Eight Pitfalls to Avoid in CMAT Exam 2025: Expert Speak
Common Management Admission Test 2026 ( CMAT )
CMAT 2025 aspirants have been working hard on various topics for past few months now. As the exam day closes in, it is time to know the common pitfalls to avoid. Steer clear of these pitfalls on CMAT 2025 exam day to score high.
By Mikin Shah
CMAT exam is not too tough to crack. It is conducted after CAT, XAT, SNAP and NMAT, which makes it more manageable as the candidates have already experienced other aptitude tests. However, if one doesn’t pay the right amount of attention, they may face unfavourable situation during the CMAT exam. One may get sweaty palms on seeing difficulty level of the questions. So, the important thing to do is, be confident and calm. Also, be aware of the exam process. As the CMAT 2025 closes in, know how to manage the 3-hours test, what to do and what not to do.
Explore colleges based on CMAT
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
CMAT is a MCQ based test having five sections, every section of CMAT 2025 exam will have 20 questions, which means you need to prepare equally well for all five sections. To get good overall CMAT percentile, you need to solve equal number of questions in every section. Given the exam structure and difficulty level, candidates must solve 2/3rd of the total questions in every section.
The difficulty level of CMAT 2025 exam was overall moderate. Interestingly, the GK questions were not tough as they usually are. Check below section wise CMAT 2025 difficulty level.
CMAT 2025 section | Number of questions | Difficulty Level |
|---|---|---|
Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation | 20 | Easy |
Logical Reasoning | 20 | Easy |
Language Comprehension | 20 | Easy |
General Awareness | 20 | Moderate |
Innovation & Entrepreneurship | 20 | Moderate |
The National Testing Agency or NTA will conduct CMAT 2025 on January 25 2025. The final few days before CMAT exam is the right time to give preparations a final push.
By now, the candidates must have completed the CMAT syllabus, practiced enough number of CMAT mock tests and are comfortably placed viz. the topic revision routine. Right now what is worth paying attention to is knowing the common mistakes that candidates make in CMAT exam and how to avoid them.
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
CAT
30 Nov '25
10 Jul '25 - 5 Dec '25
28 Nov '25 - 6 Dec '25
3 Dec '25 - 6 Dec '25
13 Oct '25 - 7 Dec '25
23 Oct '25 - 7 Dec '25
30 Sep '25 - 10 Dec '25
1 Aug '25 - 16 Dec '25
9 Oct '25 - 9 Jan '26
Mikin Shah, MBA expert shared with Shiksha a few common errors made by students in CMAT exam. He listed down eight pitfalls to steer clear of in CMAT exam:
8 Pitfalls to Avoid in CMAT 2025
- Not knowing the ideal number of attempts. This is like building a house without the blue-print. You must have a fair idea of the number of attempts you are going to target. CMAT has 100 questions, so you must target about 70-75 questions.
- Being too ambitious in terms of number of attempts. For CMAT, the rule is simple - WORSHIP ACCURACY. Any student attempting more than 70-75 questions is either a potential topper or a consummate disaster. So, don't try to solve all the questions.
- Do not fret about the GK section and try to over-prepare for it. It is the most random section and your score will reflect your ingrained reading habit and general awareness.
- Appearing for CMAT exam without adequate mock test practice. You must appear for at least 10 CMAT mock tests of varying difficulty levels. This will prepare you for all kinds of situation in the actual exam.
- Having a pre-decided absolute target score (say 200). The absolute scores would depend upon the difficulty level of the CMAT question paper. What matters is your ranking and not the score. So, make a target score after going through the paper once.
- Do not study too hard on the day before CMAT 2025. Go for revision of important topics only and sleep for at least seven to eight hours.
- Do not get put off by a bad start. CMAT is a three-hour exam and there are no restrictions in terms of sectional time limit or cut off scores. So, even if you have a less than ideal start, you can easily recover if you keep calm.
- Do not over-attempt in the CMAT Language Comprehension section - especially the critical reasoning questions. Fifteen good attempts in this section would do the trick for most of the students.
Read More:
- CMAT 2025: Exam Day Guidelines and Strategy to Crack the Test
- CMAT 2025: Last Minute Tips to Ace the Test
- CMAT Exam Day Checklist: Dos and Don'ts
- Top Colleges Accepting CMAT Score
About the Author
Mikin Shah is the co-founder and director of a popular educational institute which specialises in entrance exams, MBA tuitions and finance courses such as CFA.
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
10 Jul '25 - 5 Dec '25 | XAT 2026 Exam registration |
20 Dec '25 | XAT 2026 admit card download s... |
28 Nov '25 - 6 Dec '25 | SNAP 2025 admit card session 1... |
6 Dec '25 | SNAP 2025 session 1 |
23 Oct '25 - 7 Dec '25 | MAT PBT Registration 2025 (Dec... |
23 Oct '25 - 15 Dec '25 | MAT CBT Registration 2025 (Dec... |
8 Dec '25 - 11 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 answer key challenge |
19 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 result announcement |
28 Oct '25 - 16 Dec '25 | NMAT 2025 Admit Card Issuance |
1 Aug '25 - 16 Dec '25 | NMAT 2025 Rescheduling Window |
1 Jul '25 - 19 Dec '25 | IBSAT 2025 Registration |
5 Nov '25 - 27 Dec '25 | IBSAT Slot Booking 2025 |
16 Apr '26 - 18 Apr '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 exam |
9 May '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 exam 2 |
4 Sep '25 | ATMA 2025 Result Declaration (... |
30 Aug '25 | ATMA 2025 (August) |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
Hi.
To get admission in Marvadi University, Candidates must have a Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks (45% for reserved categories) and a valid CMAT score.
The fees for MBA is
- MBA (General): The total academic fee is approximately ₹2.53 Lakhs. The annual tuition fee for the Genera
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered 6 days ago
CMAT Cutoff 2025 has not been released yet. According to the NIA Pune CMAT Cutoff 2024, the overall percentile required for admission to NIA Pune MBA course was 75 for the students belonging to the General All India category. For more information, click here.
N
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
GIBS Business School, therefore, accepts 'all national-level entrance examination' scores that include the major management exams like CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, GMAT, and in some cases State CET exams for admissions to PGDM and MBA programs. These scores will determine a candidate's eligibility for
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
GIBS Business School accepts scores from CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, GMAT, ATMA, and various State CETs for admission to its PGDM program.
These entrance exams serve as the primary eligibility criteria for candidates applying to GIBS. The institute evaluates applicants based on their test scores along with
M
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 months ago
The admissions into MBA courses at Marwadi University have been concluded in the year 2025. Hence, candidates can no longer apply for admissions into the MBA course at Marwadi University in the year 2025. The CMAT exam for the year 2025 has also been concluded for this year. Candidates must now wait
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
No, candidates do not have to mandatorily appear for the CMAT entrance exam for MBA in Business Analytics at Marwadi University. Candidates can apply for MBA admissions through any of the national level entrance exam such as CAT, XAT, ATMA and more. However, during admissions into the MBA in Busines
S
Contributor-Level 10
Since every section of CMAT has 20 questions in total, solving 15 to 18 questions in each section with 80 percent accuracy is considered a good attempt in CMAT, and it can ensure a good percentile in the exam. In the GK section, about 10 to 12 correct attempts will be enough. Out of 100 questions, candidates must try to solve about 70 to 75 questions to achieve a 99 percentile. However, candidates must aim to solve a higher number of questions with maximum accuracy and minimize negative marking. To be able to achieve this target, candidates have to prepare for the CMAT in a disciplined manner. Candidates must set aside about three months to complete the CMAT syllabus, as they have to study five subjects and their numerous topics. If they have appeared for CAT, XAT, and IIFT exams, then they can complete the CMAT syllabus in one month as well. However, it is advised that candidates spend at least three months on CMAT syllabus for complete preparation.