Are you taking the test for the first time? Are you worried how to go about preparing for it? Sumit Singh Gandhi shares tips that can help the aspirants

Are you taking the Common Admission Test (CAT) exam for the first time? Are you worried from where to start? Before we answer these questions, it is important to know a few things. The CAT consists of three sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). Familiarise yourself with the exam pattern; going by last year’s trend, CAT 2021 will most probably have 76 questions in total, consisting of 54 MCQs and 22 Type in The Answer (TITA) questions.

Let’s start with the study plan for June, July, the first phase.

• Get your basic concepts clear: Having crystal clear concepts means you have a thorough knowledge of all the applications of a concept and you have, through practice, learned the subtlety and acquired the fine fidelity of applying it in actual questions. Since CAT asks tricky questions, the more ideas you have of applying the concepts, the more edge you get in the actual exam. There is no shortcut here. Try to complete your syllabus once till July 31.
• Set your weekly targets: You need to determine a time each week to focus on your goals. Flexibility and consistency are required to put this time aside to give mocks once in 15 days and stick to it. Try to get at least five questions correct in each section.
• Get involved in curricular activities: You should get involved in the curricular activities especially for the non-engineer students. Try finding what more talent you have other than academics. You can get involved with an NGO; do small projects which will be an asset for your resume. Try to visualise your thoughts and feelings about your dream college; this will then help you to feel more positive and motivated to make these changes a reality.

Then comes the second phase — a study plan for August, September.

• Go for the shortcut tricks- Try to solve the questions using tricks so that you can complete them within seconds while others take much time to solve them. This can give a huge difference in the ultimate scores.
• Aligned prep: Make a habit of reading for at least 30 mins every day. You can watch BBC channels to try to get the feel of the corporate world. You should start reading essays, newspapers and novels.
• Sectional preparation-Prepare a separate strategy for each section. Pay attention to not only the section you are comfortable with but also to the one you have a tough time understanding.
• Strategies for mocks: After getting the whole idea about the question and pattern of CAT, try solving mocks twice a week.
• Accuracy: Identify questions that you wish to attempt from each section. Select questions from the entire lot which you are confident of solving accurately. Proceed to the questions where you are somewhat confident. Get at least eight correct.
• Improve on your weak and strong areas: Identify your weak areas and practice more questions on them. Learn from the mistakes and try to avoid the same mistake in other mock. 
• Time management: After you have conquered your weaker areas, now your focus shifts to time management.
• Analysis: One thing many forget is analysing the mocks. Thoroughly analysing each mock will help you set a mental map of your current preparation and you can mold your strategy accordingly.

The last phase is a study plan for October and November.

• Focus on your strength: Try to focus on the stronger portions and do more questions of them while solving the mock.
• Practice and revise whatever you have studied till now-Regular practice and a lot of mock tests helps to achieve goals.
• Give mocks once in two days: Fix up a time and sit for the mock at the same time every two  days.

TITA questions: Always solve TITA questions as it has no negative marking.

• Use options: Some questions can be easily solved using the options first. Try solving some questions using the options given. This will make you solve questions more quickly than others.

The writer is CEO, CATKing Educare