Students’ Speak: Top last-minute tips to score well in CAT exam

A little smart work is also necessary and I am going to discuss with you how to do these things with these last-minute suggestions.

CAT (Common Admission Test) is one of the toughest exams in India and securing a good and decent percentile score allows a candidate to take admission in decent business institutions. The questions itself follow a standard. So, basically what I think is practicing as much as a candidate can do is the most important thing. Day by day, as the competition is getting tougher, it is not sufficient for you to do only hard work. A little smart work is also necessary and I am going to discuss with you how to do these things with these last-minute suggestions. Well, let’s get started:

• From the very day of your CAT preparation, always try to understand the basics of each section. Once you have cleared your basics, please try to attend mock tests as much as possible. And revise those problems which are tricky and can’t be done by you at your first attempt.
• Be aware of negative marking. Don’t mark the options until you are confident and sure enough.
• Many candidates try to attempt all the questions. Don’t even think that you are supposed to attend all the questions. No, never. Take your time and do only those questions which you can do easily and you are feeling confident enough. Otherwise, there may be chances of getting more negative marks. So, don’t do that.
• In quantitative and DILR section, give yourself a maximum of 60 seconds for each question to read and to solve. If you feel that the question is taking much more time or it may take a long time to solve then just simply skip it. Do it later if the time permits.
• There are mixed type of questions like each section contains three levels of questions and that is easy type, intermediate and difficult type. So, at least try to read all the questions from each section.
• Don’t try to cover those chapters which you have not been able to prepare a few days before your exam.
• If you think that you have prepared enough, try to keep revising the theories or formulae.
• Try to build up your vocabulary for the verbal ability section. Don’t just recall the meaning of the words. Try to apply your newly learned stock of words as much as you can do. You can do it by writing an essay or you can use it when you speak in English with someone else. This thing will allow you to remember your stock of words for a long period of time.
• Give mock tests as much as you can do to find out in which type of questions, you are mistaking and why. Find the reason and try to solve it out.
• At the time of practicing or at the time of giving mock tests try to be attentive on your time management and please observe how much efficiently you are able to manage your time. Remember the formula described in the fourth point i.e 60 seconds per each question.
• Try to focus on how much the correct answers you are giving. These things can portrait you that how much good percentile you are going to score.

And yes! Lastly, try to eat healthy food and please try to have a good quality of sleep on a regular basis. These things allow you to release your stress at the time of exams and will help your brain to do function properly.

About the Author:

Kolkata-based Abhinaba Parui is a final year student of FOSTIIMA Business School pursuing his 'Post-graduation Diploma in Management (PGDM)'. At present, he is working as a campus ambassador of Oysterconnect.com.