Hi Suchi,

CAT or Common Admission Test is an entrance exam for admission into prestigious institutes in India to pursue Management studies. While it is the only exam for getting a ticket to top B-Schools like IIMs, other private institutes like SP Jain institute of management, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurugram and others also take the CAT score for admission of students in their colleges as well. While it may be regarded as one of the toughest entrance exams for MBA, it’s not a rocket science to bell the CAT. A dedicated 400 hours is sufficient for brushing up your basic concept and solving one mock every alternate day is enough for cat so another 60 hours for mock and 60 hours for mock analysis and all together 500-520 hours are sufficient for achieving a good %tile.

Lets first start by busting a few myths about the exam. CAT is more about testing your aptitude and not knowledge. It means, its not a memorizing game where you memorize things and solve the paper. In fact, I would say, the more knowledge you have the more vulnerable will be your problem-solving ability. You should practice in such a way that you are good at questions based on the most rudimentary concepts. Now let’s start our countdown for the ‘D’ day.

60 Days to CAT

You need to get all the concepts clear at your fingertips. These concepts will be tested more in case of Quant section and will not require much breaking of head in case of Verbal, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning sections. Hence, I would advise you to start from the 60 th day itself. The very first step of your journey is giving a mock exam. The result of this mock will give you an insight upon where you stand in the competition and how much of effort is required by you to put in in the coming days. Keep a target of ten days and start covering the basics of Quantitative Aptitude. This can be done either by solving some standard CAT aptitude text books or solving books of any coaching institute of reputed name. Solving examples at the end of the chapters will help you better in assessing yourself.

45 days to CAT

After covering the basics of Quantitative Aptitude now is the time to solve some mock tests. In the coming few weeks, take 3 mocks per week, counting a mock every alternate day. And taking mock is not just good enough, analysing the mocks is necessary as this exercise alone will help you advance to a next level. After a couple of mocks, you will be able to settle into a strategy that you are most comfortable with in order to achieve good marks.

30 days to CAT

On this day, as going by the previous history, the CAT admit card would be available to you. According to this, now you have to adjust your test taking schedule for the remaining mocks. This will help you to get accustomed to the time slot in which your actual CAT exam is scheduled.

15 days to CAT

CAT exam is soon approaching and with every day, your heart beat too increases. Now, you must take a break from any other thing you are pursuing currently and dedicate your whole hearted effort for the exam. At this time, reduce your mocks by 2 a week and start revising all the concepts of all the topic studied. Also, go through all the earlier attempted mocks analysis and resolve them in your weaker areas. This will help you in committing lesser mistakes in exam.

5 days to CAT

Attempt one mock here. This should also be the only mock you attempt before the ‘D’ day. Do not take any mock just before the exam day. Revise the previous mock and understand where you have gone wrong. In the last three days, do not study anything new. Spend time with you friends and family in these days. Give your mind rest and be fresh before you attempt the actual CAT exam.

All the very best!!

Dear Suchi, CAT is an online examination of 3 hours duration.The questions in the exam will be of MCQ and TITA type totaling 100 questions. MCQ are multiple choice questions, for which candidates get multiple answer choices. Each Question has 3 marks and a wrong answer takes away 1 mark. However Type in the Answer questions are exempted from Negative Marking.

CAT exam paper can be Categorised into 3 parts:

Quantitative Ability
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

The Verbal Ability section and Reading Comprehension has 34 Questions, Data interpretation-Logical Reasoning section has 32 MCQ questions and Quantitative Ability has 34 MCQ questions totalling up to 100 questions. Each Question has 3 marks and a wrong answer takes away 1 mark.

First things first, know the syllabus. And go through the previous papers to analyse and prepare a comprehensive plan and set priorities according to the importance of different topics across sections.Customise your own study plan based on your strengths and weaknesses. Gauge your preparation from time to time by taking mock tests. Solve questions to check your levels of preparation but not to set any targets. Remember, its ok to have cheat days and relax. But make sure you have a plan and stick to it for the next few months because even Rome wasnt built in a day.


NCERT books will sharpen your basics and you need strong basics for preparing for any entrance examination. Once your basics are in place, because the time period for preparation is quite less, your preparation should be extensive and thorough.

Quantitative Aptitude covers almost 30% of the CAT question paper. QA can be categorised into Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Advanced Mathematics. Practise chapter by chapter and develop mental calculations. Like practise more of basic summation, subtraction, fractions and tables. Numbers, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Simple and Compound Interest, Ratio, Proportionality, Time-Distance, Time-Work, Mixtures, Averages, Partnership, Permutation and Combinations, Probability, Set Theory, Progression and Series, Line, Angles, Triangles, Quadrilaterals, Polygon, Circles, Ares, Volume, Height and Distance, Coordinate Geometry, Basic Trigonometry are few important topics.

Preparation tips:

Because this section involves mathematics and takes most of your time, your focus should be on solving the problems efficiently in the beginning. Even if it takes time, practise upto perfection. Practise as many questions as you can in the conventional way. As and when you get a grip on the subject, you can go for short cuts. Memorise tables, square roots, cube roots, conversion from percent to fraction, etc. Solve sample papers on Mathematics. In the beginning, do not worry about the time it takes. As you practise, you will get the hang of the subject and it will be easier for you.


In Verbal Ability session, command on your English, Grammar, Vocabulary, Understanding of the given paragraph are of more importance. Reading English NewsPaper will also help you in your preparation.

Preparation tips:

Read articles from time to time. Follow newspapers, magazines, and watch the news channels and browse the internet to keep yourself updated. You will need a lot of reading to help you in the comprehension section. You will need speed to help you in this section and you can achieve that only by thorough practise and reading. Take time to understand the question because most answers are interlinked.


Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning needs to be practised as much as possible. Comparison of data, Data Analysis, taking clues, interpreting missing data, coming to conclusions and making future projections will be covered under this Category. The questions here are interlinked and so if you get one formula correct, cracking the next few questions will be easy. So it's important to memorise and practise formulae. You should cover topics like Data tables, Data Charts, Bar Diagrams, Pie Charts, Graphs, Data Comparison and Analysis.

Preparation tips:

As this is the most tricky section, this needs a lot of practise. Solve as many sample papers as possible to get the hang of the section. Make notes when required. Regular practise can help you understand and solve the questions easily as time goes on.

Overall,once you know the syllabus, it's easier from there on.Go through the previous papers to analyse and prepare a comprehensive plan and set priorities according to the importance of different topics across sections. Customise your own study plan based on your strengths and weaknesses. Gauge your preparation from time to time by taking mock tests. Solve questions to check your levels of preparation but not to set any targets. Remember, its ok to have cheat days and relax. But make sure you have a plan and stick to it for the next few months


We can recommend a few books for you:

NCERT books to cover the basics from 6th to 10th Class

Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Saxena

Quantitative Aptitude Quantum for CAT by Sarvesh Sharma

How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Arun Sharma

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Exams by Abhijit Guha


You can also download free downloadable e books at:
https://bschool.careers360.com/download/cat-ebooks

hello aspirant,

If you knows the basic concepts and knows ll short cut rules, all you need to do is practice. follow a standard book like quantitative aptitude by arun sharma, gives lots of test series. also build your vocabulary. see questions are in moderate to difficult level , so prepare accordingly. every day give at least 2-3  test series. all the best.

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