CAT 2014: Next session on Nov 22, 2014; Are you ready

Columnist & Author, MBAUniverse.com

Updated on November 18, 2014

CAT 2014 on the first say was a grand success without any technical problem in either of the 2 sessions and Nov 22 is expected to maintain the grandeur

Determining the level of difficulty is a subjective thought and probably those who adopted right testing room strategy could solve more questions

CAT 2014 first day with 2 sessions is over with mixed reactions from test takers on the part of difficulty level and changed pattern of the exam. But the common reaction from all the candidates was that questions on Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning on both the sessions were bit more difficult than on Quant and Verbal Ability. CAT mentor and Verbal Ability expert Prof S K Agarwal is of the view that determining the level of difficulty is a subjective thought and probably those who adopted right testing room strategy could solve more questions based on both of these parts than those who began to take the test on random basis and without any testing room strategy.

Don’t expect technical problems on Nov 22, 2014

CAT 2014 on the first say was a grand success without any technical problem in either of the 2 sessions and Nov 22 is expected to maintain the grandeur. Number of reports from various sources predicted technical problems on the first day of CAT 2014 on Nov 16, 2014. But allaying all the fears, the first day didn’t witness any technical problems as per the reports from most of the regions across the country.

MBAUniverse.com was the first to publish the live coverage of CAT 2014 after an hour from the commencement of the test that there were no technical problems during the examination in the morning session http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/8126/CAT-2014-first-day “CAT 2014 Live coverage: First session begins on time on Nov 16, 2014: No technical glitches so far”. CAT 2014 convening IIM Indore and testing agency TCS have taken all due precautions that there shouldn’t be any technical or management problems in any of the test sessions either on Nov 16, or Nov 22, 2014. CAT 2014 has successfully been conducted on the first day and MBAUniverse.com expects the same achievement on Nov 22, 2014.

Test on time

CAT 2014 in both the sessions on November 16, 2014 began on time, continued well during the entire duration of 170 minutes and was over at the designated hour. All the candidates going to appear on November 22, 2014 in either of the 2 sessions should not worry now about anything which is unexpected.

CAT test takers should reach their test centres 2 hours before the beginning g of the test. The morning session candidates should reach by 7.30 AM and afternoon session candidates should reach by 1 PM.

Time management: Important for CAT 2014

Number of candidates on November 16, 2014 got involved oblivious to solve the questions in other section. By the time they realized this fact, they were left with very short time to solve other questions despite having the good expertise to crack them correct.

To avoid any such situation, please make sure that the liberty of switching between the sections is not misused and you are able to solve sufficient number of questions in both the sections to clear the sectional cut off also.

Prof S K Agarwal Verbal Ability expert suggests the candidates to ensure to divide the time and maximise your attempts to score more in CAT 2014 on Nov 22.

Use navigation tools judiciously

CAT 2014 has friendly navigation tools. One of them enables the candidate to view the entire test paper in one go without going to individual question. Number of candidates made use of this tool on Nov 16, 2014 and selected the preferred questions for the first attempt and cracked them as fast as possible.

Another good navigation tool in CAT 2014 is to mark the answer and then mark it for review. It will make the answer eligible for evaluation as well as will keep the option of review open for you.

No need to panic

No one solves all the questions in any CAT exam and CAT 2014 is no exception to it. If you can crack 60-70 questions from both sections, it can be rated a good attempt. You need not to stick to any particular question and later repent on your move. Prof S K Agarwal advises to be calm, choose the right type of questions that you can solve and move on.
In fact there are some easy and some difficult questions in each part of each section. Identify them as was done by number of CAT 2014 aspirants on Nov 16, 2014 and solve them in the first 2-3 attempts. Focus on more difficult questions in later attempts.

Sometimes you never know that very difficult looking question when attempted gets solved quickly. But it happens when you attempt it after solving your preferred types of questions and are looking for such difficult questions with a free mind.

Be ready with following

Carry the printed copy of your CAT 2014 Admit card with a photograph affixed on it. You are also supposed to carry one of the photo ID cards with you in original. The acceptable Photo ID cards are mentioned on your admit card. If you carry Candidate identification Affidavit you may still be asked to produce one the enumerated original Photo Id cards.

Please however do not carry any articles like Mobile phones or laptop bags as you may find it difficult to store the same at the test centre.