far so I am thinking of joining Lpu.
To be honest, yes. Graduation college matters in case of IIMs. But only if you are from top colleges like IITs, LSR etc. But no need to go far away just to get into some above average college.
Hello sir…i m class 10th…. i have decided to do IIT n then IIM….bt sir…it is my great dream to study in IIM…..can u plzz suggest me ways to prepare for IIT n IIM both simultaneously.
If you plan to do B.Tech, first focus on getting into a good college like IITs. You will have ample time after that to think about your future like pursuing MBA etc. No need to prepare for both simultaneously.
Hello, I am a PCB student and but I don’t want to go for MBBS.I am joining BBA Hons. from Christ University, Bangalore this year.I want to do my MBA from IIM after that.HOW AND WHEN should I start preparing for CAT?
You will be eligible for MBA only in your final year of graduation. However, you can start some basic preparation from now. Start with reading a lot of books which will help a lot in the verbal part of CAT. Then you can gradually start practicing quantitative ability topics followed by full fledged preparation in your pre-final year.
I’m a B.sc(Hons.) student, will be appearing for final year of graduation in 2017 and for CAT in 2016. I’ve enrolled in IMS, will it be required to take any other additional help?
Your suggestion would be helpful.
Practice regularly and work smart! All the best!
Hello ,
I am Proma ..I did mechanical engineering and recently working.
Thank you for the post ..it really motivates me a lot …I never sat for cat but now I am planning to sit for cat 2016 as well as xat , NMAT , SNAP …is it really possible to crack the cat with 97 or above with out having the previous experience of cat exam
Hi Proma,
Yes, it is definitely possible to crack CAT in your first attempt. All you need to do is to be sincere with your preparation.
Go through all the tips mentioned in the above article to start your preparation and keep motivating yourself by dreaming about the day when you achieve your goal.
All the best!
Hi Sir,
I am a student of B.com, pursuing my 1st year. After reading your article I am inspired to go for IIM, which I always wanted to do. should I go for it after my B.com or MBA? When will be the right time. please suggest……….
IIM is for MBA. So, you should go for it after your B.Com. You can start preparing now and can attempt CAT in your final year.
Hi,Bro I just have seen your article for CAT preparation.It’d be very beneficial for us.You wrote very beautifully .I’m in 2nd year now,I’m deciding to start preparation now for CAT as next year is my last and I’m eligible for CAT so i was thinking i’ll buy some good institutes like CL,T.I.M.E,IMS old study materials just the previous year and will go through it very well.My question is that are those materials i mentioned above would be good enough for CAT preparation or i’ll have need to buy some books as well like TMH series books or any other books if you want to suggest please tell and please tell if I’m missing anything or if you want to suggest anything.I’m doing BBA in 2nd year ,i’m preparing for 2017-18.I’ll put my best efforts to crack.Thanks
Material of TIME or CL is good. You can also buy supplementary books for Quant and DI for more practice like Arun Sharma or Sarvesh Varma. The most important thing is regular practice and attempting mock tests. So, do register for a good test series and give all the mock tests seriously and sincerely.
hello abhineet,
I am in my final year of engineering and have been placed in CTS. I need to prepare for cat 2016 for which i should expect some leniency in work culture which cts supposedly provides. So basically i want to ask how many hours per day should we dedicate to the preps given that the person has an average IQ and enough confidence. I know the question sounds a bit bizarre but was eager to ask to some.
You will find enough time to prepare. Keep some good books/novels handy and keep reading whenever you get time. Also, don’t waste your weekends and use them for preparation.
hi
i completed mi btech eee in 2015, i m expecting my joining letter in tcs in november month. i want crack cat and i didn’t went coaching till now. please give me suggesstions so that what should i do…
Thank You!
Also, please let me know which theme is it? I also want to purchase it, where can I get it?
I want to know about which book to pick for Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability? I want to prepare for CAT without coaching…..can I prefer Arun Sharma’s books for all these subjects?
Also, I want to know about your website, which WordPress template are you using on this website? I also need it for my website, please mail me at mail@shaileshsingla.com
You can refer to study material of some good coaching institute, may be TIME or Career Launcher. You need not enrol for coaching to get their material.
Arun Sharma is good for Quant. I did not refer it at all for any section, so cannot say whether it is helpful or not.
Regarding the template of this blog, it is a premium theme which I bought last year and customized as per my liking.
Hello sir,
As per the latest news by some CAT portals, CAT-15 will face a drastic change in terms of contents, like quant will not have major role playing, IIM need more non-engineering student, etc considering it will be true, until 26-July IIMA releases notification, what should be the strategies to study/practice, which part/subjects/topic etc will be a good idea, my second query is second part of CAT(VALR), can you please segregate it on basis of number of question asked in each sub topic in past exams, i have another small query, what topic should i consider to have good command on grammar, reasoning is some time quit confusing like, VR LR CR are sub topics of reasoning, what should be the proportion of importance for each, and where will i get a source to practice it.
How do I start preparing for CAT exam 2015 right from the basics? What are the important aspects I should focus on when preparing for the same?
Start your preparation from the materials mentioned in the above article and practice a lot. And religiously write mock tests of a good test series.
You can refer to this interview as well: http://www.bschool.careers360.com/cat-topper-interview-iim-student-abhineet-mittal-shares-cat-preparation-tips
Hi,
I am a working professional and I am thinking of preparing for CAT but I dont know how to start with. I am currently feeling hopeless but I am determined deep inside my heart that I want to do it. Kindly suggest something more.
Thanks
Try to read some success stories of some famous IIM grads. It will motivate you to be one.
If you have determination, all you need is a little motivation and you can start the journey to crack the CAT.
Hey Abhineet,
I am in final semester of Electrical Engineering. I have already been selected in Infosys and I don’t know when I will be getting my call letter. I joined TIME in mid March and the faculty over there are telling me not to join Infosys if the call letter comes before CAT or other MBA entrance exams. However, I find this to be too risky as I do need a job as a back up in case I don’t get a good MBA college this year. I am preparing seriously but I don’t want to take a drop. But if the call letter comes in August or September, I probably won’t be able to continue with my coaching.
What do u suggest?
hey anisha ,
even i am facing the same situation that you are facing my stream was computer engg. i got my letter of intent and i am waiting for the appointment letter .
i dont know if i should take drop or not .
what do u say .
thanks in advance
pranav
Leaving job for CAT preparation is not a good idea. It is too risky and will create an empty year in your CV. I feel that the pre-MBA work experience (no matter how small) helps during MBA.
Though it is very subjective, I think that CAT preparation can be done parallel with IT job (I did while working in Infy and I was in a pretty hectic project).
Rest depends on you.