CAT 2014: New pattern, new strategies

CAT 2014 has put forward quite a few crucial changes. The number of questions have gone up to 100 from 60 (50 in each section) while test duration is 170 minutes (up from 140 mins). View new changes in test pattern here. Instead of a month-long period, CAT 2014 will be held in a total of four slots spread over a period of two-days. Candidates can also switch between sections easily.

CAT 2014: Is new test pattern beneficial for students?

With new test pattern and new testing agency (TCS), a new test strategy should also be in place. To figure out how to tackle CAT 2014, we caught up with Tarun Malik, MBA Product Head at Career Launcher, a leading MBA coaching centre.

According to Tarun, similar exam pattern was followed by the IIMs till 2008. Candidates had to attempt several questions in a short span of time. The idea is to judge an aspirant’s aptitude for managerial courses.

He suggested the following strategies to all CAT aspirants for a good CAT score:

CAT 2014 STRATEGIES

1. Time Management

Time management is the most crucial part of CAT 2014. Previous online CAT patterns did not lay as much emphasis on time management. This time, 100 questions (or attempts) have been allotted 170 minutes. Earlier with 70 minutes allotted to two sections, students had the option of performing well in atleast one section.

Devoting more time to which section or selecting a section, now becomes a crucial decision.

This should ideally be based on a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. If one is good in maths, they can start with quant section or vice versa.

Also, candidates tend to get carried away while attempting questions. One ends up spending more than one and half hours on one section, forgetting all about time. Maintaining a tempo, and being wise with time is vital in CAT 2014.

2. Selection of questions

Post time management, selection of questions becomes critical. Every individual has their own strengths and weakness. For instance, engineers are generally good in Quant. So one can attempt a basic number of questions in Quant to get a decent score, and move on to verbal section. Since candidates can easily get wrapped up in a single question, this is the ideal procedure of selecting questions:

• Round 1: Scan the question paper thoroughly in Step 1. As you go through it, quickly attempt the easy questions and your favourite areas (such as geometry and one-liners). Generally, CAT exam has at least 20% easy questions. This takes care of 20 easy questions and you are left with 80 problems. Mind you, some one-liners look easy but can be quite difficult. Don’t waste your time on it. Quickly move on to the next section.
•  Round 2: Don’t attempt all the remaining 80 questions together. Go back and attempt the moderately difficult questions. The trick is not to get bogged down and take too much stress. Switch over to the important and scoring sections in Step 2.
• Round 3: Attempt the remaining difficult questions in this final stage.

Selection of correct questions out of 50 is crucial. A correct attempt of 30 questions (out of 50) is enough for a good score.

Also, since the exam is long (three hours), attempting your weakest section in Round 3 or last stage is also a bad strategy. Aspirants tend to get tired by the time it gets over. A three hour long paper can be both physically and mentally stressful.

3. Difficulty level

Going by last CAT paper pattern in the last 10 years, there should be a moderate balance of difficult and easy questions in the exam. However, predicting the CAT 2014 paper is easier said than done. Difficulty level could be lower this time due to higher number of questions.

Effectively, test duration has also gone up by 20%. Number of attempts has also gone up by 30%-40%. In my opinion, it’s futile to comment about it beforehand. Let’s wait for November 16, 2014!

Strategy for CAT depends from person to person – on their strengths and weakness. There is no hard-core strategy for everyone. The trick is not to get demoralized during the paper. With stressful mind, it’s hard to attempt difficult questions will affect towards the end.