Study Plan For CAT 2020 Aspirants - 3 Step Process

Things to note:

: Type of the questions you were able to solve

: Type of the questions that seems familiar but you were not able to solve

: Questions that you left (completely unfamiliar)

Now as you are done with your analysis part, let's plan for the preparation part.

From Step 2 it remains the same for all: Newbies, CAT repeaters, working and non-working.

Step 2: You roughly got the idea of the topics that needs to be covered and your hold on the topics. Starting with the basic books in all the three sections would suffice.

The number of hours you will give to different sections will depend on your strength and your development areas in all the sections. Level 1 and Level 2 type of questions for all the topics should be completed by June/July.

Reality Check: Once you are done with the topic, you should test yourself by taking sectional mocks. You should start taking sectional test after completing at least a fortnight of your study plan

Reason: Let us take a hypothetical example: say today you completed Time and Work and tomorrow you give the test, it is highly likely you will score well as the concepts you learned are fresh in your mind, so it is better to cover 3-4 topics and then start your sectionals

A question in the mind of aspirant - how can I test myself with the concept I learn, as you told to start the sectionals after a fortnight?

I would recommend you to solve some questions (involving the concept you learned on social media platforms, like: Facebook Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/CrackTheCAT/), use the groups as a medium of learning, solve questions post your doubts and move ahead)

Caveat: FB groups and other similar groups can be a trap if you spend more than couple of hours on public groups

WHY?

- The type of questions are limited

- Skewed towards Quantitative Aptitude

Advice: If you spend couple of hours on the group it is fine but anything more than 2 hours will impact your performance (and most likely it will be either DI-LR section or VA section)

Step 3: Mock Test Series (July/August - depending upon your speed you can also start this in June)

It's time to test you how much you were able to grasp and how much of step 2 still remains in you. Analyse them thoroughly before taking the next mock.

How should I analyse my mock?

Below are the points you should follow when you analyse your MOCKS. Make sure you prepare a CHECKLIST and cover every point

1) Did you start the mock from the beginning as it is( attempting all the questions serial wise order)?

If the answer is YES, Advice from EG: Don't start from the beginning, look for type of questions that are your strength

2) Did you feel like "X" question should have been done but I wasn't able to do during the exam, now I am able to do it?

If the answer is YES,

Advice from EG:

Reason 1: The digital clock at the right corner is making you feel the pressure. Don't look at it after very 15-20 seconds.

Reason 2: You need to revision. Revise the concepts again for that particular type & be careful from the next time

3) Are you missing sitters in the exam? If the answer is YES,

Advice from EG:

Question selection is not good, you need to work on it. Write down your strength & development areas and make it a habit of starting your exam with your strong areas.

4) The time that you spend in solving the question and the average time spent by other students on that question?

Advice from EG:

It is not only solving the question correctly, but the relative performance depends upon how quickly you can solve correctly. Look for the best possible approach that helps to solve in time.

5) Verbal Ability Section: This requires a special mention, as many students are not able to analyse this section properly. To improve in this section you need to align with the thought process of the author, therefore read the complete solution even if your option is right.

6) Calculate the marks that could have been added to the score if you attempted all the sitters/ avoided all the careless mistakes/ attempted all the questions from your strong areas). Check the deviation from the actual score and try to reduce the gap in every mock you take.

7) If you fall short of mocks, past year actual CAT exams (1990-2008) can be good source for practice

If you follow this religiously no one can stop you from scoring (98-99)+ percentile

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About the Author:

Hemant Malhotra - Director at ElitesGrid

CAT 2016 - QA (99.94 Percentile), LR-DI (99.70 Percentile)

CAT 2015 - QA (99.91 Percentile)

XAT 2017 - QA(99.975 Percentile)