There are months of preparation and hard work that go into preparing for the CAT examination. The CAT entrance exam is not easy. It requires the students to genuinely put in their heart and soul and focus on the right aspects so that they are able to cover the syllabus right on time and also get the time for revision. The CAT exam is conducted on a yearly basis by the Indian Institutes of Management. CAT preparation is one of the goals of many MBA aspirants who want to pursue their management degrees in some of the best IIMs and business schools in the country. This is important for the students to understand because without really understanding the pattern of the exam, the marking scheme, and the syllabus, the students cannot have a very solid CAT exam preparation. With the help of this article, we will understand how preparation can happen in a holistic manner for the students.

Exam Pattern for CAT 

There are some points that the students always need to keep in mind to have a solid CAT exam preparation. These points are as follows:

1. There are a total of 3 sections of the CAT exam, which are namely Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA).

2. The total time duration of the CAT exam is 120 minutes. However, there is a sectional time limit of 40 minutes. This means that students have to solve each section of the CAT exam within 40 minutes.

3. The total number of questions in the CAT exam is 68. The VARC section has 24 questions. The DILR section has 22 questions, and the QA section has 22 questions.

How To Prepare For CAT?

1. One of the first tips that students need to keep in mind is that it is important for them to check all the details of the exam that they are preparing for. Students should have knowledge about the CAT eligibility criteria, the exam pattern, the marking scheme, etc., before they start going in with the preparation.

2. After the students have the basic knowledge, it is important for them to move ahead and focus on the topics of the syllabus that hold relevance. Students need to give time to understand every concept of the exam, and when the students are a part of Hitbullseye, then all the topics that are of importance are taught to the students.

3. After the students have prepared the syllabus, it is important for them to jump to the various practice papers that are available. This might feel like a tedious task to the students, but the more practice, the more the students will find that their CAT preparation is better. There will be different kinds of questions that students will explore, and it will improve the student's preparation.

4. Students can opt for CAT preparation online as well. It depends upon the students how they want to have their preparation. The material that is available on the online websites also ends up helping the students a lot. Students can also opt for coaching from good institutions like Hitbullseye, that will end up benefiting the students a lot in their learning journey.

CAT Preparation Books 

1. Hitbullseye CAT VARC Books

As the students know, mainly the VARC section is entirely focused on the English language. The CAT books help the students to work on their reading comprehension, vocabulary, and verbal skills. There are different questions that the students will come across that will truly benefit them to learn more.

2. Hitbullseye DILR Book

Now, when it comes to the preparation of the data interpretation and logical reasoning questions, students will see that different strategies work for different students. Good preparation comes to the students with a lot of preparation, and when the students take help of the preparation books, they are truly able to see the benefits.

3. Hitbullseye QA Books

There are many CAT preparation books for revising the Math formula and concepts that are provided by Hitbullseye. When it comes to the mathematical section, students need to make sure that they need to fully be aware of the various formulas and they need to apply those formulas to various questions. 

Conclusion

The CAT preparation is of extreme importance to the students who aim to get admission to some of the highly reputed colleges of the country. These colleges are known for their excellent curriculum, their well-trained faculty and good placements. While students are investing their time to study, they're aiming to get a deserving seat in colleges that will brighten their future and that will let them reach greater heights of success. It becomes important for the students, therefore, to aim and get a good percentile that will ensure that they're able to achieve this goal of theirs and do well for themselves. Keeping all these reasons in mind, students should try their best to focus on the exam preparation so that they're able to do good for themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are online CAT mock test papers better than offline papers?

Yes, generally it is believed that online CAT mock test papers are better than the offline ones. This is because CAT is an online computer-based exam with fixed time durations. Hence, if students want to have a better idea of how the CAT exam will be, then they should prefer to attempt online CAT mock test papers.

2. What topics are covered in CAT crash courses?

CAT crash courses cover all three sections of the CAT exam. There are practice questions and lectures given on all the major topics of Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. Students will find a mix of questions related to quantitative ability, which means there will be a lot of mathematical topics tested. Then there will be logical reasoning questions, a lot of data interpretation questions and analysis questions, and then students will also see a lot of English grammar being tested.

3. How many marks are deducted in the CAT exam for the incorrect answers?

Students will realize that there is a negative marking of one mark in the CAT exam. This negative marking only exists for the incorrect multiple-choice answers. Even though there are type in the answer type questions in the exam, there is no negative marking for those types of questions. This gives the opportunity to the students to take the risk and solve all the TITA-based questions because there isn't any negative marking for those questions.