CAT Exam FAQs

My preparation strategy focussed on taking mock examinations on a regular basis to analyse the weak areas and improve accuracy.

I appeared in CAT 2018. My overall score was 99.21 percentile and sectional percentile for VA was 95.15, for LR/DI was 99.66 and for QM it was 97.45

The first step after writing Mock test, you should analyse it for your errors. Ensure that the errors are not repeated. Make sure to bring clarity on concepts and practice more mocks of similar pattern.

You can take Online computer based free Mocks at MBAUniverse.com as well as other websites including the websites of coaching institutes

Although CAT is a computer based test, taking offline Mock can also help you in improving your score. Whenever, you are writing an Offline Mock, you should adhere to sectional time limit and overall time limit of two hours. This will give you actual exam feeling with time management and improving your score.

You should take a minimum number of 40 Mock tests before the exam of different difficulty level. To prepare for the exam, it is not only sufficient to take Mocks but more important is to analyse your mistakes in them and improve for future.

If you are devoting time and studying 3-4 hours a day, 6 to 8 months are considered sufficient to cover the syllabus.

It depends on your aptitude. If you have Mathematics back ground, you may find Quant and DILR easier and VARC difficult, but if you have Arts/Humanities back ground, you may find VARC easier than QA and DILR

No, the syllabus is neither fixed nor published by IIMs. It is based on earlier topics that appeared in the exam.

The most recent changes in the syllabus were in 2021 with reduced number of questions to 66 from 76 in 2020. In 2022 and 2023 same syllabus was followed. It is expected that the syllabus in 2024 will remain the same with fewer questions on fewer topics.