Students’ Speak: What to do 1 week before XAT?

By: Abhishek Gautam

With only a week before Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT), I am sure a few of you have your hearts beating fast. Trust me, it is perfectly fine to be a bit worried or anxious. However, at the same time, it is essential to maintain your calm and composure in the last two days before the exam day.

Consider you have six days in your hand; ideally, this is how you should go about it:

Before anything else, if you have not created a couple of pages (1-3) containing all the formulae and the smallest tips and tricks, do it now. This is what you would look at or revise on Day 5 and Day 6. And, never forget to sleep early. You have to be well rested to keep your over-worked up brains in place.

Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3:

Start early in the morning. Do two papers – one each in the morning and in the late evening. Definitely check for your mistakes, see what other ways could have been there to solve the question easily and in a faster way. If possible simply go through another set between these two by looking at the questions and answers side by side. This helps in covering more questions and past papers of XAT.

Day 4:

Cut down the above process by one paper. Simply solve one and glance through the other one. You can update your list made – as stated earlier – with the new tricks or tips you come across these four days.

Day 5 and Day 6:

Simply go through the most updated set of pages with formulae that you have made. Listen to calming music or maybe motivating ones like Chakk De India. Do things that help you unwind and put a smile on your face. But do not distract yourself by watching television or playing a lot of games. Rest yourself and tell yourself that you are going to crack it and imagine yourself in the amazing campus of XLRI.

These small things work amazingly well for the test. Remember, you have practiced enough by now. IT is going to be nothing but one other practice paper where you have to select the right questions and answer them accurately. Time yourself well.

If I have done it, I am sure anyone can do it! It is difficult but very much possible!

About the Author:

Abhishek Gautam is a postgraduate in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Kharagpur. At present, he is pursuing PGP from IIM Kozhikode. He has prior work experience in Analytics and Product Development domain. Also, he has also worked with three growing startups as an intern.