How to plan your 120 days for Quants

Quants, the second most feared section among CAT aspirants after logical reasoning, however it is the only section where the syllabus is defined. So, a section with a defined syllabus should be scoring, but by looking at past trends, 5 correct answers fetch you a decent 90 percentile in quants. We are all familiar with the syllabus, the Arithmetic chapters, Algebra modules, which cover 80% of the paper. The crux lies in the approach and how you prepare for quant.


Let’s Ace QUANT: Points to note during prep

1. Concepts: ”Crucial but less paid”
The Biggest mistake candidates often make is not understanding concepts and directly jumping to questions. We need to understand, as the name itself suggests, it’s an aptitude-based paper. Conceptual clarity may take time, it’s like the base of a building, once made strong will help you solve complex quantitative questions in a better way.

2. Practising questions: Mastering concepts is good, but implementation is equally important. Without practice, nothing gets handy, and remember you have to solve questions within a given time in your CAT paper. So, Practice holds a crucial part in getting used to questions and concepts. 

3. Revision: “Rarely touched”
It feels frustrating going back to the same thing, just as going to school, but Revision is the key. What’s the point of learning if you forgot how to solve an inequality in your CAT paper? It gives you nothing “except guilt”.So, make sure to revise all your quant chapters.
You must be wondering how to revise such a vast “Time and Distance” chapter. Hold on! It’s a simple task actually not that simple, just solve lots of questions without seeing solutions. If you are able to solve questions, you are well prepared for that Quant chapter. 

Here are some DONT’S to follow while preparing the Quants
1. Selective mindset: It has been observed that CAT aspirants often tend to be selective while preparing for quant. Covering a few portions [Such as arithmetic and algebra] and leaving [“geometry” and “number system”]. This is a big NO. We can never predict the pattern of the CAT paper example being in CAT 2023, portions of algebra and arithmetic were on the higher difficulty side, and other portions were easy, and the Quant section of CAT 2023 stumped many, leaving them in a state of worry. So, we have to study thoroughly each and every quant topic to score maximum.
2. Watching lectures ONLY: It is also a general tendency to watch lectures. It’s a passive state of learning, and watching only arithmetic lectures will not do you any good. This should be accompanied by practising questions on your own.
3. Ignoring timer-based tests; It is widely seen among CAT aspirants as they are not attempting tests because they think their syllabus is incomplete, and this cycle of not giving tests continues till the CAT paper, which results in panic scenarios. So, to get comfortable with the timer is very important, and this leads you to develop your approach for your quant paper.

So, if I were a CAT aspirant, I would have given some thought to it. Happy reading Team RODHA