CAT 2014: Add 10 Percentile more; know the tips

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
November 13, 2014
Every answer marked will either push your percentile up by 6-7 or pull it down by 9-10 in CAT 2014
Candidates in their frenzy to attempt more number of questions usually skip small points while reading the questions, their answer options, using navigating tools and the like

‘It takes drop by drop to fill a pitcher’ the proverb holds true equally when it comes to scoring a high percentile in CAT 2014. Every answer marked will either push your percentile up by 6-7 or pull it down by 9-10 in CAT 2014. Know the tips from Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert and mentor on CAT preparation how to add percentile bit by bit in CAT 2014 on November 16, 2014 with the same preparation level.

Candidates in their frenzy to attempt more number of questions usually skip small points while reading the questions, their answer options, using navigating tools and the like. A cautious and careful approach remembering these small things can save you from losing your good volume of percentile which you deserve but lose due to a little carelessness.

Read the question direction

Questions in CAT exams begin with the direction which explains what is expected from the test taker. For example a question on error correction contains the direction to pick out the incorrect sentence and the aspirant in his speedy reading makes it out to find the ‘correct’ sentence, definitely the answer option he would pick out will be wrong. There will not only be a loss of core 3 marks plus 1 penalty mark due to negative marking but the loss will also get multiplied in the process of score normalization which will have a net effect of around 10 percentile.
On the other hand if a care

ful reading of direction to solve the question is made, the loss of 10 percentile can be avoided. The loss is incurred not because of ignorance but because of hurrying up the process without ensuring its implications.

Choose the right kind of question

CAT 2014 has no sectional time constraint. You can choose any question from either of the two sections. You should begin with the easy ones and go up to difficult ones.When the test begins, you may begin with the preferred part in the section. If you are strong enough on Quant or DI choose the first section else switch to second section. There is no need to think more where you plan to go. Begin with the preferred one and move on.

Mark the response with better navigation tool

CAT 2014 exam pattern has allowed to mark your answer and come back for review also, if you feel so. You can very well select an answer for a multiple choice type question by clicking on the bubble placed before the 4 choices in the form of radio buttons (o). 

If you mark the answer in the relevant bubble and click on Save & Next, it will save your answer for the current question and then go to the next question. Later on if you happen to check and find that marked and saved answer is not correct, you may not be able to change your answer afterwards. A loss of 10 percentile will again trouble you, although now you know the right answer and have time to mark it. 

Use a better option which also exists in CAT 2014 test navigation tools. The option is to click on ‘Mark for Review & Next’  after marking your answer. You save your answer for the current question and also mark it for review, and then go to the next question.

If you find this is correct, you need not do anything to it. This option will get your answer to be considered for evaluation unless you modify  the status of the answer.  Please note that your answer for the current question will not be saved, if you navigate to another question directly by clicking on a question number without saving the answer to the previous question.

Avoid getting stuck

All the questions in CAT 2014 carry equal marks. If there is a simple and easy question attempt it first. Leave the time consuming one. Don’t take it as a challenge and waste time on it. If you can solve 2 questions during the time supposed to be consumed by one question, it is better to solve the 2 and score more instead of losing a percentile of 10 due to wrong answer clubbed with penalty of negative marking.

Manage time

Although sectional time constraint is gone in CAT 2014, you have to be careful about the time consumed on questions in each section. If you spend too much time on one section you may not be able to answer more number of questions in other section since you will have to clear the cut off in both the sections. So watch the timer on the computer screen to judiciously divide your time between both the section of CAT 2014.

Maintain your cool

Have confidence in yourself and maintain your cool. If the test is difficult, it is difficult for all. Give your best shot without losing your cool or becoming panicky. It the test is easy, it is easy for all. In the first case low score will be converted into high percentile and in the latter case the high scores will be converted to low percentiles. So relax!

New type of questions: Easier or difficult!

CAT 2014 practice test has brought a few new type of questions. They may or may not appear but there is no harm to understand their basics which appear easier than other earlier CAT questions. Questions on Fact, Inference, Judgement if practiced a little can be answered quickly. Few questions based on short paragraphs asking to pick out the right answer options describing the summary could also prove to be a good choice. If you are able to answer these questions accurately, your percentile would surely go up.

The shortcut tricks: Take the weapons out of armoury

You have always learned the tricks and short cuts to crack even the most difficult questions on various topics of Quant, DI, LR and Verbal Ability. It is high time that you utilized them in your favour during the CAT 2014 exam. You have less than 2 minutes per question to solve. If you can solve 70 questions with 100% accuracy in 170 minutes it could prove to be a good achievement and a high percentile would be waiting for you. 

If followed, the tips and tricks will help turn the table in your favour.

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