The Common Admission Test (CAT) is India’s most competitive MBA Entrance Exam, which permits aspirants to get into top management institutions. The IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) conduct this Common Admission Test annually on a rotational basis. The exam is divided into three sections, namely Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA). Each section is timed for 40 minutes, making the total duration of the exam to be of 2 hours. Even if you are starting from the absolute basics, 6 months are known to be enough for CAT preparation, which you can bifurcate in the following manner.
3 Phases of CAT 6 Months Strategy
- You need 2 months for Concept Clarification
- 2 Months for Practice & Application
- 2 Months for Mocks & Analysis
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CAT Section Wise Study Plan for 6 Months
| Week | Quant Focus | LRDI Focus | VARC Focus | Daily Practice (Every Week) |
| June 10 – June 16 | Percentages, Ratio, Averages | Tables, Bar Graphs | RC Basics + Para Jumbles | 2 RC / 2 VA / 2 LRDI |
| June 17 – June 23 | Profit & Loss, Alligation | Line Charts, Caselets | RC + Summary | 2 RC / 2 VA / 2 LRDI |
| June 24 – June 30 | TSD + Revise Ratios | Advanced DI | RC + Odd One Out | 3 RC / 3 VA / 3 LRDI |
| July 1 – July 7 | Time & Work | LR: Arrangements | RC + Para Completion | 3 RC / 3 VA / 3 LRDI |
| July 8 – July 14 | SICI | LR: Blood Relations | RC + Summary | 3 RC / 3 VA / 3 LRDI |
| July 15 – July 21 | Arithmetic Revision | LR: Games & Tournaments | RC Mix | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| July 22 – July 28 | Arithmetic PYQs | Mixed DI+LR | RC + Grammar | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| July 29 – Aug 4 | Linear & Quadratic Equations | Matrix & Constraints | RC + Para Jumbles | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| Aug 5 – Aug 11 | Inequalities, Maxima Minima | Complex Arrangements | RC + Summary | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| Aug 12 – Aug 18 | AP, GP | Caselets & Graphs | RC + VA Mix | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| Aug 19 – Aug 25 | Polynomials & Modulus | Selection + Puzzle Sets | RC Practice | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| Aug 26 – Sept 1 | Functions & Logs | Tough LR Sets | VA Focus + RC | 4 RC / 3 VA / 4 LRDI |
| Sept 2 – Sept 8 | Triangles | LRDI Combo Sets | RC + Summary | 4 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Sept 9 – Sept 15 | Circles | Set Theory, Venn | RC + Para Completion | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Sept 16 – Sept 22 | Quadrilaterals | Selection Sets | RC + Summary | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Sept 23 – Sept 30 | Mensuration | Puzzle Sets + Mixed | RC + Odd Sentence | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Oct 1 – Oct 7 | Numbers (Basics) | Mixed Sets | RC + VA | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Oct 8 – Oct 14 | Numbers (Remainders etc) | CAT LRDI Practice | RC Intensive | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Oct 15 – Oct 21 | PnC + Probability | LRDI Variety | VA Practice | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Oct 22 – Oct 31 | Logs, Set Theory, Revise | Weak Areas | Mixed Practice | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Nov 1 – Nov 3 | Revise Arithmetic | LR Sets | RC + VA | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Nov 4 – Nov 10 | Revise Algebra | LR Sets | RC + VA | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Nov 11 – Nov 17 | Revise Geometry | Mock Weak Area Practice | VA + RC | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Nov 18 – Nov 24 | Mixed Topic Practice | Mixed Sets | VA + RC | 5 RC / 3 VA / 5 LRDI |
| Nov 25 – Nov 30 | Light Revision | 1 Easy Set/day | 2 RC + 2 VA | 2 RC / 2 VA / 1 LRDI |
So if you have not started your preparation yet start your CAT preparation journey with iQuanta as the third batch is launching soon and follow this 6 month strategy if you are aiming for a 99+ percentile in CAT 2025.
CAT 6 Months Strategy for 99+ Percentile
The CAT study plan is incomplete without a well-structured preparation strategy. So, if you are worried, about how to prepare for CAT in 6 Months, here we have provided a detailed 6-month strategy.
Starting now is beneficial as you might take a couple of breaks in between your preparation. If you are starting your CAT preparation now and targeting 99+%le in CAT 2025, then you must sincerely avoid gaps during your preparation. Finishing your syllabus on time would allow you to take more mocks, which will enhance your Preparation.
How to prepare for the CAT VARC in 6 months
The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section in CAT tests how well you can comprehend sentences, identify the tone of the passage, summarise and understand the structure and flow. The VARC section comprises of 24 questions which are to be completed in 40 minutes time.
Assuming that this year’s CAT exam will be 2 hours, then there will be 16 RC-based questions in the CAT VARC Section, which constitutes 70% of the total VARC questions. This section is known to mainly test the comprehension abilities of the Candidate, not the vocabulary or the grammar. The first step towards comprehension is how you can retain what you have read. The best way to exercise your mind is to start reading articles from reputed newspapers and summarise them in your mind. You can start reading English newspapers like The Hindu or Economic Times, or online articles on Aeon or Al-daily to get used to reading long passages. But for your rescue, iQuanta has provided multiple Genre-wise articles from those sources from where CAT has been giving RCs in recent years with Summary. People who read a lot of novels or just like reading in general will have a head-start in this section, but with some dedicated reading practice, you can cover this gap in a few months.
iQuanta Engineer’s VARC Module and Essentials is the ultimate solution for students who are weak in CAT VARC. We are getting rid of all jargon and ambiguities that are often associated with the VARC section of CAT. We will teach you how to approach and answer VARC questions in logical and Analytical ways – the way CAT exam expects you to do.
Some of the highlights of this VARC module
- Genre wise RC videos
- Detailed VA videos with solution
- Strategy videos
- VARC Niche CAT Content
- Videos on understanding tone, assumption & inferences
VARC was never a test of English Grammar. It was always about comprehending English in a logical way. Through the Engineer’s VARC Module, we have focused on developing comprehension abilities in students who face problems in CAT’s VARC Section.
How to prepare for the LRDI in 6 months
The Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section in CAT is highly unpredictable. It tests the problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities of a student. In recent years, the LRDI difficulty level has increased. There is no definite syllabus or concept in LRDI. Hence you should rely on practicing 350-400 DILR sets from now till the CAT Exam. And you’ll be good to go. The LRDI section consists of a total of 20 questions to be solved in 40 minutes.
All you need to crack the LRDI Section is familiarity with CAT-Type LRDI Sets. This means if you have solved 300-400 CAT-Type LRDI sets till CAT you will be able to solve at least 50% of the sets in CAT 2025. In the previous CAT exam if you could solve 2 out of 4 LRDI sets you could get 99%le+ and Solving just 1 set could give you around 90%le. So all you need to do is select the sets you can solve and solve them with patience. And to get that familiarity all you need is practice.
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How to prepare for the Quants in 6 months
Quantitative aptitude is the most popular section of CAT. One is either confident in this section or scared of this section. There’s no third way. One thing non-engineers or anyone who gets intimidated by this section should note is that this is the easiest section to improve upon. There is a well-defined syllabus that covers a lot of topics that all of us have studied in Class 9th and 10th. Concepts used are the same but the application might differ in some topics like Numbers, PNC & Algebra. Quant is also the highest-scoring section of the CAT Exam. From this point, we have 6 Months; it is a sufficient amount of time to prepare well for this section, as this section is comparatively easier to improve.
One should begin with writing the complete quants syllabus in detail. Writing the syllabus in detail would give you an overview of the syllabus, which eventually would result in better planning. Initially one should go with any standard book, for eg CAT Hardcopy Material by iQuanta or IIM ABC CAT material by iQuanta or any coaching material you have or you can get.
Once you have cleared your basics of a particular topic, then you must start practising questions on it. In case of any doubts, you should ask and get it cleared by your mentors. One should not forget to make notes of any new things you learn during your lectures or practice.
For aspirants who have lost touch with Mathematics back in school or those who wish to freshen up their basic concepts, iQuanta has introduced Non-Engineers conceptual videos in the CAT 2025 Course, keeping in mind the increased difficulty of the CAT 2024 Quant section, which might be problematic for those who are weak in Math. One should make sure to cover these concepts before moving on to the advanced-level questions to strengthen your basics.
How iQuanta Prepares you for CAT in 6 Months?
In iQuanta CAT 2025 Course, one topic is covered in multiple steps, Starting with Non-engineer’s Conceptual Videos which will be a summary of class 6th to 10th NCERT Maths which will be in Alignment with the CAT Syllabus. Then One can move to the Engineer’s VARC Module which has a total of 60+ videos with 30 hours of VARC Niche content.
Here we have mentioned those multiple steps in brief:
- Go Through Non-engineer’s Conceptual Videos (Self)
- Go Through Engineer’s VARC Module (Self)
- Attend Live stream class at iQuanta (Mentor Driven)
- Attend Live application class at iQuanta (Mentor Driven)
- Take 20-30 Dashboard Assignments on that Topic (Self)
- Attend Practice sessions on the Topic (Mentor Driven)
- Take 50 CAT Level Questions on the Topic (Self)
- CAT 2024 Level Live Marathon on the Topic (Mentor Driven)
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Basic Concept Coverage
The topics in the CAT syllabus revolve around whatever you’ve studied from Classes 6th to 10th. Hence, basic conceptual learning is the building block towards cracking the CAT exam with a 99 %ile. It’s essential to dedicate sufficient time and effort to mastering the fundamentals before moving on to more advanced topics.
iQuanta’s prime focus is clearing the basic concepts and then gradually moving on to the advanced-level concepts. The basic concept clarity can be achieved in 4 manners (the iQuanta way) :
- Live classes: Coverage of theoretical concepts along with questions.
- Application classes: Application-based learning through a set of questions based on the topic covered in the Live class.
- Non-Engineers Conceptual videos: Self-paced non-engineering conceptual videos that you’ll be getting on your dashboard once you enrol. These videos will teach you basic Math concepts that are from 6th to 10th NCERT level.
- Text Notes: You might have seen people filling notebooks up and preparing long notes. What you need to understand is, you don’t need to note everything down. Your application classes are going to be your notes. Here, you’ll find all theorems and concepts written in short along with questions. You can also find the CAT Formula book on the iQuanta website’s top left corner. You can maintain a concise cheat sheet to help you with your weaker areas and places where you constantly get stuck, or for some topic you think you might forget.
Practice
Next to conceptual clarity comes rigorous practice which is provided through the application sessions, topic-wise assignments, daily practice sessions, and the IIM ABC Practice Batch.
The IIM ABC Practice batch consists of 7500+ CAT-level questions for all 3 sections. If you practice these 7500 CAT-level questions, then this would be more than enough for you to crack the CAT Exam. If one wants to prepare through Hardcopy material, then one should go for iQuanta’s Hardcopy Material, as it has been prepared as per the CAT 2024 standard.
Doubt Clarification
iQuanta provides 24×7 doubt solving in the dedicated CAT & MBA Community.
CAT Preparation – iQuanta is India’s largest community for MBA aspirants with more than 3.5 lakh members. This group comprises of current aspirants, students currently studying in B-schools, and Top MBA college graduates. This community also promotes peer-to-peer learning where people engage with each other and solve doubts among themselves providing multiple approaches to a single question.
Best Books for CAT 2025
iQuanta this year also came up with the best and most updated CAT books in the market.
Good thing that we have we have made it in accordance with CAT 2024 Level after this CAT exam was done.
CAT Hard Copy Details :
- 12 Sets of CAT Material updated as per CAT 2024 Standards
- 5000+ Questions Topic-wise as well as Level-wise
Quant: 5 Sets of Materials: 2350 Questions
- Geometry: 350 + 100 Author’s Desk Questions
- Modern Maths, Logs, Functions & Graphs : 250 + 100 Author’s Desk Questions
- Number System: 250 + 100 Author’s Desk Question
- Algebra: 350 + 150 Author’s Desk Questions
- Arithmetic: 550 + 150 Author’s Desk Questions
- Each Topic has bifurcated sub-topics having 50 Questions each 30 Easy-Moderate and 20 Moderate to Tough
- 100 Author’s Desk Questions specially curated by Indra for each Topic
VARC : 3 Sets of Materials : 240 RC Sets + 200 VA : 1160 Questions
- CAT VA – 1 book
4 topics – Parajumbles, Odd one out, Parasummary, Paracompletion (50 questions each) - CAT RC – 2 books
RC Book 1: 120 RC Sets from 8 Genre
RC book 2: 120 RC Sets from 8 Mixed-Genre
LRDI : 4 Sets of Materials : 4 books : 2 LR & 2 DI: 440 LRDI Sets : 1760 Questions
- Both LR books having 160 LRDI Sets
- Both DI books having 120 LRDI Sets
Gift: 160 LRDI Sets & Puzzles of exact CAT 23 Level sets
Taking CAT Mocks
By July 2025, your high-weightage syllabus will be finished and the mock season will start. Mock tests are the best way to analyze your CAT preparation. Taking mocks helps you in assessing your stronger and weaker sections. Appearing for CAT mock tests gives you a fair idea of the actual CAT exam. It creates an exam-like environment keeping in mind the exam pattern, CAT syllabus, timers, and questions at par with the CAT exam. Analyzing mocks plays an equally important role in your preparation, hence you should do a proper CAT mock analysis.
Mock analysis generally takes around 3-4 hours. In order to save Aspirant’s time, iQuanta came up with India’s 1st AI-Based CAT Mock Test Series. Right from getting a list of MBA colleges you can convert according to your profile and target percentile, to getting a detailed section-wise analysis of your mock attempt through our A.I. based error tracker, you’ll get it all. Additionally, video solutions to the questions along with corrective measures for your weaker topics will also be provided.
| Month | Mock No. | Tentative Date |
| July | Mock 1 | July 5–6 |
| Mock 2 | July 12–13 | |
| Mock 3 | July 19–20 | |
| Mock 4 | July 26–27 | |
| August | Mock 5 | Aug 2–3 |
| Mock 6 | Aug 6–7 | |
| Mock 7 | Aug 10–11 | |
| Mock 8 | Aug 14–15 | |
| Mock 9 | Aug 18–19 | |
| Mock 10 | Aug 22–23 | |
| Mock 11 | Aug 26–27 | |
| September | Mock 12 | Sept 1–2 |
| Mock 13 | Sept 5–6 | |
| Mock 14 | Sept 9–10 | |
| Mock 15 | Sept 13–14 | |
| Mock 16 | Sept 17–18 | |
| Mock 17 | Sept 20–21 | |
| Mock 18 | Sept 24–25 | |
| Mock 19 | Sept 28–29 | |
| November | Mock 20 | Nov 1–2 |
| Mock 21 | Nov 3–4 | |
| Mock 22 | Nov 5–6 | |
| Mock 23 | Nov 7–8 | |
| Mock 24 | Nov 9–10 | |
| Mock 25 | Nov 11–12 | |
| Mock 26 | Nov 13–14 | |
| Mock 27 | Nov 15–16 | |
| Mock 28 | Nov 18–19 | |
| Mock 29 | Nov 21–22 | |
| Mock 30 | Nov 26–27 |
CAT Crash Course
iQuanta’s CAT-Crash course will be launched 3 months before the CAT 2025 exam. Here the entire syllabus will be covered once again. Here, you’ll be rigorously practising all the concepts in a fast-paced manner with the help of tricks and shortcuts. Along with these, mega marathon sessions will be conducted for each of the topics.
If you are preparing for the CAT 2025 exam and are willing to start now, become a part of iQuanta’s newly launched iQuanta CAT 2025 Course. The Syllabus will be completed 4 times with a higher focus on the high-weightage topics.
