What nobody tells you about preparing for CAT
When you start CAT prep, coaching institutes and YouTube channels sell you a very linear story: Watch lectures → finish syllabus → take mocks → get 99%ile → enter IIM.
Here is what nobody actually prepares you for:
- The Mock Score Rollercoaster: You can score a 95%ile in Mock 3 and crash to a 68%ile in Mock 4. It doesn’t mean you forgot math; it just means question selection failed.
- Syllabus completion is a myth: CAT is not a board exam. There is no finished syllabus. You have to start giving mocks even when you feel 40% unprepared.
- Burnout hits in September/October: The mid-prep fatigue where solving one more DILR set feels physically exhausting is real.
- The isolation: Watching friends party on weekends while you sit with geometry theorems on a Saturday night takes mental grit.
For anyone who has been in the trenches for months: what was the biggest unexpected reality check for you?