If you are planning to start your preparation for CAT 2024, then you’ve come to the right place. CAT is one of the most important MBA exams in the country with over 3 lakh applicants. Preparing for the CAT 2024 will require you to make and stick to a CAT study plan and timetable 2024. So, here in this article, we’ll be providing you with the same.
A detailed routine for CAT will help you make informed decisions, discipline you and give direction to your preparation. Follow this study plan from February 2024 and ace CAT 2024 nine months later!
If you are starting from the very basics, 9 months are enough for CAT preparation.
You need 3 months for Concept Clarification,
3 Months for Practice & Application
3 Months for Mocks & Analysis
But starting now is beneficial as you might take a couple of breaks in between your preparation. If you start now and even if you have some gaps in your preparation, you will have enough time to cover it up and still get a 99.5%le.
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CAT Score Vs. Percentile
According to the CAT Score Vs Percentile data for 2023,
You needed 39.5% marks in CAT 23 to score 99%le in CAT & 28% marks for 95%le.
If aiming 99%Le, out of 198, around 78 marks. So 26 Questions out of 66 to be correct with 100% accuracy.
Means 8-10 questions in a section. Which isn’t that hard if you prepare hard for next 9 months.
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CAT 2024 Exam Pattern
As per previous years, the paper pattern has been:
| Details | CAT Exam Pattern 2024 |
|---|---|
| Official Website | iimcat.ac.in |
| Exam Mode | Online |
| Test Duration | 120 Minutes 1. Quantitative Ability (QA) – 40 minutes 2. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) – 40 minutes 3. Logical Reasonng & Data Interpretation (LRDI) – 40 minutes |
| Type of Questions | Objective Type Questions |
| Number of Sections | 3 Sections 1. Quantitative Ability (QA) 2. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) 3. Logical Reasonng & Data Interpretation (LRDI) |
| Total Questions | 66 Questions Quantitative Ability – 22 Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension – 24 Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation – 20 |
| Total Marks | 198 |
| Marking Scheme | +3 for every correct answer -1 for every incorrect answer |
Know more about the CAT 2024 exam. Check out the Top B-schools, syllabus & weightage along with the important details about the exam. You can go to https://www.iquanta.in/cat-2024 and scroll down to the What is CAT section.
CAT Section Wise Study Plan
A CAT study plan is incomplete without a proper strategy. So, if you are looking for an in-depth overall and section-wise strategy, you can go to https://www.iquanta.in/cat-2024 and scroll down to the strategy section.
CAT Study Plan for VARC
The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section in CAT tests how well you can comprehend sentences, tone of the passage, summarising and understanding the structure and flow. The VARC section comprises of 24 questions which are to be completed in 40 minutes time.
Weightage in CAT VARC
As per the last year’s exam analysis, this was the topic-wise distribution for the VARC section
| Topic | Weightage |
|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension Passages | 4 sets (4×4=16 Questions) |
| Parasummary | 3 Questions |
| Fill in the Blanks | 1 Question |
| Parajumbles | 1 Question |
iQuanta’s VARC Study Plan (Syllabus + Timetable)
| Topics | Duration of the Topic | Application Sessions | Live Sessions | Total Videos | Total Practice Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grammar
| 1.5 week | 3 | 1 | 36 | 116 |
Reading Comprehension
| 10 weeks | 20 | 10 | 90 | 214 |
| Para Summary | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 24 | 81 |
| Para Completion | 0.5 week | 1 | 1 | 12 | 46 |
| Odd One Out | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 24 | 81 |
| Para Jumbles | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 24 | 183 |
| Critical Reasoning & FIJ | 1.5 weeks | 3 | 1 | 36 | 103 |
| Total | 16.5 weeks | 33 | 16 | 246 | 824 |
So a student following iQuanta CAT Course Structure | For any topic should first of all go through the Non Engineers’ Conceptual videos, take 1 Application Class, 1 Conceptual Class, take an assignment available on Dashboard, participate in Daily VARC initiative and then can do self study from IIM ABC Practice Batch. Then move to next topic classes in the same manner.
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CAT VARC Strategy
CAT VARC is more about comprehension rather than Grammar or Vocabulary. Hence reading habit and familiarity about different genre of passages is important to get a good %ile in CAT.
Check out : 250 Genre wise Reading Articles by iQuanta
We have provided multiple Genre wise articles from those sources from where CAT has been giving RCs in recent years with Summary.
All you have to do is read daily 1 article at least, from any genre you wana get comfortable with. Practice 3 RCs per day, for which you can use Past CAT RCs, here
Doing these for next 2 months everyday will improve your Reading Comprehension significantly.
Specifically for CAT, try to do at least 2 RCs everyday and increase the number as the exam approaches. With 2 months of rigorous practice you’ll be able to retain majority of the points from the article and that if complemented with CAT past papers practice is well and good. You can go for IIM ABC CAT material by iQuanta having 500 RC sets.
CAT Study Plan for DILR
The Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section in CAT is highly unpredictable. It checks the problem solving and critical thinking ability of a student. Recently, the LRDI difficulty level has increased. Their is no definite syllabus or concept in LRDI. All you need to do is practice 350-400 DILR sets from now till CAT and you’ll be good to go. The LRDI section consists of a total of 20 questions to be solved in 40 minutes.
Weightage in DILR
Weightage of topics cannot be defined in DILR as there is no definite syllabus. However, based on the paper analysis and the topics that have been asked throughout the years, the major topics you need to cover for DILR is given below.
iQuanta’s DILR Study Plan (Syllabus + Timetable)
| Topics | Duration of the Topic | Application Sessions | Live Sessions | Total Videos in Application Sessions | Total Practice Sets With Video Solutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Data Interpretation
| 4 weeks | 8 | 4 | 40 | 152 |
| Cubes | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Linear Arrangements | 1 week | 3 | 1 | 15 | 33 |
| Circular Arrangements | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Venn Diagrams | 2 weeks | 4 | 2 | 20 | 48 |
| Distribution | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Selection | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Binary Logics | 1 week | 2 | 1 | 10 | 28 |
| Games & Tournaments | 2 weeks | 4 | 2 | 20 | 48 |
| Network Flow Diagrams | 1 week | 1 | 1 | 5 | 23 |
| Quant Based DI | 1 week | 1 | 2 | 5 | 26 |
| Total | 16 weeks | 29 | 16 | 155 | 470 |
So a student following iQuanta CAT Course Structure | For any topic should take 1, Application Class, 1 Conceptual Class, take an assignment available on Dashboard, participate in Daily LRDI initiative and then can do self study from IIM ABC Practice Batch. Then move to next topic classes in the same manner.
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CAT DILR Strategy
CAT LRDI level changed from the year 2015, even though they are tough they are just a lengthy puzzle and doesn’t need lot of concepts or tricks to solve them. If you solve variety of LRDI sets it will be enough if complemented with mocks at the later stage. But what about those who want to start with basics. You can do two things.
a. Read the above LRDI Strategy by iQuanta : CAT LRDI Strategy
b. Now the LRDI section from the year 2000 to 2014 weren’t of Higher Level, so they are good to start with if you want your base strong for LRDI. You can solve Past CAT Papers
and at the later stage it will be complemented by 300+ CAT Level LRDI videos in iQuanta Course along with 100 Live Stream Class on LRDI Technique.
Apart from that you have 120+ CAT Level LRDI Sets by iQuanta.
Expert Tip : Start by remembering squares and reciprocal of fraction and percentage calculations. Then move to basic conceptual questions.
CAT Study Plan for Quant
The Quantitative Aptitude (QA or Quant) Section in CAT is the most scoring section of them alland with a proper study plan and strategy, you can easily score a 99%ile in Quant. All you need to do is start from the very basics and make sure you are solving atleast 10-15 questions a day for now. As you will enroll for the iQuanta CAT 2024 Course, you will get access to Non engineering conceptual videos on your dashboard which would be the first step to ace the CAT Quant section. These videos are meant to improve your basic concepts of math which are of 6th to 10th NCERT level.
iQuanta’s CAT 2024 Course Launched!
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Weightage in Quant
| Topic | Weightage |
|---|---|
| Arithmetic | 8-9 |
| Algebra | 5-6 |
| Geometry | 5-6 |
| Numbers | 1-3 |
| Modern Math | 3-4 |
| Miscellaneous | 1-2 |
iQuanta’s Quant Study Plan (Syllabus + Timetable)
| Topics | Duration of the Topic | Sub-Topics | Application Sessions | Conceptual Sessions | Total Videos | Total Practice Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers | 3 weeks |
| 6 | 4 | 99 | 290 |
| Arithmetic | 4 weeks |
| 9 | 6 | 176 | 585 |
| Time, Speed & Distance | 2 weeks |
| 5 | 5 | 53 | 215 |
| Modern Maths | 3 weeks |
| 6 | 4 | 102 | 250 |
| Algebra | 4 weeks |
| 8 | 6 | 155 | 365 |
| Progressions & Series | 1 week |
| 2 | 1 | 36 | 80 |
| Geometry | 3 weeks |
| 5 | 5 | 106 | 230 |
| Total | 20 weeks | 40 | 31 | 727 | 2015 |
So a student following iQuanta CAT Course Structure | For any topic should take 1, Application Class, 1 Conceptual Class, take an assignment available on Dashboard, participate in Daily QA initiative and then can do self study from IIM ABC Practice Batch. Then move to next topic classes in the same manner.
CAT Quant Strategy
The best strategy to ace the Quant section in CAT is to start from the fundamental concepts and then gradually move on to the higher level questions. Practice calculation and start remembering squares, cubes and roots. No other strategy can take away the role of practice. Start with solving 10 questions a day, move on to 15 and then to 20 in a day as you start gaining accuracy.
Arithmetic has the highest weightage in CAT Quants section, i.e., 8 out of 22 questions. Therefore, solving these 8 questions alone can fetch you 90 percentile in the CAT Quants section. For the same reason, we will be solving more than 1000 questions on Arithmetic at iQuanta.
Pro Tip : Speed comes with accuracy. Hence, your prime focus must be on accuracy and speed will follow.
Month-Wise CAT Study Plan
February
If you are starting this February, the first step would be building the concepts. Start from the very basic topics such as Percentages, Averages, etc. This would be your foundation month where you’ll prepare your timetable. Start inculcating reading habits and free yourself from all distractions. Build your strategy, go through the syllabus and pattern and begin. Those who are enrolled in the iQuanta CAT 2024 Course will immediately get access to all the Non engineering conceptual videos on their personal dashboards.
| Month | Strategy |
| Feb (1st-20th) | Quant : Start with Number Systems. Give 1.5 hours a day to the topic for 20 days. Start solving 15 questions daily apart from the Live and Application classes. VARC : 1 RC Set daily LRDI : 1 Set daily |
| Feb-Mar | Quant : Start Arithmetic (highest weightage topic among all). Give 1.5 hrs a day and 5 hrs on weekends for 45 days. VARC : 2 RCs a day. Practice 45 mins Verbal Ability too. LRDI : 2 LRDI Sets a day The VARC and LRDI part will stay the same till CAT. |
| Apr (1st-15th) | Quant : Modern Maths for the next 16 days. |
| Apr-May | Quant : Algebra for the next 30 days |
| May-Jun | Quant : Geometry for the next 30 days |
| Jun (15th-30th) | Leftover topics to be covered |
June Onwards : Mock Season Starts
Take at least 1 mock per week until August 31st. From September take 2 mocks per week.
Once you are done with syllabus; start giving weekly 3 Mocks. (you can do that even now if your syllabus isn’t completed). Take as many mocks as you can.
You can even opt for iQuanta iCAT Mock test series, which will start around May end or June.
Keep analysing your mock and revising the topics you’ve covered earlier. Also, focus more towards your weaker areas after completing your AI Based Analysis with iCAT mocks which are available for Free to the CAT 2024 course enrolled students.
Daily take one sectional mock either of QA, LRDI or VARC, which can be from any standard source because you need to test yourself on topic wise as well once you are done with your study to get little confident and to ensure you have covered all the areas. You may increase the number if you are free that day, at least one sectional is a must per day. (if that day isn’t your Mock day).
September – November
iQuanta’s Exclusive Crash Course (1.5 hours/day on weekdays and 5 hours/day on weekends or holidays) for 2 months.
(The crash course is going to be a fast paced revision of all the concepts taught in the CAT Full Course with new content. We will teach you shortcuts and point to point explanation which are based on crystal clear concepts taught in the course, helping you save those precious few extra seconds, thus giving you an edge over all your competitors. This Crash Course is free along with the CAT Full Course)
Free Resources for CAT Preparation
You can find numerous free CAT 2024 resources in the iConcept CAT material.
Basic Concept Coverage
The topics in CAT syllabus revolves around whatever you’ve studied from Classes 6th to 10th. Hence, basic conceptual learning is the building blocks towards cracking the CAT exam with a 99%ile. It’s essential to dedicate sufficient time and effort to mastering the fundamentals before moving on to more advanced topics.
iQuanta’s prime focus is clearing the basic concepts and then gradually moving on to the advanced level concepts. The basic concept clarity can be achieved in 4 manners (the iQuanta way) :
- Live classes : Coverage of theoretical concepts along with questions.
- Application classes : Application based learning through a set of questions based on the topic covered in the Live class.
- Non Engineers Conceptual videos : Self paced non engineering conceptual videos that you’ll be getting on your dashboard once you enroll. These videos will teach you basic Math concept that are from 6th to 10th NCERT level.
- Text Notes : You might have seen people filling notebooks up and preparing long notes. What you need to understand is, you don’t need to note everything down. Your application classes are going to be your notes. Here, you’ll find all theorems and concepts written in short along with questions. You can also find the CAT Formula book on iQuanta website’s top left corner. You can maintain a concise cheat sheet to help you with your weaker areas and places where you constantly get stuck in or for some topic you think you might forget.
Practice
Next to conceptual clarity comes rigorous practice which is provided through the application sessions, topic-wise assignments, daily practice sessions and the IIM ABC Practice Batch.
The IIM ABC Practice batch consists for 7500+ CAT level questions for all 3 sections. Books are generally 15-20 year old which are not as per the latest exam pattern. If you practice these 7500 CAT level questions, then this would be more than enough for you to crack the CAT Exam.
Doubt Clarification
iQuanta provides 24×7 doubt solving in the dedicated CAT & MBA Community. CAT Preparation – iQuanta is India’s largest community for MBA aspirants with more than 3.5 lakh members. This group comprises of current aspirants, students currently studying in B-schools and Top MBA college graduates. This community also promotes peer to peer learning where people engage with each other and solve doubts among themselves providing multiple approaches to a single question.
Taking CAT Mocks
By June 2024, your syllabus will be finished and the mock season will start. Mock tests are the best way to analyse your CAT preparation. Taking mocks help you in assessing your stronger and weaker sections. Appearing for CAT mock tests gives you a fair idea of the actual CAT exam. It creates an exam like environment keeping in mind the exam pattern, CAT syllabus, timers and questions at par with the CAT exam. Proper CAT mock analysis plays a more vital role in your preparation.
Mock analysis generally takes around 3-4 hours. In order to redcuce this pain, iQuanta came up with India’s 1st AI Based CAT Mock Test Series. Right from getting a list of MBA colleges you can convert according to your profile and target percentile, to getting a detailed section-wise analysis of your mock attempt through our A.I. based error tracker, you’ll get it all. Additionally, video solutions to the questions along with corrective measures for your weaker topics will also be provided.
CAT Crash Course
With the last 3 months remaining for the CAT 2024 exam, your entire syllabus will be covered once again through the 3 month CAT Crash Course by iQuanta. Here, you’ll be rigorously practicing all the concepts in a fast paced manner with the help of tricks and shortcuts. Along with these, mega marathon sessions will be conducted for each of the topics.
If you are preparing for the CAT 2024 exam and are willing to start now, become a part of iQuanta’s newly launched CAT 2024 Course. Syllabus will be completed 4 times with higher focus on the high weightage topics. Get access to 24×7 Doubt solving and highly relevant content. Enroll now!
