CAT 2024 Preparation: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make
Common Admission Test 2025 ( CAT )
Admit Card - 5 Nov '25 - 30 Nov '25
CAT 2024 preparation has entered the final phase. From now on, aspirants need to put forward every step very carefully and focus on the exam day. Nearly 3 lakh aspirants are expected to appear for CAT 2024 so the competition is going to be too high. So test takers can’t be less prepared or make mistakes.
CAT 2024 preparation: Mistakes to avoid
CAT has always been a high stake exam and this year too it will be no different. The competiion will be high as always and so will be the admission cut offs. With only over a month left for CAT 2024 exam day, you need to get into a high speed preparation mode, that is all about strengthening your hold on scoring topics, practicing CAT mock tests and devising the exam day plan. Amid all this, you should also focus mistakes to avoid. So, while you continue with the CAT 2024 preparation, take note of the chances of errors and how to avoid them. To help you in this effort, we have listed down 5 mistakes you can’t afford to make in CAT 2024.
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CAT 2024 Preparation: 5 Mistakes You Can’t Afford to Make
1.Not following the CAT study plan
You’ve been preparing too long for the CAT 2024. It’s been months that you’ve buried yourself in books and sample questions. You may naturally feel the burn out and want to loosen the grip. Don’t do that. The last one month is the most crucial time and you can’t drop your guards now. The best preparation happens in the last leg of the schedule. Whatever you’ll study now, you’re likely to retain more by the CAT 2024 exam day.
CAT is a speed based test which is designed to assess a candidate's 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.
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.
- Ignoring weak areas
It is usually suggest to focus more on areas and topics you are strong at and not waste a lot of time in working on weak areas because you will have the option to skip questions. However, this is not the right approach. Nobody knows the composition of the CAT question paper beforehand. The topic wise weightage is not known until the exam day. It may happen that most of the questions are asked from topics that you ignored during CAT preparation. You need to prepare well in all CAT topics and all CAT sections. Identify your weak areas and work upon them. In CAT every mark counts.
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- Not practicing enough CAT mock tests
CAT mock tests are the only way your score can reach from 90 to 99 percentile. CAT is a speed based test and the key to score high is the ability to solve maximum questions with maximum accuracy in the limited time. Whatever you’ve studied over months will be fruitful, if you can apply theories to solve questions appropriately and correctly. So, practice as many CAT mock tests as you can but don’t get overconfident when you start getting high scores in them.
| CAT_Mock_Test_1 | CAT_Mock_Test_1 Solutions |
| CAT_Mock_Test_Set_2 | CAT_Mock_Test_2 Solutions |
- Making guess work
Many test takers tend to do guess work in the exam in order to maximize scores. It is the biggest mistake to make in an exam like CAT. There is negative marking in CAT and if you make a wrong attempt, 1 mark will be deducted. Thus, don’t do guess work. Mark answers of only those questions whose answers you know correctly. Negative marking can lower down you CAT score and percentile. Do not get tempted for guess work no matter what.
Also Read: CAT 2024 Exam Pattern
- Not revising regularly
Regular revision of important concepts and theorems is mandatory from the first day of CAT preparation to last day of preparation. It is essential to do revision in the last month of CAT 2024 preparation even more to retain the concepts and formulas till the exam day. Many students do not revise much and end up facing a tough time in the exam.
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