Vipra
Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Oct 15, 2024 15:57 IST

Get here the best hacks to beat the competition in CAT 2024. You will not need much hard work on the CAT exam day, if you do these things from right now. Read the best hacks for CAT 2024.

CAT 2024 Strategy

CAT 2024 Strategy: Beat the Competition with these Hacks

CAT 2024 exam is just over 40 days away. It is time to put yourself in fast gear for exam preparation. The CAT preparation strategy so far must have been covering the syllabus and solving practice questions. Now the time is to change the strategy and speed so that you stay ahead of your peers.

Like every year, the competition is going tough this year too. So, you have to be better prepared for the CAT 2024 than everyone else. And as you move into the final phase of CAT 2024 preparation you need to devise a fresh strategy. The CAT preparation strategy now should be based on focus areas and strengthening important topics. Here we tell you CAT hacks to beat the competition.

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CAT 2024 Strategy: Beat the Competition with these Hacks

Revise topics: It is time to start the revision of important topics for CAT. You might have completed the CAT syllabus through and through by now. If any topic is left, make an assessment of how much time can you spare for it, from the time allotted for revision. You need to revise at least one topic each from the three sections of CAT every day.

Q:   Is CAT exam tough for an average student?
A:

CAT is a speed based test of analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advance level problems.

However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.

Q:   Is the CAT syllabus difficult?
A:

Yes, CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of the candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion.

Q:   Can I prepare for CAT within 3 months?
A:
Hi Swaleha, 3 months are not enough for CAT as there many students with brilliant mind applying for CAT, you have to compete with them. So, at least, you have to start preparing for CAT before 6 months of exam. Rest of the information is given below. Exam preparation tips for CAT: Rather than focusing on all the topics, students need to try and select those topics with which they are more comfortable. Even on the exam day, with the question sheet in hand, students shouldn't try to solve each and every question and waste their energy, they should rather spend 5 minutes in scanning a section and selecting questions from their area of expertise and skill. In order to ace CAT, students should look at questions from the previous year's CAT paper and understand its syllabus. They should assess whether they are proficient, average or need improvement in each of the areas. The areas that fall in the third category should be focused on first followed by the second and third. CAT aspirants should always start early in preparing for the exams as an early start would benefit them in gaining knowledge about the kind of questions to be asked. Another advantage to it can be spending time in developing extra reading habits and increasing vocabulary. The best way to go on with the CAT preparations is to evaluate oneself in every 10-15 days, which is done by mock tests. But one thing that students should be careful about is to not to repeat the mistakes made by them in either the mock CAT or while practising at home or the whole purpose of taking mock tests would be lost. While preparing for the CAT question paper, one must keep in mind that management schools seek to test understanding of basic concepts that the student possesses. So, students should stop looking for the toughest material to practice and realize that their understanding of concepts is not as good as they think it is. Some things which CAT aspirants must do on an everyday basis are- Minimum 10 hours study everyday, especially before the 6 months of CAT exams. Preparation of minimum 10,000 words to enhance Vocabulary, study of newspapers and editorials for 2 hour's everyday and reading at least two magazines and one novel each week. Time management is an essential ingredient to crack the CAT exam and make it to your favorite college. Managing one's time includes balancing speed with accuracy, handling the pressure and you.

Find out short cuts: Hacks for CAT Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation are tricks and shortcuts for calculation. Join study forums, find mentors to learn short cuts and tricks for Mathematical calculations. If you learn them right now, you will have enough time to try them and assess result. If you do it later, you may fall short of time to find another option, if one doesn’t work.

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Practice CAT Mock Tests: The best way to prepare for CAT is by attempting mock tests. As you all know, CAT is a speed-based test, you need to have good speed in reading, choosing and solving 66 questions in 2 hours. This is the time to start practicing CAT mock tests. Many of you must have already started practicing the CAT mock tests series, but those who haven’t must start now. Go for about 30-40 CAT mock tests until the last week of CAT 2024 exam. Gain speed and accuracy in choosing and solving the right questions.

Analyse Mock Test: Another thing that you MUST DO, is analyse each CAT mock performance to note the gaps to fill. The purpose of CAT mock test practice is improvement in speed and scores. If that’s not happening find out why. May be you need to stop attempting certain type of questions or maybe you need to go through some concepts once again.

Check below Shiksha free CAT mock test:

CAT_Mock_Test-1  CAT_Mock_Test-1_Solutions
CAT_Mock_Test-2 CAT_Mock_Test-2_Solutions

Focus on Important Topics: It is an understood fact that one can’t solve all the questions from all the topics. So the best hack is to focus on the CAT topics which dominate the question paper. Go through CAT question papers of previous years to see which are the topics from which maximum questions are asked. Over the year, arithmetic has dominated the Quantitative Aptitude section. Similarly, in VARC, there are very less or no Grammar based questions. You can ignore topics from which 1-2 questions are asked because one doesn’t have to attempt all the questions. Focus on topics and subjects that have the potential of getting you more scores.

Make a CAT Exam Day Plan: As we’ve mentioned above that one doesn’t have to solve all the question in CAT, questions that you will address in the exam should be pre-decided. Yes, analyse your strengths and weaknesses viz. the topic wise weightage, and then make a plan of which and how many questions will you target in every section. This exam hack works best as CAT has sectional time limit and negative marking both. So be clear beforehand, what and how to do.

Set a Target: The next hack that will keep you ahead of your competition is to set a target for yourself. The reason behind appearing for the CAT exam is getting into a good MBA college. Check out the CAT cut offs of your preferred colleges. Now, you know how much score you need for admission to that college. In the last leg of CAT preparation, focus on scoring as much in the mock test and also calculate the number of questions you need to solve accurately in the exam to get there. In the exam, if you have solved questions as much as you need, don’t be greedy and try other questions unless you’re 100 percent sure of solving it accurately. CAT has negative marking and one wrong attempt can affect your CAT score as well as percentile.

Keep Room for Last Minute Changes: The greatest hack to crack the CAT exam is having a Plan-B. You should be prepared for the exam day in a certain way but always have a plan that is flexible. You need to be prepared for any unforeseen situation like change in pattern or weightage. To explain it, do not stick to preparing only 1-2 dominant topics. Have a decent practice of other topics as well so that if faced with unfavourable questions, you can still find some way to score well in CAT 2024.

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Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Vipra is a massive Breaking Bad fan. When not watching crime drama series, she spends time in updating the list of places she wants to visit and people she wants to meet, but she is happiest in the company of dogs. Read Full Bio
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