I have been writing this piece around this time of the year for several years now. A lot of students I interact with share this query especially around this time and stage of their CAT preparation. It is interesting as to how different the same thing appears when we see it from a different perspective or in a different framework.
The IIMs will most probably conduct CAT-23 on the last Sunday of November (26-Nov) later this year. That has been the trend for the past several years now.
So, CAT-2023 is now less than 5 months away. And quite a few CAT aspirants are worried as they wonder if that’s enough time for preparing well. This anxiety is somewhat natural for some of the recent beginners. But even some of those who started their coaching for CAT much earlier are worried. They wonder if they have enough time to fill the gaps in their preparation.
An example that I often use to give perspective to students nurturing this concern is that 4.5 months is almost a complete semester.
What are the thoughts that go through your mind at the beginning of a semester? Is paucity of time one of them? Unlikely 🙂
In how many semesters have you worked really hard for the entire duration of the semester?
Or even more importantly, how many times in your entire life have you worked really hard in a focused manner for 4 months, really given it your all?
Most of us, even during Class XII Board Exams, gave it a real go for a period shorter than that.
The real question therefore, is not ‘whether you have enough time’ but ‘how well will you use the time you have’.
4 months of consistent and focused effort can easily outperform even 20 months of sporadic effort.
About the author: Deekshant has sleep-walked through several 100 and 99.9 %iles in practically every section of the CAT. That he is a cricket fan and he writes okay is evident from most of his posts. 1000s of our students swear that he can motivate almost anyone to double his/her percentile through very simple yet powerful inputs. And that’s why every MBAGuru student has direct access to him via mail and Telegram. Oddly, he somehow also finds the time to write songs professionally. And yes … almost missed this … he is an alumnus of IIT Delhi & IIM Cal 
[…] CAT aspirants are now busy figuring out how to prepare for CAT exam, as there is not much time left for the examination. Most of them are already in the middle of […]