
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2026 will be held on Sunday, 29 November. With weeks left, Deependra Sharma, Professor and Dean of the School of Business at MIT World Peace University, Pune, has shared preparation strategies for aspirants aiming for a perfect score.

Sharma advises a 60-second rule for assessing questions, if no progress is made, move on. In the DILR section, candidates should rank sets by familiarity and attempt the easiest first. For Verbal Ability, eliminating incorrect options is recommended. Aspirants are urged to analyse every mock test, categorising errors as silly mistakes, conceptual gaps or beyond current ability, and to reduce full-length mocks closer to the exam in favour of sectional tests.
Sharma also recommends revising Quantitative Aptitude formulae daily, avoiding bulky textbooks, and maintaining health through adequate sleep, limited screen time, and relaxation.
The advice targets the final leg of preparation, where strategy often matters more than new content. Sharma’s emphasis on skipping questions within 60 seconds and ranking DILR sets by familiarity directly addresses the time pressure that decides percentiles. The suggestion to reduce full-length mocks and align test-taking with the exam slot is a concrete tactical shift many aspirants overlook. Left unresolved is how candidates assess their own ‘current capability’ objectively when categorising errors. The next step is the exam itself on 29 November, which will test how well these strategies were executed.
Source: indiatvnews.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Methodology and corrections.