CAT 2024 preparation strategy for last 10 days; section-wise tips, best books

NEW DELHI: With ten days left for Common Admission Test (CAT 2024), experts provide preparation tips and strategy to score 99+ percentile. In this regard, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) has also made the CAT official mock test link 2024 available for all candidates through the official website, iimcat.ac.in.

ARKS Srinivas, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and an CAT expert, said a well-organised and practical approach along with access to valuable insight is required to ace the exam. CAT exam 2024 is conducted for admission into postgraduate management programmes at IIMs and other participating institutions.

CAT question paper 2024 will have three sections namely Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, and Logical Reasoning. Srinivas said better understanding of the CAT exam pattern, effective time management, and prioritising questions and sets are some of the ways in which an aspirant can maximise their score. The question paper will have 66 questions carrying 3 marks each for a total of 198 marks.

A candidate scoring less than 50% marks has a chance of getting admission at IIMs and those scoring 100 or above out of 198 will be able to grab a seat at top IIMs such as IIM Ahmedabad, which was ranked number 1 under management category in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF 2024), he said.

Also read CAT official mock test link 2024 out; IIM Calcutta issues navigation guide

CAT 2024 section-wise preparation tips

Here’s the preparation tips for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA) sections.

CAT VARC - Candidates are advised to read newspaper articles, magazines or other books, novels to improve their reading skills. Solving mock tests and practising questions related to grammar, vocabulary, sentence correction, and para jumbles will help improve focus and manage time. Experts suggest candidates start with reading comprehension and allot 30 minutes for attempting four reading passages and 10 minutes for verbal ability questions. Best VARC books for CAT exam 2024.

• Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
• High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren & Martin
• Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey
• A Modern Approach to Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by RS Aggarwal
• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension by Ajay Singh.

CAT Quantitative Ability - Aspirants should practice more on topics like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and number systems. Candidates will have to maintain a study schedule and revise the concepts and topics where they face difficulty. Preparing flash cards and sticky notes will help in revision during the last few days. List of suggested books for quantitative ability and data interpretation is given below.

• Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal
• Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit K Sinha
• How to prepare for Data Interpretation by Arun Sharma
• Quantitative Aptitude For Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha

CAT DILR - Experts advised aspirants to practise this section by taking mock tests and solving CAT previous years’ question papers. Focus more on reasoning-based data interpretation, table-based questions, scatter graphs, bar graphs, and routes and networks. Candidates have also been advised to avoid learning new topics at the last moment.