Race to IIM
Race to IIM
Now the race to IIM begins: –
There are mainly 3 types of students that are commonly found during a classic CAT exam preparation:
- Freshers
- College going, aspirants
- Work- ex population who have just joined their companies
- Work- ex population with 1-2 years of experience minimum.
Hygiene factors:
- Decide your goal first and when you do, Manifest them wholeheartedly.
- Plan & Put effort. This is a long race and when you’re running for about a goal of 6months, you won’t want to keep the planning minuscule or extreme; give room for flexibility. This is because here things or your chores are interconnected, meaning if you miss even a single thing or plan then everything shall go futile, hence, your results too. An ideal plan is one that can be by hearted by you easily.
- Books/ Resources/ Mocks. All materials are good. Collect all the study material, fix the lack of resources issue, and do anything that you have as soon as possible. It should always be preferred to prepare in online mode as your mocks and exams will be in the same mode.
- Job/ Internship/ Gap. It is actually really amazing if you can manage your job/internship along with your CAT preparation. It also gives you brownie points to have something to talk about in your interview. The gap year doesn’t matter.
Must do things:
- Ensure you complete 1 topic in 15days i.e. from beginners to advanced level. For e.g. take up Arithmetic and study from Mon – Fri for 2 weeks and sat-sun is only for Consolidation.
- Re-iteration Process- Post completing a topic analyze and observe the level of difficulty and frequency of the question in previous years and then sit with topics that need your attention.
Monetary Plan for MBA: –
- Before planning for an MBA know that in India, MBA is commonly the highest degree one gets as very few pursue PhDs after their PG. so, your MBA has to be from the best college. You will be branded with your college and keep the badge for the next 40 years of your professional life. Number one has to be joining coaching where you find value for money. You must Beg, Borrow, and Steal if aiming for top business schools.
- There are 2 courses highly recommended by previous CATKing toppers currently sitting in the top IIMs of the world:
| TURBO COURSE | INTENSIVE COURSE |
| 8 months of CAT preparation mainly from April to November. | CAT and non-cat preparation from April to next year April. |
| Expenditure: 10,000 INR for CAT forms + 20,000 INR coaching fees. Altogether, 30,000 INR. | 25,000 INR for CAT and NON-CAT forms + 25,000 for coaching. Altogether, 50,000 INR. |
| After November, we have Jan, Feb, and March for GDPI, WAT and PI calls converting process. | Oct- NMAT
Nov- CAT Dec- IIFT, SNAP, MICAT Jan- XAT, TISSNET Feb- MICAT2, SNAP 2. March to April- GDPI, WAT PI, CDPI calls, and converting process.
|
| June- end of entrance Preparation and beginning of actual MBA journey. | June- end of entrance Preparation and beginning of actual MBA journey. |
Here are some notebooks you need to make for structured learning:
- Grammar Book (write rules)
- Vocabulary Book (write words from Norman Lewis Word Power Made Easy)
- Formula Notebook
- Short cut Notebook
Syllabus
Quantitative Ability- These are,
- Arithmetic
- Algebra
- Geometry
- Number System
- Modern Maths
- Special Topics (includes Set Theory, trigonometry, etc.)
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension- Divide this section into topics i.e. RC and Verbal then Para jumbles & Para summary (PS).
Logical reasoning & Data Interpretation- Arrangements, Blood Relations, Graph charts, Venn diagram, etc.
Must know things (do not skip!!)
- Start with VPAR. This will boost the speed of your preparation just like chyawanprash boosts immunity.
- Prepare for the syllabus that builds up 50% of the total topics, mainly, Arithmetic, RC, and LRDI.
First 2 months: In QA- Arithmetic, DI/LR- Pick any 1 and take it to the moon.
Dashboard– Bible LOD 1, LOD 2, Shortcuts.
Chapters that take you away
- Number System
- Mixture & Allegations
- Modern Maths
- Coordinate Geometry
- Logs, Maxima/ Minima
- Trigonometry
- Inequations
- Caselets/ DI
- Reading Comprehension
Resources
- Find a mentor and invest in one by taking their programs. Take coaching- Online or Offline.
- Books- RS Aggarwal, Sarvesh Sharma, Coaching material.
- Mocks- take as many mocks as possible. Do not let it demotivate you.
Consistency
- Timetable for CAT
On a daily basis, cover the topic in two sections at least, for example
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday |
| Quantitative Ability | Data Interpretation | Verbal Ability |
| Data Interpretation | Verbal Ability | Quantitative Ability |
Here, in 3 days, you are covering everything at least twice. You need to do this on weekdays repeatedly and then on weekends, Revise everything, Consolidate and give a mock. Give a mock on Saturday preferably then analyze the same on Sunday.
Work-ex individuals are recommended to study 1 hour before going to the office and 1 hour after coming from the office daily.
Freshers have plenty of time to study. They must target solving at least 20 questions each day.
- May\June – 2hrs/day.
July/ August/ September- 3hrs/day
October/ November- 4+ hrs/day
Weekdays- cover atleast 2 topics in a day
Weekends- Saturday- Consolidate & take mocks.
Sunday- Do an analysis of each mock thoroughly.
7 mantras for CAT
- Pledge to stay in the game.
- Keep reminding yourself as to why did you start.
- Don’t reject yourself, let the IIM reject you.
- Fix your Goal. Keep them realistic.
- Get all the naysayers out.
- Do not get demotivated and give up.
- Be consistent & work really hard. Increase your level gradually.
Also read:
how to increase accuracy in mocks
