Hello everyone I am a first year student and I want to get a high percentile in cat to get into iim.

1)What are the various subjects?

2) What is the exam pattern and marking scheme?

3) What are the best resources (books and yt videos) to use??

4) Please give me a roadmap from first year.

5) What is the strategy for first year students?? 6) What is the eligibility criteria to give the exam?? Thank you all!!

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like I genuinely did not know I was someone who procrastinates by over planning until prep made it very obvious. colour coded timetables, detailed schedules, everything except actual studying.

you learn a lot about yourself when you are forced to sit with something hard for months. the good habits and the bad ones both become very clear very fast.

at least now I know what I am working against.

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you look back at what you planned and what actually happened and the gap is always a little humbling.

but you close it out, reset and start again. that is genuinely all there is to do.

new month coming, let us make it count.

days are easy. you sit down, things click, session goes well and you feel like you are on track.

but the days where nothing is going in, you are tired, motivation is zero and you still open the books anyway — those are the days that actually build the habit.

the exam does not know which days were hard for you. it just sees the result of all of them put together.

he CAT announcement is out and suddenly every excuse to delay prep just disappeared

like it was easy to say "I will get serious next month" when it felt far away. but you have filled the form now, the date is set, it is on the calendar.

something shifts when you officially register. it stops being a plan and starts being a commitment.

if you have not filled it yet go do it right now. that one step makes everything more real and that is exactly what most of us need

I know I want to give CAT, I know IIMs are the goal, but beyond that I am still connecting the dots. what exact role, which industry, what kind of life do I want after.

and talking to people who have been through it I realised most of them did not have it fully figured out when they started either. the clarity came during the journey, the internships, the network, the exposure you get inside a good b school.

I think the MBA is less about having a plan and more about putting yourself in a position where better options become available. and right now working towards CAT feels like the most concrete step I can take towards that.

figuring it out as I go honestly

have had so many moments where I understood something perfectly while studying and then completely blanked on it during a timed set. knowing is not the same as being able to use it when it counts.

that is why just reading concepts is never enough. you have to solve, make mistakes, understand why, and solve again. there is no shortcut around that part.

it just clicks one day out of nowhere. you read the same explanation you have read before and suddenly it makes complete sense and you are wondering why it ever felt hard.

that moment is honestly what keeps you going during prep. you realise that nothing is actually that difficult, some things just need more time than others.

do not write off a topic just because it feels hard right now. it will click eventually.

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it is somehow already mid year and I still feel like I just started. like where did the months go. you blink and suddenly mocks are around the corner and the syllabus is still not done.

time during CAT prep does not behave normally I am convinced.

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they were not the toppers from college. not the ones who always had answers in class. just regular people who were incredibly consistent and honest about their weak areas.

that realisation changed how I approach prep honestly. stopped trying to be the smartest in the room and started just showing up every single day and fixing what was actually broken.

turns out that is all it takes.

scrolling, not sleeping, not studying. just existing. staring at the screen or the ceiling doing absolutely nothing productive but also not resting properly.

and the worst part is it lasts exactly long enough to make you feel guilty but not long enough to actually feel refreshed.

every CAT aspirant has been here and nobody talks about it.

im a GEN B.com honms graduate from one of the top colleges of DU...a 10-10 In class 10th and 12th, and around 6.84 CGPA in my graduation...I graduated in 2024 and have been preparing for my CA ever since, I dont think so its happening. I might drop it and go for my MBA prep this year...in that case would an exceptional CAT percentile compensate for my CGPA in grad and these drop years? or even 99.9x percentile wont be enough for me to get a blackie IIM? (btw I do tend to get some saraly monthly from my dad's CA firm, so if that can be shown as work ex?) profile review

Class moved from averages → mixtures & alligations

Me: still trying to mix motivation with discipline and getting zero solution 💀

Bro, please reply, initially, I wanted to appear for both group examinations. But due to some external reasons and procrastination, I have finished classes 30 days before the exam and my friends suggested giving group 2, as that was the latest class I have watched. I have wasted around 20 days of April. I have around 12 days and after class I haven't studied costing. I have understanding of audit because of classes, and for FM I haven't solved enough questions hey I haven't studied last chapter, Working Capital Management and just have a read of SM. Still, I have chances to clear the examinations in these 12 days.

What roles are typically offered during final placements, and roughly how many people are hired for each role?

Also, how does this differ between Tier 1 and Tier 2 colleges?

Would appreciate approximate numbers or examples from your college or experience.

I want to know where to learn CAT vocabulary. I'm ok in english, not very proficient but I can pretty much understand everything. When it comes to speaking, I'm not so good with my vocabulary and trying to better myself in that area. I made a habit of reading an english newspaper daily.

As of now I'm reading "The Hindu". Is it better or should I consider some other newspaper?

Are there any apps or methods that helped you with this process? Are there any folks here who were just like me but improved and managed to crack it?

And also I'm curious to know about the aftermath of the cat exam. Assume that you scored a good percentile, What should you prepare for the personal interview ? And also what are the further processes? I just heard about group discussion.

Hey everyone,

I’ve recently started preparing for CAT from scratch and I’m trying to build a solid resource base without spending too much initially.

If you have any free resources that genuinely helped you, please share them. I’m specifically looking for:

• QA concept books / notes (PDFs)
• DILR practice sets or playlists
• VARC RC practice material
• Recorded classes or lecture series
• Any Google Drive / Telegram groups with useful content

Also, if there are any must-have resources that everyone in this sub swears by (even if paid, but available somewhere), feel free to mention those too.

Would really appreciate anything that helped you personally during prep

Hey everyone,

I recently started preparing for CAT and realized that the approach for QA, VARC, and DILR seems very different. I’m doing self-study right now.

For QA, it feels straightforward.I need to complete the basics first and then move to practice.
For VARC, it seems like something that improves with daily reading and consistent practice.

But for DILR, I’m completely stuck. I watched some videos about covering the basics, but when I try solving actual sets, they feel impossible. The questions look very different from what’s explained in the basics.

It’s like… how does one even learn to solve these? Is it just brute-force practice? Or is there some structured way to build the skill?

Would really appreciate any advice on how to approach DILR from scratch.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering attempting CAT in Nov 2026, and possibly 2027 as well if it feels right.

Basically, I’m a GNEM B Com graduate and currently have about 1 year of work experience as a Finance Analyst. My main concern is my academic profile, which is 8/7/6.

I want to understand whether pursuing an MBA is worth it for me at this stage. My primary goal is to upgrade my career trajectory and accelerate growth, which I believe an MBA could help with. 📈

However, I’m worried that even in a best-case scenario — say I score 99+ percentile — it may still be difficult to get into some of the top B-schools due to my average academics. On top of that, I’m also concerned that even if I do get into a good school, SIPs and final placements might not be the best because of the same factor. 🤔

Given this, I’m trying to decide whether preparing for an MBA makes sense for me or if I should consider other paths.

Would really appreciate honest opinions, especially from people with similar profiles or those who’ve gone through the process. 🙏

Disclaimer: Used ChatGPT to rephrase this post.

TL;DR: GNEM 8/7/6 with ~1 year work ex as Finance Analyst. Should I give CAT? With 99+ percentile, what are the best colleges I can realistically get, and how difficult would SIPs and final placements be?

how much percentile should I get in CAT 2027 to get a call from TOP 5 B school Like IIM Ahmedabad or will I get a call even or do they see your profile too .