More than 40% of IIM-A admits report having self-studied for CAT. Coaching helps with structure and peer benchmarking, but it does not replace deliberate practice. Here is the 6-month plan that has consistently produced 99+ scores.
Month 1 — Diagnostic + basics
- Take 1 baseline mock to identify your weakest section.
- QA: revise NCERT Class 9-10 maths in 3 weeks. Cover arithmetic + numbers + algebra.
- VARC: read 1 dense passage daily (The Atlantic, Aeon, Foreign Affairs). Note unfamiliar words.
- DILR: start with easy set-puzzles, gradually move to caselets and tournament problems.
Months 2-3 — Topic-wise mastery
Spend roughly 70% of your prep time on your weakest section. Most aspirants neglect this and end up with skewed scores that hurt percentile.
- QA: TIME / IMS topic-wise booklets. Time every set.
- VARC: 2 RC + 1 para-jumble + 1 para-summary daily.
- DILR: 4 sets daily. Focus on identifying the 'trap' in each set.
Months 4-5 — Mock + analysis ratio 1:3
From month 4, take 3 full-length mocks per week. After each mock, spend 3x the test duration analysing it: every wrong answer, every guess, every skipped question. This is where most aspirants underinvest.
Month 6 — Strategy refinement
Stop adding new mocks. Re-attempt your worst mocks. Build sectional strategies: which order to attempt sections, how many to attempt vs leave, how to time sectional toggling.
Where Sadhana fits in
While Sadhana is built primarily for banking and SSC aspirants, the Data Interpretation, Reading Comprehension and Arithmetic Word Problems topics directly overlap with CAT QA and DILR. Use Sadhana for daily 30-minute speed drills and supplement with full-length CAT mocks from IMS or TIME.