Again a guy frm IIM-B said this..so this might help..
A concrete strategy is very important for a paper like CAT. Trends suggest that we'll again have three sections this time over - Verbal, Quant and Logic, though one can never be sure... Given below is the typical strategy employed by CAT aspirants, though its your own call in the end ... there's no right/wrong strategy... (The figures below are for a normal difficulty CAT paper. They may vary in accordance with the difficulty level)
There are four possibilities:
1) 3 Sections - Quant+DI+Verbal (75% chance)
Do the Verbal part first, esp. the non-RC ones. That'd give you a good feel of the whole thing & get you in the mode... Then do as much RC as u can. Attempt only factual passages. There are a few factual ques. in all passages... u dont need to read the passages, just read questions and look for the answer. It's a high-risk high-gain strategy, but if u practice well you won't face much probs.... Allot around 35-50 mins to this section depending on your speed & accuracy. 30+ attempts are absolutely essential. Cutoff is generally arnd 25-28.
Move on to Quant then. Generally the cutoff is low (14-1
. So u need to attempt min. 20 questions. Try to search for the easy questions. Practice 'scanning' through the questions.
DI is the easiest & most scoring. You must attempt 25+ in this section to stand a good chance. Attempt the Data sufficiency questions first, they're easy & scoring.
Overall, you must attempt 85+ and a score of 65+ is enough to get u an IIM call. 70+ ensures multiple calls. You should 'crack' atleast one section, and score decently well in the rest to get an IIM call..people with 99.7+ generally crack two or more sections & get multiple calls.
2) 2 sections - Q+DI & Verbal ( 5% chance)
No probs in this one. No need for time management. Divide it 50-50. Solve as much as you can. In verbal, go for vocab, fill-ins etc. first. Pick factual questions from passages In Quant+DI, solve whichever type you're comfortable with. Choosing the right questions is very imp.
In this type, cutoff is higher. Attempts must be around 90-95
Cutoff for IIMs is 75-80
3) 4 Sections - Q+DI+EU+RC (15% chance)
Tough to manage time. No prescribed technique. Take your own call. I would've gone for RC first, then would've moved towards other sections and then came back if I had some time on my hands...RC becomes the bottleneck in this type. Make sure that you attempt at least 75% of RC section in this case. Then divide the remaining time between the rest three sections equally and attempt as much as u can.
Again I want to stress upon the fact that u MUST take your own call. This strategy might or might not work... it all depends on the type of the paper and your own strengths & weaknesses...
Cutoffs for Quant & DI are low (10-14) in this case. u must attempt 15+ in both, probably more...
4) 5 sections - (5 % chance)
This is a nightmare. No suggessions as I myself dont know how to tackle the situation. Keep a level head, believe in your ability...
Linear Mode
