Candidates should be absolutely prepared with the final plan of the exam date. To tackle the last-minute fear the one must be ready with a plan. In order to commit no mistakes, the candidates must maintain composure to avoid silly mistakes while taking the exam.
The 10 important tips for the CAT exam:
- Go through all the questions- before starting with one section click on the tab question paper on the top of the screen and go through all the questions given. Select the question of which you can solve accurately. Also select the backup questions, so that if you stuck in the question, you can move on with that and attempt those. The questions you are selecting not only make clear of the sectional cut-off but leave you with a buffer time for revision. It’s not about solving all the questions but selecting the right question and solving it accurately.
- Start with comfortable areas- Since CAT is a sectionally time bound test. Order of the section is also pre-decided. The candidates cannot do much about starting the section of their choice. While selecting the questions the candidates must decide the order of attempting the questions. The candidates must choose the topics of their strength to help boost confidence and momentum.
- Do not spend more time solving a question- the candidates are given one hour for each section and they must first select the questions which they can solve easily and must keep buffer time for revision. If the candidate spends about 2-3 minutes for solving a question mainly quantitative aptitude, it would be difficult for the candidate to follow the time management plan.
- Rough work- The candidates will be provided with rough sheets and pencils to do all the rough work at the beginning of the test. The candidates must submit the rough sheets before leaving the exam hall. The work done in the rough sheet would enable the exam officials to understand the candidate’s method of solving the question. It’s an aptitude test and not merely guessing so the candidate should mention the question number and solve the question in a detailed manner.
- Select the balanced questions- the candidate must maintain uniformity in terms of the number of questions in each section. Because IIMs and other B-schools will consider both the sectional and overall performance of the candidate for short-listing and selecting.
- Attempting TITA questions- TITA means to type in the answer. It was introduced in the year 2015 only. For this type of questions, there will be no negative marking for any wrong question. TITA questions are most tricky and time-consuming. Attempt the time -consuming TITA questions at the end within the stipulated time.
- Time management-Since each section is timed for 60 minutes, the candidate must consider all the three sections. For quantitative aptitude, the time taken can be 10 minutes for 6 questions. For Logical Reasoning, the time taken can be 30 minutes and for Reading comprehension, the time taken can be 40 minutes and Verbal ability time taken can be 18 minutes.
- Usage of the calculator- CAT is the only MBA entrance exam that allows the candidates with an onscreen calculator for simple and non- scientific computations. This was introduced only in 2015. The candidates can solve the questions easily with the calculator and it is also time- consuming. It will be up to the candidate’s choice of using the calculator or not.
- Do not stress- The candidates should not be stressed on the exam day. The candidates must avoid last minute revision or any discussion with the next candidate as that may distract and get nervous. The candidates must forget their weakness and must have confidence in them.
- Utilize mark and review tools- The candidate may find a tricky question or the time -consuming question among the selected questions. But the candidate does not want to give up as one may be confident in answering the question, but it will be time- consuming. So, the candidate has a mark for review option. In this, the candidate can mark for review questions irrespective of answering or not answering.
Hence these are some of the important tips to be considered for the CAT exam takers.