With just around 30 days remaining for CAT, which is scheduled to begin from October 16, it’s time you shape your last-month preparation strategy for this prestigious MBA exam.
So, where should be your focus in last one month of preparation? What factors are critical towards scoring high percentile in CAT? How should you make best out of last 30 days of your CAT preparation?
Experts suggest that your preparation in last one month to CAT is very crucial which can make or break your dream for your desired B-schools. Your efforts in last 30 days hold the key to success towards your dream run for top B-schools like IIM, FMS-Delhi, SPJIMR, JBIMS, IRMA, IMT Ghaziabad, MDI Gurgaon amongst others.
Build on your strengths and concepts:
By this time of your CAT preparation, you must have been thorough with basic concepts in all the sections of CAT exam. Now it’s time to build on your strong areas and apply your concepts towards solving more and more questions.
CAT Toppers and Experts suggest that you should not pick many new areas of preparation now. Your focus should be on revisiting your basic concepts and practicing more and more questions based on the same.
Arks Srinivas, CEO, VistaMind Education and former director, T.I.M.E believes that solving questions on the concepts learnt so far will boost your confidence. “Confidence builds up if you find that you can solve almost every problem that you see on a particular area,” he says.
According to the experts, polishing more of your strong areas and picking a few select weak areas will increase possibilities of better accuracy on the number of attempts made by you in the mock and actual test. “An equal command on all areas may not be necessary as you can always reduce the number of attempts and instead go for more accuracy in your strong sections,” says another CAT expert.
Give it a best shot in last one month:
The last 30 days of concentrated effort may bring you in the club of high percentilers and also bring you admission opportunities to top B-schools. Since revising the concepts and applying the same again and again while solving questions or taking mock require a great amount of effort as well as time, you should schedule your last month in such a way that CAT remains on top over all other priorities.
“It will all depend on the rigor that you put during the last one month. You need to sharpen your focus and devote as much time as possible on practice and mocks,” says a CAT topper, adding, “you must make out most of the last 30 days as it is bound to reflect in your CAT percentile.”
More amount of time you put for practice, the better are the possibilities for your CAT percentile. Rajesh Balasubramanian, an IIT, IIM alumnus, and CAT Trainer, says “While taking CAT, one has to have intensity, and a certain stamina level to maintain this intensity over 140 minutes. This also comes with a lot of practice.”
Mr Srinivas also suggests Aspirants to take computer based mock tests during last one month as it will make them more familiar with the actual testing environment. “Since CAT is a Computer Based Exam, it is useful to get comfortable with the mouse (clicks!). Reading on a Computer instead of on a paper should become a habit,” he says.
Keep yourself focused & motivated:
While continuous preparation might have brought down your energy level for preparation, you need to keep yourself focused and motivated in last one month.
Arks Srinivas suggest that you should not worry about scoring high in CAT exam as you need to score only 50 per cent to get a percentile around 99. “To get a 90%ile in CAT 2012, students needed to get around just 35% marks net. Even at the 98.5%ile level, the requirement was less than 50% of the total marks. This shows that diligent preparation can get one into the IIMs and other top B Schools much more easily than one may anticipate or expect,” he says.
You also must read success tips shared by CAT toppers to keep yourself motivated towards the CAT exam. The experiences shared by CAT toppers bring inspirations and re-energise you towards your CAT preparation.
MBAUniverse.com regularly publishes CAT toppers’ mantra. You can click the links below to read Toppers’ Mantra published over last few days on MBAUniverse.com.
Toppers Mantra: What made 9 IIMs, FMS Delhi to select 99.97 %iler Debjit Nag?
Right Mock-strategy is key to cracking CAT, says 99.97 percentiler Arshpreet Singh
Toppers Mantra: Know success strategies of 99.35%iler Sumedha Deogharia
Find balance between Speed and Accuracy:
As you enter into the last lap of your preparation during last one month, you should concentrate equally on speed and accuracy.
“I believe that speed and accuracy matter the most in the CAT examination. Taking mocks will help one to identify weak and strong areas,” says Rohit Anand Garg who cracked CAT 2012 with an overall 99.16 percentile and secured admission to an IIM. He adds that ‘the only mantra to strike the right balance between speed and accuracy is ‘practice’. I would advise to solve a large number of problems with various levels of difficulty.”
Mr Debjit Nag, who scored 99.97 %ile in CAT 2012 and also secured final admission offers from 10 top B-schools including 9 IIMs and FMS Delhi, advise students to focus more on accuracy as CAT approaches nearer. “One must focus on accuracy on the D-Day. Lack of accuracy is penalized heavily in CAT. Maintain your composure and you will definitely do well,” says the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad student.
You should also keep a check on your sectional percentile as this may be part of the selection criteria of some of your desired B-school. “As most of the top B-schools in the country have individual sectional cut-offs, it is important to score high in each of the sections,” says Rohit Anand Garg.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more prep features on CAT and other MBA Exams in India.
