If you feel like you didn’t perform as per your expectations in your previous CAT attempt or that you weren’t able to give your best, you are not alone. A larger part of CAT applicants are those who have already attempted CAT before. Going for CAT again is a wise decision if you feel like you can perform better in your next attempt. Just make sure that the following points are kept in mind while you are preparing again:
Do Not Get Demotivated
When you’re making a new start, make sure that you’re leaving the past behind. Forget what happened and just remember what you learnt from your mistakes and make sure you don’t make them again. Do not let anything bring you down. Take breaks if you want, have a refreshment, take a breath of fresh air and chill out for a bit. Reward yourself for working hard and come back to your preparation stronger than ever.
Know Where You Stand
Now since you are repeating CAT, you already know what you’re up against. You know the paper pattern and what types of questions are asked. Start focusing more on mocks. Take as many as you can and give more time in analysing them. Note down your strengths and weaknesses and work on them accordingly. Figure out what went wrong in your previous attempt and make it right. If you scored less than 75 percentile in your previous attempt, then prepare for CAT as if you’re preparing for the first time. You’ll have to work equally on all the sections. In case you scored less in just one section, then give extra attention to that particular section.
Covering a Topic
Do it the way an iQuanta CAT Course student does
1) Concept & Application: Cover the concepts by attending both Conceptual Live stream sessions & Application Live sessions (dual pedagogy by iQuanta) :
Covering both makes sure that your Concepts are clear and you know when and where to apply these concepts.
2) Practice by iQuanta: After the topic is done make sure you are doing the iQuanta assignments and practice sessions in iQuanta secret Group.
3) Self Study: Solve at least 50 questions from that topic as a self study, for which the sources can be :
- iQuanta assignments in Dashboard
- Past CAT Papers
- IIM ABC Batch Questions (those haven’t bought it may buy it now)
- Any Books or in hand material if you have
4) Doubts Clarification: Clarify any doubt that you get instantly by posting in paid group of iQuanta, be it from past class or while you are doing practice. We don’t limit the sources from where you can ask, you can ask us doubts from any CAT level material in the world.
5) Do Daily Questions by iQuanta: iQuanta Team is Posting 5-10 Quant questions, 1 LRDI Set, 1 RC SET and 1 Reading and Summary exercise daily for you to prepare in a balanced manner.
These are the 5 pointers you guys should do diligently right now. If you are follow this till CAT, there is no reason you can’t get a 99.5%le.
We will let you know when to start taking Sectionals or Mocks in the iQuanta Paid group.
Strengthen Your Profile
If you’re preparing for CAT again, then you’re going to have a gap year. The most difficult part of a B-school interview is explaining your gap year. The right reasons are always welcome. Saying that you were preparing for CAT won’t be enough. Now the question is, how can you justify your gap year? While you’re preparing for CAT, you can take up online courses alongside it to develop new skills. Again, internships are also a great option to put your skills to use. You can find various internship opportunities on job sites such as LinkedIn, Internshala, etc. These internships and courses may also help you in selecting your MBA specialisation if you’re not sure. You can also scale up what interests you. Create a blog if you love to write. Create a social media page if you’re good at painting, graphic designing, dancing, etc. All of this can go alongside your preparation. But then again, gap years do not effect the calls you’ll be getting. You just need to smartly formulate an explanation for your gap year.
Revision
Revising all the topics is very important. Even the ones you’re good at. Work harder on your weak parts but do not ignore the topics you are good at. Keep practising the syllabus as a whole. Appear for as many mocks as you can and start taking the mocks early.
These are the points that need to be considered while you are preparing to take the CAT again.
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