Tips to Crack the CAT

Come November and students are frenzied lot! After days or even months of constant burning of the light lamp, it is time to fight the ferocious CAT. Anxiety pangs are a frequent phenomenon. But is CAT really as tough as it is perceived to be? Many a times the not – so - intelligent lot of students are able to crack CAT while the consistent high scorers come out of the examination hall broken – hearted. The truth lies in the unseen. Unlike other entrance test, like JEE for engineering or medical entrance test, CAT does not test your mettle in math formulae or your prowess in Queen’s English. Instead, Common Admission Test or CAT is essentially a race against time – a race which you can win.

Given below are a few tips which can turn you into Formula 1 racer for CAT! Read them carefully and imbibe them in you right now so that you are equipped well when the D-day arrives!!

Analytical skill: Being an application – driven test, CAT would test your analytical skills. It is mandatory to develop strong problem – solving skill rather than memorising the age – old math formulae and grasping the theories. So, after going through Study Lessons and solved examples, start solving the Practice Tests. Follow the 48-hours Principle which means do not look for solutions till 48 hrs. You are free to seek outside help during this time. If you are still confused then only see the answer. The most common mistake students can make is to look at the solved answer as soon as they realise that they are unable to work out a question. This hampers the building up of their analytical power. It is necessary the building up of their analytical power. It is necessary that you strain your brain to solve a question. As a result you would be able to understand the concept in – depth as well as develop sound problem solving skills.

Think long – term: Our brain functions like a computer’s memory. Whatever we learn either gets stored in the short – term or long term memory. One critical mistake which most students make is that whatever they learn gets stored in their short – term memory. This is why students forget about the concepts and principals which they have learned before the exam. To tackle this problem, follow the ‘Times 3 principal’. According to this principal, practice every concept/question three times. First is an attempt, then a solution and finally the last one makes for revision. Revision is an integral part of any preparation. You must not take this lightly.

Start speeding up: As mentioned earlier, speed is a major factor while appearing for CAT. You will not be able to suddenly start solving questions quickly at the time of the examination. Once you are through with the entire course, start giving mock entrance tests. The higher the number of tests. The better it is. However, do not err by thinking that this solely would increase your speed. Rather, you need to analyse every mock examination that you take to ensure that you don’t end up making the same mistakes again. Keep a note of time that you take to solve the paper and the marks that you attain in every mock test. A better option would be to track your rank at a national level. Remember one thing, Never fell in love with a question!! So if you can’t solve a question, leave it ASAP. Also, you all have heard that you should never throw good money after bad. This thing is applicable here also. Even if you have spent 2-3 minutes over a question, do not hesitate to leave it, the question might take another 6-7 minutes or more. So do not worry about wasted 3 minutes, save the next 7 minutes which you are going to waste on this question.

Work smart: Good decision – making skills go a long way in helping you crack CAT. It would be a better idea to deal with simple and less time – consuming questions. Once you have attempted the easier ones, your nervousness would take a back seat and you would be geared up to handle the difficult questions. This in turn would also increase the probability of getting the right answers for such problems. So always start with a section in which you are most comfortable. Get 7-8 right questions in your kitty and you are on the right path to tackle the difficult questions/sections. So is the paper contain questions with different maximum marks, it is better to attempt questions with lower marks first as they logically should be easier. Remember, Nothing matters more than your confidence during those 2-3 hrs
Practice Online: With the CAT exam going online, the test pattern might change considerably. Hopefully, it would follow the structure of GMAT and GRE entrance examinations. It is thus critical to familiarize yourself with the computer and internet as the test is conducted online. So take a lot of mock tests online so that you are comfortable in using online testing softwares.

Happy Cracking CAT !!
Taken from book Asian’s Crack the CAT
By Vivek Gupta
Batch of 2004-IIM Bangalore

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Online Preparation: Key to Success in CAT

Online Preparation: Key to Success in CAT

Online preparation is vital in the preparation for CAT. If not the entire course, taking lot of practice tests online is a must if you aspire to crack the CAT. There are various reasons for this

 Put you under real test conditions—A stress-free mind looks at the CAT examination paper from different eyes. However when a student runs his eyes through the question paper sitting inside the examination hall, his perspective is altogether different since his performance on that day is an index of his future. To him, the question paper of CAT seems nothing less than a nightmare since his scores in that entrance examination would decide his admission in a business school. Taking online tests would put him under real test conditions, and repeated practice would make him used to the entire test process. This shapes the student into a confident candidate sitting for the exam. No anxiety, no fatigue!

 Give you required practice of solving bulk questions in one go—Unless you’re put under real exam conditions, it’s human behavior to take frequent breaks & attempt solving a question paper in multiple installments. Online mock tests help you gain enough practice to solve the entire paper in a single attempt, which eventually prepares you to the competence of solving questions in bulk & crack the exam.

 Use elimination method to solve objective questions—CAT examination is objective like most other competitive examinations. Since you score according to the number of right answers you make, it’s not like a regular school or college exam. So, you need to be smart in your problem-solving approach, which would eventually help you gain a competitive edge over the rest. Elimination method can help you score better as you can eliminate 4 (least likely to be right) options out of 5. Hence, this methodical approach increases your chances of scoring better manifold. Then, it’s not necessary for you to attempt 100% questions. You can leave some difficult questions & not devote more than required time to any one question particularly.

 Get maximized percentile—CAT exam is driven by percentile score. The relative grading plays a crucial role in deciding your fate as far as getting admission into a good business school is concerned. You essentially need to have an edge over 99% of the test takers. That can only be possible when you benchmark yourself continuosly with other candidates. The larger the pool of people, better is your estimates of performance. So taking test which is taken by other thousands of students help you to fine tune your preparation as well as test taking strategy, So, practice as many tests as possible online.

After having read this write-up, you must have realized the great significance of online preparation for CAT entrance examination. So, follow this saying stringently—“Practice as if you’re the worst, perform as if you’re the best.”