When you start your exam preparation and talk to peers, you always feel like you're late! So when should you really start CAT prep?
The best time to start full-fledged CAT prep is when the exam is more than 12 months away. But it is possible that you need to get started on some basic requirements - which could be very basic understanding of any particular section or just being sure that MBA is definitely something that you want to do.
Let's get started with what are the things that you can do when your exam is more than 12 months away (but less than 24 months away!)
Firstly, make sure that MBA is your big goal - if you're sure you want to do an MBA, then it will be easy for you to focus on the CAT exam - if you're not sure, then it will be tough to be consistent. In general, without making it a big goal it is tough to achieve the desired percentile.
Secondly, do some analysis and time planning till your CAT exam. Analyse how much time you will have throughout the next 1-2 years - plan in advance for any college exams, for any hectic work weeks, for tough periods and for free times. A lot of people end up with underestimating time needed for different activities and then get stressed in the end. Many ask me questions like, I have my final exams at the same time as CAT, what should I do! Well, plan these things in advance.
Thirdly, prepare for basics. Start with understanding your level in each of the sections - check if you are generally good in English, reasoning, math? One way of analysis is giving 1 or 2 mock tests and understand which sections need the most improvement.
If your basics are weak in any section it will require a few months to improve and start seeing a better percentile. Follow the below section wise basics improvement strategies for individual sections
For VARC: Read, read, read till 10 months are remaining for CAT - read 2 hours a day. Read books, read articles, read anything. Your aim is to improve your English by a lot. It will take time, but continue to read. Then read passages & write 2 line summary till 8 months are remaining for CAT. Start doing RCs when 10 months are remaining. Do 1 hour of RCs, in that 1 hour, do atleast 6 RCs with 5Q each. If you are slow, solve more and more Qs till you reach that speed.
For LRDI: In general, very tough to improve your aptitude. The only way to do it is via practice. Constant & disciplined. Do puzzles, MAT questions, find NTSE MAT papers. Puzzle book: "heard on the street"
For QA: Go to back to the basics, like NCERT. Start with class 8 NCERT, solve 10 Qs from each chapter. If you get 8 or more correct move to next, else solve 10 more. If it is still tough go to class 7th, 6th books. If you cover 8th, move to books from class 9th, 10th.
Once you've covered basics, you also need a good source to prepare from - search around for the best resource. Ensure the resource has good questions, mocks & doubt solving methods, so that you can continuously see how you can improve!
Once you have the resources and plan intact, you just need to follow the plan. Continue solving questions & analysing them to improve your score continuously.
Good luck for your preparation. Some relevant video links are below!
Should I do MBA?: https://youtu.be/hnVl5-6HoP8
When to do an MBA?: https://youtu.be/YQcyixiDK6g
VARC strategy: https://youtu.be/1zTJ2DDyFcg
Improving RCs: https://youtu.be/PAhidq8nvwg
LRDI strategy: https://youtu.be/LMcm3gKhAzM
Improving LRDI score: https://youtu.be/2HaTMAsM1fE
QA strategy: https://youtu.be/ObiFEMMfvAE
Why mock tests are important?: https://youtu.be/LgJpOk7dQhA
Analysing Mock tests: https://youtu.be/_lo64dFcD70