Hi, hope you’re doing well!

CAT (Common Admission Test) is an exam that evaluates students' concepts and application of these concepts in stipulated time.

The exam includes conceptual questions of 10th and 11th class and to score well you need proper clarity of the pattern and concepts. It all depends on how well you grasp and apply these concepts in the exam.

It would be a good and prudent choice if you begin preparing for CAT in your first year of graduation, but you must strike a balance between CAT preparation and your graduation studies. If you take any coaching, that would be ideal, but even if you do not, you will have ample time to prepare for CAT because you are already in your first year of graduation.

For complete details about CAT 2021, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/cat

Your decision to start early will help you gain better clarity and provide you more time for self evaluation.

The pattern of CAT exam is as follows:

Quantitative Aptitude - Total 26 questions (High on Arithmetic, Other on Geometry, Log, Algebra, Roots, etc.)

For this section your pre-requisite is the fundamental understanding of concepts of Mathematics. You should have clarity on topics like profit and loss, number system, geometry. You must practice sample papers and go for some mock tests as well.

For details about preparation of QA, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-quantitative-ability

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) - Total 26 Questions (4 RC passages with 18 MCQs; VA 8 Non-MCQs are subdivided into Para Summaries, Para Jumbles, and Context Sentences.)

It is necessary to read on a regular basis in order to develop proficiency in this domain. To prepare well, you should read 500–600 passages, and improve your reading speed. Regularly read newspapers, journals, blogs, articles to improve your reading skills and watch some English visuals.

Try solving questions based on comprehension, summaries and para jumbles. Its booklets are readily available in the market, you may purchase them.

For details about preparation of VARC, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-quantitative-ability

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) - Total 24 questions (Data Interpretation: 14 Questions, Logical Reasoning: 10 Questions, All in Sets of 6 & 4 Questions)

This section seems to be the toughest section in the CAT exam, but it is not if you practice a lots of questions on logical reasoning and practice solving different hard core problems so that your problem solving ability will increase, which is the prerequisite for this section.

Go through some basic topics like arrangements, blood relations, syllogisms, patterns to gain understanding on this topic.

For details about preparation of DILR, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-di-lr

In regard to coaching,

All institutes will provide you with just material and knowledge.  Your self practice is going to be decisive for your performance in the CAT Exam.  There are students who just self study (They don’t join any coaching, yet they clear the exam). This exam is all about clarity, practice, discipline and hard work.

You may join Byju’s coaching, it’s recommendable. Given their video lectures, recorded sessions, you will gain flexibility to complete the course as per your pace. It will also help you save travel time, since time is of essence.

Their faculty and method of teaching is suitable for good preparation. However, you need to make sure to maintain a good schedule to prepare the syllabus in qualitative manner.

Also, for admission in an MBA and a good B-school, your profile is also important along with CAT score. Your overall profile should portray the following:

• Good Academic Performance
  
  

• Skills learnt through internships, projects, event on field tasks
  
  

• Participation and performance in ExtraCurricular Activities like societies, competitions
  
  

• Contribution at Social Level
  
  

• Interests and Hobby
  
  

First Year is a great time to start, explore your potential and lay a foundation for great career ahead

Hope this information helps!

All the best!

Hi...
Which is better for the CAT preparation: T.I.M.E. or Byju?

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27Answers



Abhijit Mishra ,99.94 %ile, CAT 2013; IIM C Class of 2016

UpdatedOctober 10, 2017

I think I am suitable to answer this question as I have been a full time student in both Career Launcher(CL) and Byju's Classes.
The major difference between Byju and others like CL and T.I.M.E is the faculty. While T.I.M.E and CL have a huge number of faculty spread all across the country, Byju's Classes has only 2 teaching faculty for CAT, who are amazing.
So, your location matters a lot if u enroll in CL and T.I.M.E as some faculty are very good( cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi etc.) While some can be quite average(Ranchi, the only city I can put here due to personal experience)
I can tell you, after I attended a guest session by GP, Mr. Gautam Puri, the founder of CL, I found him awesome. But not all teachers in CL Ranchi possess that quality. This is where Byju's Classes has an edge over others. As the name suggests, if you are in Byju's Classes, you WILL DEFINITELY study with Byju as a faculty. He is a super trainer who has achieved 100 percentile in CAT twice. Also, the faculty for verbal ability (English) is Mr. P Santosh, who is a gold medalist from Anna University, Guindey, and asking the top 3 in Indian School of Business. He got a total of 780 in GMAT.
If you enroll for CAT coaching in Byju's Classes, these are the two people who teach you. The classes are in the form of video lectures stored in a tablet.
Anyway I will throw light on few pros and cons of each for people to make a better, informed decision.

If the level of preparation is negligible, do join a classroom program like CL. They will help to build the basics and fundamentals. At Byju's, basics are not discussed in detail. It is taken as a prerequisite. But, for people who are good with class 10 level maths and are good with calculations, Byju's will me more enthralling an experience.

If video lecture format is not a problem, it is surely worth it to join Byju's Classes.

If you are from a city where CL/T.I.M.E centres are not present, or cities where the faculty might not be good, I would suggest not risking joining them. Instead Byju's Classes is a better option

If you desire.personalized attention and real time.doubt solving, the classroom.program is designed for you. If you can Chuck that for a fast paced quality teaching Byju's Classes is the place to go.

The quality of online material and the books in CL are way better than Byju. The mock CATs however are similar in difficulty and quality( resemblance to actual CAT). But this should not be the top criteria. If you like the Byju classroom program jin that and take the online material and tectbooks by CL

If you are in a metro or other cosmopolitans where the classroom centres are highly reputed and regarded, it is a difficult choice. It should rather be your own choice based on the time and money you are ready to invest. Also, the preferred method of teaching should be taken into account.

Dear Student,

You should not enroll in Byjus without knowing someone because they're are not so good and people are getting manipulated by their sales person or counsellor through their sales pitch.You should take coaching near your location ask from someone who is preparing for CAT exam.Research about institute or coaching center by asking many people and booking a demo and then only take a decision.Start preparing by yourself first so that when you go to any coaching center you know some concepts as coaching institutes don't teach basics they will teach you fast.Watch YouTube videos for basic quantitative aptitude for CAT exam solve different types of questions and you can side by side find some good coaching.

Thanks

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