CAT 2015 notification released on July 26, 2015 with the launch of website as well has many firsts and more changes in structure and content in the exam pattern. Not only this CAT 2015 has brought with it number of changes in the weightage, duration of the exam and its scoring pattern.
Common Admission Test (CAT) the gateway to IIMs and other top rated B schools in India has the legacy of surprises and changes every year and with IIM Ahmedabad convening CAT 2015, the changes are still more. However, according to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2015 preparation, if you concentrate on following key tips and analyse them to improve further, you could emerge a winner in CAT 2015.
3 sections in CAT 2015: divide and prepare
Instead of 2 sections during the past CAT years, the CAT 2015 will have 3 sections divided on Quant; DILR and VRC. Although total number of questions will be 100 but now there is no scope of switching between the sections as each of the 3 sections will have individual time limit of 60 minutes to solve.
Quant will have 34 questions; DILR will have 32 questions and Verbal and RC (VRC) will have 34 questions.
No-Sub part; no guess work
With the increase in sections from 2 to 3 and introduction of non-MCQs, the CAT 2015 aspirants now sincerely need to put in extra effort to ace each section and cannot depend on the sub-parts of any section as they have none nor could there be any guess work for non-MCQs. The Quant is de-linked from Data Interpretation and Verbal is separated from Logical Reasoning. Both the sub parts- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning will form a new section DILR in CAT 2015 with 32 questions based on these 2 topics.
The Non-MCQs will be coming to you without any answer option, so the guess work is over. Now you will have to solve and type the answers on computer screen for Non-MCQs.
You need to score high percentile in each of the 3 sections in CAT 2015 now instead of 2 sections earlier. Those who are good in DI but weak in Quant may not expect to make good the lost score from other sub section. For example low score in Verbal cannot be compensated by Logical Reasoning nor the low score in Quant can be compensated by DI. It is therefore needed to gain expertise and score high in all the sections. Too much deviation in percentile scores among 3 sections may not get you shortlisted for the final admission round.
More practice on DILR needed
Time bound practice sessions and mocks will help you more says Prof S K Agarwal Verbal Ability expert and mentor on CAT 2015 preparation. Please remember if you can attempt 16-20 correct in each of the 3 sections you can expect a very high percentile. So attempt more mocks and analyze your errors to crack the future exam with high accuracy.
The DI-LR section can give your mind a good twist. So better to prepare and practice the questions on it right from now. Understand the logics behind the problem, solve them in fun. It will keep you motivated and you will be able to solve them faster than before. Your time is most important to manage. So beware of wasting it.
Strong Basics required
Whether these are the concepts and practice questions on Quant, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension or Logical reasoning, if you have strong basics, you can crack the questions with higher level of accuracy else it will be a waste of time to attempt it.
It is therefore required to focus on strengthening your basics to improve your end result. While most of the Quant questions are formula and calculation based, the questions in Verbal Ability section are based on Parts of speech, Tenses, sequence of sentences, understanding the crux of a paragraph and good knowledge of contextual vocabulary usage. It is still not late to plan and begin the preparation for CAT 2015 on these lines and give your best shot in the exam.
Identify your strong and weak areas; improve them
Aspirants usually love to go on working and practicing questions on the topics which are their strongholds and in the process, the topics which are no less important and need more improvement are left behind in their preparation journey.
Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability suggests that aspirants should identify their weak topics and should focus on improving them as there are still 100 days to go for CAT 2015. The time if utilized in a disciplined manner can bring the desired results else even 365 days are not sufficient.
Segmented improvement; a good idea
All of us have weak areas among strong ones and strong areas among weak areas while preparing various topics for CAT 2015. In the next 100 days to CAT 2015 if you can improve your weak areas without wasting the time on such topics which are beyond your reach, it will be a good achievement. Please also do not forget to continue further strengthening your strong areas as they are your forts that will protect you from losing your percentile in CAT 2015 exam.
Planning your study schedule may not be a difficult task if you are focused and determined to crack CAT 2015. Whether it’s quant, verbal, DI or LR divide the entire course in topics and sub topics. Even if one topic takes a week to cover, a sub topic may be completed in a day or two after devoting an hour a day.
All the aspirants have matured mind and almost all the relevant topics they have already studied at one or other level, so it should not be a problem to refresh the concept and move on to practice sessions on the topics. Try to come out of your comfort zones and plan a little tough study schedule. After all you will be doing it for your own future.
Focus your studies with the intense desire to get the utmost clarity especially on the topics, you know are the tricky. For example, aspirants find it difficult to get to core of the RC passage, fail to catch the dangling modifiers in error correction in the sentences etc. – pick out the topic, if you can do it on your own, else find out the mentor who will help you build the concepts and go for more and more practice. The key words are speed and accuracy. Bring out the strength from your reservoir and attempt to hit the goal.
Plan well to cover Syllabus
Unless you know well about the exam you are going to appear, you may not be able to excel in it and may end up beating about the bush preparing with some wrong stuff. When you first know about CAT, you are not even aware what are its constituents, how to prepare, what to study or does it have any well defined syllabus, where to begin and number of other FAQs hover your mind. Sometimes you do not even find anyone to answer your queries. When you begin your self-study, it appears that you have entered an unorganized thick and large forest where it is difficult to locate which way to go.
This is the juncture wherefrom you get a crying need for help. Please remember CAT has no fixed Syllabus and anything under the Sun can be the topic of question in CAT 2015. You may not get any Vocabulary based question in one year and in the next year you may get number of them. So, first of all get to know the topics that usually appear in CAT and what are the changes that have gradually occurred in the exam pattern year after year. Once you get to understand the topics that appear in CAT, you will need a tough and well planned study schedule. You may also need the help of some one, well experienced to train you in CAT 2015 preparation. So keep that option open also.
CAT 2015 will have 1 day testing window divided in 2 sessions on November 29, 2015. Since sectional percentile is an important part to get shortlisted for final admission round, candidates will have to focus on syllabus topics of each and every section without omitting substantial number of questions on sub parts in any section as they have been doing so far.
Accordingly, your study plan shall have to be re-devised to score high in all the sections individually. Hence please do not leave anything to chance and understand the syllabus topics on each part of all the 3 sections, further divide them and prepare one by one practicing and making them your strong holds.
Practice also may not do much good unless and until you are very clear about the concepts. A balancing act is required to accelerate the preparation journey which is considered tough till it is complete.
Make sure you have got the right lesson and have understood it well. Any misconception or misunderstanding of the same will land you in trouble. Every mistake will teach you for better. Recurring mistakes must be avoided. Understand the concepts, practice them as many times as possible. The fundamental behind is to have more expertise. More you practice to solve the questions based on the understood concepts, more confident and accurate will be your approach.
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