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CAT 2025 Tricks for Quant, DI & LR, VARC from 99 Percentilers: The Common Admission Test (CAT) is India’s most competitive MBA entrance exam, designed to assess a candidate’s aptitude for top management programmes. While it has a reputation for being challenging, thousands of aspirants crack it every year with the right preparation plan. Success in CAT requires more than just hard work; it demands smart strategies, speed, and precision. In this guide, we share proven CAT preparation tricks and tips for Quantitative Aptitude, DILR, and VARC. It is inspired by strategies used by past CAT toppers to maximise accuracy and achieve exceptional percentiles.
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Scoring a 99 percentile in CAT 2025 is achievable with the right preparation strategy, consistency, and exam-day execution. It requires mastering high-weightage topics in Quantitative Aptitude, VARC, and DILR, while balancing speed and accuracy. Regular mock tests, detailed performance analysis, and focused improvement on weak areas are essential. Time management plays a critical role, as does staying calm under pressure. With disciplined study, targeted practice, and a strategic approach, aspirants can significantly boost their chances of securing a 99 percentile and admission to top IIMs and B-schools.
The quant is often the most challenging section for the CAT aspirants. Also, this section has the most number of questions. So candidates need to prepare for the Quant well. Let us see what past toppers have to say about acing this section. Soumyajeet Ghosh, a CAT topper emphasizes practice. He says this requires a lot of consistent practice. Speed is very important for it, and candidates can improve their speed by practising more and more. One should adopt all small and simple tactics to increase his practice and reduce his errors.”
Check out the complete CAT Toppers List here
Candidates can utilise these Quant preparation tips for the CAT 2025 exam and achieve the aim of scoring well in this section.
Practising MCQs from the CAT Quantitative Aptitude syllabus is crucial for mastering concepts and improving speed. The most important MCQs generally cover high-weightage areas such as Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number Systems, and Modern Maths. These questions help strengthen problem-solving ability, identify weak areas, and familiarise candidates with the exam’s difficulty level, ensuring better accuracy and time management in CAT 2025.
Selecting the right study material is essential for effective CAT 2025 preparation. For Quantitative Aptitude, opt for books that provide a strong conceptual foundation, ample solved examples, and graded practice exercises. For Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR), choose resources that focus on analytical thinking, data sets, and time-based problem solving. For VARC, pick books that enhance vocabulary, grammar, comprehension skills, and critical reasoning through targeted practice and mock tests
Book Title | Authors/Publisher Name |
Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT | Sarvesh Verma |
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay |
Word Power Made Easy | Norman Lewis |
High School English Grammar and Composition | Wren and Martin |
How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT | Arun Sharma |
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | Gautam Puri |
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT | Nishit K. Sinha |
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT | Arun Sharma |
Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency | Ananta Ashisha |
The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning for the CAT | Nishit K. Sinha |
CAT 2025 Solved Papers | Arihant Experts |
The Data Interpretation (DI) and Logical Reasoning (LR) section in the CAT exam is there to test your decision–making ability within the given time. To ace this section, 99 percentiler Kumar advises, “You must bound your time for solving the questions of this section, I did not give more than 8 minutes to any puzzle questions irrespective of the fact that I got stuck in some questions that seemed to be easier.
So one should adopt this as one of the tips that he/she not is allowed to spend much time on a particular question whether it is easy, moderate, or difficult instead, one should spend some minutes at the start of the test to categorize the questions as easy, moderate and difficult. In common, all the 99 percentilers suggest that aspirants should spend most of their time on the analysis of mock tests as it will lead them to land up at any management school of their choice.
CAT 100 Percentiler Rahul Gupta shares his DI & LR preparation strategy, he quoted - I used to practice many questions from particular topics and focused a lot on them while taking the mock test.
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The VARC sections may prove to be the easiest section to improve the sectional and overall score, says CAT topper, Madhur Gupta. Further, while sharing his preparation strategy, he says – “this was not the area I was good at and consequentially, I landed up in a conundrum about how I should deal with this section. Then I decided to look for some simple tactics to ace this section. I adopted the strategy of eliminating the wrong options to help me decide on the right one. This helped me later.”
99 percentiler in CAT, Naman Singhal while sharing his preparation tips, stated that he solved RCs and Para jumbles as much as he could during his preparation for CAT and used them to analyse the VARC section after taking mock tests. He used to practice the questions of Verbal Ability (VA) and Reading Comprehension (RC) from the modules of different coaching institutions.
Topper Mayank Raj, while sharing his strategy says, - “I faced major challenges in this section. So, to improve my verbal ability, I started reading newspapers, novels, etc. This helped me increase my reading speed and also in developing an understanding of the passages I was reading”.
CAT topper, Lakshya Kumar shares his experience of the VARC section with us, quoted “My approach was building up my reading speed and that was achieved by reading newspaper daily as it contains an article from various fields of life ranging from psychology to biology which is similar to the Reading Comprehension section of CAT. The verbal ability section was a tough nut to crack for me but thinking about the question from an examiner's perspective and allocating it a greater percentage of time during the actual exam (feasible due to fast reading pace) did help me a lot.
In the final days before the CAT 2025 exam, focus on consolidating your preparation rather than learning new concepts. Revise important formulas, shortcuts, and high-weightage topics, especially from Quantitative Aptitude, VARC, and DILR. Practise a few timed mock tests to sharpen speed and accuracy. Analyse mistakes immediately to avoid repetition.
Practice Mock Tests: Take a few full-length mock tests to gauge your readiness and practice time management. Analyze your performance to identify and correct any remaining weaknesses.
Focus on Accuracy: Prioritize accuracy over attempting too many questions. Avoid making random guesses and focus on solving questions you are confident about.
Review Mistakes: Go over previous mock test errors and ensure you understand where you went wrong. Avoid repeating these mistakes in the actual exam.
Stay Calm and Confident: Maintain a positive mindset and avoid last-minute stress. Practice relaxation techniques to stay calm and focused during the exam.
Plan Your Exam Day: Ensure you know the exam location, required documents, and exam time. Plan your journey and get everything ready a day before to avoid any last-minute hassles.
Healthy Routine: Get adequate rest, eat a balanced meal, and stay hydrated. Avoid cramming late into the night and ensure you get a good night’s sleep before the exam.
Many CAT aspirants lose valuable marks due to common yet avoidable mistakes during the exam. These include spending too much time on a single question, neglecting time management, misreading questions, skipping easy ones, and not practising enough with mock tests. Overconfidence or panic can also affect performance. Avoiding these mistakes through smart preparation and calm execution can significantly boost your CAT 2025 percentile and improve chances of admission to top B-schools.
Spending Excessive Time on a Single Question
Many candidates get stuck on tricky problems, wasting valuable minutes. Since CAT is time-bound, it’s important to quickly decide whether to attempt or skip a question. Sticking to a pre-decided time limit per question prevents last-minute panic.
Neglecting Easy Questions
In a rush to solve difficult problems, test-takers sometimes skip or overlook easier ones. This results in lost marks that could have been scored quickly. Scanning the paper first to spot low-hanging fruit is a smart approach.
Poor Time Management
Attempting questions without a section-wise time allocation can lead to incomplete sections. Allocate fixed time blocks for Quantitative Aptitude, VARC, and DILR, and stick to them strictly to maximise attempts in all areas.
Ignoring Negative Marking
Random guessing often leads to a drop in percentile due to CAT’s negative marking scheme. Only attempt questions when reasonably confident in the answer to avoid unnecessary penalty.
Not Practising Under Exam Conditions
Practising without time limits or in a distraction-free environment fails to replicate the actual exam stress. Simulating real CAT conditions through timed mocks helps build mental endurance and adaptability.
Failing to Review Mistakes
Many aspirants take mocks but don’t analyse them thoroughly. Reviewing incorrect and skipped questions helps identify conceptual gaps and recurring errors, which can then be corrected before the final exam.
CAT 2025 eBooks by Careers360 offer comprehensive preparation resources for MBA aspirants aiming for top scores. These expertly curated eBooks cover the entire CAT syllabus, including Quantitative Aptitude, VARC, and DILR, with detailed concepts, solved examples, and practice questions.
Book Title | Download Link |
CAT 2024 Mastery: Chapter-wise MCQs for Success for VARC, DILR, Quant | |
Mastering CAT Exam: VARC, DILR, and Quant MCQs & Weightages | |
CAT 2025 Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers PDF | |
CAT DILR Questions with Solutions | |
CAT VARC Study Material |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
CAT is one of the most competitive exams in India. This exam aims to check the candidate's level of intelligence and perseverance. To get 99.5 in CAT candidate must start their preparation well before 7-8 months of the exam. Dedicated study material, strict timetable and consistent practice are the main key points to get 99.5 in CAT.
You can get better at CAT quant by understanding the basic concepts behind the questions and by regular practice. To get success in CAT you have to do consistent practice. You should dedicatedly solve the practice questions and take mock tests daily. Daily practice helps in the improvement of both accuracy and speed. You should pay special attention to your weaker areas.
To prepare well and to score the highest percentile candidates need at least 7-8 months for CAT syllabus preparation. It is one of the most challenging entrance exams in India. You can get 99 percentile in CAT with focused preparation. Rest it all depends on the candidate's efforts, skill level, dedication and other factors.
Nothing can be impossible. The only thing to do to score 99 percentile is to do hard work, consistent practice, practice mock tests, and previous year's papers.
On Question asked by student community
Hello
As you said you by mistakenly done that, you don't need to get worry regarding that ,
Just inform the help desk and carry the correct certifications , the state certificate will not disqualify you .
The steps you can follow is -
1. You can check if the correction window is available or not
2. Contact the CAT desk immediately.
Hope this helps
In CAT registration, you cannot create a new user ID with the same mobile number, even if you use a different email ID. Each mobile number and email can be linked to only one account. If you already registered once, the system will not accept a duplicate with that number. To register again, you must use a new mobile number and new email ID. If you lost your old login, you can recover it through the forgot password/user ID option on the CAT portal.
Yes, you can fill the CAT form even if you currently have a backlog. CAT eligibility requires you to be in your final year of graduation or already graduated backlogs don’t stop you from applying.
While filling the form:
Enter the aggregate percentage/CGPA of marks you have obtained up to the latest semester for which results are declared (in your case till 4th semester).
There will be an option to mention that you have a backlog.
If you clear the backlog later, you’ll just need to show the updated marks during admission.
Hello Aspirant,
Yes, you can apply for the CAT exam as a final-year student. You must declare your backlog on the online application form. You do not write about it on the final-year student certificate; that document is to certify your enrollment status. You must clear all backlogs before the final admission process to any MBA college.
Hello,
Thank you for your question!
KL- MAT syllabus: Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, English/Verbal Ability, and General Awareness (similar to MAT/CMAT pattern).
CAT scores are valid in many private universities including KL University, but always check the year’s admission notification.
CAT vs other exams: CAT is toughest (IIMs + top B-schools), while MAT/CMAT/ATMA are relatively easier and accepted by many mid-level private universities.
Hello it will clear your doubt!
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