With CAT 2017 around the corner (November 26), the focus of the aspirants should start moving towards how to best utilise the time they have to write the exam and thereby get the best score possible. CAT is different from most of the examinations that students have written so far in school or college. So, here are some common pitfalls that students should be on the look-out for during the preparation and while writing the exam.
Having a pre-decided target: Unlike most other exams, B-schools using CAT are not looking for you to score a certain pre-determined score. They look for the percentile rank, that is, students who can score more than most others. If you set a target of a minimum number of marks that you want to score, then you can be under pressure if you fail to reach the same in case the paper is tough, and be complacent if the paper is easy. Hence, set no target in terms of attempts or score. Attempt as many as questions as you are sure of.
Believing that more attempts automatically mean more marks: They don’t! With negative marking, the belief that more attempts will invariably get more marks is a dangerous one. Two factors determine the score obtained: number of attempts and accuracy. These two are not independent of each other; focusing solely on one will result in a drop of the other. Therefore, the target of the students should be to improve on both at the same time. This needs a well-thought out plan for preparation and practice, before and during the exam. Blind and wild guessing is a definite no-no.
Excessive focus/dependence on one area: Excessive focus on any area may not work in your favour if your slot doesn’t contain as many questions as you expected. You will be left high and dry with questions from other areas in which you did not put much effort.
Selective preparation: Going to the exam without any preparation on some topics because you are not comfortable with them is very risky. You may end up looking at a paper with more than the usual number of questions from the exact topic that you left out from your preparation. With sections being individually timed in CAT ’16, you may end up with time on your hands but may not be able to do much with it as the remaining questions in the sections are from the areas that you chose to ignore.
Not reading all questions: While writing the exam, one should not get stuck in one question and waste time. The student should read all questions and solve the easy ones first. The golden rule of CAT is – read all questions before leaving out any.
The writer is Centre Director of T.I.M.E., Chennai.