Ten days left. You want to do everything at once: one more mock, one more chapter, one more YouTube "final strategy" video. Your mind keeps jumping between panic and a strange calm, and your sleep has started to shift.
The last ten days rarely add new skills. They decide whether you show up with the skills you already have. Students lose marks in this window by learning half a chapter, taking a mock every day, or sleeping at 3 a.m. and writing CAT at 8:30. The plan below keeps you sharp, rested and on rhythm.
Quick answer: In the last 10 days before CAT, take at most two to three full mocks at your exam slot time, and stop full mocks four days before the exam. Solve easy and medium questions for 3 to 4 hours a day, revise your formula sheet and error log daily, learn nothing new, and fix your sleep to match your slot.
What should you do in the last 10 days?
Four jobs, every day:
- Keep solving. Three to four hours of easy and medium questions keeps your speed up. Rereading formulas without solving is not revision.
- Revise your own notes. Formula sheet, shortcut sheet and error log. Nothing from outside.
- Hold the rhythm. Mocks and practice at your exact slot time.
- Protect sleep. Same bedtime and wake time every day, matched to your slot.
A day-by-day plan for the last 10 days
| Days to CAT | Main task | Also |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Full mock at slot time | Analysis the same evening |
| 9 | Fix the top 3 errors from the mock | 2 RCs, 1 DILR set |
| 8 | Full mock at slot time | Analysis |
| 7 | Light practice: easy and medium sets | Formula sheet |
| 6 | Last full mock (or last CAT paper, timed) | Analysis |
| 5 | Analysis repair, easy questions only | Error log once |
| 4 | Formula sheet, shortcut sheet, error log | 1 RC, 1 set, 10 QA |
| 3 | Light solving at slot time | Check centre route |
| 2 | Light solving: 1 RC, 1 set, 10 QA | Print admit card |
| 1 (day before) | Formula sheet and error log, once | No mock, no new topic, sleep 7 to 8 hours |
Source: final-days plan in Crack CAT in 60 Days.
How many mocks in the last 10 days?
Two or three, no more. Each one needs a proper analysis, and you need the days in between to repair what the mock showed you. A mock every day in the last week tires you out and fills your head with fresh mistakes you won't have time to fix.
Stop full mocks about four days before CAT. From then on, short sets keep you sharp without draining you.
What to skip
- New chapters. If you haven't covered a topic by now, leave it. A half-learned chapter costs more than it gives.
- Very hard questions. You won't attempt them in the exam either. Practise the questions you will solve on the day.
- New strategy videos. Your section plans are fixed. Changing them now creates confusion.
- Score comparisons. Your friend's mock percentile tells you nothing about your CAT.
- Long study nights. Late nights break your sleep rhythm for the exam slot.
How to revise in the last week
Your formula sheet should fit on two or three pages. Read it once a day. Then solve ten questions from that sheet's topics, because recognising a formula and using it under pressure are different skills.
Your error log is the most valuable document you own right now. Every line in it is a mistake you have already made. Go through it once a day and re-solve any question you still get wrong.
For VARC, keep reading: one or two RCs a day at your normal pace. Don't experiment with new reading techniques.
The day before CAT
Keep the day calm and boring. That's the goal.
- Read your formula sheet and error log once.
- Solve one RC, one DILR set and ten easy QA questions to stay warm.
- No mock. No new topic. No late-night "last look" at a hard chapter.
- Print your admit card and keep your original photo ID with it.
- Check the route to your centre and the reporting time printed on the admit card.
- Eat normal food. Sleep seven to eight hours.
Your exam-day plan for each section
You have practised these in mocks. On the day, follow them without changing anything.
| Section | 0 to 15 min | 15 to 30 min | 30 to 40 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| VARC | 2 RCs | 2 RCs | VA questions, TITA first |
| DILR | Scan all sets, solve the best one | Second set | Third set or safe TITAs |
| QA | First pass: sure-shot questions | Second pass: medium ones | Leftover TITAs, no blind MCQs |
A few rules for the day:
- Spend the first minute of each section scanning. Don't start with question 1 by default.
- Stuck for two minutes? Mark it and move.
- TITA has no negative marking. Attempt it if you have a reasonable answer.
- When a section ends, forget it. You can't change it, and the next section starts fresh.
- Use the last two minutes of each section to check marked answers.
What to do if a section goes badly
It will feel worse than it is. A hard section is hard for every student in your slot, and the IIMs normalise scores across slots. Your percentile depends on how you do relative to others, and others are struggling too.
Close the section in your head the moment the timer ends. Take one slow breath before the next section loads. Most students who "ruined" one section and stayed calm still got a good overall percentile.
After CAT
You will want to calculate your score from the response sheet and the answer key, and you should. Then move on fast. XAT is usually held in early January, about five weeks after CAT, and SNAP and NMAT run in December. Your CAT preparation carries over to all of them. The XAT after CAT guide shows how to use the weeks in between.
Frequently asked questions
Should I take a mock the day before CAT?
No. A mock the day before tires you and can shake your confidence for no gain. Do light practice instead: one RC, one DILR set and ten easy Quant questions, then revise your formula sheet and rest.
How many hours should I study in the last week before CAT?
About 3 to 4 hours of focused solving a day is enough, plus revision of your formula sheet and error log. Long hours at this stage mostly add fatigue. Keep your sleep schedule fixed.
Is it okay to learn a new topic in the last 10 days?
Avoid it. A topic learned in a rush is easy to get wrong under exam pressure, and wrong MCQs cost marks. Use the time to make your strong topics reliable.
What should I do if I panic during the CAT exam?
Stop for ten seconds and breathe slowly. Then go to the easiest question you can see in the current section and solve it. Starting with an easy win calms most students down quickly.
What should I carry to the CAT exam centre?
Carry your printed admit card and an original government photo ID. Follow the exact list and reporting time printed on your admit card, because the IIMs publish the rules for each year.
Sources
- Final 15 and 7 days plan, day-before checklist and section attack plan: Crack CAT in 60 Days by The 99 Percentiler
- Pattern, TITA marking and normalisation: iimcat.ac.in (official)
- Exam timing of XAT, SNAP and NMAT: xatonline.in, snaptest.org, mba.com (official sites)
Related reading: How many CAT mocks to take · CAT DILR set selection · CAT is over, XAT is next · Free MBA exam calendar 2026–27 · How to crack 99+ percentile in CAT
The CAT playbook has the final-days pages, the formula sheet and an exam-day checklist you can print.
