Common Mistakes to Avoid During CAT Preparation

The Common Admission Test, or CAT, is the admissions test for India’s premier management institutes. Some of the most prominent colleges are the famed Indian Institutes of Management. The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a highly competitive entrance exam for management programs in India. The CAT serves as an entrance to some of the country’s most famous business schools. To pass this difficult exam one must combine hard work and clever work. 

To assist you with your CAT exam preparation, we have discussed 10 common mistakes to Avoid during CAT preparation and your chances of success. The CAT is an essential examination. It’s one of the world’s most competitive tests. This is because a high CAT percentile ensures a quality management education at some leading management institutions.

So, what are these common mistakes? Here we will look at some of the most common mistakes that candidates make when preparing for the CAT exam. And this costs them a seat, or maybe an entire year.

1. Not Starting Early

One of the most common mistakes people make in CAT preparation is not starting early enough. Although you can complete the fundamental CAT syllabus in 3-4 months. However, to prepare adequately and be CAT-ready, one needs to devote at least 9 months to their CAT preparation. The CAT Exam is becoming increasingly competitive each year. To gain an advantage in this competition one should begin their preparation early.

If you find yourself procrastinating, join coaching. You can also join the Best Online Coaching for CAT if you are a working professional or a student in the final year of college. This way, you will be accountable and more serious. The advantage of coaching is not only in clearing concepts. Coaching helps in many other facets of exam preparation like discipline, maintaining a regular speed, proper guidance, and competition from other students.

2. Ignoring the CAT Syllabus

This is one of the most common CAT mistakes that applicants make. They review the syllabus much later in their preparation for the CAT exam. This is a careless attitude because if you are presenting an exam that needs months of focused effort and when the competition is fierce, you cannot afford to be so complacent as not to even look at the material.

Create a list of sub-topics inside each topic so that while you are studying that issue, you know what to study and what not to study. Understand all of the CAT section’s sub-topics, including Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, and Logical Reasoning, as well as Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. While reading the curriculum, look at the CAT pattern by reviewing some sample papers or previous year’s CAT papers.

3. Not Knowing The Exam’s Key Requirements

To pass any exam, one must first comprehend the prerequisites of the exam. One should be familiar with the exam pattern as well as the types of questions that may be asked throughout the exam.

Creating a broad reading habit. Reading is a one-stop shop for applicants who have severe concerns with the VARC Section. Reading benefits everyone, whether it’s expanding vocabulary, increasing reading speed, or developing comprehension skills.

However, general reading will be insufficient for an exam such as the CAT. That is why it is recommended to read across genres. Each genre features distinct plot structures and narrative strategies. Reading from a variety of genres teaches one to analyse and evaluate various parts of the narrative, hence improving critical thinking skills.

4. No strategy for the CAT exam

As previously stated, preparing the topics is one stage, but devising a system for scoring is another element in CAT preparation that students frequently overlook. This is our sixth most common mistake on the CAT. Without a strategy for attempting the paper, a candidate will be unable to get their potential score. This is because many applicants believe that simply studying the chapters is enough to achieve a high percentile.

A good CAT strategy could look like this:

• Spend the first 3–4 minutes scanning the entire paper.
• While scanning, highlight the questions that are simple and can be answered within 20-25 seconds.
• Also, highlight the questions that can be answered but will take around 2 to 2.5 minutes.
• Please do not mark the questions that you believe are overly long or difficult.
• Begin solving the paper with the first category of marked questions.
• When easy questions have been answered, proceed to the following category of marked questions.
• When you’ve finished both sorts of questions and have some time remaining, it’s a good idea to check the solutions before moving on to new problems.

A strong strategy will allow you to get the most out of your preparation time. 

5. No study plan

We’ve seen many students begin their preparation by purchasing any of the finest CAT books and starting with chapter one. These are some of the usual mistakes that result from doing things this way.

• They continue to study and solve questions without a plan or approach.
• They study when they feel like it.
• Individuals who study at odd hours and times lack awareness of their skills and weaknesses.
• They don’t know the weightage of each issue on the CAT.

It is not acceptable to study for 1-2 hours a day and hope to get into an IIM. Studying for the CAT without a plan is like shooting arrows in the dark. If you are serious about taking the CAT and getting into one of the best management colleges, you will need to develop a comprehensive study strategy. You must consider the long-term, not simply about the CAT exam.  

6. Not Strategising Your Preparation

When preparing for an exam like the CAT one should follow a well-structured approach. One may not have a set study regimen, but one should avoid the mistake of not having a well-planned study schedule that allocates time evenly to each section. One might also prioritise portions that require the most work.

7. Not Practising Mock-Tests

Mock tests are the final evaluation of your preparation level before the CAT, which is why professors and CAT Online Coaching place such emphasis on them. This is one of the most prevalent CAT mistakes since people are not sure how frequently to solve sample examinations. Mock tests are the second stage of your CAT preparation.

The recommended number of mock tests during the preparation stage is one per week. When you’ve finished your chapters and it’s time to revise (typically the month before the CAT), the number of mock exams can be increased to 2-3 per week.

Mock tests are one of the most crucial components of CAT preparation. Mock tests provide test-taking experience, making it easier to memorise exam patterns. Mocks are intended to assist hopefuls in developing thoughts, planning strategies, identifying shortcomings, and making efforts to eliminate them. It is thought that mocking is a critical component that allows an aspirant to perform well in the CAT exam.

Analysing mocks is equally crucial as taking mock examinations. Analysing mocks allows one to understand their level of preparation while also reflecting on their weak spots. After examining mocks, it is critical to strategise future preparation properly.

8. Not Doing Frequent Revisions

Another common mistake to avoid during CAT preparation is not having a revision schedule. Revision is essential for properly understanding things and transforming them from weaknesses to strengths. Revision makes our studies more full and successful. Revision may not appear to be significant, yet it might help you keep your ideas organised. 

CAT preparation takes several months. It is unlikely that what you read months ago will stay with you till the CAT exam. One of the most typical CAT preparation blunders is when students finish one chapter and then go on to the next without ever reviewing the previous chapters.

Most students lack the super memory required to recall information that was previously studied. In a revision, you can go over the theory and answers to problems. You do not need to answer the questions again.

9. Skipping Topics

Students frequently skip particular things because they believe they cannot understand them. What they forget is that each topic is important and should not be skipped. Instead, if you are having problems with a specific area, you should devote extra time to that issue.

This is also one of the most common mistakes students make when studying for the management entrance exam. Ideally, the time assigned to each topic should be based on your SWOT analysis, which is an analysis of your strengths and weaknesses in the CAT syllabus.

You should attempt to strengthen your weak regions to the level of CAT. Just because you dislike a topic or subject does not imply you will avoid it. CAT doesn’t care about your preferences. Furthermore, if the CAT asks a fairly simple question from a topic you skipped, it will be quite bad.

Another common mistake is devoting too much effort to certain topics. Many applicants become emotionally attracted to a single topic and they prefer to solve problems based on that topic since they enjoy it and excel at it. However, as previously said, the CAT is an aptitude test rather than an intelligence exam. CAT tests assess time management, speed, perseverance, and other qualities.

10. Not maintaining Good Notes

It is critical to keep good notes. Even rough work must be done in a way that allows you to go back and revise questions. The benefit of keeping an organised notebook is that you may refer back to any point during your preparation and recall the solutions or methods you employed. You should refer to this notebook regularly while you prepare.

In this manner, you can avoid the usual problem of not being able to update your notes.

These are some of the most common CAT mistakes that applicants make. There is a lot of information on how to prepare for the CAT and what to do during CAT preparation, but it’s also crucial to know what not to do. This allows students to avoid the common mistakes that many other candidates make, resulting in substantially lower scores than their potential.