6 things to avoid while preparing for CAT

By Sidharth Balakrishna

While the candidates preparing for CAT may by now be aware of how to prepare, here are some tips on what to avoid while preparing for the CAT exam:

1. Don’t ignore Planning

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” is an old saying. It is as true for the CAT exam as for anything else. Hence every candidate attempting CAT should have a strategy in mind. This will vary for different candidates depending on their relative strengths and weaknesses.

For example, those strong in Quant may wish to attempt more questions in that section; while those strong in Verbal Ability may seek to maximize their scores in that.

The candidates’ strategy must also cover aspects such as which kind of questions he wishes to attempt first, which later etc. For example, the candidate can choose to keep caselets pertaining to ‘Reasoning’ for later as these may be time consuming.

2. Don’t forget to analyse your mock test results

More than just attempting more and more mock tests, it is far more important to analyse the results of your tests. Go through the report of how you have scored carefully, and look for patterns across the tests you have taken.

This will help you realise where you do well and where you struggle. This should be based on the test results, not merely on perception. Very often I have heard students say that they are good with certain kind of questions, but their test results tell a different story!

Also analyse to see if you are missing out on sitters, struggling with certain kind of questions etc. For example, if you find you are struggling with certain kind of passages in the Reading Comprehension section, you can practice to improve on these. 

3. Don’t forget to analyse yourself

Relating to the above point, do not analyse only your test results, but also yourself. Self-mastery is what makes a good manager. The ancient Oracle at Delhi is supposed to have said to Alexander the Great, “Know Thyself”.

This is of course, extremely important at the Group Discussion-Interview stage. But even for the CAT test, it is vital to know where your strength lies and what your weaknesses are.

Why do I say it is so important? This is because if the candidate finds himself under pressure during the test, for example, due to time running out or if faced with a difficult exam, he/ she must turn to his strengths to bail himself/ herself out.

4. Don’t forget to use the technological features

Don’t forget to use the technological features offered by the test interface to the maximum extent. For example, it is common knowledge that there are now sectional time limits in the CAT; and that there is a minimum cut-off score for each section. How can the student know whether he has attempted enough questions in the given time limit to clear the cut-off?

Simple! Use the ‘Review’ tab that the test interface offers you. This will provide you a quick snapshot of how many questions you have attempted, how many you have left out etc. If you have clearly attempted too few questions, speed up and try and do a few more in the given time. 

5. Don’t attempt the ‘Speed Breakers’

The CAT exam has certain questions which I call ‘speed breakers’. Although these can be solved, they take too much time.

Hence, although you end up with one correct answer, you waste an amount of time in which you possibly could have attempted 2-3 other questions. Such questions are often found in the Data Interpretation section – while a particular set of questions may be quite easy, they may require actual calculations involving tedious multiplications or divisions of large numbers (or numbers with many decimal points).

How do you spot these? Look carefully at the answer choices. If they are too close and differ only in the decimal numbers, you may need long actual calculations to find the answer. If you are pressed for time, it is best to avoid such questions.

 6. Don’t miss the ‘sitters’

Every CAT exam has had a few ‘sitters’. ‘Sitters’ can be defined as a question that takes a less amount of time and effort to solve. The candidate must watch out for these.

Sitters can be spotted as follows:

• Certain questions may require the simple application of a formula; or the answer may be easy to derive quickly based on an insight etc.
• The numbers in the answer choices may be very wide apart and hence quick approximations may be done to arrive at the answer
• A simple substitution of the various answer choices in an equation can be used
• The candidate may have solved a particular type of question before during his preparation stage and therefore, may find it easy to attempt during the actual test.

Remember you don’t have to attempt all the questions in the test. But you must attempt almost all the ‘sitters’!

About the author:

The author is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and has been employed with the world’s top marketing, management consultancy and energy firms. Besides his regular corporate job, he has written a number of books and articles for various reputed publications. His books include ‘An Introduction to CAT-Tips from an IIM Alumnus' and ‘Case Studies in Marketing’ among others. He is a faculty at several management institutes and a member of the interview panel to select MBA students at various institutes.

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