Let’s be honest: when most of us start CAT prep, especially Quantitative Aptitude (QA), we treat it like a race to memorise formulas. 

But here’s the twist: CAT isn’t checking your memory. It’s checking your mindset.

I learned this the hard way. I used to mug up every formula from every coaching booklet out there. I had a dedicated “Formula Diary”, colour-coded, highlighted, full of sticky notes. But when I sat down for my first few mocks, I froze.

Not because I didn’t know the formulas, but because I didn’t know when or how to use them.

That’s when I realised that formulas don’t solve questions. Patterns do.

Formulas Are Just Tools. 

Think of QA like cooking. Knowing ingredients (formulas) is useful. But if you don’t know what time to use those ingredients (the pattern), you’ll just throw stuff together and hope it tastes good.

In CAT, the same concept applies. The question won’t say: “Use the formula for relative speed here.” Instead, it will wrap the concept in a story about two trains, a platform, and a peculiar timing twist. The goal is to focus on the specific question and solve it accordingly. 

You need to recognise that it’s a speed-time-distance question, and which kind, before you even touch a formula.

This is why building logic and pattern recognition is 10 times more valuable than memorising formula sheets.

Patterns Are Just Wrapped Differently.

Here’s a fun fact: CAT repeats itself. Not question by question, but idea by idea.

For example:

• Every year, you’ll see at least one question based on unit digits or last digits in cyclic powers.
• Geometry questions often revolve around the same three to four core setups: similar triangles, circle properties, or Pythagorean theorems.
• In arithmetic, time-work questions? Almost always solvable via efficiency ratios, not those long LCM methods your school taught you.

When you train your brain to spot the underlying idea behind every question, you start to see CAT for what it is: a logical puzzle disguised as a math test.

A Logic-First Approach = Faster Thinking

When you focus on building logic, something magical happens: you stop depending on memory and start trusting understanding.

For instance, instead of memorising that “Sum of first n natural numbers is n(n+1)/2,” I asked: Can I derive it logically if I forget?

This approach also helps under pressure. Because in an exam setting, your brain won’t give you a formula on a silver platter. But if you've trained it to recognise patterns, your instincts will take over.

How to Start Pattern-Based Prep?

• Break down each question post-mock: Don’t just note down the answer. Understand the idea behind every question. Was it a ratio-based pattern? Was there a symmetry in numbers?
• Create a Pattern Journal instead of a Formula Diary. Trust me, noting down types of setups and how you cracked them will be your superpower in the last 2 months of prep.
• Challenge yourself to solve the problem without using formulas first. You’ll fail at first. But slowly, your brain begins to build intuitive shortcuts.

CAT QA is a Pattern Test.

Formulas are just the grammar. Logic is the language. And patterns? They’re the stories CAT keeps asking, over and over, just with different costumes.

So, if your coaching institute focuses on building logic over formulas, you’re on the right track. They’re not just teaching you how to solve QA questions; they’re teaching you how to think like a CAT aspirant.

And that’s how you win this game.