Common CAT mistakes, and how to fix each one

CAT preparation usually runs for six months or more, and small errors in approach compound over that time. Many candidates who fall short had the ability to do better. They practised the wrong things, measured progress by the wrong numbers, or made avoidable decisions in the exam hall.

The encouraging part is that almost every mistake below is a judgement error, not an ability gap. Judgement can be trained. Read the list, mark the ones that sound like you, and fix those first.

Mistakes in preparation

1. Treating CAT like a syllabus exam

Many candidates finish every QA chapter before they attempt a single timed test. CAT does not reward coverage. It rewards reading speed, question choice and accuracy under a 40-minute lock. A candidate who knows 90% of the syllabus but reads slowly will score less than one who knows 70% and selects well.

Fix: Start timed practice in the first month, even if it is one RC passage and one DILR set a day. Learn topics alongside, not before.

2. Neglecting the weak section

It is tempting to spend time where you are already good, because progress there feels quick. But most IIMs apply sectional cut-offs. A high overall percentile with a weak section can still mean no call.

Fix: Give your weakest section the first and freshest hour of your day for at least a month. The aim is a safe percentile in it, not perfection.

3. Starting reading late

VARC improves slowly because comprehension improves slowly. Candidates who start serious reading only two months before the exam rarely see enough change in time.

Fix: Read 30–40 minutes of dense, long-form writing every day from the first week. Our guide to building a reading habit has a plan.

4. Collecting material instead of using it

Three sets of study material, two test series and a folder of downloaded PDFs feel like progress. They are not. Unused material only adds guilt.

Fix: Pick one main source per section and one mock series. Finish them. Add more only when you have genuinely exhausted them.

Mistakes with mocks

5. Taking mocks without analysing them

A mock without analysis is a very expensive way to find out your score. The learning is in the review, which should take longer than the mock itself.

Fix: For every mock, record three things per section: questions you got wrong and why, questions you left that you could have solved, and questions you attempted that you should have left. The mock strategy guide explains a full analysis routine.

6. Chasing the score instead of the process

Mock scores swing by large margins from one test to the next, depending on the paper and the day. Candidates who judge themselves by each score either panic or relax at the wrong time.

Fix: Track process numbers that you control: accuracy per section, time spent on questions you finally left, and number of sets or passages you read before choosing.

Mistakes in the exam hall

7. Blind guessing on MCQs

Here is the arithmetic. A CAT MCQ has four options, +3 for a right answer and −1 for a wrong one.

A blind guess gains nothing on average and only adds risk. A guess after genuine elimination is worth taking. The key word is genuine: you should be able to say why an option is wrong.

Fix: Guess on MCQs only after you have eliminated at least one option for a clear reason.

8. Leaving attempted TITA questions blank

TITA questions carry no negative marking. If you have worked on a TITA question and have any answer at all, entering it can only help.

Fix: Never leave a worked TITA blank. If time is short, enter your best estimate.

9. Getting stuck on one DILR set

Suppose a candidate picks the first DILR set on screen, which turns out to be the hardest, and spends 16 minutes on it for two correct answers. That leaves 24 minutes for three sets, which is not enough to do even two of them well. One poor choice has cost most of the section.

Fix: Spend the first three to four minutes scanning all the sets and ranking them. Put a time cap on each set (around 10–12 minutes) and move on when you hit it without progress. See DILR set selection.

10. Carrying a bad section into the next one

Sections are locked. Once VARC ends, nothing you do can change it. Yet many candidates spend the first ten minutes of DILR replaying a passage they misread.

Fix: Take ten seconds between sections: breathe, and decide that the last section is finished. Practise this in every full-length mock.

Mistakes after the exam

11. Leaving interview preparation till the result

WAT and interview calls can come within weeks of the result. Knowledge of current affairs, your academic subjects and your own profile takes months to build properly.

Fix: Start a light weekly routine alongside CAT: one business article a day, and one written answer a week to a question such as "Why MBA?".

Quick self-audit

Practice: spot the mistake

1. A candidate scores 24 in QA with 12 MCQ attempts. In the next mock they attempt 18 MCQs and score 22. What changed, and what should they do?
2. A candidate has 2 minutes left in QA and three unattempted TITA questions they have partly worked out. What should they do?
3. A candidate eliminates one option on a VARC MCQ because "it sounds too simple". Is the guess worth taking?

Answers:

1. Accuracy collapsed. A score of 24 from 12 attempts means 9 right and 3 wrong (27 − 3). And 22 from 18 attempts means 10 right and 8 wrong (30 − 8). Six extra attempts produced one extra right answer and five extra wrong ones, so accuracy fell from 75% to about 56%. They should return to the attempt level where accuracy was high and add questions only while accuracy holds.
2. Enter their best answer for all three. Wrong TITA answers cost nothing.
3. Probably not. "Sounds too simple" is not a reason from the passage. Unless they can point to a line that rules the option out, it is closer to a blind guess, which is worth zero on average.

What to do next

• Pick the three mistakes from this list that describe you best and write a one-line fix for each.
• In your next mock, apply only those three fixes and compare.
• Recalculate your sectional accuracy after every mock for the next month.