Are you taking CAT exam on Oct 16? First day, first show Myths Busted

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 4, 2013
If you have booked October 16 for your CAT exam, then you are one of the thousand Brave hearts. In this article, MBAUniverse.com busts few most common myths around CAT dates & Slots and Choosing 1st Dates.
CAT has a very large question bank and the difficulty level in CAT exam is standardized throughout the exam window and every student in each slot gets a share of difficult and some easy questions.

CAT 2013 is just round the corner. If you have booked October 16, first day for your CAT exam, you are either termed as crazy or a book worm by your fellow CAT takers. This is perhaps the most discussed question during the CAT registration process. There are several myths attached to choosing CAT dates and slots especially the first day.

This year too, in CAT 2013 nearly 10000 brave hearts will sit for their CAT exams on October 16 in two slots. In this article, MBAUniverse.com busts few most common myths around CAT dates & Slots and Choosing 1st Dates.

Anyone who suggests you that there is an advantage on choosing a particular date is only kidding himself or you since Prometric, the agency that conducts CAT exam provides each candidate a different question paper than other candidates sitting in the same hall.

Most common Myths

Myth 1:  The first couple of days are very difficult

Reality: It is probably the biggest rumor among CAT aspirants. This myth is probably circulated by students who must have faced difficult questions during their CAT exam. But the difficulty level of exam varies from student to students and also depends on ones preparation level.

CAT has a very large question bank and the difficulty level in CAT exam is standardized throughout the exam window and every student in each slot gets a share of difficult and some easy questions. An aspirant who has prepared well, revised his concepts and has been focused towards his CAT preparation will not bother about the dates or slots for his CAT exam.

IIMs have clearly mentioned on their official CAT 2013 website that, “Post-administration analysis will be conducted by credentialed psychometricians to confirm the validity of the examination scores and to ensure that every candidate was provided a fair and equal opportunity to display their knowledge.”

Myth 2: Choosing a later date give me an advantage of learning about others experiences before my exam

Reality: This is more of a disadvantage than an advantage. CAT exam has a very large question bank and hence knowing of others exam experiences will not give you an advantage in anyway. The large question bank and unique paper for each CAT aspirant makes it virtually impossible for anyone to memorize his/her question paper to help someone else.

Since, your CAT paper will never have the same question similar to earlier slots hence reading too many articles about other CAT aspirant’s experiences and the type of questions they received will further confuse you. All this will have an effect on your mind and you too will start expecting the similar patterns in your paper. This will definitely hamper your preparation schedule in the last crucial days to CAT exam. You will expect a similar CAT paper but will be surprised on the test day when things will vary.  One should be calm and focused on the exam day to think well and any rumor will give invitation to surprises and fears which will hamper your performance in those crucial 2 hours of exam.

Myth 3: Percentiles are calculated by slot and days and hence it’s better to give exam after most of the good candidates have done their exams

Reality: Another popular rumor is that CAT percentiles are calculated by slot and days and thus one must choose a slot/day where the numbers of CAT takers are low or when good students are in a less number.

First of all, you will never know who a good candidate is and secondly, you will be able to know the number of test takers only after the end of the day. As we said in the earlier myths, that each aspirant gets a unique question paper even within the same slot and same exam centre.

IIMs or Prometric have said that CAT percentiles are calculated on the basis of normalization process. Aspirants will be benchmarked against all 2Lakh candidates who appear for CAT exam across the 20 day window as a whole and not against a few thousands that appear with you on the same day or slots.

Myth 4: Faculties of coaching institute and CAT Experts take exam on 1st day. So I should avoid the competition

Reality:  It is true that faculties and teachers of coaching institute and seasoned CAT experts take their CAT exam on first day to know the change in exam pattern or any surprise elements. This helps them to advice their students.

But all these play no role in deciding your CAT percentile. Remember, it is irrelevant who is writing the exam with you on the same date or slot. Your percentile depends on your ability to give correct answers to the questions with good accuracy level.

Myth 5: I have heard that last few days are relatively easy

Reality: Difficulty level can be subjective and depends on person to person. Those who say that last few days are easy have no idea what type of questions other candidates in earlier slots have received. Moreover, CAT aspirants use the word difficulty to share their blame for low percentile and to avoid comparisons with other aspirants.

Another reason for this rumor is the fact that aspirants sitting during later half of the CAT slots read so many unnecessary articles on difficulty levels and hard questions that form a wrong perception in their mind for their own CAT question paper and are hence are disappointed when they don’t receive the same level of difficult question paper.

So, forget about any rumors that you hear about CAT days and slot preferences and approach the test as you would approach any mock test but with more seriousness and in a focused manner.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news and updates on CAT 2013 exam.