Strategy & execution notes
for serious aspirants.
Study plans, exam strategy and lessons from the daily drill data — written by the GRADSCALE team.
Feeling Underprepared for CAT 2026? What You Can Still Do Before 29 November
If you are a few weeks from CAT and feel like your preparation is a 2 or a 3 out of 5, you are not behind. In a recent poll of CAT aspirants, most students rated their confidence at 2 or 3, a few at 4 and nobody at 5. That is what the last month feels like for almost everyone.…
IIM Calls for OBC, EWS and SC Candidates: What CAT Percentile Gets What (2026 Guide)
"I am NC-OBC. What percentile do I need for an IIM call?" is one of the most common questions after CAT, and most answers online either give only the minimum cutoff or only the General-category number. Here is both: the minimum percentile each category needs to be considered, …
CAT 2026 Last 30 Days Study Plan: Week-by-Week Strategy Till 29 November
CAT 2026 is on 29 November 2026. If you start on 30 October, you have exactly 30 days, and what you do in them matters more than what you did in the previous six months. This plan tells you what to study, how many mocks to take, how to analyse them, and what to do in the final…
Female vs Male Non-Engineer: CAT Percentile and Target Colleges for 2026
If you are a commerce, arts, science or law graduate, you already get an edge at many IIMs because of academic diversity points. If you are also a woman, you get a second set of points on top. Here is how the gap between male and female non-engineers looks at each IIM, which c…
Female Engineer vs Male Engineer: CAT Percentile and Target Colleges for 2026
Two engineers with the same CAT percentile can get very different results at the IIMs. The reason is not the exam, it is the shortlisting formula. Most IIMs add gender diversity points, and that changes the percentile a woman engineer needs for a call. Here is how much it matt…
Which Colleges Can You Target at Your CAT Percentile? Engineers vs Non-Engineers (2026 Guide)
"I scored 97 percentile. Which colleges can I get?" is the most common question after CAT, and the honest answer depends on your background. An engineer and a non-engineer with the same percentile often land in different places, because IIMs and other B-schools add points for …
CAT 2026 Admit Card: How to Download, What to Carry and What Not to Carry
The CAT 2026 admit card is expected on 4 November, and the exam is on 29 November. Most mistakes on exam day are not about the paper. They are about the admit card, the ID and what you carry into the centre. Here is how to download your admit card, what to check on it, and wha…
Your IIM Call Is Decided After CAT: 6 Mistakes in the Last 6 Weeks
CAT 2026 is about six weeks away. Most aspirants spend these weeks the wrong way: more mocks, less analysis, panic changes and no plan for what comes after the exam. Here are the six mistakes that cost the most, and what to do instead.
CAT 2026 DILR: 50-Day Preparation Strategy for 95+ Percentile
With CAT 2026 reported for 29 November, you have about 50 days from 10 October. DILR is the section where a single good decision can be worth more than an hour of practice, because the real skill is picking the right sets. This plan splits the 50 days into five phases, tells y…