If you’re planning to crack CAT 2025, here's a brutally honest truth — before you start burning the midnight oil over books, get a job and take a mock test.

Why a Job Helps

Even a temporary job or gig — say, content writer, call center, or even delivery job — can significantly impact your B-school profile. Some IIMs assign roughly 10% weightage to work experience. A candidate with 95th percentile and work experience may be considered over someone with 99th percentile and no experience. So, if you aren’t already working, start now. It builds profile, discipline, and real-world understanding — all crucial for an MBA.

Take a Mock Before You Study

CAT isn’t a knowledge test — it’s a competitive aptitude test. You need to understand where you stand. Taking a mock test at the very beginning helps you:

• Diagnose your weak and strong areas
• Understand the real-time pressure
• Identify where time leaks happen

Only then should you chart your preparation journey.

Understanding the Exam: It's Not Just Study, It's Strategy

CAT has three sections, each 40 minutes:

• VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension): Reading-heavy. If you don’t regularly read editorials or opinion pieces, start today. You don’t need grammar drills — just develop the ability to read, think, and write. RC, 70% weightage is all about understanding what you read, and VA, the remaining 30% is all about how you understand the structure, which is mainly the writing part of English.
• DILR (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning): Not tough, but tricky. Many students get stuck for 20+ minutes on one set. The real skill is in selecting sets and managing time. Practice with a stopwatch and learn to move on, the more you practice better you will become.
• QA (Quantitative Ability): Think everyday math — discounts, mixtures, percentages. You don’t need rocket science, but you must master the application under time pressure. Know the basics, then start solving with a timer.

The Golden Rule: Be Consistent, improvement occurs slowly

You don’t need to study 10 hours a day. What you need is 3–6 hours daily for 3–4 months, spent wisely:

• Read daily (The Hindu, opinions)
• Solve puzzles and DILR sets (PYQ)
• Practice QA with a timer (Theory then quiz)
• Take mocks and analyze performance

CAT rewards not just intelligence but performance in the given circumstances. And preparation begins before you pick up a book, with a job in one hand and a mock test in the other. Anything that can be improved by consistent practice is nowhere more applicable than in CAT!