How to crack CMAT 2014? Get tips from the topper

By Mikin Shah

Mikin Shah

The second edition of CMAT will be conducted in February 2014. Considering that about 80,000 aspirants took the test in September 2013, the number of test takers can exceed 100,000 for the February test. The million dollar question facing students is how to excel in the upcoming CMAT exam. A look at the results of September CMAT tells us that students have fared poorly in terms of absolute score. For starters, the top score 326 is a good 50 marks down from 376 scored by the author in February 13 CMAT. Only 13 students were able to score 300 or higher as compared to 325 students in February 13. Moreover, the number of students scoring less than 120 marks (out of 400) has increased to 67% from 57% in September 2012. The following reasons come to my mind –

• The level of difficulty has slightly increased in September 13 CMAT. This is especially true for Quantitative and Reasoning Sections. In the English section, the emphasis has shifted from critical reasoning to comprehension skills.
• There have been some instances of technical glitches and incorrect options in the September 13 version of CMAT.
• The number of non-serious test takers could have increased this time around. However, there can be no verification to support this argument.

Although the above mentioned factors explain some of the underperformance at CMAT, my considered opinion is that the student community has not been able to come to terms with the format and time aspects of the test. It must be understood that unlike other management entrance tests, CMAT is purely a test of accuracy rather than accuracy vs. speed.

I am a cricket enthusiast and looking at the time aspect of CMAT, I am reminded of an observation that Sunil Gavaskar made about Indian fast bowlers when they tour abroad. In his opinion, our fast bowlers get carried away at the sight of fast and bouncy pitches that are prepared overseas. Hence, they tend to bowl too short and too fast. I suspect a similar phenomenon is at work when students attempt CMAT. The allowed time of 3 hours is actually working to the detriment of students. Considering that a large majority of CMAT takers are also preparing for shorter exams such as CAT, XAT and others, they are not able to gainfully utilize the generous 3 hours that are being allowed. Many students are simply too fast and too inaccurate!

I have appeared for CMAT in each year since its inception and these are my key take-aways:

• To score well, you need to be ACCURATE. Speed is not an issue at all as you have ample time available. I have slept for 20 to 40 minutes after completing test every year!
• The range of topics covered has become very important. For an exam like CAT, my strategy would be to focus on a few areas of strength. But, with CMAT the student would need to have a certain minimum level of comfort in ALL TOPICS. This is especially true for the Quantitative section as questions from exotic topics like co-ordinate geometry, conics, and advanced trigonometry have cropped up with regularity.
• Do not try to “Study” too much for the General Awareness section. Your score will ultimately be decided by how good or bad your reading habits are and whether you have been attentive enough to events that occur in the business and economic environment. Also, do not attempt too many questions in this section.
• Be very careful in selecting questions in the English section. It is extremely easy to lose marks in this section. This is especially true of the critical reasoning questions that are asked in this section.

For students who have not been able to exceed a score of 100-120, my advice is to concentrate on Reasoning and Quantitative sections. Such students can attempt 10 to 15 questions collectively in English and General Awareness sections. This should not take more than 30 minutes. The remaining 2.5 hours can be devoted to 50 questions of Maths and Reasoning. Assuming that a student can crack 40 of these questions, the overall score can easily exceed 150.

Students who aspire to cross 200 must perform reasonably well in the English section in addition to Quantitative and Reasoning sections. The idea is to search for 10-12 safe questions such as those from grammar, vocabulary, jumbled para and blanks which can boost your score by around 40 marks.

For those who want to whizz past the 250 mark, a very strong performance in the English section is a must. Such students must be vastly proficient at finer aspects such as comprehension and critical reasoning. And finally, for the geeks who want to break into 300 plus club; the message is simple – There is no place to hide! For them, the General Awareness section will be the decider. They must read and memorize vast amounts of information and count on lady luck to smile on them!

About the Author

Mikin Shah is the Founder & Director of Foresight School – an educational institute which specialises in MBA Entrance & MBA Tuitions. He was ranked first in CMAT Feb 2013 with a score of 376. He has also cracked CAT (99.11 percentile in 2004). He can be reached at foresightschool@gmail.com.