How should non-engineers prepare for CAT?CAT preparation


Engineers in India mostly dominate every other stream of the country. If we can keep medical aside (for obvious reasons), there is no other course where you don't find an engineer. Be it management or government sector, technocrats are everywhere, and in some specialties, they are in the highest numbers, and CAT is no different.

Every year lakhs of students apply for the CAT exam to get into prestigious IIMs. It is also true that the premises of IIMs are filled with engineers more than any other discipline. But it is also true that it's just a myth among all the non-engineers. In fact, no competitive exam other than JEE or IES in India is designed only for tech graduates. Disciplined students from any stream can easily excel in this examination.
If we look at the queries of CAT of aspirants, then 40% of them are related to whether non-tech graduates can excel in this examination or not. Various IIMs said numerous times in their official statement that they don't set the question paper in accordance with the technical background. So, If you are determined and have perseverance, you can also crack this exam irrespective of your educational background.
Today we will discuss some of the crucial points for all non-engineers and help them with their preparation.

Mental preparation

Competitive exams evaluate our intellectuality and our personality traits as well, and CAT is no different. This exam is also meant to check all your traits, be it personal or professional. From the very first day, you must prepare a virtual preparation chart in your brain.

Besides studying, dedication, hard work, discipline, and perseverance must be your daily habit. You should remain clear about your decision because your focus is diverted to the preparation once you start the journey. So it's better to ask yourself, why do you want to excel in CAT, or what afterlife do you expect from your management degree? IF these questions are straightforward in your mind, then you probably pass this exam on the first attempt with flying colors.

Clear the basics first 

I hope you planned your mind to prepare for the CAT at this stage. If yes, then this point is for you. The first step for any war is to identify the strength of your opponent and weaknesses of yourself. Similarly, the first step for CAT preparation is to check your eligibility for the exam. After evaluating the eligibility, the next step is to download the CAT syllabus and paste it into your study room wall to build familiarity with the exam and its pattern. Try to understand the pattern and mug up the syllabus. Even at this stage, some questions need to be asked, like: How will you divide your time? What resources are required? Or Can you prepare yourself, or do you need CAT coaching?

Strategy

Now comes the time to test your current level of preparation and prepare accordingly. It is not necessary that everyone's strategy works for you. Remember, it's your war, and you have to choose the ammunition by yourself. Divide sections into groups as per your strength and weakness. Analyze the section which can be prepared yourself and for which you need online CAT coaching?

You can prepare by yourself for this exam if your basics are clear, but professional assistance is required if you are not familiar with any competitive exam. After resolving all the queries, it's time to finish the basics as soon as possible because once you start the preparation, you see that time is moving like water.

Section-wise preparation

CAT exam has three sections to cover:

  • Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
  • Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI)
  • Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
All these sections have unique strategies and methodologies to complete. 

VARC

This section mainly consists of parts from the English language. VARC is further divided into two sections VA and RC, in which Verbal Ability has 24 questions to solve, and Reading Comprehension has 10 questions to solve.

In VA, Para jumbles are the most difficult to complete as there are 120 possible combinations, and even after putting in a lot of time, we made wrong assumptions. Reading Comprehension mostly has passages to read and answer accordingly.
Pro-tip. Don't focus too much on Vocabulary; remember this exam is not the test of your linguistic skills.

LRDI

This is a section where anyone can score fabulous marks irrespective of their educational background because this part is not the part of any stream, and there are chances to score well in this section. This section helps you to compensate for your other sections' mistakes. You can pick any good book of reasoning to prepare for this section but remember from a couple of past years; this is the most challenging section to complete.

QA

This is the one section where engineers have the most advantage because of mathematics. Most of the time, it happens that aspirants find most difficulty in this particular section. To excel in this section, focus on Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry because most of the questions are from these disciplines only.

A formula book comes in handy to complete this section because there is a lot of maths, and if you are weak in it, you have to devote more time to it. Practice is the key to excel in this section. Practice and solve as many questions as you can.

Importance of mocks

 Mocks are a significant part of your preparation because without them, how will you evaluate your progress? They are replicas of actual exam papers and will surely fetch great results if done in the simulated environment.

After giving the tests, it is necessary to analyze your mocks to get the desired result to be on track. Evaluate your performance and try to increase your score. But don't get disheartened with your performance in the mocks because the difficulty of the actual exams changes every year, and these mocks are for practice only.
Are you wondering about the time and number of mocks? There is no defined number of mocks one should give but try to give at least 40 to 50 mock tests to ensure accuracy and the ideal time one month before the exam.

Remain confident

It is advisable that you remain confident during the whole process because it is also the test of your patience. High motivation and Self-esteem are required to be on the preparation track. It is hard to get up daily, reread the same books, and perform the same mocks again, but remember, this perseverance helps you get into your dream college.

Try to be in touch with your close ones when you need external motivation (vital things) to stay positive and prepare until you crack the hardest nut.
The time near the exam is the most crucial because the unnecessary pressure starts building as the exam is heading near. Practice meditation and yoga in that situation to remain calm. Remember that it's your hard work and not the stream that decides your success.
Happy Journey, Peaceful Preparation.