To Bell the CAT: Guide to Conquering the Nightmare Exam

TANYA SAHNI
4 Min Read

Post Author

All of us are really tempted by the flabbergasting B-school placements and aspire to get into one of them. Well, to get into these B-schools, we must all excel in this horrific test called CAT (Common Admission Test).

How to Take the CAT Exams

1) IIMS: A Dream for Many, Reality for Only a Few

Students from different backgrounds – engineers, doctors, commerce graduates, and many more give this competitive exam that tests aptitude, data interpretation, English language skills, and logical reasoning. It consists of 100 questions, and there are three sections, each correct answer yielding +3 and each wrong answer, -1.

In this race to be on the top, students appear in various exams like CAT, XAT, SNAP, and NMAT. Major B-schools consider CAT as the qualifying exam for further rounds of admission, and that’s why aspiring students prepare so hard for these exams. Nearly 1,77,000 candidates took CAT in 2015 for nearly 7 to 8 thousand seats in top colleges.

2) Taking the Bull by The Horns:

When the student is in the preparation phase, it is advisable to practice as many questions as possible, considering several areas. I even know of students who start preparing for CAT exams when they are only in class 10. We will never know how much is required and how much is enough.

CAT
Source: smolaw/Shutterstock

The aptitude questions are not as difficult as before; now, it has come down to testing simple formulas and calculation speed. So, staying in touch with questions of easy to a normal level, covering a variety of problems, shall suffice.

Reading good English books is also very important to properly understand the questions that check your English language skills. CAT English questions are considered to be one of the most difficult English tests in the world.

3) Role of Practice Tests

Taking many mock tests plays an immense role, where one can gauge one’s performance with time, and decide the target colleges depending on the time he takes to complete his CAT examination. CAT examinations are usually held in November; the role of mock-test is indispensable by September. There are various national-level test series that help you better assess your performance at the national level.

4) Perseverance Is the Key

Never giving up pays off; it truly does. As most of the performers are droppers, it can be understood that the main difference is not in the scoreboard of achievers and non-performers but the approach they build towards it. Bad performance can affect you badly, and many students lose hope because of this. But the ones who keep their head up and hope high succeed.  All you need to do is focus on the preparations.

School test
By smolaw/ Shutterstock

5) Cat Tests Your Nerve First, Then Your Brain

Many experts observed that your conviction, confidence and zeal are actually more important than your academic preparation in achieving your goal. The confidence that you build by giving your best in practice tests is the best outcome of such competitive exams.

It all comes down to your ability to keep a calm and cool mind. The knowledge you have acquired can only be applied to yield good results when you are fresh and focused during the examination.

So, study hard and give it your very best. You CAN do it!

Last Updated on by Himani Rawat

Stay Connected

Share This Article