Finally, the most scoring section - QA. It hardly matters if you are an engineer or if you have been familiar with mathematics in the past or not. This is where you need to score. Considering CAT 2015 had a comparatively easier QA section, chances are that it'll be tougher this year. So it's important to gauge the difficulty of the section in the first 8 or 10 minutes. It'll be foolish to aim a 70+ in a difficult QA section just because you've scored well before and you believe mathematics is your love. Stop bringing in your ego into this section, especially the engineers. You need to play smart. It's important that you get a chance to go through all the questions in this section. So do not (and I emphasise on the DO NOT part) get stuck anywhere in your first run. Do all those which seem easy and leave behind those which seem tough. Go back to the tougher ones once you're done with your first run. Anything more will be a bonus. Usually, a 65 to 70 is a decent score in QA.
So, please understand that the battle will be gruelling, it'll be tough and only the strong will pull through. You'll have momentary phases of extreme happiness and extreme hopelessness when you either get 3 or 4 consecutive questions correct or falter in 3 or 4 consecutive questions. It's absolutely important to stay calm and composed during those situations. Believe me, 99% of the people will go through identical ups and downs in emotions throughout the test and only the calm will pull through. The difference between a 95-96%ile and a 98-99%ile is calmness. The work is has already been done. Do the things which make you happy now. Watch a movie. Hang out with your friends. Maybe give one last mock. But that's about it. No pressure now.
I actually went out with my buddies to catch a movie the day before CAT 2015. I did screw up QA a bit to end up with a 98.48%ile but thankfully XAT came to my rescue. The point is, don't take too much in pressure these last few days. Just keep believing in yourself and the hard work you've put in and everything will be just fine. Go on now. Change your stars!
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About the Author:
Suman Saha is currently studying in XLRI, Jamshedpur. He scored 99.54%ile in IIFT 2015, 98.48%ile in CAT 2015 and 98.68%ile in XAT 2015. He had calls from IIM Shillong, SP Jain Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, All the newer IIMs, NITIE and IIT B (SJMSOM). He did his electronics and telecommunications engineering from IEM, Kolkata.
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