When to start preparing for CAT?

get your basics rite in engg. and start preparing in starting of 3rd year. Give cat in 3rd year just to get the jist of it and aim high in 4th year. Side by side start rading a LOT so tht you can make your vocab strong. And yes dont ever i REPEAT dont ever miss out on the fun days of engg. :yahoo: they are the best days ever :)
 
Most of my friends started their preparation from their fifth semester, while some of us started at the end of fifth semester.
At this point, keep reading newspapers, novels etc regularly.
Try to improve your gk and improve your english.
And 2nd year is too early for cat preparation. 3rd year is a good time to start, and once you do start your preparation, give it your best.
The quantitative section which you will focus on will help you a lot during your placement season in 4th year.
 
As you are in 2nd year, dont get too finicky right now.
Take it easy this year and simply start only with word list. And i strongly suggest pick up Barrons list and finish it off within this year. You wont believe how easier things get if you are good with vocabulary in tests as well as in life.

If at all you find out that u have more time on your hands, simply pick up english based questions and attempt them as mere puzzles (infact, treat the quant/DI based questions as puzzles only. kinda psychological thing.).
In third and fourth year you can shift gears and get better focus on CAT preparation.


Ideally, i realised a person should start with quant/DI in around Feb, get the theory done in 3 months' solid devotion..
then 3 months of testing phase (weekly tests), a month's gap to finish off any 1/2 chapters which have been left out + cement all the anomalies found out during testing (ofc the 3 months testing phase has daily analysis and revision as well).. and the remaining 2 months slogging out like crazy.
This is if the person has dedicated one year of CAT preparation only. If you want to get it done in 2 and while studying your graduation course.. then you can divide accordingly.
 
i am giving CAT this year... and trust me the earlier you start preparing the better...
get basic material and stay in touch with the quant basics...
start reading non-fiction and editorials and the hindu for better reading comprehension..
and also build vocabulary by getting getting some vocab book...
 
Mugging up doesn't work in CAT... You need to get your basics strong... I have seen people studying 8-10 hours a day for year and ending up scoring 70% ! Dont over-analyze the questions... One year is enough for preparation...
 
What spacey said, and also read the rules of grammar and practice some tests on those whenever you get time. Not just for CAT, it will help you in life too. English is not something you can master in a short period.
 
Since you are in second year, You should first analyse other options also before plunging into CAT.
There are so many other options like GATE, GRE, GMAT. Don't go on seniors advice. Spend some time googling about each of them and then decide what you want to do after engineering. Any option can be right for you. It depends entirely on the individual.
 
Spacescreamer said:
As you are in 2nd year, dont get too finicky right now.
Take it easy this year and simply start only with word list. And i strongly suggest pick up Barrons list and finish it off within this year. You wont believe how easier things get if you are good with vocabulary in tests as well as in life.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir for Barrons list, I was not aware that such thing exists.
Not going for CAT but it will help a lot.

THANK YOU! :)
 
greenhorn said:
In my opinion, study and practice can only give you a 20%ile bump in real world percentiles, at the max.
Click to expand...

I agree to quite an extent but its only if you have prepared and given the exam. If you have not prepared and got some low percentile then you can easily gauge which all sections you need to work on which all should only be brushed up a little.
Its an exam for test of abilities and not IIT exams which might need some real rigorous practise for deepest of the knowledge of subject.
Most of those who crack it, have the ability to handle the twists and pressure with aplomb and that's the attitude that needs to be developed by practising mocks.
Luck is a factor which you can't ignore and even with everything right, u can be derailed by slightest of mistakes, so just buck up, practise alongside ur regular stuff and just give it ur best.
 
greenhorn said:
In my opinion, study and practice can only give you a 20%ile bump in real world percentiles, at the max.
Click to expand...

How can you generalise this statement...
It depends on a individual's level of determination...

I would go ahead say that 90+ is something which can be achieved by anyone with little practice...

I have seen people rise from 60-70 to 95+
 
well, what I said was based on my experience among my gang of friends (spread across several batches) who joined coaching institutes at various points. most 60%iles manage to hit 80ish, 80ish guys hit 90ish, 90ish guys hit 95ish, and 95ish guys hit 99ish

going from a consistent 60~70 to a consistent 95+ percentiles, I find pretty hard to believe. you sure either of those scores were not one off's ?

Of course, training institutes would have you believe otherwise. It's in their best interest :)
 
I have this piece of text saved in my evernote..
I don't know this guy personally...

" Happy for tremendous score... I wrote it on 5th November. QA-166/225-99.36...Attempts-25/30 VA-132/225-97.05...Attempts-19/30(Probably my honesty helped me) OA-298/450-99.53

Last year was so bad!Didn't get call from any institute. Scored only 75%ile in CAT last year.Each & every exam showed me the door. My boss spoiled my appraisals & bonus as I was giving MBA exams. So,I left the job in the month of July. Joined TIME & worked really hard...though I never expected 99+ percentile.

Thank you very much God...You have the power to get things done from lesser mortals like me...

Yippi....Sectionals are balanced... Received SP Jain call also for Finance."
 
Back
Top