MBA Karo experts have analysed the preparation patterns of 500+ MBA aspirants who prepare for CAT and identified seven mistakes that tend to lower their scores.
From leaving aside mocks for later stages and passive learning to wrong set selection and lack of elimination skills, all of these mistakes cut across various aspects of preparation and can drag aspirants’ scores down, even if they study hard for several hours every day.
The CAT 2026 exam consists of 68 questions in verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC), data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR) and quantitative ability (QA) that must be solved in 120 minutes, with 40 minutes allocated for each section.
With these challenges, it is evident that any aspirant’s preparation strategy for CAT is as important as the syllabus they cover.
Based on our observations, we have compiled a list of seven mistakes that keep bringing aspirants’ scores down.
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7 Mistakes Keeping CAT Scores Low
Here are the top 7 mistakes keeping CAT scores low shared below:
| Mistake | What Aspirants Commonly Do | Why It Hurts CAT Score | What High Scorers Do Differently |
| Delaying mocks | Wait until syllabus completion | Leaves little time for test adaptation | Start mocks early and improve progressively |
| Passive video learning | Spend hours watching strategy videos | Creates false confidence without solving ability | Prioritise active problem-solving |
| Mock hoarding | Take many mocks without reviewing them | Repeats the same mistakes | Analyse errors after every mock |
| Ignoring weak sections | Over-focus on favourite subjects | Can hurt sectional performance | Maintain balanced preparation |
| Guessing in VARC | Choose answers based on intuition | Increases negative marking | Use option elimination |
| Getting stuck in DILR/QA | Spend too long on one difficult question/set | Easy scoring opportunities are lost | Move on when the return on time is poor |
| Ideal-condition practice | Take mocks in comfortable surroundings | Creates fragile test-taking confidence | Simulate realistic exam conditions |
Delaying Mocks Until The Syllabus Is Completed
This was one of the most common mistakes revealed by our analysis of aspirants’ preparation patterns. Many aspirants believe that they should first complete the CAT syllabus before they start taking regular mocks.
However, an aptitude-test syllabus is a never-ending cycle, and there will always be something new to learn. Aspirants who leave all their mocks for October and later face challenges in developing certain skills:
- Stamina for the exam
- Time management skills within sections
- Set/question selection skills
A mock is not meant to test one’s knowledge of the CAT syllabus. It is meant to test one’s exam temperament. And unless someone gains sufficient experience of taking mocks before October, it is next to impossible to develop these exam temperament-related skills.
Our expert opinion: Do not wait to be fully prepared before taking your first mock. Earlier mocks can help reveal gaps in preparation.
Passive Video Watching Over Active Solving
Passive preparation is another pitfall that our experts identified. An aspirant can spend four hours watching videos on strategies for solving questions but feel that they have studied enough for the CAT.
However, such preparation does not truly help an aspirant solve questions. When taking the real CAT, the aspirant will need to:
- Read the question
- Think of a suitable approach
- Solve the question
- Verify their answer and move on
By simply watching a question being solved, an aspirant loses the opportunity to engage in these thought processes. In other words, such an aspirant gets a false sense of confidence.
Our expert opinion: Watch videos to gain conceptual understanding or to clarify doubts, but do not substitute hours of question-solving with videos.
Mock Hoarding Without Analysis
The number of mocks that one takes is not as important as the analysis of each mock. This observation comes from our analysis of how aspirants approach mock tests.
Many aspirants track the number of mocks they have taken but fail to learn from each of these mocks.
In other words, aspirants fall into the trap of mock hoarding – they keep taking mocks without analysing previous ones. As a result, they repeat the same mistakes across mocks.
Each aspirant should track:
- The questions they got wrong
- The questions they guessed correctly
- The questions that wasted too much of their time
- The questions that they should have skipped
- The topics that led to errors
- The areas where they failed to select questions wisely
The purpose of taking mocks is not to get a high score every time. It is to improve one’s score with each subsequent mock.
For instance, if one scores 65 in the first mock and 70 in the second, but the second mock involves the same errors in question selection, it reveals little about improvement.
In contrast, if an analysis of the second mock shows that one has reduced avoidable errors and improved selection skills, it indicates a higher likelihood of improvement.
Over-Indexing on Strengths and Ignoring Sectional Cutoffs
Engineers often sink 80% of their prep time into advanced quant while neglecting VARC; non-engineers run away from QA until 60 days before the exam. Aspirants tend to prepare according to what they are most comfortable with.
Some aspirants, for instance, do not practice VARC and prefer to leave it for the last few weeks in the hope that their reading skills will somehow improve in due course.
Other aspirants, especially non-engineers, try to avoid QA and only focus on it in the final month. Both practices are counterproductive.
The CAT consists of three sections: VARC, DILR and QA. And while some IIMs may not have section-specific cutoffs, others will. Even if a cutoff is not specified, there is no point in leaving any section unprepared, as one never knows what to expect from the CAT.
Our expert opinion: Do not leave out any section. If QA is your strongest suit and VARC is your weakest, it may not be worth spending extra hours to move from good to great at QA. Instead, use those extra hours to move from bad to mediocre at VARC.
Playing Guesswork in VARC
Many candidates approach VARC based on guesswork or gut feeling instead of eliminating wrong options logically. Attempting too many RC questions without clear reasoning can lead to heavy negative marking.
Top scorers focus on eliminating the wrong options by spotting common traps such as out-of-scope statements, extreme language, and partially correct answers
Our experts advise elimination as a better strategy, especially with regard to RC. Instead of asking oneself, “Which option is correct?” one should ask, “Which option is incorrect?” One should always remember that the correct option may not always be explicitly stated.
The objective should not always be to identify the correct option. Sometimes, it may be simpler to identify the incorrect option. This is particularly true in cases where two options seem similar.
An aspirant who uses intuitive guessing may select one option based on its wording, whereas an aspirant who uses elimination may notice certain inconsistencies that reveal one option as incorrect.
Falling in love with a DILR set (Ego-Driven Time Sinks)
One of the costliest mistakes during mocks is to keep attempting a particular DILR set, even when it turns out to be too challenging. Aspirants often spend 5-10 minutes trying to decipher a set only to realise later that it was one of the most difficult sets of the mock.
And instead of moving on to the next set, the aspirant continues to struggle with the first one. Such determination can be described as ego-driven, and it can often lead to poor scores.
This issue also arises in QA when an aspirant tries to solve a particularly challenging question and ignores the relatively easy ones.
Our expert opinion: Do not attempt a set/question just because it has already consumed a lot of your time. Always remember that CAT rewards smart attempts over blind perseverance.
A mock-analysis tip is to imagine whether one would have selected a set/question if one had seen it fresh at the beginning of the test. If the answer is no, the aspirant must think about their selection strategy.
Simulating mocks in ideal conditions
Aspirants who take mocks only in perfect conditions often overestimate their performance. Many aspirants take mocks in comfortable rooms with good seating and air-conditioning. Some even allow themselves breaks in between sections.
Unsurprisingly, they often perform well in such conditions. However, the actual CAT consists of a computer-based test that one must solve without breaks.
If an aspirant has only taken mocks in ideal conditions, they will find it hard to replicate their performance on the day of the exam, especially if their preparation does not involve practicing under similar conditions.
Our expert opinion: Occasionally practice sitting through full-length mocks without taking breaks and with minimal comforts to build flexibility. In addition, always adhere to the sectional time limits and avoid using one’s phone during a mock.
What These 7 Mistakes Have in Common in CAT Preparation
The 7 mistakes discussed here may seem different, but they have one thing in common: aspirants often measure preparation in terms of hours dedicated to preparation instead of performance improvement.
Just because one watches four hours of videos does not mean that one has prepared for four hours. Just because one takes 10 mocks does not mean that they have improved 10 times.
And just because one learns everything does not mean that one knows how to apply everything within the limited time allowed in the CAT.
Our expert opinion: Preparing for the CAT requires going through a cycle of learning, applying and analysing. Without analysing, one cannot improve. Without applying, analysis is pointless. And without learning, application is empty.
MBA Karo’s Take: What Should You Change First?
If one recognises oneself in some of the mistakes outlined in this article, one should not try to change everything at once. Instead, one should prioritise changes based on the impact that they can make. Here are some suggestions:
- Do not attempt mocks if one does not take them regularly
- Do not analyse mocks if one does not take them
- Do not watch videos if one does not solve questions
- Do not prepare more for one’s strong section if one does not prepare at least adequately for one’s weak section
- Do not guess in VARC if one does not learn elimination strategies
- Do not get stuck in a DILR set if one does not track the time spent on it
- Do not prepare only in ideal conditions if one does not want to experience discomfort during the CAT
The ultimate goal is to ensure that every hour spent on CAT preparation contributes to improvement.
Conclusion
If aspirants want effective yet affordable preparation for the CAT, they can consider joining MBA Karo CAT Online Coaching and developing a balanced preparation strategy.
Here, aspirants can focus on concepts, practice, mocks, analysis and improving their performance step by step. When preparing for CAT 2026, the objective should be simple: identify areas for improvement, address them, retest and repeat.
