The CAT 2023, also known as the Common Admission Test, is just three months away. The official notification for CAT 2023 will be released on July 31st, 2023 (tentative). We will inform you as soon as the notification is out. If you haven’t started preparing for the CAT exam yet, now is the perfect time to start in August. All you need is a good preparation plan to get ready for the CAT exam in an organized way. Even if you consider yourself an average student, you can still crack the CAT exam in 3 months with a well-planned preparation strategy. In this article, we will provide you with the best preparation plan for CAT starting in August, including a free downloadable daily study schedule in PDF format.
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Can I Crack CAT in 3 Months?
The answer is YES. It is possible to crack CAT in 3 months. As mentioned earlier, all you need is a perfect preparation plan. This plan will show you where to start and how to prepare for CAT from scratch. Think of the plan as a compass that guides you towards acing the CAT exam. Before creating the plan, it’s important to fully understand the complete CAT 2023 syllabus and then organize your preparation accordingly.
CAT 2023 Exam Pattern (Expected)
| SECTION | EXPECTED DURATION | EXPECTED NUMBER OF QUESTIONS |
| Verbal Ability | 40 minutes | 24 |
| Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning | 40 minutes | 20 |
| Quantitative Ability | 40 minutes | 22 |
|
Overall |
120 minutes | 66 |
For every correct answer, you will receive 3 marks, but for each wrong answer, there is a penalty of -1 mark. Unattempted questions do not carry any marks. Additionally, there may be a time limit of 40 minutes for each section, and candidates are not permitted to switch between sections.
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CAT Study Plan From August 2023 [Section-wise]
How To Prepare For VARC Section?
Here’s a simple trick to improve in this section: spend one hour every day reading. Reading will help you form opinions on different topics. Start by reading things you enjoy, then try articles from different styles to get comfortable with various writing. It’s also helpful to solve one reading passage every day at the beginning of your CAT preparation.
Avoid using speed reading, skimming, or other fancy methods. Instead, focus on reading to genuinely grasp the main points of the paragraph. Some questions will ask you to figure out information from the passage, so it’s crucial not to hurry through it. When it comes to questions like rearranging paragraphs or eliminating sentences, you must find connected ideas. Likewise, in the Verbal Ability section, questions like summarizing paragraphs require you to understand the passage well. That’s why developing a strong reading habit is crucial for doing well in the Verbal Ability section.
Set aside one hour every day to learn VARC concepts. If you’re not confident in vocabulary and grammar, spend some time on them, but be careful not to spend too much time.
Here’s a schedule you can follow starting in August. Feel free to modify it according to your daily availability and what you’re good at or need to work on.
| Topic | No. of days |
| Reading Comprehension | 8 |
| Para Summary | 3-4 |
| Para Completion | 1-2 |
| Para Jumbles | 2-3 |
| Odd sentence out | 1-2 |
How To Prepare For DILR Section?
If you divide your week evenly between DI and LR topics, you can spend three days on each. That means you can dedicate approximately 30 days to studying DI and LR in total (10 weeks * 3 days per week). Begin by learning the basic concepts of the types of sets that have been tested in the exam over the past 3-4 years. Learn how to represent them logically and try working with different kinds of sets. Solving various types of sets will prevent you from getting tired in this section. Aim to solve two sets every day—one DI set and one LR set.
You can make use of the study schedule provided for August to focus on the DILR section. Additionally, feel free to customize the schedule according to your own strengths and weaknesses.
| LR Topics | No. of days |
| Arrangements (linear, circular, etc.) | 3 |
| Puzzles (Einstein puzzles, constraint-based, etc.) | 3 |
| Networks, Games and tournaments, Scheduling, LR based on picking coins | 8-10 |
| Blood relations, family tree, Truth-liar concept | 4 |
| Cubes | 2 |
| Others (2D Space LR, etc.) | 2-3 |
|
DI Topics |
No. of days |
| Bar Graphs, Line Charts, Pie Charts, Unconventional charts (radar chart, bubble chart etc.) | 8 |
| Tables | 2-3 |
| Venn Diagrams | 4 |
| Others (DI based on growth over the years, data sufficiency, Caselets, etc.) | 4-5 |
How To Prepare For QA Section?
The initial step is to review the fundamental concepts of math thoroughly. Many times, people preparing for exams tend to overlook these basics and jump straight into solving problems. However, it’s possible that they may have forgotten a concept they rarely use. That’s why it’s important for them to set aside at least a month (for those who are already familiar with the basics) to brush up on these concepts. With regular practice, it becomes easier to enhance one’s skills in the Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section.
It is best to start by mastering the arithmetic and geometry concepts first because they carry the most importance in the exam, usually accounting for around 60-70% of the total marks. It’s important for aspirants not to spend too much time on a single topic, as it may not be worth it.
You can use the study schedule below starting in August to prepare for the Quant section. You can also make changes based on what you’re good at and what you need to improve.
| Topic | Number of days |
| Number Systems | 4-5 |
| Ratio and Proportion, Percentages, Averages, Alligation, Profit Loss and Discount, Simple Interest and Compound Interest | 10-12 |
| Time, Speed and Distance, Time & Work | 4-5 |
| Linear equations, Quadratic equations, Inequalities | 7-8 |
| Logarithms, Functions | 5 |
| Progressions and series, Surds and indices | 4 |
| Geometry & Mensuration, | 10-12 |
| Co-ordinate Geometry, Basic trigonometry | 1-2 |
| Permutation and Combinations, Probability, Set Theory | 6-7 |
| Miscellaneous | 3 |
CAT 2023 Study Plan PDF From August
You need to have a daily plan for studying for the CAT exam that helps you cover all the topics within the limited time available. You can use the CAT preparation daily schedule provided below, which is designed for the month of August, to cover the entire CAT syllabus. Click the link below to download the CAT preparation daily schedule PDF.
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