Summary
CAT has traditionally been an RC centric paper, for English. The number of passages is expected to be four, based on the patterns seen in the last few years
AIMCATs are a key part of the preparation, and it is important that learning and practicing concepts go hand-in-hand with the it. Use the AIMCATs to track your progress
Since the dates for CAT notification are out, heat has been turned up on the CAT students. With less than 2 months to go for the exam now, it is imperative that those serious about making it through to the IIMs change gears on their preparation. Some students would be wondering if they really have it in them to make it through the CAT exam, after the initial set of mocks that they have taken. But, if one can identify the weak areas and put in a focused effort to improve upon them, the CAT will be a much tamer animal than it would appear to be otherwise.
Some students would have covered a good portion of the syllabus, and those who have should start working on their test strategies if they haven’t. For students who have the question, “I haven’t started my preparation. Do I still have a chance at clearing CAT?”, the answer is “Yes!”. However, time is of the essence, and it will fly by faster than you know.
Spend more time on building the concepts and keep taking AIMCATs in tandem. AIMCATs are a key part of the preparation, and it is important that learning and practicing concepts go hand-in-hand with the AIMCATs. Use the AIMCATs to track your progress. After each AIMCAT, go through the analysis given and plan your preparation based on the analysis. Focus on the percentiles and the takeaways from the AIMCAT rather than simply the scores.
Let us look at each of the areas in CAT in a series of three articles including this one and discuss how one can improve on them.
Reading Comprehension
CAT has traditionally been an RC-centric paper, for English. The number of passages is expected to be four, based on the patterns seen in the last few years.
A few critical factors in RC preparation:
- Reading on diverse topics
- Target all direct questions followed by partially inferential questions.
- During the Test, ideally, not more than 10 mins are to be spent per passage and it is to be ensured that all passages are looked at
Verbal Ability:
This includes Para Formation/summary questions. Following are a few approaches to answer these questions:
- Identify the introductory statement (this statement would tell us what the paragraph is all about)
- Then identify links that would connect the two sentences. These are called connectives. These connectives can be conjunctions (but, and) or can be content connectives like cause–effect, generic to specific etc.
The VA part, in general, is felt by students to be slightly more doable than the RC one. However, CAT has given very difficult papers in the past and it is possible that the VARC section in this year’s CAT may be difficult. Students need to bear in mind that a very difficult paper would mean a low cutoff and hence, even if a student has scored low, they might still get a high percentile.
Regular, if not daily, reading is a must at this point and the more one reads, the better. This will help one improve one’s vocabulary and reading speed, which are key to scoring high in the VARC section. This will also help them get better at selecting the right passages.
About The Author
Mr Ramnath Kanakadandi, Sr. Course Director at T.I.M.E. is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is currently serving as a Senior Course Director at T.I.M.E. With over two decades of experience, he has held senior management roles across various industries, specializing in test prep, business process reengineering, and outsourcing. In addition to his professional pursuits, Mr Kanakadandi is a dedicated enthusiast of cricket and tennis. In his leisure time, he plays cricket, feeding his passion for the sport.
Last updated on 27 Oct 2023
