CAT 2015: 10 Mistakes to avoid in testing room; next 9 days prep strategy shared by topper

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
November 20, 2015
For the benefit of the CAT 2015 aspirants how to avoid the key mistakes that CAT takers make in testing room and what should be the next 9 days preparation schedule is shared exclusively on MBAUniverse.com platform by Meghna Thapliyal
Be careful while doing the calculations, don't make any silly mistakes and move step wise Meghna Thapliyal CAT topper

The strategy for the benefit of the CAT 2015 aspirants how to avoid the key mistakes that CAT takers make in testing room and what should be the next 9 days preparation schedule before CAT 2015 happens on Sunday November 29, 2015 is shared exclusively on MBAUniverse.com platform by Meghna Thapliyal CAT topper with 99.01 percentile and a Student at IIM Shillong.

Keep sectional balance intact
You may have expertise in one or other section say your quant may be stronger than VARC and DILR may be also of moderate level, you may not fee so confident for VARC but according to Meghna you have to keep a balance among all the 3 sections. Although she does not advise you to try and cover the entire weak section, the suggestion is to analyse your mock test results and select question types in which you have been doing reasonably well and focus on them.

Don’t forget time management
Each of the 3 sections has a time limit of 60 minutes for 34 or 32 questions as may be the case. So the first thing the CAT 2015 taker should do is to scan the section before beginning to answer the questions in the relevant section. Then focus on such questions in the first attempt which you feel very confident about.

 It is not advisable according to her to begin from the first question without skimming through the entire section as it is fraught with the risk of missing many doable questions which may be placed towards the end of the section. It is very much possible that the time of 60 minutes may be over even before you reach the latter part of the section.  It has happened to many CAT takers earlier and it can happen again in CAT 2015. So be careful.

The time you should spend on a question depends upon your familiarity with the topic and the level of difficulty. This is the reason why it is usually advised that you scan the paper in the beginning and start with the questions you feel confident about.

Use highlighter for Reading Comprehension
Sharing the testing room strategy to crack questions on Reading Comprehension with 100% accuracy, Meghna suggests to use the highlighter to mark the important points as you go through reading the passage. It could also be a good idea to read the questions before reading the passage so that you become more focused on the specific parts and sentences in the passages containing the answers. But the most important is to keep a clear head and not get too anxious or nervous.

Managing 3 sections in new pattern
So far CAT used to have 2 sections but in CAT 2015 there will be 3 sections. It may pose difficulty in managing the 3 sections as all the 3 would require high percentile and all the 3 sections are independent of one another. Earlier with the sipport of DI and LR, the Quant and Verbal were comparatively easy.

Meghna advises not to get panicky as CAT 2015 is only different packaging of CAT. Since all the CAT 2015 aspirants must have given mocks based on the new pattern, there is no need to get intimidated. As the sections have been assigned fixed time limits, just focus on attempting the questions you feel confident about in the prescribed time.

No Bias before exam
There is no need to get biased and fix beforehand the number of questions that you propose to solve in CAT 2015 on November 29, 2015. Instead keep an unbiased mind and go to the testing room with an open mind. The accuracy and percentile are the bye products of your judicious attempts. In view of Meghna try and do your best. Stay calm and confident during the exam and attempt questions starting with the ones you feel most confident about

Be systematic in DILR section
The newly added DILR section in CAT 2015, according to Meghna requires you to be systematic in your approach. Keep calm and take your time in the beginning for understanding the set. Be careful while doing the calculations, don't make any silly mistakes and move step wise. Most importantly, believe in yourself and stay confident.

Avoid Guess work
Guessing the answer in the testing room without being confident is not recommended by Meghna. However sometimes intuition guides well, and if you are reasonably sure about one option over the other, go for it even if you are not 100% confident. But avoid it is in a 50-50 situation. Try attempting a few mocks and based on the result and decide if you should take up this approach

Next 9 days Prep schedule
For next 9 days, Meghna believes that time allocation to prepare on various topics should be done in accordance to your strengths and weaknesses. After, all the mocks you have given you must have a fair amount of idea about how prepared you are with respect to each section. So the best would be to choose topics you are reasonably good at but where there is still enough room for improvement. Don't spend too much time on topics you have already prepared well or haven't prepared at all.

Analyse your mock results and plan your preparation accordingly. CAT is full of surprises and you never know how things might change on the D-Day. Just be confident and try to remain calm and composed during the exam.

No frequent mocks now
Meghna suggests not to go for too many mocks at this stage but do try and analyse the results of the ones you have already given, if you haven't by now.

Don’t predetermine the difficulty level
Meghna wouldn’t suggest you to predetermine the difficulty level before you evaluate your preparation level.  At the end of the day, how easy or difficult you might find a question depends on how prepared you are on that topic. In the exam, many of the questions would be similar to those you must have come across and solved during the course of your preparation. Try those familiar questions first they would appear easy ones than the others which you have not practiced.

No need for last minute revision
Candidates who have their CAT 2015 in the afternoon time slot, have approached whether they should go for last minute revision on the D-day. Meghna does not back this idea much. In her view, last minute revisions do not really help much but if you feel like it, you can keep a list of formulas with you. In that case, if because of all last minute anxiety which sometimes takes over and makes you feel that you have forgotten stuff, you can look at it and reassure yourself.

Meghna suggests not to worry even if you are feeling nervous before the exam as it happens to everyone. But at the same time it is important not to let that nervousness take over and adversely affect your performance. At this stage, do not start anything new. Revise your notes. You must have analysed your mock test results, based on that choose topics in which you can improve with a little effort and above all have faith in yourself .

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