How to get the best out of CAT 2014 exam changes, tips for CAT 2014 aspirants

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
July 30, 2014
Expert on CAT preparation advises the aspirants to shed all fear and remain determined to emerge a winner in CAT 2014. This article suggests steps to CAT 2014 aspirants to turn CAT 2014 exam changes in their favor as a boon.
No change in syllabus is expected although twist in question types may be present in CAT 2014

CAT 2014 aspirants have been raising queries on various implications and how to cope with the officially/unofficially announced proposed changes and crack CAT 2014. The notification and other news published in newspapers and MBA portals about these changes have placed the aspirants in a fix and as such they find it difficult whether to continue the same preparation strategy or change the same.

 

If the change in preparation strategy is required what it should be so that it could lead to crack the test with high percentile. With the announcement of big changes in CAT 2014, aspirants are expecting more surprises on examination and scoring pattern in CAT 2014. Prof S K Agarwal, expert on CAT preparation advises the aspirants to shed all fear and remain determined to emerge a winner in CAT 2014 since no change in syllabus is expected although twist in question types may be present in CAT 2014. He suggests following steps to CAT 2014 aspirants to turn this announcement of changes in their favor as a boon and make the best out of these changes.

 

No more cramming of Head when to schedule

 

CAT used to begin in the middle of October every year with a 16-21 days test window but CAT 2014 will be over in 4 sessions on 2 dates-Novembers 16 and November 22.

 

CAT aspirants who used to schedule their test early or late always had to calculate what level of difficulty they would face, made number of combinations in consultation with their peers and mentors when to schedule CAT. This headache is gone now and everything is proposed to be decided and allotted by the test conducting agency TCS.

 

Aspirants in fact should feel relieved with this change.  All other top rated MBA entrance tests in India like XAT,CMAT,MAH-CET and other top level entrance tests and competitive examinations like JEE, AIPMT, UPSC-Civil services are mostly conducted on the scheduled dates in one go  with no lingering-on process. The system of short period is expected to prove more successful since controversies like increase/decrease in level of difficulty, technical glitches, lack of transparency in calculation of percentile after normalization of scores for different dates are no longer expected in CAT 2014 and the aspirants may feel good on these counts.

 

One month more to prepare

 

CAT 2014 has provided a good opportunity of one more month to prepare and practice. The opportunity is more important in view of the proposed changes. While the candidates are advised to continue with the same preparation strategy deploying hard work, the additional one month should be solely devoted to get expertise in preparing and practicing the relevant type of questions.

 

Don’t expect technical glitches

 

TCS has the reputation of conducting top level examinations like GATE, JEE, AIPMT, JIPMER with almost no technical glitches.  They are expected to prove themselves a better testing agency than Prometric.  So the aspirants may feel a little relaxed on this issue also, as in a few testing sites of Prometric candidates used to sit till late afternoon due to technical glitches.

 

TCS as testing partner to IIMs for CAT 2014 has selected 99 test cities with 354 testing sites and have devised the strategy so that there are no technical problems during the testing window.

 

Keep a check for LIVE Updates on CAT 2014 Exam, Click here: CAT 2014 Exam Notification Details

 

 

 

The best use of Practice tests

 

 Although no tutorial just before the beginning of the test will be available to the aspirants on the testing day, the practice session with more relevant questions will be available continuously during the three and a half months of August, September, October and till the CAT in November 2014 is over.

 

It is advisable to go for CAT 2014 practice test at least once a day regularly and see how many more questions you may solve on the similar pattern. Earlier CAT practice tests had very few questions but you may have more questions on examination pattern in practice tests on CAT 2014.

 

Mocks; wait a few days

 

No doubt your all time companion Mocks will be of great help in learning and preparing for CAT.  But it is advisable to wait a few days and then go for full length Mocks. In a few days you will have genuinely prepared mocks as per new CAT 2014 pattern. They will then be offered by most of the coaching centers off-line as well as on-line as per the revised structure of CAT 2014.

 

Candidates who had already started taking mocks on past CAT pattern now need the updated mocks and should go for revised ones. In all probability, various coaching institutes may revise the prices of Mocks upwards in the wake of higher number of questions and composition.  It will be better to enquire before subscribing the same. 

 

You may find free mocks on various sites and portals including MBAUniverse.com. Nothing restrains you from attempting them and more of them will be available in due course.

 

 

 

Expect More RCs and questions on Verbal Ability

 

Aspirants should expect more RC passages in CAT 2014.  Either there will be an increase in number of Reading Comprehension passages from 3 to 4 or 5 followed by same number of questions or the length of RC passages will be increased from 900 words to 1200-1400 words followed by more number of questions. However, level of difficulty is expected to remain moderate in CAT 2014.

 

Questions on Verbal ability may be composed of more on Error corrections, Vocabulary especially fill in the blanks type. Different types of questions on jumbled paragraphs, Last sentence of paragraph, picking the out of context, are expected.  Dr Rohit Kapoor, Convener CAT 2014 has already given the hint that CAT 2014 will have a different exam pattern with no change in syllabus.

 

 

 

Moving from one section to other is the bounty

 

Most of the CAT takers are either very good in Quant & DI or in Verbal.  The problem till CAT 2013 was that they were not allowed to switch to other section before completion of 70 minutes allotted to first section. Similarly, once the test taker begins to solve the Verbal Ability questions he was not allowed to come back to Quant section. This restriction was applicable in CAT only, other MBA entrance tests allowed such movement.

 

CAT 2014 will permit this movement of switching to another section during the overall test duration of 170 minutes. Aspirants should make the best use of this facility and solve all the doable questions from both the sections in first attempt.  They should not only improve their attempts but also the level of accuracy.

 

To achieve this, time management during preparation is a must.  While solving mocks please keep the clock with you and try to solve as many questions as possible in one go.

 

To know all about the changes in CAT 2014 exam, Click on our below updated stories:

 

CAT 2014 exam updates: 10 Big changes in this year CAT 2014 exam

 

Impact of changes in CAT 2014 Registration process; how to register for CAT 2014 exam

 

CAT 2014 Exam Date: CAT exam will be held on two Days, Random selection of CAT test Centre

 

Normalization issue was not behind CAT 2014 changes: Dr. Rohit Kapoor, CAT 2014 Convener

 

 

 

Keep a check for LIVE Updates on CAT 2014 Exam, Click here: CAT 2014 Exam Notification Details

 

 

 

For any other query or help regarding CAT 2014 Registration, feel free to ask on
MBA Exam Helpline; Ask all your Exam doubts

 

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2014 exam