Lot depends on your CAT 2016 preparation strategy during next 50 days and with Dussehra & Muharram holidays in your hand, CAT toppers advise you to take maximum benefit out of them.
We share below the preparation tips shared by CAT 2015 toppers who are studying in top IIMs, FMS, SPJIMR, NITIE among others. If you follow the tips and suggestions shared by CAT toppers even from now on, it can prove to be a good tool to improve your percentile score to a good extent in CAT 2016.
In fact, instead of going out and dining out during these holidays, it will be better to utilize them on strengthening your weak areas, suggests also Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation.
IIM-A student & CAT 100 Percentiler: Pranjal suggests
Pranjal Agarwal, CAT 100 percentiler and IIM Ahmedabad student of PGP 2016-18 batch shares key tips to utilize your holidays-
-Take as many full length mock tests as you can. That will help out on your overall performance as it gives you an idea of time management and difficulty of all topics.
-Review all the tests you give to identify your weaknesses. That is important so that you can work on those weaknesses specifically.
-Give more focus to your weak topics because in the end, you are required to perform almost equally well on all the sections.
-Don’t study everything from the beginning, because some topics are too basic to spend time on.
IIM-B student & CAT 99.85 Percentiler: Ananth shares
Ananth Radhakrishnan who scored 99.85 in CAT 2015 and is a student of PGP 2016-18 at IIM Bangalore suggests that you should utilize your holidays to get into groove of DILR by practicing more on them. This will help to maximize your CAT 2016 score in this section.
Another tip that Ananth shares is to treat CAT as not a difficult paper inherently in terms of the topics covered. But it is the time limit in which you have to complete it coupled with the dire need of accuracy while doing so. To solve the issue the best way is to take more mock tests, analyse what has gone wrong and try your best to mend the mistakes before the next test.
FMS Delhi CAT 99.98: Saransh advises
Saransh Garg who scored 99.98 in CAT 2015 and joined FMS Delhi instead of IIMs advises CAT 2016 aspirants to utilize their holidays by solving previous years’ CAT questions. In his view, it will be good if you take a few mocks during these holidays and improve your confidence level. He suggests that taking Mock in actual test condition will eliminate nervousness; will help greatly in time management; and will give you a lot of confidence. Saransh also advises not to get stuck on any question for more that 2 minutes in the mock also so that you can get an exact feel of CAT day.
NITIE student Subham shares tips
Subham Bhowmick who scored 99.46 percentile in CAT 2015 and is a NITIE student shares key preparation tips to utilize the holidays and suggests that you must develop your verbal ability as it is an area where no amount of reading can be enough. Besides, he advises to start taking mocks during your holidays as early as possible. It gives the candidate a reality check, and also provides an indication as to which areas he/she is uncomfortable with when put under the clock.
SPJIMR student Akshay shares concrete plan
Akshay Kakani, CAT topper with 99.19 percentile and SPJIMR student of PGDM 2016-18 batch shares key advice to CAT 2016 aspirants to figure out the strong area and try your best not to do any mistake in that area. During the holidays this can be done and a good balance between all the areas should be balanced as it will help you to maximize your score in the allotted time for each section.
Another key tip that Akshay shares to utilize the holidays is to check whether you are preparing on VARC in right direction especially when Grammar has almost disappeared from the question paper and major focus is given to reading comprehension skills. It is therefore of utmost importance that you understand the change and prepare accordingly.
5 tips from DMS-IIT student: Abhirup
Abhirup Mukherjee who scored 99.11 percentile in CAT 2015 and is a student of MBA 2016-18 at Department of management Studies (DMS)-IIT Delhi shares 5 key preparation tips for holidays
-Practice previous year’s CAT questions as these are the only material which can give you the exact feel of what CAT actually is. Start from 1990’s CAT paper (earliest available).
-Grasp the basic knowledge of each topic & take topic tests. Evaluate yourself. Find the errors, loop holes & improve.
-Go to advance level topics & standards. Take sectional mock tests. Analyse what went right & what went wrong. Improve.
- The basic aim should be to score as much as possible in each section in the stipulated time frame.
-Read various types of magazines like The Economist, Business Standard etc. and regularly read The Hindu editorials. All of these will increase your general knowledge & most importantly acumen in reading comprehension. Try also online reading materials on philosophy, medicine, art, business & others.
Expert on VARC Prof S K Agarwal suggests that during the holidays, it will be a good idea to practice more on Non-MCQ type of questions. These questions do not have any penalty of negative marking due to wrong answer. Besides, even while attempting your mocks, it is suggested not to leave any Non-MCQ un-attempted, even if you do not know how to solve it. In case you happen to key in its correct answer, you gain 3 marks and higher percentile. If you write a wrong answer, you lose nothing as it is a no-penalty question.
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 for CAT 2016 exam.
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