CAT 2023: Start Early to Stay Ahead

CAT or Common Admission Test is a national-level entrance exam for MBA aspirants. CAT is a gateway to the IIMs and various other top B-Schools in India. There might be some people who would be preparing for CAT for the first time and also there might be some retakers. For the people who are planning to appear for the CAT 2023, now is the right time to begin your preparations as there are almost a year left for CAT 2023.

CAT examination is a national-level exam where approximately more than 2 lakh students appear. CAT aspirants should keep in mind that the level of competition is high and only 1% of the total applicants can ace this exam. Although there is no fixed time to start preparing for CAT it is suggested that the candidates should start preparing a year before the CAT exam. Usually, this exam is held on the last Sunday of November every year. CAT 2023 is expected to be held on 26th November 2022.

What Exactly is Tested in the CAT Exam?

The CAT exam consists of three sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. The candidate's knowledge of english language skills, vocabulary, logical and analytical skills are tested. The VARC section consists of topics such as: Reading Comprehension, Para Summary, Para Jumbles, Odd One Out. The QA section consists of various mathematics topics of standard 10 level. The DILR section consists of logic based and graphs questions.

VARC

Reading Comprehension – 16 to 18 Qs

4 to 5 passages
Each passage of 500+ words
4 – 6 questions per passage
Not straightforward questions
Passages are not easy to read
Inference based

Verbal Ability

Para Jumbles (TITA)
- Definitely not easy
Para Summary
- Too close and confusing
Odd Para Jumbles
- May or may not be easy

DILR

Graphs

Tables
Line and bar
Pie
Scatter and bubble
Spider and triangular
Multi-chart and combo
charts

Logical Reasoning

Application of logic to solve
- Reasoning based DI
- Matrix-based
- Venn diagram
- Linear and circular arrangements
- Games and tournaments
- Routes and networks
- Missing data

QA – Quantitative Ability

Arithmetic
Algebra
Geometry
Number theory
Modern Math

CAT 2022 Paper Pattern

Candidates aspiring to take the CAT 2023 exam can check the CAT 2022 exam pattern as per the latest notification given below. However, the CAT Authorities have not yet released any information regarding the CAT 2022 exam pattern. CAT 2022 is scheduled to be held on 27th November 2022. Given below is the expected CAT 2022 paper pattern:

Section	MCQ Questions	Non-MCQ Questions	Total
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)	19-21	3-5	24-26
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	15-18	5-6	20-24
Quantitative Ability (QA)	16-18	6-8	22-26
Total	50-57	14-19	66-76

Marking Scheme is given below:

+3 marks for every correct answer
-1 marks for every incorrect answer
0 marks for un-attempted questions

CAT Score Vs Percentile

A glance at the table provided below for the following years and fetch an idea of how many marks you need to achieve for securing the 90+ percentile in the CAT 2023 exam.

Percentile	Marks in	Marks in	Marks in	Marks in	Marks in
Percentile	CAT 2021	CAT 2020	CAT 2019	CAT 2018	CAT 2017
Total Marks	198	228	300	300	300
99.9	120	131	196	192	208
99.5	107	115	170	170	183
99	97	102	157	155	173
95	71	77	120	125	139
90	59	63	90	110	121
85	51	55	87	90	103
80	45	49	75	80	98
70	36	36	57	62	83

* Note: CAT 2022 score vs percentile will be updated after the CAT 2022 exam is successfully conducted and the results are declared.

Here are some of the tips and suggestions to guide you for the preparation:

Complete knowledge about CAT Exam Pattern & Syllabus: Before starting the preparation a candidate must have complete knowledge about the CAT exam pattern & syllabus. This would give an idea about the topics to study and also the question paper pattern.
Better Planning – It's very important to build a proper plan to study for this exam. If the candidates start with their preparations NOW for the exam to be held a year later, they will have enough time to plan their studies, they can devote a sufficient amount of time to each of the topics from which the questions will be asked the exam.
Easy Management of Time – As the candidates will have sufficient time to prepare for CAT 2023, they can manage their preparation effectively along with the ongoing college schedule/job schedule.
Strict Routine – As per the plan, the candidates must fix the time they want to devote to their serious preparations. To follow the plan, the candidates must have seriousness, discipline, and passion to achieve their goals. There is always a driving factor (need) that triggers them to remain determined towards their goal.
Have a Wider-Perspective – This means the candidates should not focus only on CAT 2023, instead they must focus on every other MBA entrance examination through which they can get admission to a good institute. As the syllabus for most of the MBA entrance examinations is almost similar, the candidates must try others as well (unless you aim to get into IIMs only).
Start from Scratch – The candidates should start with the very basics which will help them to get a clear idea about all the topics. They should start preparing from 10th standard books first.
Correcting Mistakes – It’s ok to make mistakes, until and unless we learn from them. Starting with the preparations early gives an ample amount of time to work on the mistakes and to learn from them so that they are not repeated.
Enough Time to Practice Mocks and Sample Papers – Starting early will give the candidates enough time to solve Mock tests and Previous Years’ papers. Moreover, after solving mocks, sample papers, and previous years’ papers, the candidate can analyze their performance and have an idea about their weaknesses, so that they can work upon them before attempting the main CAT 2023 exam.
Multi-Tasking – Starting with the preparation earlier also has the benefit that the candidates can focus on more MBA entrance examinations that will happen in 2023 and not only limit their focus on CAT 2023. As the syllabus of CAT is almost similar to the other MBA entrance examinations, the candidates can prepare for them as well without any additional effort.
Enough Time for Revision – Since, the candidates have an ample amount of time in hand, once they are done with the syllabus and solving previous year's questions, they might want to revisit the concepts that they have studied so far. Thus starting earlier gives them the advantage to do so.

Advantages of preparing for CAT

Candidates preparing for the CAT exam can target the below exams also to get admission into other top B-schools other than IIMs. The list of exams which the candidates can apply for other than the CAT exam is given below:

XAT
NMAT
SNAP
IIFT
MAT
CMAT
TISSNET
MICAT
MAH-CET
CET

There is a saying in English – “The secret to getting ahead is getting started ”, which means getting started by breaking complex tasks into smaller tasks and then starting on the first one. Similarly, we suggest all our dear CAT aspirants gear up and board the flight to success with BYJU'S Exam Prep.