How to Prepare for CAT 2025 in 3 Months - Tips by Toppers and Expert

Exam On - 30 Nov '25

Senior Manager - Content

Updated on Sep 4, 2025 09:50 IST

CAT 2025 preparation is to be done in phases. The final phase starts three months before the exam. Aspirants must know what and how to prepare for CAT exam in three months! Get 90-day CAT plan here. By Deekshant Sehrawat

Three months before CAT exam is perhaps the most decisive phase of your preparation. It is the time when you will need to not only speed up your preparation but ensure that your accuracy level continues to increase. All the hard work of previous months will be put to use in the last three months of CAT 2025 preparation. The most important thing to keep in mind is that just like any game, sport or race, the result gets decided in the final stages and a lot can change during the last quarter of CAT preparation 2025. When three months are left for the exam, you should start assessing your CAT exam preparation level to make the strategy until the exam day, i.e what should be the focus area and point of action?

CAT 2025 exam date is November 30, 2025 so by September have a focussed study plan viz. you topics coverage, practice tests and revision. Whether you are ahead or behind in your exam preparation, making the best use of the last three months will finally decide how you perform in the CAT 2025 exam.

Table of contents

CAT 2025 Preparation in 3 Month: Key Highlights
How to Prepare for CAT 2025 in Three Months?
CAT Preparation in 3 Months: CAT Mock Tests
How Many Hours to Study for CAT Preparation 2025?
CAT Preparation in 3 Months- Practice Sessions
CAT Mock Test By Shiksha

CAT 2025 Preparation in 3 Month: Key Highlights

CAT exam preparation is possible in three months. If you start from now, you will be well prepared by the exam day. However, you will need to put in extra effort, because time is less and CAT syllabus is vast. Here are some key tips to prepare for CAT in 3 months:
Know the CAT exam pattern and syllabus

Focus on the following topics of CAT sections:

DILR: Tables, Charts, Coding-Decoding, Syllogism, etc.
VARC: Reading comprehension, Para-jumbles, Para completion, Odd Sentence.
QA: Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number Systems, Percentages, Time & Work, etc.

Create a Timetable- Three-month plan
Three months will get over in the blink of an eye, if you do not have a definite plan. Make a weekly plan, which should include CAT syllabus coverage, practice session and revision.

Aim to cover main topics of CAT syllabus in first month.
Dedicate second month to practice and application.
The last one month should be dedicated to achieving accuracy and speed, i.e. CAT mock test practice and analysis.

CAT Mock Tests & Practice
Take CAT mock tests every two days to familiarize yourself with the actual exam atmosphere and online practice. Analyze your performance in each mock test to know the gaps.
Develop Time Management Skill
CAT has sectional time limit, so it is critical to have complete control on time. Practice answering questions in a time bound manner. CAT mock tests will be of great help in this.
Give Extra Time to Weak Areas
Topics that are not your strength will need extra focus. Keep aside extra time to devote on such topics. There is no set pattern of sectional composition in CAT and you would not want to appear for the exam ill prepared.
Stay Consistent
Three months is less time for CAT. What can help you crack it in such a short time is consistency and discipline. Have a dedicated routine of 6-7 hours of study daily. Even on days when you don’t feel like studying, push yourself to practice some DILR or vocabulary puzzles.

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How to Prepare for CAT 2025 in Three Months?

With this perspective firmly planted in your mind, you should try and make a consistent daily/weekly effort across various CAT sections as per the following indicative plan. While it is not necessary that the same plan that will work equally well for every individual, it is important to prepare a plan with the basics in mind. Your CAT 2025 preparation plan should adapt to your individual needs. The following is just a roadmap, with an inbuilt flexibility at each step to allow you to adapt it to your own specific needs. Know here how to prepare for CAT exam in three months.

CAT Preparation in 3 Months: CAT Mock Tests

Out of these 350 hours, roughly 100 hours should be spent in practicing CAT mock tests. While 15 mocks (1 per week) will mean only 45 hours, at least an equal amount of time has to be invested in analyzing these full-length mock tests and then working upon the areas that need improvement.

This leaves you with around 250 hours out of which you will invest a certain amount of time on every section of CAT (QA, VARC, DILR) of CAT 2025. The first thing to do would be to divide this time in such a manner that you allot maximum time to the sections you are weak at and minimum time on sections which are your strength. Why? Simply because it will ensure a better return on invested time. Putting in more where the scope of improvement is more is analogous to investing more in a stock that is likely to appreciate more. The fundamentals of investment remain fairly similar to that in any other asset class.

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How Many Hours to Study for CAT Preparation 2025?

If you feel this time frame is too less, you will need to put in more hours daily. So, four-hours daily for instance, would mean your total investment will move up to roughly 450 hours, and subtracting the 100 hours for CAT mock tests and their analyses, it would leave you with 350 hours for practice at the section/topic-wise levels. In such a case you could look at investing somewhere between 100 to 140 hours for each section of CAT exam, depending upon how strong/weak you are in them currently.

However, to ensure balance, even your strongest section should not get less than 70 hours (roughly 30 per cent) out of the 250 hours we talked about. The weakest one should not get more than 100 hours (roughly 40 per cent). This ensures that your investment is sufficiently diversified and hence, relatively balanced and safe.

Within each section of the CAT exam, more time should go into a studying and practicing topics that you are weak in and less into topics that you are already strong in. Why? Simply because you should be practicing all questions starting from the simplest ones to tougher ones in a topic that you are weak in; whereas a topic in which you are relatively stronger, you need to practice only tougher questions. For any given level of ability and preparation, how well you adapt the CAT preparation plan and invest your time according to your own specific needs will get you far better CAT 2025 result.

Moreover, you cannot be less prepared in any of the topics, because you don't know the definite topic wise weightage of CAT 2025. It may happen that there are more questions from the topic you thought was unimportant. For example, Arithmetic dominates CAT but that doesn't mean questions will not be asked from Number System. In CAT 2024, there was no parajumble question at all.

CAT Preparation in 3 Months- Practice Sessions

Last three months of CAT exam preparation should be all about capitalizing on what you learnt in the earlier months. In other words, it is time to practice sample papers and mock tests. During the last three months of CAT preparation 2025, make sure you solve at least 25-30 full length mock tests. This will not only prepare you for the actual exam but will also instill confidence in you. Shiksha has compiled some CAT questions for candidates to practice. Check them below.

Q: Is the CAT syllabus difficult?

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: Is it difficult for non-English medium students to crack CAT?

It is difficult but not impossible. If you give yourself a good enough time to improve English comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to do it. Yes, a non- English medium student will require longer time for CAT preparation as they will have to start reading and improving English comprehension. So, may be they need to start English preparation for CAT in the second year of graduation, instead of final year (much earlier than English medium students). They may also need two attempts to crack CAT with high percentile. But that's not true for all. If you work hard and study smartly, you will be able to crack it.

Q: What are the factors to keep in mind to cover CAT syllabus timely?

CAT syllabus is vast. It has numerous topics from Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation. Covering the CAT syllabus also includes practicing a variety of sample questions on the topics included. Thus, it requires a lot of time. Candidates must given themselves atleast 3-4 months to cover CAT syllabus and keep in mind the following:

· Check the previous years' CAT papers to know topics which carry more weightage so that you can focus on those topics more.

· List down topicsin order of easy, moderate and tough and allot time to them accordingly.

· Make sure to study about 6-8 hours per day to complete the syllabus 2-3 months before the exam.

· After studying every topic, practice sample questions. Balance theory with practical.

CAT Mock Test By Shiksha

Check out these free CAT mock tests by Shiksha. Take these mock tests to see how well you have gained control on CAT questions and topics.

CAT_Mock_Test_1	CAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions
CAT_Mock_Test_2	CAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions

Read more CAT preparation articles:

Q: What is the best preparation strategy for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension?

To prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, stick to the traditional path of concepts first and practice later. Study English grammar and Verbal Ability first to understand the concept. Then practice a number of sample questions of different kinds to gain confidence, speed and accuracy. For RC passages, develop the habit of reading from early stages. Read books from all walks of life.

Practicing sample Reading Comprehension passages and questions in a crucial part of VARC preparation. This will help you understand the types of questions and RC passages asked in various entrance exams.

As an aspirant, you will be appearing for more than one entrance exam, thus you need to have the practice of different types of RC passages.

Q: What to keep in mind for CAT Quantitative Aptitude preparation?

CAT Quantitative Aptitude has the potential of 100 percentile if you prepare well. The Quantitative Aptitude topics of CAT are advance level Mathematic topics from Class 9 and 10. So, for any candidate, the foundation is already there, they only need to work on it further.

The important topics of CAT Quantitative Aptitude include Geometry, Ratios and Proportion, Inequalities, Trigonometry, In-equations, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Work and Time, Algebra, Surds and Indices, Percentages, Mensuration, Time-Speed-Distance, Logarithms, Partnership (Accounts), Number System, Square Root and Cube Root, Profit & Loss, Geometric Progression, Probability, Mean-Mode-Median, Binomial theorem, Simple interest and compound interest.

Maximum questions are asked from Arithmetic and Geometry so keep the main focus on these two topic. Understand and memorise the formulas and theorems well, and practice enough questions to be thorough with their application.

Q: What is IIM Shortlist?

IIM shortlist is the list of CAT test takers who make it to the second phase of IIM admission process, which is Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI). The IIM shortlist is the list of candidates who are eligible to participate in the WAT-PI rounds of IIMs for MBA admission.

Free VARC Questions with Answers for Practice

Free DILR Questions with Answers for Practice

Free Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers for Practice

About the Author

Deekshant Sehrawat is a man of many facets. An IIT Delhi, IIM Calcutta alumnus Deekshant, is the founder of a popular MBA coaching institute. Deekshant is also a lyricist and has co-written a number of songs with Dr. Palash Sen, lead singer of Hindi rock band Euphoria.

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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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