As per a Shiksha Poll, most of the CAT aspirants are relying on study material provided by coaching classes and past year question papers for CAT exam preparation. Check details.
CAT 2025 preparation
CAT 2025 preparation has already begun. Classes at CAT coaching centres have started full-fledged and those who will be doing self-study, have already set themselves in a daily routine. CAT preparation is majorly done either by joining a coaching centre. Coaching centres provide study material, guidance, periodic tests and group sessions to aspirants so that no area is left out. However, many students prefer self-study too, as it allows them the flexibility of time management. Whatever be the mode of CAT preparation, there are five major resources that a candidate uses –
- Material from coaching classes
- Past year question papers
- Study groups with friends
- YouTube lectures and tutorials
- CAT Mock Test series
To understand which is the most preferable resources of CAT preparation, Shiksha conducted an online poll on the same. Here’s what the participants voted for:
What resources are you preparing for CAT 2025?
Shiksha provided the above five options to choose the preferred preparation mode. Most of the votes went to study material provided by coaching classes and past year question papers.
Best CAT preparation resources poll
35% respondents selected study material from coaching classes as their preferred resource to prepare for CAT 2025. Past year question papers came close with 33% votes. About 19 % respondents believe YouTube tutorials and lectures will be a good resource for studying. CAT mock tests, which enters in the last phase of CAT preparation got 9%. Which means not many believe only practicing CAT mock tests is enough. A meagre 4% found study groups with friends an effective way of CAT exam preparation.
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Q: Is CAT exam tough for an average student?
Q: Is the CAT syllabus difficult?
Yes, the difficulty level of CAT syllabus is very high as compared to other MBA entrance exams. However, if you prepare well and follow the CAT exam pattern well, you will be able to score well. Besides having an understanding of the CAT syllabus 2025, candidates also need to be well aware of the CAT exam pattern before they start preparing for the exam. The CAT exam pattern was revised in 2021 and the number of questions were reduced from 76 to 66. The structure of CAT 2023 and CAT 2024 was the same. The syllabus is still tougher than other exams.
The most important things to keep in mind are:
- CAT exam mode is online
- Each question carries three marks
- There is negative marking of minus one mark for wrong attempts
The section-wise distribution of questions and difficulty levels as per the latest CAT exam pattern are listed below:
- Quantitative Ability (QA) - 24 questions, difficulty level - moderate to high
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) - 20 questions, difficulty level - moderate
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 22 questions, difficulty level - moderate. to high
Q: Are six months enough to prepare for CAT?
Usually, it is recommended to start CAT preparation about a year or nine months in advance. However, one can prepare for this exam even in six months if they put 8-10 hours daily into it. Candidates who have attempted the CAT before may not face a lot of hurdles in six-month preparation as they have a foundation in CAT preparation from previous year, but candidates who are appearing in the exam for the first time may face obstacles, mostly related to accuracy. The syllabus of CAT is vast and includes a lot of reading.
One also has to spend a lot of time in practice sessions and mock tests to be able to master all types of CAT questions - easy, moderate and tough. If you are a student of engineering/technical or commerce background you will need to pay extra attention on VARC .
However, you'll be able to manage the syllabus of DILR and Quantitative Aptitude with adequate practice of topics. But if you are a student from Arts background, it is advised to start CAT preparation much earlier because you will have to brush up a lot of Mathematics. Reading Comprehension is one subject that cannot be mastered by student belonging to any academic stream, if their English comprehension is not strong. To develop reading habit all CAT aspirants will have to start much earlier.
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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.