Achieving good percentile in CAT is not that difficult now
By: Yash Singhal
Attempting all the questions is not important in CAT, rather focus on covering all the sections. Practise as much as possible to secure high percentile and get admission in the dream college.
Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted for admission in a graduate management program. This makes CAT one of the most important exams. Most of the students attempt CAT exam to get admission into a college to pursue an MBA degree without much preparation and idea about the exam. This article discusses the preparation tips for CAT exam to get good percentile and secure a seat in top-notch MBA colleges.
First of all, every student should get a clear idea about the pattern of the exam. This includes the main sections, number of questions and total marks for this exam.
The exam pattern of CAT is as follows:
The CAT exam comprises of three main categories:
(i) Quantitative Aptitude
(ii) Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
(iii) Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
Total number of questions: 100
Total marks: 300
Now coming to the facts, in the last year results of CAT, the students with over 150 marks were in the 99.90+ percentile category. This indicates that if a student could solve 50 questions correctly within 3 hours span, then they could easily clear the cut-off for the top-notch colleges. So, keep aside all the worries like getting a 99+ percentile is too hard to achieve. The only thing to keep in mind is the complete focus.
The next step is to solve 50+ questions correctly. To achieve this, student need to enhance their speed and for that, they need to solve as many mock tests as possible. According to my experience, complete the syllabus one month before the exam date and during the last month solve at least two mock tests daily to develop the speed. Also, analyse the preparation process and work towards enhancing the same within the least time possible.
The most important thing to remember is that there is negative marking in the CAT exam. Hence, answer only those questions in which you are 100% sure as negative marking would end up reducing the score. This is the most common mistake that the students make, during the exam, they mark answers by analysing and end up losing marks.
To maximise your score you must take care of the schedule and divide your time equally. Avoid wasting time in solving questions that are difficult, instead move on to the next question. In the Verbal Ability section, most of the students end up reading all the passages/comprehension leaving very less time for other questions in the section. If you look at the 100 percentile scorer, they solve a maximum of three passages in the whole paper. So act wisely and smartly in the exam.
About the Author:
Yash Singhal is a student of NIELIT, Aurangabad pursuing his BTech in ESE. Singhal writes articles as a mentor and has been in the field of guiding and counselling students to get into the right stream by smart work instead of hard work.