How to prepare for CAT to get into IIMs?

CAT is an exam that tests your expertise in 3 basic fields: 1. Mathematics and Data Interpretation 2. English and Reading Comprehension 3. Logical Reasoning If you are serious for CAT, you cannot ignore any one of the sections. One has to be a jack of all the three sections to ace the test, this becomes more important since one never knows what the composition of the CAT paper is going to be next year. I started preparing for CAT 2014 sometime in August 2014, and only prepared using Self-Study. So, this article should help you if you are interested in preparing on your own, not looking up to any of the coaching classes. First and foremost you should do is to figure how much time you have and then judge yourself as to which section do you need to work more on. For example I knew I had to work more for English part than mathematics or logical reasoning. Second thing must be to decide your sources of preparation based on these judgments about your strengths and weaknesses and time availability. You will find a plethora of books and websites and coaching centers available to you - choose wisely. Third and last thing : Now that you have the materials, work out a plan to prepare. Be sure to include 3 things in your planning: a) Time to cover the theory of each of the 3 sections. b) Time to write mock tests and review them. c) Leave last 2 weeks for relaxing rather than slogging at the end. Mathematics and Data Interpretation: There are a variety of questions asked in Mathematics. I used T.I.M.E's study material I got from a friend as the only source to prepare for maths. They cover all the topics and all the variety of questions asked in the CAT. Do all the exercises after each chapter. Also, I highly recommend joining the groups since you will also get to see variety of problems posted by others. Moreover, a couple of teachers used to be available and on weekends used to host topic wise tests purely out of their interests! 2. English and Reading Comprehension: I would not be of help here if your English is really poor. I had some 'feeling' about grammar which I used in questions, and could never learn apply the rules.

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Basically, there are 3 sections in CAT exam - verbal ability, DILR, Quants. Verbal ability- Start reading newspaper daily to increase your reading speed and grasping power. Don't miss out the editorial page. Do proper analysis of articles on editorial page. Try to make summary of articles that you read para by para. However, reading newspaper won't be sufficient. Start solving RCs on a regular basis with proper analysis. DILR- This is one of the toughest section especially from previous 2-3 years. Not only it is tough but it also checks how quick your senses are and how good you are in selecting the sets. Therefore, the best thing to score in LR-DI is to practice more questions on daily basis so you understand which sets you should leave and before attempting the sets what are the things you should look for. QUANTS- This section is one of the most scoring section for student and you too should try to get maximum mark in this section. It has a proper syllabus and you need to practice each and every chapter. The major topics are- Geometry, Arithmetic, Algebra, Number System and Modern Math. It is basically the math that you have studied till tenth standard. However, having said that, the questions are not really easy. Focus more on Arithmetic and Algebra as these two are most important topics. Start with basics then go for intermediate.

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