Common Admission Test (CAT)
is a computer test held in India. The test is on the basis of Quantitative Ability (QA), Verbal Ability (VA) and Reading Comprehension (RC), Data Interpretation (DI) and logical reasoning. The Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) started this exam and used the test for selecting students for their business administration programs. Once in every year, IIMs conducted this exam.
CAT exam is going to held on 24th November 2019. This is a perfect time for the candidates to start their preparation. One of the most common questions arises in the mind of the aspirants, "How to prepare the CAT 2019 without coaching" and "how to prepare the CAT 2019 at home". To know the self-preparation concepts read the following article.
Why the CAT is important:
Basically CAT is an examination which shortlisted the candidates for seeking a seat in IIMs and any other B –schools. Many other schools also taking the students with regarding the score of CAT.
CAT 2019 Exam pattern: It has 3 sections.
- Quantitative Aptitude.
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension.
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning.
Preparation tips for Quantitative Aptitude-
- As after spending 120 minutes on the other two sections, this section needs more attention from the candidate as it is more calculation based. Candidate must have prepared themselves to keep their cool till the end.
- Your own devised shortcuts to quickly solve the questions with accuracy will help more. It has become more crucial for aspirants to score high in Quantitative Aptitude section in CAT 2019 without any support of questions from DI part which could be attempted by not so proficient candidates in mathematics.
- Candidates should keep trying a variety of Quantitative Aptitude to crack this section.
Verbal Ability and Reading comprehension-
- Reading newspaper, article. Making summary after reading a passage and it should be one-third of the passage size. Cover all the key points in that summary.
- Make questions and try to answer it and enhance your reading speed.
- Monitor your time to attempt the CAT RC passages.
- Preparation tips for Verbal ability.
- Making a summary of small para of 50-60 words in a single sentence.
- Putting the sentences in Jumbled paragraphs in a coherent order.
- Picking out odd sentences from a jumbled paragraph and know about its structure.
Read also: Know how to crack GD/PI and WAT for CAT?
Preparation tips for DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning)-
- The Data Interpretation Study material like Data Interpretation for CAT by Arun Sharma;
- The Pearson Guide for logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation are the few of the best books for CAT 2019 preparation.
- DI questions for CAT with solutions are available online also.
DI questions are formed to test how candidates can interpret the given data and answer questions based on it.
Preparation Tips for Logical Reasoning-
- Logical Reasoning questions in CAT can be your score booster up to 48 core marks leading to an improvement of overall percentile by 20-25 in CAT 2019.
- Try to solve as many LR questions on all difficulty levels, as possible. Never be shy of practice on LR. Once it is done, you will develop the methodology and will come to know beforehand whether you will be able to solve a particular LR question set, when it appears in the examination or should skip that.
- Read CAT toppers’ Logical Reasoning Preparation Strategy.
- Go for CAT Logical reasoning mock test and analyze your mistakes after completing.
With 3 hours of time resulting 1 hour for each section. Questions are in the format of MCQs and Non-MCQs. For multiple-choice questions, four choices will be given. Every year on November CAT exam is conducted.
Age limit: - There is no limit for CAT exam.
How it prepares without coaching:
The level of competition for CAT is tough given that more than two lakhs students appear for CAT exam for seeking a seat in topmost IIMs and 100s of B-schools. Entering into such type competition a student’s required a highly developed and qualified guide for preparing their syllabus with a definite timeframe. But, what if your circumstances don’t allow to take proper coaching, then a student’s does few things for preparing their own at the best level.
Here some basic information relating to the preparation of CAT without coaching:
Know the exam pattern and syllabus in details-
After you decide the top MBA entrance exam, you have to know about the exam pattern and syllabus thoroughly. Go for the previous year exam pattern and questions, which create complete ideas about the system, how the question comes from a different section. The general pattern of the CAT exam is the multiple type questions with four choices (Quantitative Ability, Reading Comprehension, Verbal Ability, and Data interpretation) and some exams also have a section of General Knowledge.
Get the right study materials-
Those who are not going for coaching for them it is very difficult to find the appropriate materials, so it is better to find someone who tells you about the concept or find someone like who already take a picture of coaching. On the other way, some can take books, materials and practice sets available in the market. Most important is the practice sets because set is the only things which can measure your strength and weakness.
Take an online mock test-
After a few days of preparation, it is important to take the regular basis of online test which measures your speed capacity and weakness. With increasing order, you can clear about your weak point, for which you have to prepare harder. There is a lot of very good online test are available on the web so you can choose the suitable one by comparing with others.
Creates your own CAT group-
It means you create your own group where you can discuss everything in a friendly manner. It is also better for you if you add some students who take coaching regularly because at that time it is easy for you to access their notes and practice sets. By taking that practice set you can also calculate your level in compare to coaching students.
Utilize the internet properly-
This is the most important and best part because if you don’t utilize the internet properly then it is like swim in the ocean. Because now in this modern period internet is like a macro library. There are a number of education web sites, a number of the article relating your study, the number of a free class available, a student must have to utilize the internet properly. You can also follow different teachers of your like by using social media (FB, Twitter, Instagram, etc).
Find a CAT qualifier-
If it is possible then it is very good for students to find a CAT qualifier. As that person already qualified the CAT exam, he/she has better experienced or knowledge of how to crack the CAT exam. According to their guidance, you can achieve a few things which increase your ability, confidence with a suitable timeframe.
It is said and done, ‘practice makes a man perfect’ and nothing can stop you from perfection if you are dedicated and honest with your practice. Not only that, you must keep your mind calm and away from distractions in order to sail further towards the goal.
Read also: How to score 100 Percentiles in CAT Exam?