The biggest challenge of online CAT coaching is self-discipline. The aspirant has everything at his disposal, the problem is how to optimally use those resources. Here we have brought for you a list of few dos and don’ts
The Dos:
- Must study on desktop or laptop:
We are living in a world dominated by apps. While apps might be a good idea for such things as news and vocabulary, it is not the right place to study and prepare for exams like Cat. You should study exactly in same way in which you would be writing your test. When I mention these things, I am talking about dedicated preparation. You may solve a few quant questions lying on bed, or you may read a few articles while travelling from home to work or college. This sort of preparation can happen as and when you are free, but you must devote at least 90 minutes daily to dedicated prep wherein you study the way you would be writing your test. This will build concentration and develop your stamina.
- Complete the topics that you have started:
You should ensure that once you start a particular topic, you finish it completely, by going through all the concepts and by solving all the possible varieties of questions from that topic. Don’t leave anything incomplete, particularly in the Quantitative Aptitude section. This will give you the confidence and help you in developing a firm grip on a particular topic.
- Maintain consistency:
Studying for two hours daily is more important than studying for 5 hours on each weekend. What matters is not the quantity of the input but the consistency of the input.
- Study from good sources:
Not all material that is available online is qualitative. While browsing online, you will often find questions that are irrelevant because they are either too difficult or too easy. Some have wrong answers, incomplete or no explanation at all. Studying from such sources will result in loss of time and wastage of efforts.
- Don’t be hesitant to invest money in books, courses and test series:
Sometimes we wrongly believe that free study material would suffice. While this may be true for some students, there are those who might struggle because of lack of proper books, courses and test series. It is crucial that you enrol for at least one good test series, and join courses for the sections in which you are not performing well.
- Maintain a road map, and devote balanced amount of time to all sections:
It is very important to have a road map. Aspirants have the tendency to keep on doing that thing which they like the most. So those who love mathematics practice questions only from mathematics, then there are those who have predilection for verbal, and so they practice only verbal questions. This sort of disproportionate amount of attention will create problems because you will become extremely good in one section only at the cost of the other sections. This is one of the most common reasons why many good students can’t clear the sectional cut-off in the actual exam. You should not like a topic so much that you become addicted to it.
Now we will discuss some of the don’ts that you must keep in mind:
- While studying don’t waste your time on the social media:
Online study has plenty of digressions. You have WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups, mails to check, videos to watch, and many other things wherein you might end up losing on time than gaining on content. There is no doubt that there are many students who benefit from such things, but they have great self-discipline and use such platforms wisely. If you think that you are not able to control yourself, then the best thing is to stay away from things that divert your attention.
- Don’t study form material that lacks proper explanation:
Much of the content that find online is either poor in quality or lacks proper and complete explanation. Don’t ever study from material that does not have proper answers and explanations. Students spend a good amount of time on questions that don’t have quality explanations. As a result, instead of improving in a particular topic, you end up becoming worse. My suggestion is that you should be wise, and be selective.
- Don’t postpone things to tomorrow:
When something is readily available and easily accessible, it is so easy to lose its worth. Something similar happens with online coaching and courses. There is no fear of missing anything because you can always watch the recordings. The validity of the courses is there for almost a year so the studying can be postponed to tomorrow. The free PDFs, the videos and the books are not going to rot or decay; hence, there is no need to hurry. All these make you relaxed and complacent. These are your biggest enemies. CAT is your entrance, not someone else’s. Whether you have joined offline coaching or online course. The motivation to do well must come from within. Never postpone to tomorrow that which you can do today.
Our purpose behind writing this article is not to list 20 or 30 points, but to state the critical things that you must do and the lesser-important things that you must not. Keeping the above things in mind will indeed help you in doing the right things and avoiding the wrong.
