This article provides with a well organized strategy directory for CAT preparation. Such experiences are really worth reading and following their footsteps can certainly lead us to greater heights.

- Puneet (got 99.23 percentile in CAT 2004)

1. The first 6-8 mocks are for experimentation.
Experiment.
Try out new strategies.
Don’t bother much about your percentiles and ranks…. my avg percentile during the first 6 mocks were 90-95. This usually happens in the months may to July. Engineers might be having their semester exams during this time. Dont bother preparing for cat too much during this time.

2. Mocks 8 - 12 (August): assess yourself thoroughly. Find yourself a preparation partner. This is very important. Your preparation partner should be more or less at a similar level as u r or perhaps slightly higher. Benchmark yourself against him. & both of u should motivate each other to up the level of performance. Start doing sectional tests also at this period of time. My preparation partner was a guy called Vinod (now in IIMB). His avg percentile during this mocks period was 99, mine 97.

3. Mocks 13-18. Takeoff time. Settle down on a strategy. Identify your biggest strength. Also identify the section which u can do best under immense time pressure. In my case, I was very good at di, I also have a reading speed of around 850-900 words per minute. This reading speed ensured that I could finish all my RC’s in about 12-13 minutes time & could devote more time to quant.

I used to start with DI (about 35 minutes, as it was a strong section), then went to quant, spent around 45- 50 minutes over there, and then went to verbal for 30 minutes. Used up the remaining time to go back to any section i wanted to maximize else used to do some checking the omr for errors in marking (In the actual CAT, I spent the last 5 minutes checking the OMR for markings).

Also, the last 15 days b4 CAT, preferably take a leave from work/college & keep yourself focused on the job at hand. Motivate yourself and your preparation partner.

Vinod (my prep partner) got 99.34 percentile in CAT 2004.
He got calls from IIMb & IIMc. Converted & joined IIMB.

I got 99.23 percentile in CAT 2004. .DI - 89.09. (Mild screw up in my strongest section…. what an irony…) Quant - 97.63… Verbal 99.01.
Got AIR 138 in JMET 2004

Calls from MDI, NITIE, SJMSOM IITB, DMS IITD and VGSOM IITKGP.

Converted SJMSOM IITB and NITIE. Joined NITIE.

Both Vinod & I are freshers from R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore.

Hope this will be useful to all u CAT takers.