[Apurv]

All you CAT aspirants have been toiling hard preparing for this test, learning problem solving techniques, taking an endless array of Mock CATs by various institutes and burning the midnight oil, honing your test-taking skills! It’s been practice, practice and more practice! Well, its now time to use the all the tools youlearned and all the skills you sharpened. Here are some last minute tips to help you carry out your mission-critical task to its just end.


SATURDAY: 17 NOVEMBER

* Don’t cram! Preparation for CAT is a long term process. Whatever efforts you have put in till now are sufficient, you cannot learn any new things anymore, so just relax.

* Get your gear together! Gather everything you’ll need to carry with yourself to the test centre:* Admission ticket, a ballpoint pen, several pencils, a good eraser, sharpener, a watch, a packet of glucose, a bottle of water.

* Get Rest! The best thing to do the evening before the test is to get a good night’s sleep. Get into test mode calm and ready.

SUNDAY: 18 NOVEMBER

* Before The Test

* Do not forget to eat! Hunger can interfere with your concentration,

* Do not forget to wear a watch! You'll need to keep an eye on the minute hand while you're answering.

* Arrive early! Arrive at the test venue at least 30 minutes early. You will need time to locate your classroom and find your seat. You will also find a time to relax, get comfortable with the testing environment and be able to reflect for a few minutes before the test begins.

* During The Test

* Browse through the entire paper! The first thing to do when you get the question paper in hand is to scan the question paper. Do NOT jump in and blindly start answering the questions. It's important to understand the format, the difficulty level and, more importantly, to get the 'FEEL' of the paper. Once this is done, you can decide the order in which you will do your sections. It is often advised that one must start with ones strongest section first, and this is sound advice. However, you must take this decision based on the feel you get of the paper at the moment. In CAT 2006, most aspirants who were usually better at the Verbal Ability section actually found it difficult, but found the Quantitative Ability section easier.

* Allocate time wisely! Allocate time to the sections and stick to it. It is generally advisable to distribute time equally among sections as you require to clear all sectional cut-offs to get an interview call.

* Do not jump sections! Jumping sections can play havoc with your time distribution.*

* Read instructions carefully! The CAT 2004 and the CAT 2005 both had a similar question type in grammar. However, the CAT 2004 question set required the student to spot the incorrect options and the CAT 2005 question set required the student to spot the correct options. A number of students reported making a mistake in marking answers in the CAT 2005 test paper as result of not reading instructions properly.

* Pace yourself! Some of the worst problems occur when students enter a time warp and forget to check the watch, or when they spend too much time on one or two difficult items. If a question seems difficult, skip it. Don't stay on a question that you are stuck on. If, you think you can solve the question but are missing something, mark the question. You can come back to it after you have reached the end of the section, and you still have time left.

* Attempt questions prudently! In the quantitative Ability section, you will generally find not more than five to seven questions on a page. If you have done 60 % of the questions on the page, you are doing a good job. While selecting the data interpretation section, first browse through the caselets, and choose the ones which seem most comprehensible and have lesser information. In the Verbal Ability section, do familiar questions first. While choosing Reading comprehension passages, chose ones which feel easier on the eye.

* Do not resort to random guesses! You might be lucky and guess correctly, but incorrect responses bring down your score considerably. The scoring system for CAT eliminates any advantage of random guessing by deducting 25 % marks allocated to the question for each incorrect response you give. If you must guess, always try to eliminate obvious wrong-answer choices first, and then go with your hunch.

* Take a breather! In the test, stop for a moment, shutting your eyes, and taking some deep breaths. Even two or three 30-second breaks can be very helpful. Periodically clearing your head in this way can help you stay fresh during the exam session.

* Why the glucose? In the test, if you feel light headed or giddy, take a quick gulp of glucose and water. The energy loss you may feel is because of a drop in sugar level caused due to high brain activity. Glucose acts instantaneously and you will feel restored very quickly.

Above all, on both the days, 17 and 18 November, stay positive! A certain amount of anxiety is normal, or even useful, when you are taking an important exam, but if you feel overwhelmed, you may be suffering from test anxiety.* Certain muscular relaxation and breathing techniques are particularly useful for relieving stress. Stop negative thoughts immediately. If you start to doubt yourself, you may go blank during the exam, so keep concentrating on your strengths.

All the best!

The author Sujata Khanna is Chairperson, Career Forum.
Career Forum (Home), the acknowledged leader in entrance examination classroom coaching since 18 years is a ISO 9001:2000 certified company.

[Aarav]

Will add a couple of things that had really helped me.

A day before the exam: Watch a movie, go out with friends on a drive or shopping.

During the exam: Take some cotton with you in case the test centre is near a high traffic area. In Delhi in particular, bhajans/kirtans start in the mornings on Sundays at times, so cotton will really be of some help here :-)

[bullsEYE2007]

Thanks for useful info!!

I want to add one points:

Take a piece of paper or cloth to the test center as classes are closed for few days for diwali n all or may be u get a classroom which is closed for few days..just clean up ur desk and put paper or cloth in the corner of classroom..
i got a feeling of nausea at JMET last year to find dust all over my desk..

[abhi_g1]

Well dont no much gyaan , but i will advice to read this


Life Extends Beyond Software Coolies: CAT Fundaes



p.s: thanks to anandv

[Cat_alysis]

Difficult to believe that the CATs are already here. And I'm still not very confident of myself..

But these guys at IIM Cal have done their best to make us feel confortable by shootin their experiences with CATs and how they kicked asses in the tests..

Thought of sharing the videos with the junta on Pagalguy as well..

here's the link
TheBIG.tv - Shows - CAT TIPS : From the Horses mouth

cheers

[XL Asp]

My plan:
Keep surfing on PG ...play games on PG...till 18 nov 9 AM
and ...then again at 2 pm log in to PG

All the best!

[maxximus]

Dear all,

I am posting on PG after almost 3 months as I have been busy with my GMAT applications. I hope many puys around would remember me...

Just a bit over one day is left and if puys are still studying...I would say you're delaying the rest your brain deserves...it needs to be fresh for a test that is much more a test of application than knowledge...and to apply well...the cells at top of the body shud get their share of joy n rest...completely my opinion...which may be wrong,,,I recommend taking a break from everything now and doing something that refreshes you...for me, it's watching movies...so I'd be watching 2 movies in coming 24 hours...

Then, let's make sure we get as much sleep as we can...and take the test without stress as the same can only deteriorate the performance. I am sure all of us would agree that lotsa question go unsolved in the mocks but seem a cakewalk at home...reason...there's no stress at home...no pressure to perform...we have nothing to loose...so things seem easy.

Hence, a simple request to everybody...take it as 'just a test'. Life would not end if CAT does not go well...am sure we all have a back up or atleast a back up plan.

As long as I can remember, I wanted to fight for my country. In my interview for induction into Indian Army, after a good 30 minute interview, the officer said, all's well with you, but I would not select you...what would u do? I said (from the bottom of my heart), Sir, If you don't select me, u're at loss...the motif is to serve the nation...and to do that, with due respect, I don't rely on u selecting me...reject me and I'll find an alternate way to serve my motherland.

For next few seconds, nobody in the hall uttered a word...n I was asked to leave. The result...I was one of the top few across all the four defence academies. The idea is, no mishap is big enough to close all the doors....forgive me for using cliche...but it suits here the best..."If there's a will, there's a way".

One of the main reasons why I could succeed in CAT 2005 is that I went with 'the nothing to loose' spirit...I had to join Army and CAT was more of a practice test as I had planned my MBA after spending 5 years in the Army. The very attitude helped me tackle all the surprises CAT had to offer...as I had little practise, and for that reason, no predictions about the pattern.

I remember taking CAT 2005 in a classroom for VII stdd students. A student had pasted few words of wisdom besides the blackboard. In those few minutes sandwitched between taking the seat and receiving the paper, I learnt few important lessons of my life. Would like to share...the poster read...

Every morning when you get up...tell yourself...

Thank you god for showing me this beautiful day...
Today is gonna be a wonderful day...
I have atleast one thing to be happy about today...
I would do atleast one selfless act today...
I can do more than what I think I am capable of...

Remember the last line puys...for the confidents as well as the underconfidents...

"We can do more than what we think we are capable of".....

Two days short of two years since I learnt this lesson, after preferring Indian Army to IIM, and then, unfortunately, leaving Army due to a technical problem, I would again need to perform at CAT...with almost a same state of mind..."nothing to loose"...after a decent GMAT score....CAT would be a bonus...but then...forgive me for repeating..." there's nothing to loose!"

So puys...after all the hardwork 'done' or 'undone', we all have it in us to bell the CAT....

I WISH EVERYBODY LOTSA LUCK....ENJOY THE PAPER...IT'S GONNA BE AN 'INTERESTING TREAT'...SOMETHING THAT NO CAT OR NO MOCK HAS SEEN BEFORE....EXPLOIT THIS RARE OPPORTUNITY AND ENJOY!!!!

In the process.....do remember....

"WE CAN DO MORE THAN WHAT WE THINK WE ARE CAPABLE OF"

All the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards,
Maxximus

PS: I would be submitting the same post in many threads....so please forgive me if you get to see it more than once...

[soonie65]

Originally Posted by Apurv

* Why the glucose? In the test, if you feel light headed or giddy, take a quick gulp of glucose and water. The energy loss you may feel is because of a drop in sugar level caused due to high brain activity. Glucose acts instantaneously and you will feel restored very quickly.
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All the best!

The author Sujata Khanna is Chairperson, Career Forum.
Career Forum (Home), the acknowledged leader in entrance examination classroom coaching since 18 years is a ISO 9001:2000 certified company.

This tip on Glucose......I think I will need it for my DI section. Almost always, I do it last and get quite fuzzy.. brain just blocks.

[buck_was]

Originally Posted by Apurv

* Why the glucose? In the test, if you feel light headed or giddy, take a quick gulp of glucose and water. The energy loss you may feel is because of a drop in sugar level caused due to high brain activity. Glucose acts instantaneously and you will feel restored very quickly.

Beg to differ here.. plain water wud be a better option..
Dunno the biology/chemistry behind it, but can say from my own experiences, that glucose/shikanji/neembu-paani instigates Mother Nature to call u up..

To regain the energy/sugar levels, one may as well keep some hard-boiled toffees..

[Numero Uno]

Just stay cool and confident..
and if ur centre is in a big city, visit it once b4 the D day..
Bell the CAT