Hi,

I hope you are doing well!

Last year, many changes in the CAT 2021 exam pattern and  testing slots were made by IIM Indore. This year it is expected that CAT 2021 pattern will change again as IIM Ahmedabad which is conducting CAT 2021, may bring about more changes in CAT exam structure. CAT 2021 may go back to its earlier test structure and time slots. As per the regular pattern, CAT 2021 will be a computer based test of 3 hours with 100 questions divided in three sections. CAT preparation 2021 strategy also needs to be slightly changed from previous year.

How to Plan CAT Preparation 2021
With the expected changes in CAT 2021 pattern, the CAT 2021 preparation according to experts, should also be changed. Experts have advised following required changes in CAT preparation strategy:

CAT toppers and experts describe CAT preparation strategy in two words – ‘Smart Preparation’ and avoid the hard meaningless preparation that consumes lot of your time with lesser gain.

Since, IIMs do not require a professor or a deep learner in only one area, the CAT exam is designed to measure your aptitude and assess your analytical and communication skills in the areas of English language and usage, Analysis of a situation with data, Approach to arrive at the decision by using reasoning and the basic mathematical skills.

You always have a choice to prepare for CAT with or without coaching. However, it depends upon your requirements, availability of time, skills that you have and the areas you wish to improve among other factors. CAT Self Study with right CAT 2020 Study material or a mix of preparation without coaching and opting for weekend CAT coaching with test series option can be decided now or later as per your requirement.

If you wish to opt for CAT self study, you need to understand first how to prepare for CAT exam at home with the help of right books for CAT exam preparation and other appropriate CAT 2021 study material.

Most of the CAT toppers have opted for CAT preparation without coaching. CAT toppers like IIM Ahmedabad student of PGP 2020-22 batch, Rahul Gupta with 100 percentile in CAT 2019; Ashish Jhunjhunwala with 99.90 percentile in CAT 2017; Vipul Kukkar 99.99 percentile in CAT 2017 and IIM Calcutta students did self study for CAT exam with the help of books and other CAT study material.

Preparation tips on how to start CAT exam preparation without coaching are focused on following points to guide you how and when you should start your exam preparation 2021:

• Go through the revised CAT exam pattern & CAT syllabus 2021 and Pick out your strong and weak areas in all the three sections and work on improving them
• Gather the best books and CAT study material for preparation 2021
• Take as many CAT Mocks during your preparation online and do the analysis of each Mock. Without analysis of Mock, attempting a mock test may not be useful.
• If you are weak in VARC, reading different articles and novels, conversing in English with friends and even watching English TV series and movies will be helpful. Write down whatever new words you encounter after reading at least 5-6 newspaper articles every day
• Data Interpretation (DI) is considered a bit more time consuming. Start practicing on DI questions. Use approximation techniques for quick calculations.