CAT 2025: Your Comprehensive Prep Plan

The journey to an MBA at a top Indian B-school, like the prestigious IIMs, begins with the Common Admission Test (CAT). If you're setting your sights on CAT 2025, you're embarking on a challenging but ultimately rewarding endeavor. This blog post serves as your comprehensive guide, offering insights into the exam structure, a detailed preparation plan for each section, and tips on how to build a well-rounded profile. Let’s dive in!

Understanding the CAT 2025 Landscape

Before you start your preparation, it's crucial to understand the exam itself. Here’s a breakdown:

The Exam Structure: Three Pillars of CAT

CAT is a computer-based test that evaluates your abilities across three key sections:

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): This section focuses on your proficiency in English, testing your reading speed, comprehension, grammar, and analytical skills.
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR): This section assesses your ability to interpret data, solve logical puzzles, and think analytically.
Quantitative Ability (QA): This section evaluates your mathematical aptitude, ranging from basic arithmetic to advanced algebra and geometry.

CAT 2025 Expected Pattern (Based on CAT 2024)

While the official pattern might have minor variations, we expect CAT 2025 to largely follow the pattern of CAT 2024.

VARC:
- 24 questions in total.
- Four Reading Comprehension (RC) passages, each with four questions (totaling 16 questions).
- Verbal Ability questions include:
  - Paragraph Summary (identifying the best summary of a given paragraph from multiple choices).
  - Odd Sentence Out (arranging a jumbled paragraph and finding the sentence that doesn’t fit).
  - Paragraph Completion (filling the correct sentence in a given paragraph).
DILR:
- 22 questions in total (increased from 20 in previous years).
- Three sets of four questions (totaling 12 questions).
- Two sets of five questions (totaling 10 questions).
- All questions are standalone, i.e., not dependent on any other question.
QA:
- The number of questions is expected to be consistent with previous years, often around 20-22 questions. The focus is on diverse mathematical aptitude and problem-solving.
Total Questions: 68 questions.
Total Marks: 204.
Normalization: CAT uses a normalization process to adjust scores across the three different test slots. You can check out a video on this very topic on this platform. (Link to video about normalization should be embedded here)

Marking Scheme

+3 marks for every correct answer in Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).
-1 mark for every incorrect answer in MCQs.
0 marks for an incorrect answer in Type In The Answer (TITA) questions.
+3 marks for every correct answer in TITA questions.
On-screen Calculator: An on-screen calculator is provided for the DILR and QA sections.
Sectional Timing: Each section (VARC, DILR, QA) is allotted 40 minutes. Once a section's time is up, you automatically move to the next section and cannot go back.

Your Comprehensive Preparation Plan: Section-Wise

Now that you understand the exam structure, let’s delve into the preparation plan for each section.

VARC: Mastering the Art of Reading and Comprehension

The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section is not just about grammar; it's about understanding complex ideas, vocabulary, and critical reasoning. Here's how you can ace it:

The Importance of Reading

Reading is the cornerstone of VARC preparation. A wide range of reading material not only helps improve your comprehension and speed but also enhances your vocabulary.

Newspapers: Start reading newspapers regularly, focusing on the editorials. This keeps you updated with current affairs and helps you develop a more critical approach to reading.
Articles: Explore websites like:
These websites offer well-written articles across diverse topics, helping you broaden your horizons.
Books: Make reading books a consistent habit. Whether fiction or non-fiction, try to read at least one book every week or two weeks. This will significantly boost your vocabulary, comprehension, and perspective.
Logical Fallacies: Understanding logical fallacies is crucial for critical reasoning and Reading Comprehension. There are many resources and books available on this topic. (Recommend a book here or ask them in the comments)

Building a Robust Vocabulary

A strong vocabulary is essential for understanding complex reading materials.

Organic Approach: The best way to improve vocabulary is organically, through exposure to content and active engagement. When encountering an unfamiliar word in a book, TV show, or article, pause and look it up, taking the time to understand its nuances.
TV Shows: If you are watching English language shows or sitcoms, make notes of unfamiliar words.
Inorganic Methods (Use Sparingly): While memorizing lists of words is not sustainable, you can use resources for exams like GRE or GMAT. You can also use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate practice lists and help you understand the meanings and contexts of new words.

Practice Makes Perfect: Solving Questions

Question Types: Familiarize yourself with all types of questions, including paragraph summaries, odd sentence out, and paragraph completion.
Practice Resources: Solve questions from reputable study materials, books, or material provided by coaching institutes if you are enrolled in one.
Deadlines: Ideally, you should aim to complete your VARC preparation by May 2025, to get sufficient time for mocks.

DILR: The Art of Logical Deduction

The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section can feel daunting due to its lack of a fixed syllabus. However, consistent practice with various puzzle types will improve your logical thinking and analytical skills.

Puzzle Types

Sudoku: Start with Sudoku; it builds a strong foundation for arrangement questions.
Kakuro: Learn Kakuro; it helps with understanding number arrangements and splitting numbers into smaller parts. I have a video explaining Kakuro - I will link that here (Link Kakuro Video).
Chess: Learn the moves and how the pieces move. It might sound surprising, but understanding chess has proved useful in certain CAT sets.
Candlestick Patterns: Understand candlestick patterns. If you know what candlestick patterns mean, you would have understood a DILR set in CAT 2024. It's important to understand what open, high, low, and close mean, and how the closing of one day is related to the opening of the next.
Moving Averages: Understand moving averages, as this concept is important for both CAT and other competitive exams.
Sky Scrapers: Try games like Sky Scrapers on websites like Brains.com. Sky Scrapers involve figuring out how many buildings you can see from a certain point given their heights.
Nonograms: Learn to solve Nonograms. This puzzle type sometimes appears in the CAT exam, requiring logical deductions on grids.
Set Theory: Brush up on Set Theory (Venn diagrams, De Morgan's laws, etc.), as it's a crucial concept in many DILR questions.
Table-Based Sets: Familiarize yourself with table-based sets.
Arrangements: Master linear, circular, and matrix arrangements.

QA: The Path to Mathematical Mastery

The Quantitative Ability section requires not just knowledge of formulas, but also a deep understanding of underlying concepts.

Solid Foundations

NCERT Textbooks: If your basic concepts are weak, go back to the NCERT textbooks for classes 8, 9, and 10, available for free download.
Question Everything: Don't blindly accept formulas or shortcuts. Question the logic behind every concept to deepen your understanding.
Oral Practice: Try to solve problems without writing them down as much as possible, as the focus in CAT is on accuracy and speed.

Loving Math

Enjoy the Process: The more you enjoy the process of solving math problems, the better you'll become at it. Embrace the challenge and the sense of achievement after solving a question.

Time Management and Holistic Preparation

It's crucial to balance your CAT preparation with other priorities. Here's what you need to remember:

Prioritize College Academics: Focus on your college exams, as they have a huge impact on your overall profile. Your graduation marks are important for B-school admissions.
CAT Prep Schedule: Spend 1-2 hours on CAT preparation at this point. Do not overdo it. You can increase the prep time gradually as your college schedule allows.
Syllabus Completion: Aim to finish your syllabus by May 2025 for VARC, DILR and QA.
Mock Tests: Once institutes launch mock tests, start taking them immediately. The more mocks you take, the better you will be prepared. Delaying the mocks will delay your prep.

Building Your Profile: Beyond the CAT Score

Your profile is not just about the CAT score; it also includes your academic and professional experiences, personality, and any extracurriculars. Colleges want to know what you’ve done beyond your studies.

Academic Achievements: Having good scores in your 10th, 12th, and graduation will always help your candidacy.
Projects and Research: Undertaking projects or writing research papers will show that you are analytical and research-oriented.
Internships and Freelancing: Gaining corporate exposure through internships and freelancing will give you valuable insights into the business world.

Conclusion: Your Path to CAT 2025 Success

CAT 2025 preparation is a marathon, not a sprint. By starting early, understanding the exam structure, focusing on each section, managing your time efficiently, and building a strong profile, you are well on your way to achieving your MBA dreams.

Remember to:

Start with a solid understanding of the CAT exam.
Create a comprehensive preparation plan for each section (VARC, DILR, QA).
Balance your CAT prep with your college academics and other aspects of your life.
Build a well-rounded profile by doing projects, internships, and engaging in other activities.
Stay consistent, patient, and believe in your ability to conquer this challenge!