CAT 2016 exam with sectional time constraint does not offer the ease of toggling between the sections during the overall time limit of 3 hours. You need to complete your attempts in each section within 1 hour as the test will move to next section whether you like it or not.
To score high in CAT 2016, you have to manage the time with faster speed as well as will have to maintain high accuracy level throughout the exam.
If you are serious on your CAT 2016 preparation and wish to emerge as one of the winners in this greatest show of MBA/PGDM entrance test for the admission year 2017-19, the following key suggestions from Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability for CAT 2016 preparation would be highly helpful in achieving your goal.
With the same pace of preparation, aspirants may not get such high percentile in CAT 2016 as was possible in earlier CAT exams due to the changed face of CAT 2016. The official CAT 2016 Mock test released by IIM Bangalore, if it is the indicator of exact exam pattern, reveals that there would be 9 fewer Non-MCQs this year as compared to previous year exam. On the top of it all the reduction in number of Non-MCQs is placed in Quant and DILR sections. So there is less scope of attempting more no-penalty questions as earlier. However, if good sense prevails over IIM Bangalore and correcting its mistake of reducing the number of Non-MCQs as changed in CAT 2016 Mock test, all the 28 Non-MCQs are restored in the CAT 2016 exam, it will offer at least some reprieve from the fear of negative marking and thereby depletion in sectional and overall percentile.
There was availability of more time and fewer questions till CAT 2013 and in CAT 2014 there was no sectional time constraint that enabled you to attempt any question from any part.
Following the previous year CAT pattern, CAT 2016 has also adopted the 3 sections exam pattern. Now despite having full 3 hours to attempt the exam, you have no liberty to move to next section before the lapse of 60 minutes allotted to that section.
Long hours sitting: Practice well
CAT 2016 aspirants must understand this fact. You have to sit for long 3 hours without getting any break. Longer sitting usually impact your performance which goes slow gradually. CAT 2016 exam sectional composition has also been tactfully designed. Instead of keeping highly calculation based Quant as the 1st section, it has been placed as the 3rd section in CAT 2016. By the time you arrive the Quant section, your calculation skill may get tired.
It is therefore of utmost importance that you practice your sitting for long hours very well and see that the calculation accuracy for DILR and Quant sections is not affected adversely due to longer testing process.
Balancing Act with 3 sections
CAT 2016 will have 3 sections and all of them have to be solved in 1 hour each. These 3 sections in CAT 2016 will comprise ‘Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)’ with 34 questions; ‘Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)’ with 32 questions; and Quantitative Aptitude (QA)’ with 34 questions.
If you are good at VARC, you can complete it quickly but the remaining time can only be utilized to review your answers and you cannot switch over to other section. Nor you can do anything for your weak section as the time saved from earlier section cannot be utilized to this section. Accordingly, you will now need to improve your speed as well as the accuracy to crack each section with good and correct attempts.
Utilize 10 more minutes judiciously
Despite the division of CAT 2016 into 3 sections instead of earlier 2 till CAT 2014, the time limit to solve the test paper has been increased from 170 minutes to 180 minutes (full 3 hours) while the number of questions remains the same 100. The additional 10 minutes to attempt CAT 2016 exam without any addition of questions may prove to be a bonanza, if used judiciously. It is upto the CAT 2016 aspirants how they utilize the additional time of 10 minutes to score more.
These 10 minutes are crucial and may prove to be the game changer for many CAT 2016 test takers. While the 1st and 3rd sections on VARC & Quant will have 34 questions each, the 2nd section on DI-LR will have 32 questions, making the total tally of questions to 100. All the 3 sections will have the separate time limit of 1 hour each to solve.
In view of Prof S K Agarwal expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation the additionally allotted time could be utilized to score high by observing greater level of accuracy and reviewing the answers instead of making attempts to answer the ambiguous and difficult questions whose answers in all probability could go wrong and would result in loss of more marks instead of gain.
Prepare well to attempt Non-MCQs first in each section
In each of the 3 sections of CAT 2016 there will be a few Non-MCQ type questions with no penalty for wrong answers as against the MCQs the wrong answers of which attract penalty of 1/3rd negative marking.
All the questions in CAT 2016, whether MCQs or Non-MCQs will carry equal weightage of 3 marks each. While incorrect response to each MCQs will result in no-marks for the wrong answer and deduction of 1 mark out of your earned score. It means if you mark 3 correct and 3 incorrect, you will score only 6 marks.
On the other hand, while answering Non-MCQs and typing a wrong answer on computer screen, although you are not entitled for 3 marks assigned for the correct answer, you will not be imposed any penalty of negative marking also. If you mark 3 MCQs correct and 3 non-MCQs incorrect you will score 9 marks without losing any credit for incorrect answers to non-MCQs.
The scoring scheme for non-MCQs is a great relief to the candidates who prefer solving the questions first and then arrive at the answer instead of jumping straight to the answer options and then going backwards to go through the question.
Answer to Non MCQ is to be inserted in the given space on the computer screen in the given space.
Finally, how to balance?
CAT 2016 aspirants now need to improve the pace of preparation keeping in mind the 3 things - Faster speed; High Accuracy level and Management of time
The preparation strategy at this hour, has to be slightly changed from simply practicing to prepare and then practice within the allotted time and try to achieve the best possible level of accuracy. Following tips will help to modify your preparation strategy leading to success in CAT 2016.
Since you have equal time to solve each of the 3 sections, you have to focus only that section which you are going through and maximize your score in it. Keep a clock with you when you attempt exercises. The topics that are not your strong hold and if you feel that they will create more confusion while preparing may be avoided. Five attempts should be devoted to solve each section. After that you may opt for selective questions in the section. Later on get the incorrect answers analyzed.
This will further help you to reduce the time taken to solve and will improve the accuracy. The purpose is to stick to the speed and improve it further that takes you around 100% accuracy level. No aspirant might be able to solve all the 100 questions but whatever you solve, do it with confidence and with the highest level of accuracy.
Faster reading speed
70% part in VARC section will be on RC based questions. You need to improve the pace of reading to crack the RC based questions correctly. It needs a regular and dedicated practice.
Better would be to keep a piece of paper with you, note down the difficult words while reading, mark the important sentences in the passage, read them twice and by the time you finish reading most of the passage will be clear to you. Then try to attempt the questions. You may get most of them right. Besides, contextual usage and meaning of difficult words should be checked in the dictionary.
Now find out how much time you had spent on this exercise. Next day do the same exercise on next article and with this strategy in a period of 6 days you will find that your reading time of the same size of passage on different tones is getting reduced and you are consistently improving.
Begin with passage size of 500 words and go upto passage size of 1500 words to get expertise in faster reading practice. CAT 2016 wouldn’t offer you passages below or above this size.
Be accurate on all 3 steps of question
Reading, understanding and then solving the question accurately are the 3 steps to improve, synchronize and balance the speed with accuracy to attempt CAT 2016 whether it is MCQ or non-MCQ. Every question you attempt needs to be solved first to arrive at the right answer option or to write the answer on computer screen.
You are supposed to cope with the reduced proportionate time per question and this is only possible by improving the speed to read, understand and attempt the question. If you are able to read the paragraphs, parajumbles, Reading comprehension passages faster and understand them, you will be able to solve them more quickly.
You need to solve more questions in less time. Improvement in speed and accuracy within the allotted time is the strategic focus of preparation now for CAT 2016 during next 20 days.
Sitting continuously for 3 hours, using your brain in faster reading, calculation, recalling various formulae, concepts, analytical skills, logical instincts will need a good amount of practice. CAT 2016 has accordingly split the sequence of 3 sections to enable you to move on with language based questions followed by reasoning and calculation based questions.
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