CAT 2018 is around 8 months away. This is the perfect time for aspirants to start their preparation. The CAT results of Cracku’s students has been excellent. We spoke with a few of them to know about their preparation methods. The following article on CAT preparation tips from toppers has been written keeping in mind the inputs we received from various CAT toppers.
Most toppers were of the view that online preparation for CAT helped them immensely in getting them closer to their dream percentile.
CAT 2017 Success stories – Performance
 “Cracku helped me a lot in my practice. The course structure was so good, particularly the post mock analysis helped me in knowing my weaknesses and strengths, so accordingly I changed my strategies “.
                            – Sriram Naveen, 99.87 percentile
They also emphasized the importance of taking CAT mock tests at regular intervals to assess their preparation level and how it helped to tweak their preparation plan. Most of them recommended going through previous year papers of CAT to get an idea about the exam. Aspirants can check out CAT 2017 question papers to have a first-hand account of the exam.
“Cracku helped me adapt to exam’s interface with very optimal content structure. It was a one-stop solution during my free time and during the working hours”.
                              – Aman Khatri, 99.69 percentile
CAT preparation tips from toppers:
The first thing we noticed is the emphasis they laid on starting from the basics. With enough time in hand, most of the CAT toppers recommended learning things from scratch. Skipping the basics and moving directly to solving the questions can lead to glaring knowledge gaps during the later stages. Revising the basics will ensure that no concept takes a backseat. Therefore, aspirants must start from the basics and climb their way up.
The CAT toppers preparation strategy also varied significantly from each other. One of the key takeaways from the CAT preparation tips from toppers is that emulating someone’s else plan does not work. The preparation plan must be bespoke. No one knows the strengths and weaknesses of an aspirant better than himself. Therefore, it is important to have these parameters in mind while drafting a timetable. Aspirants must allot more time to the topics they struggle in. At the same time, aspirants must ensure that they brush up their areas of strength once in a while to stay at the top of their game.
Building speed:
CAT toppers recommended solving a large number of problems from sources such as the study room to reinforce the concepts they have learnt during the preparation phase.
“Cracku’s videos improved my conceptual understanding. Their question banks helped me to improve my speed and accuracy”.
                              – Thahir Shah, 99.68 percentile
It is important for an aspirant to be familiar with the standard types of problems. Doing the template questions fast will give aspirants with sufficient time to tackle the tougher questions. Therefore, aspirants must solve a huge number of questions so that solving problems becomes their second nature.
“Cracku provided a huge number of questions from every topic imaginable for the CAT exam. The huge question bank and the time limit on every set of question helped me improve my speed and also the leaders’ table motivated me to improve my performance “.
                         – Madhumita Bose, 99.52 percentileÂ
Reading habit helps a lot in scoring well in the VARC section. The questions in this section check the ability of an aspirant to comprehend the passage given. Therefore, aspirants must make it a point to read articles from various sources every day. Also, most of the DILR questions that appear in the recent years are unconventional. Solving puzzles in the free time helps aspirants to develop the thought process to tackle such questions.
CAT Practice Questions – Highly recommended
Most of the CAT preparation tips from toppers we received were on how to take the mocks and analyze them.
Mocks and analysis:
Mock tests are an integral part of CAT preparation. Aspirants must not wait till they complete their concepts to take mocks. Taking mocks must become a habit. Aspirants must ensure that they take at least a mock every week. Also, aspirants must spend as much time as taking a mock test in analyzing it.
Mocks help aspirants to identify the gaps in their preparation. Aspirants must analyze the mocks and check for patterns. If an aspirant frequently errs in a particular type of question, then the aspirant must go back to the basics in that topic. Also, mocks are one of the best indicators of the level of preparation of the aspirant so far.
“The quality of the mocks was good, especially the verbal section, which tested us on levels that were a couple of notches higher than the CAT “.
                          – Saiket Talukdar, 99.61 percentile
Toppers also said that mocks help a great deal in improving the test-taking skills of an aspirant. Selecting the right questions and leaving the questions that are meant to be left are the two most important skills that aspirants must develop. Aspirants must develop the ability to gauge a question within a reasonable time frame and make a rational decision on whether to attempt or skip a question. This skill takes some time to be built and mocks help aspirants hone their question selection skills.
Also, mocks help aspirants to hold their nerves during the D-day. Aspirants must develop the ability to keep their calm even if the exam throws a curveball. Taking mocks of various levels of difficulty ensures that aspirants do not get caught off-guard on the day of the exam.
We hope that this article on CAT preparation tips from toppers would have helped to how to plan your preparation for CAT 2018. For more useful articles, try reading CAT preparation tips for beginners and how to get into IIMs with poor academics. Also download our CAT 2018 Syllabus PDF.
[…] We hope that this article would have given you some idea about how to prepare for CAT in 9 months. For more useful articles, try reading how to get into IIMs with poor academics and CAT 2018 preparation tips for beginners and CAT preparation tips from toppers. […]