Last minutes exam tips from CAT Toppers

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 14, 2013
This article shares with you some last minute tips for CAT 2013, How to prepare for exam day and how to keep yourself motivated for the D day from CAT toppers of IIM Indore and NITIE Mumbai.
My preparation was limited to a small notebook which I prepared for formulas and difficult and tricky questions. Another was to look at my previous online papers and revisit the questions where I did mistake

CAT 2013, gateway to 13 IIMs and other top B schools of India is now just 2 days away.

MBAUniverse.com in its pursuit to help CAT 2013 aspirants has regularly shared tips, tricks and suggestions from previous year CAT toppers and students of IIMs, FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, NITIE Mumbai, IRMA, etc.

Our article in this series shared with you some last minute tips from CAT toppers of IIM Kashipur and IIM Raipur.

This article shares with you some last minute tips for CAT 2013 on How to prepare for exam day and how to keep yourself motivated for the D day from CAT toppers of IIM Indore and NITI Mumbai.

 

Following responses are from Mr. Asit Arunav Mohapatra of IIM Indore who scored 99 percentile in CAT. He has done B. Tech. in computer science from NIT Rourkela. He also has a 3 years experience as IT Manager in Tata Steel. Apart from IIM Indore, he received final admission offers from various top B schools including IIM Shillong, IIM Kozhikode, new IIMs, SPJIMR Mumbai, XIMB and IIFT Delhi.

 

Q. What is the advantage & disadvantage of choosing the first couple of day slot for CAT exam?
Advantages                                                                              
It has been observed for the first few years that the paper is easy on the first few days. Also the number of serious takers is less during initial days.

Disadvantages
Avoid taking the very first slots because there maybe some glitches although reports of same in the last few years have drastically decreased. You get less time to prepare in case you are under-prepared. Also expect surprises on first day as you will be the first people who will be taking the CAT

Q. What was your preparation for the D day? 
I brushed up my notes. Quickly went through formula. I Did not solve questions though. Stay calm and take proper rest before the exams. Do not exhaust yourself too much. Revise the solutions of the mock tests you have appeared.

Q: How did your motivated or relaxed yourself during CAT exam Window?
Talk to friends and parents and feel motivated. Convince yourself that this just another exam and you have previously also done well in competitive exams. Go with the perspective of enjoying the exam. Do not build any pre-conception on idea number of attempts etc.

 

Following are the responses from Mr. Darshit Mukundkumar Shah of NITIE Mumbai who scored an overall 99.78 percentile in CAT. Mr. Tanmay has excellent prior academic records and have secure above above 85% marks in his 10th and 12th examinations.

 

Q. What is the advantage and disadvantage of choosing the first couple of day slot for CAT exam?
The advantage of giving CAT on first couple of day slot is that you will be fresh when you appear for examination. You will not go in with any pre conceived notions and you will be spared from all the rumours floating around you. On the other hand giving CAT on the first couple of day slot can be tricky if CAT experiments something new or the same old thing but in a way you have never seen before. Now this may make you off-balance during the exam and hurt your overall performance.

Q. What will be your advice to Aspirants who will be giving their CAT 2013 Exams on October 16th, First day?
•    Brush up all important formulae
•    Avoid taking very difficult questions as CAT is not that tough these days
•   Do not leave one complete section e.g. probability and Permutations. At least learn the basic concepts of every     chapter
•    Try some uncommon questions like four set venn-diagram
•    For RC read the opening and closing passages well. These contain the central idea and will help t understand what the RC
•    Last and most important do not take tests 1-2 days before the d-day. Relax before the d-day and have a good sleep

Q. As a past CAT taker, did you had any first day Myth? Please Share.
I believed that on the first day only professional teachers of various coaching institutes from around the country appear for the slot. But it is not entirely true. Many students are nowadays appearing on the first day and it is not much different from any other CAT slots.

Q. What was your preparation for D day?
CAT is an aptitude exam and not one of those university exams for which you prepare in the last week or last day. So you are ready on the last day for the D day. But you have to reassure yourself about it. For that my preparation was limited to a small notebook which I prepared for formulas and difficult and tricky questions. Another was to look at my previous online papers and revisit the questions where I did mistake. So this will make sure that you do not forget any important formulas and you also do not do any silly mistakes for the final day. Apart from that take a t least 8 hours sleep and watch/read something that has always inspired and motivated you in life. That will get you through the D day.

Q. How did you motivated or relaxed yourself during CAT exam window?
With the CAT exams also starts the rumors. Consult your faculties before trusting any source online or offline. I had a group of 7 to 8 friends among which mine was very late. We all helped each other day for preparation and relaxation and we did not spend a lot of time at home rather studied at our coaching centre, so that we do not get affected by the expectations of family and neighbors. And for motivation I used to talk to my faculties also my siblings and friends who had similar past experiences.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Toppers Mantra on CAT 2013 exam.