Are you the one who was in the dilemma of appearing or not for CAT 2020? If yes, the opportunity has knocked on your door. The pandemic has forced people to be at their homes, no matter who they are, what they do. Be it a working professional or a pre-final or a final year student who was planning to give CAT 2020. Everybody is at home. Learn about CAT exam dates and other updates here.
It’s the right time to shatter the walls of the dilemma and start preparing for your dream college. Once we have decided what we want to do, we are halfway. Other half needs a lot of dedication, devotion, and persistent effort.
Here, we will discuss and share important dates for CAT 2020, tips, and tricks to prepare for this test. Go through the article to get the insights of CAT 2020.
CAT 2020
CAT (Common Admission Test) for all those candidates who want to get into top B-Schools of the country mainly IIMs. CAT exam dates are near, the exam will happen tentatively on 25th November, 2020.
CAT Exam Dates
- Start of registration for the exam – August 8, 2020
- CAT 2020 Form Correction Window – September 27- 30, 2020
- Date of exam – November 25, 2020
- Result – In the second week of Jan, 2021
Strategy to ace the exam when CAT exam dates are near
It is rightly said “Before attacking, know who your enemy is”, and in this case it is CAT. With CAT Exam Dates just 5 months away, It is very important to know everything about the test before starting preparation. Start from the syllabus and pattern of the exam. The next step is to start preparing with full force.
1) About the test
When CAT exam dates are near, the first and the foremost thing before moving ahead is to know about the test. It consists of three sections-
Verbal Ability(VA), Quantitative Ability(QA), and Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation(LRDI)
- Each section consists of 33-34 questions.
- Each section is 60 minutes long.
- It simply means that you have three exams of 60 minutes each.
- Once you are done with the pattern of the test, you can move to the next step.
2) Know the syllabus
Know the topics to be covered while preparing for the test. Here is the list of topics you can refer to start your preparation.
Verbal Ability
- Reading Comprehensions
- Sentence Correction
- Critical Reasoning
- Jumbled Sentences
Quantitative Ability
QA is divided into four major sections, namely- Algebra, Arithmetic, Geometry, Modern Maths. Each section further consists of 5-10 topics.
Algebra
- Properties of Numbers
- Linear and Quadratic Equations
- Advanced Equations
- Inequalities
- Absolute Values
- Higher-order polynomials
- Factorials
Arithmetic
- GCD- LCM
- Divisibility
- Percents
- Ratio
- SI-CI
- Indices and Surds
- Mean and weighted averages
- Time Speed Distance
- Work Problems and
- Cyclicity
Geometry
- Triangles
- Circles
- Polygons
- Quadrilateral
- Lines and angles
- Problem-based questions
Modern Maths
- Probability
- Binomial Theorem
- Base Questions
- Logarithms
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
- Advanced LRDI
3) Mode of Study
Know about the best mode of your study. There are a lot of options. Make sure you choose as per your convenience and affordability.
- Self Study- If you want to crack this exam on your own, then you have put sufficient time and effort into your preparation.
- You can learn all the concepts from youtube. There are free videos on the digital platform.
- You can access them and start your preparation. If you do not want to spend money on coachings, the best thing you can do is to take a complete test series of any coaching.
- This test series will help you know about your progress. Sitting for a 3-hour mock becomes essential while preparing for the exam. A complete analysis after every mock is a must to know your flaws.
- Coachings- During the lockdown, many coaching centres have started online live classes. You can enrol in any coaching you want and start your preparation.
- Online tutoring- There are a lot of people who are preparing CAT aspirants through online modes such as 2 IIM, StudyBuzz, and many more. You can enrol for them and enjoy learning at your own pace.
If you are done with these steps. Congratulations! You are halfway to start your preparation.
Tips to ace when CAT Exam Dates is few months away
Do not panic if you are halfway in June. CAT exam dates are still 5 months away. You can still prepare and get into your desired B-School. But all you have to do is to take a little pain and do a mix of hard and smart work to ace this exam.
So, this takes you to some interesting steps to ace CAT.
1) Prepare a time- table
We all know the importance of time- tables. It is very important to have a daily schedule to know about your growth. Prepare a time- table as per your preference. Follow time- table for 21 days, and you’ll be able to do this. Go for 3-4 hours of weekday practise and 6-7 hours of weekend practice. This would help you a lot in your preparation.
2) Preparation Strategy
Don’t panic if you are not able to get through a thought process or not able to find the correct answers. During the initial days, focus more on concept building. Go through all the concepts required for a particular section and then move to questions to test your conceptual knowledge. Devote at least 60-70 hours of concept building and application before attempting your first mock.
Verbal Preparation Strategy
For Verbal, Reading is the key. Read as much as you can, but it should be a conscious reading.
- To ace reading comprehension, it is very important to read slowly and understand every essence of the passage. Once you are done with it, you can solve questions.
- Do not worry if you take too much time to understand the passage. It will automatically come down when you start doing it daily.
- Watch videos related to the verbal section and prepare accordingly.
- Give at least 1-1.5 hours daily for the verbal section.
- Do at least 4 passages daily to get a pace.
- After solving, analyze them carefully. This is a must.
Quantitative Ability Strategy
- Go topic wise. Pick one topic at a time. Learn all the concepts and then try to solve questions based on that.
- Have a deep analysis of every question. This is very important to the ace quant section.
LRDI Strategy
- Basics are the key. First, build basics and then move to the application of concepts.
- Try to solve as many DI sets as you can in a day.
- If possible, devote at least 1 hour every day to the LRDI section.
Once you are complete with all these preparations –
- Go for a weekly mock to analyze your capacity to sit for 3 hours.
- Do every mock test as your actual CAT test. This will build a habit before your actual test.
- Once done, try to analyze your mock completely. Give a sufficient amount of time for analysis too. This will help you know your weak areas and push to work on them.
- Maintain an error log every time you are done with a mock.
- Try to complete all your syllabus until October. You will have sufficient time to give the maximum number of mocks.
- Give at least 15-20 mocks before you sit for your final exams. This will provide you with sufficient practice.
CAT is not as difficult as you think. All you need to do is persistent efforts and faith in yourself that you can do when CAT exam dates are near. Many people cleared this exam with dedication, efforts, and practice.
All the best for your preparations!
Author: Amit Kumar
Amit is the founder of YoursNews. This is a next generation blog, proved that blogging is an art; focus on valuable ideas and genuine stories, rest everything will fall into place.
