Aiming for the 100 percentile to seek admission in the IIMs is undoubtedly a mandate; however, your preparation strategy plays a vital role in ensuring your admission to the top B-schools of India. Whether you should join coaching to prepare for CAT 2021 or not is a choice. There is no black and white rule that says getting training from a coaching institute guarantees your entry ticket to the IIMs. Instead, our expert Alok Bansal shares an effective and practical study plan that can help you strategize your studies and score 100 percentile in the CAT 2021 exam. Find out practical tips and tricks to prepare for the CAT 2021 exam without joining a coaching institute here. Should I join coaching to prepare for CAT 2021?When it comes to CAT MBA entrance exam preparation, a lot of candidates find themselves in a fix whether they should join coaching or not. Needless to say that joining coaching is a matter of personal choice; however, Mr. Alok Bansal, with 15 years of rich experience in this domain, assures the CAT aspirants that it is possible to crack the CAT exam with a good score even without joining coaching. To start with, Mr. Bansal suggests that if a candidate possesses these traits, then cracking CAT 2021 without coaching is not difficult:
Strategy to crack CAT 2021 without CoachingTo attempt one of the toughest MBA Entrance Exams, one must be ready with a strategy to face the competition. So, here are few points that you must put into practice to ace the CAT exam:
CAT 2021: Section-wise Preparation StrategyHere is a section-wise preparation plan for the CAT 2021 exam. Take a look and find out some easy tips to prepare for each section. These tips will help you prepare a CAT time-table that according to which you can prepare for the exam: How to prepare for the Quantitative Aptitude Section Quantitative Aptitude has a structured mechanism wherein you can chalk out 24 to 25 topics. List all these topics on a piece of paper. Devise a plan where you should first focus on understanding the concepts and then attempt the questions from each topic. Attempt basic level questions first, and once you have mastered them, move to the advanced level questions. Devote 3 hours to each topic and once you are thorough with it, and then move to another one. Decide one month to build familiarity with each topic and focus on practicing the questions during the rest of the days. How to prepare for the LRDI Section The Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI) section is basically an advanced form of what you learn in the QA section. If you understand the pattern of past few years and score 50% marks in LRDI, you are expected to fall in 99 percentile range. Here an important tip is, when you attempt this section in the exam, "do not try to attempt all sets". If you attempt 2 questions of 1 set, try to get them right, rather than attempting all 4 questions and getting a few of them incorrect. A lot of online resources are available for the DI sets. Attempt the sets and spend the relevant amount of time analysing your mistakes after you have attempted the DI set. Go through the concept again and revise it before moving ahead to another set. Cut back on your silly mistakes and if there is a lack of understanding in the concept, revise the concept. How to prepare for the VARC Section The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section is another area of attention wherein a lot of groundwork is required; especially in the Reading Comprehension area. Develop your reading speed and comprehension across various genres of topics. Read texts, books, newspapers, magazines, whatever reading material is available at your disposal. Buy 10-year papers available in the market. Find out the pattern being followed in the CAT VARC section. If you attempt 4 passages each day (approx 90 days) with each passage comprising 4-5 questions, this means you have covered 360 passages with thorough practice of around 1800 questions. Over and above this, you will be attempting a mock test also. This much rigorous practice is more than enough for you to crack the CAT 2021 exam. |
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Use CAT Percentile Predictor 2021 to know your estimated CAT cut offs and predict calls from IIMs and Non-IIMs accepting CAT score for admission.