“When do we start preparing?” asked one the students attending my guest lecture. And my answer was, “you should have started preparing already.” That is always my answer to anyone who asks about any sort of preparation. There is no right time to start preparing, except the moment when the idea occurs to you, be it the idea of writing a competitive examination (such as the Common Admission Test, as this girl had asked), or writing an article to be sent to the newspaper. There just is no point in delaying preparation. What one can do is start softly (such as reading a good English newspaper in the case of the girl who wanted to write the CAT).