This is by far the most requested question we got and I’ll cut to the chase without going too off topic
(Right after a disclaimer of course – just lawyer things, you see)
Now I haven’t seen all the material out there. In all likelihood, I’ve seen only a small fraction of it. The resources I used were suggested/passed on to me by my seniors and worked for me. If you find any of them difficult to follow, I suggest you switch to another resource.
If you are new to the blog, you might want to start with making your CAT matrix & check out how to strengthen each section of the CAT!
The following is a list of all the resources used by Simran and me.
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
1. ‘How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT’ by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay.
2. 2iim question bank (linked here)
3. All past year CAT papers - Take them like sectionals. Time yourself, Grade yourself & Monitor your progress.
The sectionals you solve, the mocks you take and RCs you prepare for - All of it is VARC practice.
4. Now I recommend reading random stuff. Simran does not.
If you do want to build up reading speed & vocabulary through this, check these out:
Mr. Bharath’s Curated Reading List for CAT Exam (he shares an article everyday and they’re all winners. Link here)
Aeon.com (it’s a favourite on Pagalguy.com – do check this website too if you haven’t already)
Read a newspaper – My go-to was the Mint. Their ‘long story’ section is too good!
‘Word Power Made Easy’ by Norman Lewis (Okay. I know you’ve heard of this one before and I’ll admit it. We’re scraping at the bottom of the barrel at this point. This is completely unnecessary from a CAT perspective but helps in non-CAT exams like the IIFT exam)
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
1. I used ‘How to Prepare for DATA INTERPRETATION’ by Arun Sharma and found it useful for the DI part of prep. I didn’t get the book on Logical Reasoning though.
2. Given how random LR can be, doing the same kind of set again and again doesn't help all that much.
Here, variety is the spice of life and just as important as practice.
I recommend opening the Elites Grid YouTube channel (link) and going to town on DIFFERENT questions (without looking at the solution of course!).
You'll learn to pen down your thoughts effectively and half the battle is won right there. I'm not kidding!
3. Mocks (I had TIME and IMS) are your best friend here. The added time-pressure really teaches you how to organise your thoughts quickly and effectively. Make sure you solve every set after its over though. No cheating!
4. The Handa ka Funda LRDI section is great too! Every solution is on video, so I recommend pausing the video, trying the set out for yourself & then following along as the expert solves them to fix your thought process & approach.
Quantitative Aptitude
1. For basics, try 'Quantitative Aptitude Quantum Cat 2019' by Sarvesh Verma or ‘How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT’ by Arun Sharma. Both are good.
2. For many chapters (like Arithmetic), I relied on Career Launcher material passed onto me from my sibling who got it from a guy in IIM-Ahmedabad.
Hint: If a concept starts to go above your head, try another book and move on. This saves a lot of time!
3. If you read my post on QA prep, you might remember how I mentioned Mr. Patrick D’souza. He’s a CAT coach with insane credibility. A lot of his videos (like the one linked here) simply show him solving quant questions while thinking out loud. That thought process is exactly what you need to develop! His approaches made me say “Ohhhhh that’s how you do it!” again and again.
Okay that sounds wrong but you get what I mean. :/
4. Mr. Rajesh Balasubramanian’s channel (2iim) is amazing too and he low-key reminds me of that super-smart South-Indian uncle I always wanted but never had. His channel is linked here.
5. I also had access to the Alchemist coaching question bank (where I had enrolled). You can try the 2iim question bank too (linked here again in case you missed it the first time)
Now I understand that stuff like coaching centre material can be difficult or expensive to get. There’s a simple solution (and no I’m not going to tell you to illegally pirate).
Visit Pagalguy.com and simply ask. Best case scenario, someone will let you have them for free (you pay for courier kind of deal). Worst case, you get a cool discount. Win-win!
Check out how to strategise for the CAT here: