How to prepare for CAT 2025

CAT 2025 exam will be conducted on November 30, 2025.

The difficulty and competitiveness of the exam is such that even the best of students need to be on their toes. To give you an idea about how competitive the exam is, around 3.5 lakh candidates apply for the exam every year. Compare that to the around 5000 PGG/MBA seats offered by the participating IIMs. 

So, if you want to crack CAT and get into one of the top colleges, your CAT exam preparation needs to be top notch. Half measures won’t cut it. Also, you can let your enthusiasm or effort slack at any moment during the preparation.

Here we discuss some vital, but easy-to-follow tips that you need to follow diligently to get a good score in CAT. The application form of CAT 2025 is now closed.

Keep reading.

Latest Updates:

• CAT 2025 Admit Card (OUT Nov 5) – Download Here

How to prepare for CAT – Tips 

Now that we know CAT is tough, what NEXT?

Throw in the towel and think of some other easy alternative?

Definitely not. 

What you instead do is brace up and let out a battle cry.

Yes!

You will be going to overcome the challenge posed by the CAT exam and come out victorious by following the tips listed here.

Step 1 – Get familiar with the syllabus and exam pattern

The CAT syllabus is the constitution that you will follow. Check out the topics, weightage carried by these topics, and their difficulty level. 

You can go through previous years’ CAT question papers to get an idea about the difficulty level, how questions are framed, and also specific questions asked.

Meanwhile, the CAT exam pattern will guide how you need to prepare for the exam. For instance, if subjective and objective- type questions will need different handling.

Likewise, if a particular section or topic carries more weightage, you will have to pay more attention to such topics.

Also, the time duration per question is another aspect you will have to account for.

Also Read:

• Select CAT exam 2025 – Selection Process of IIMs
• CAT cut-off 2025 – Check Institute-wise Opening and Closing Ranks, Factors

Step 2 – Select the best study material for CAT

Here are a few pointers on how to select the best CAT 2025 study material or books.

• Buy books that cover the CAT syllabus
• The books should adequately explain all the concepts; however, avoid those books that ramble on and on to explain a simple concept.
• The most suitable books for CAT will have few errors, be it factual, grammatical or otherwise.
• The books must also have enough examples, infographics, etc. to explain the concepts.
• It would also be better if the books contain practice questions at the end of each chapter or at the end of the book. 
• It is also recommended that the book is published by a well-known publisher.

Step 3 – Take notes during study

If you make the habit of taking notes during study, you are never going to waste your time idling or simply hovering over your test books, while your mind travels to some fancy location. 

The truth is many times we simply sit in front of the study table simply to rake up the study hours.

But such effort is useless. Instead, you need to make every minute of your preparation time count.

With pen and notebook in hand, you will stay engaged and manage to hold your attention span.

Yes, there will still be moments when your mind will drift. But it will be few and far between.

Also Read:

• JEE Main Resources for Exam Preparation
• How to Prepare for JEE Main Exam

Step 4 – Solve sample papers

If you simply focus on rote learning without putting much effort on improving your problem-solving skills, on the day of the CAT exam, you will be left ruing. 

However, with sample papers in hand, you can unlock your problem-solving potential. Solve enough sample papers, and you will become so confident that problem-solving will become your second nature.

Time-management, problem-solving, handling pressure are some very important skills that you can improve immensely by solving enough sample papers.

Step 5 – Take mock tests

CAT being a very popular exam, online mock tests are available dime a dozen. But you need to take the good ones, especially the ones offered by the top coaching institutes. 

If the CAT exam-conducting body organizes mock tests, that will also do.

Simply take a few mock tests to give final touches to your CAT exam preparation. 

Step 6 – Do timely revision

Timely revision!

Yes, that is key. If you go on studying, but don’t focus any attention on revision, you will end up forgetting what you read a few weeks earlier.

In the best case scenario, you may not forget the whole thing, but still end up spending a tremendous amount of time and energy preparing the same thing again.

However, if you revise frequently, things will remain fresh and you don’t have to spend much time on the 2nd read, and the next.

In fact, after a few rounds of revision, there is a chance some of the topics will get etched on your brain.

Additional Tips to Prepare for CAT 2025

Here are a few more tips the candidate may refer to when preparing for the CAT exam.

1. Don’t look too far ahead /stay in the present – Daydreaming won’t cut it. Also, if you spend most of your energy dreaming what might or will happen, you will not be able to put in the kind of effort you must to secure a good rank in the CAT exam.
2. Take timely breaks to stay fresh – While your preparation must be intense, it however mustn’t reach maniacal levels! Remember, the human body has limits to how much it can cope. If you push too much, it can break down. So, you need to take timely breaks in-between studies. Like, you can study for, say, 2-3 hours at a stretch and then take a 30-minutes break. During the break forget about your studies and do something light, like go for a walk, or play a game of badminton, listen to some mood-enhancing music, etc.
3. Don’t take extended breaks – Now, you might find that your peer group is going on a picnic and you may be tempted to hop on. If it is a one-day trip, you can definitely go. Once in a month, it will be ok. But if you end up doing holiday trips every now and then, it will completely break down you study routine. And once the routine breaks, it will be a herculean task to get it on track again.
4. Take help if needed – It will pay great dividends if you are a bit flexible with your exam preparation strategy. For instance, if you are hell bent on doing self-study without any external help, it can also have a downside. For instance, there may be topics in the CAT syllabus that will take a lot of effort and time to master. In fact, you might not be able to understand the topic properly even after many attempts. If you carry on like that, it can have a spillover effect and can cause anxiety and lack of confidence going forward. But if you can get help in such situation, be it from a peer, a teacher, or anyone of repute, it can greatly help your cause. So, always keep an open mind.
5. Stay healthy – Keeping a close tab on your health is important to ensure you don’t fall sick, especially, closer to the exam or on exam day. Drink enough water, sleep the full quota of hours, eat light, and do some form of light physical exercise.

CAT 2025 Last-Month Preparation Tips

With the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2025 scheduled for November 30, 2025, you have roughly one month to fine-tune you preparation. This critical period can make or break your performance in this highly competitive exam, which is the gateway to IIMs and top B-schools in India.

Here are targeted, actionable tips to optimize your last-month preparation for CAT 2025:

1. Focus on Mock Tests and Analysis – Take Full-Length Mocks. Aim for 1-2 mock tests per week, simulating exam-day conditions (strict timing, no distractions). Use the official CAT mock test to familiarize yourself with the interface. Analyze Thoroughly. Spend 2-3 hours analyzing each mock. Identify weak areas, question types you’re missing, and time mismanagement. Focus on Accuracy vs. attempts. Prioritize questions you’re confident about. Check if VARC, DILR, or QA needs more attention. Time allocation – Ensure you’re not spending too long on tough questions. Finally, review incorrect answers. Understand why you got a question wrong—concept gap, calculation error, or misinterpretation—and address it immediately.
2. Strengthen Your Weak Areas – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): Read diverse articles (editorials, opinion pieces) from sources like The Hindu, The Economist, to improve comprehension speed and vocabulary. Practice 3-4 Reading Comprehension passages daily, focusing on inference-based questions. For Verbal Ability, revise para-jumbles, odd-one-out, and summary questions. Practice 10-15 questions daily to build intuition. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR):Solve 2-3 DI/LR sets daily, prioritizing caselets, graphs, and puzzles (e.g., seating arrangements, blood relations). Focus on selecting the “right” sets to attempt in mocks, as DILR is about quality over quantity. Practice mental calculations to speed up data interpretation. Quantitative Ability (QA):Revise key topics like arithmetic (percentages, ratios, time-speed-distance), algebra, and geometry, which typically dominate QA. Memorize formulas, shortcuts, and tables (up to 20) to save time. Solve 20-30 questions daily, mixing easy, moderate, and difficult levels to build versatility.
3. Time Management and Strategy – Sectional Timing: CAT 2025 will be of 2-hours duration with 40 minutes per section (VARC, DILR, QA). Practice sticking to these time limits in mocks. Example: In VARC, aim to complete RC passages in 8-10 minutes each, leaving time for VA questions. In DILR, spend 2-3 minutes selecting solvable sets; don’t get stuck on one set. In QA, aim for 1-1.5 minutes per question, skipping lengthy ones to revisit later. Experiment in Mocks: Test different strategies (e.g., attempting QA in two rounds—easy first, then tough) to find what maximizes your score. Accuracy Over Attempts: Aim for 70-80% accuracy rather than attempting all questions. CAT rewards precision due to negative marking (-1 for wrong answers, +3 for correct).
4. Revise Key Concepts and Shortcuts – Formula Revision: Create a concise formula sheet for QA topics (e.g., profit-loss, coordinate geometry) and revise it daily. Shortcut Techniques: Practice Vedic math, approximation techniques, and option elimination to save time in QA and DI. Core Topics: Focus on high-weightage areas: VARC: RC (60-70% of section), para-jumbles, sentence completion. DILR: Bar graphs, pie charts, logical puzzles, caselets. QA: Arithmetic (30-40% of section), algebra, number systems, geometry.
5. Avoid Common Pitfalls – Don’t Start New Topics: Focus on strengthening what you already know rather than learning advanced topics like probability or permutations from scratch. Avoid Overloading: Limit mocks to 1-2 per week to avoid burnout. Quality analysis is more important than quantity. Don’t Ignore Weaknesses: If DILR is your weak link, allocate extra time to it rather than over-preparing for your strong section.
6. Final Week Strategy – Reduce mock frequency to 1-2 in the last week to avoid fatigue. Focus on revision: formula sheets, high-yield topics, and past mock mistakes. Relax the day before the exam—avoid heavy study, but do light revision (e.g., formulas, vocab).