With less than a month for the CAT 2014, many aspirants tend to commit common errors in their preparation that bears hard on them. Sai Kumar Swamy lists out some pointers that one must keep in mind before attempting this test
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2014 marks the beginning of a new format by the IIMs — which includes just two testing days and four slots. The bigger changes have been made in the format of the exam with an increase in the number of questions to 100 and test time to 170 minutes. However, the one change that works in favour of all aspirants is the removal of sectional time limits for the Quantitative and Verbal section. This means that students have to now work out an optimum strategy for themselves wherein they would give both sections enough time so as to attain the cut-offs.
With only less than a month left for CAT 2014 which is scheduled to be held from November 16 to 22, aspirants are burning the midnight oil to crack the exam. But in this hustle and bustle of preparations, most aspirants end up committing common errors that turn out to be a big loss in scoring maximum marks. Here are some suggestions for the aspirants to avoid such mistakes.
Dealing with the stress factor
Many of you must have been under a lot of stress for the past many months — the best of students crack under enormous (self-created) pressure. Therefore, it is critical that students should lighten the load on their mind if they are to do well in CAT 2014. This can be achieved by telling yourself that as far as the preparation for the exam is concerned, you’ve done whatever you could do and that you’ll now do your best in the exam. Tell yourself that ‘the end-result doesn’t matter to you’ and more importantly, believe in that. Remember that not doing well in CAT 2014 isn’t the end of the world and that there will be numerous other management entrance exams where you can prove your mettle and come out with flying colors.
Don’t over-do preparations
Aspirant should not undertake any serious preparation in the last few days before the CAT. Certainly, don’t work on any new test papers or exercises. The most you should do is light revision like brushing up on formula.
If the concept appears difficult, don’t worry. Just leave such questions out. Tell yourself that in the CAT you aren’t expected to answer all the questions or anywhere near all the questions and you’ve enough leeway in leaving out questions. Don’t try to take stock of the situation by listing down the areas that you aren’t comfortable with and feeling miserable about them.
In addition to this you should do a couple of other things 2 to 3 days before the CAT. Please do a recce of your allotted test venue so that you may locate it easily on the D-Day. Please understand that in the past, students have been prevented from taking the test because they arrived late at the exam centre. Hence, you should take maximum care to arrive at the center well in advance.
Make a good start
During the exam keep proper track of the passage of time. Make sure that you keep looking at the timer on the screen regularly throughout the test. Go through the tutorial carefully and make a note of the number of choices and the marking scheme. Once the test starts scan through the paper in the first two to three minutes by using the ‘review’ button. Depending on how the test is organised, distribute the time over various sections and adhere to the time limits that you set for yourself.
Approach easy questions first
Remember that there will be easy questions in both the sections and your focus should be on attempting all the easy questions before you decide to attempt the difficult or the more time-consuming questions. Do not worry if the test is difficult. Remember that all the other students taking the CAT that day will be taking the same test — the paper-setters have not set a specially-made difficult test exclusively for you.
Avoid blind-guessing
Avoid blind-guessing and marking answers indiscriminately. However, if you are able to eliminate two or three choices out of the four or five on a proper basis, then, it isn’t advisable to leave out such a question even if you don’t know how to solve the question. It may be worth selecting one of the other two choices as your answer. However, this should be done only after making a sincere attempt at solving the question properly.
Mark your answer correctly
As soon as you solve a question, make sure that you mark your answer on the screen (by clicking the appropriate oval / circle / box). While answering the test, don’t waste your time counting the number of questions that you’ve answered. Ensure that every second counts and that the difference between an IIM call or not is often just a single question.
The writer is the Director, T.I.M.E, Delhi.