The exam you've given your heart and soul to prepare for is now just around the corner. At this stage, as anxiety is at its peak, a lot of questions must be running through your mind; questions you're unlikely to find succinct answers to elsewhere on the web. "How to stay motivated in the last few days to CAT 2022?", "What score will get me a 99 percentile?", "How do I improve my DILR set selection in these last few days?" and many other similar questions are being asked across CAT 2022 forums. To give direct and honest answers to these questions and others, we bring to you a CAT expert and a seasoned mentor for MBA aspirants.
The following are the key highlights from a webinar conducted in 2020 on InsideIIM's YouTube channel. This webinar was conducted by ARKSS, former CEO of MBA products at Career Launcher and an IIM Calcutta alumnus.
How can one improve accuracy in the last few days to CAT?
Those who have a tough time maintaining accuracy at this stage of your preparation, you'll have to start looking at what are the continuous types of mistakes that you're making, or the areas in which you are continuously making mistakes. Then, go through all your attempted mock tests and original CAT papers to solve questions in areas where you're making mistakes. This should be your focus over the next few days.
How many mocks should I attempt in the last two weeks to CAT?
You can attempt around 4-6 mocks more in this time period, but not more. Spend most of your time trying to improve accuracy (if your accuracy is suffering). Take every mock as if it's the real CAT exam.
How do I employ a stop-loss strategy while attempting the CAT exam? How do I prevent getting negative marks?
When you read a question, the first thought that should go through your mind is -
"Is this a question that I've seen before?" For QA, you must decipher whether or not you know the concept being tested in the question. If you decide to solve a question and your pen is not on the paper for more than 30-40 seconds, move on from that question.
In the VARC section, the confusion begins when you've eliminated two out of four options but are confused about the correct answer, which leads you to read the passage more than once, thereby wasting time. To solve for this, quickly deliberate and select what you feel is the most appropriate choice; even if this leads to a wrong answer, you'll have saved time on a question that you have a 50% chance of answering correctly.
For the DILR section, it'll take you 3-4 minutes to draw a representation. After drawing the diagram, if you feel that you're being unable to move forward with the clues given, or the questions are not straightforward, move on to another set.
How much time should I spend per question in each of the three sections of the CAT exam?
- VARC and QA - If you're able to proceed with solving a question, spend no more than 3 minutes on it. If you're unable to proceed beyond a point, spend no more than 2 minutes on that question and move on.
- DILR - In this section, around the 5th minute, if you are unable to proceed whatsoever, employ a stop-loss strategy and move on to another set.
If you're losing concentration during the paper, the best way to concentrate is to split your 40 minutes per section into four segments of 10 minutes each. This will leave you with small segments of 10 minutes to focus on, and will help you increase your concentration.
How can one increase the number of sets attempted in the DILR section?
Specifically in the DILR section, if you're spending 20-25 minutes solving two sets and are unable to select the third set to solve (for the fear of wasting time), spend 2 minutes each on shortlisted sets and spend the last 9 minutes to solve one selected set, instead of spending the entire 15 minutes (out of a total of 40 minutes) on just one set. If you're able to solve only one set in the DILR section, spend time solving five sets daily till the day of the CAT exam. This will give you enough practice to solve more than one set on the day of the exam.
What can one assume about the difficulty level across the three slots of the CAT exam?
Those who are in the second and third slots of the CAT exam - don't go by the difficulty level of the first slot of the exam. The difficulty level is subjective for every student, and may be different for you.
What percentile should I aim for to get into XYZ college?
Don't aim for a specific percentile - this implies that you're willing to do just enough and not your best. Aim to achieve a 100th percentile score and do your best in the CAT exam.
What score will get me a 99 percentile in the CAT exam?
Regardless of the paper format, if you achieve 60% of the total marks, you'll be in the 99.75+ percentile bracket. If you achieve between 50-53% marks, you will be in the 99.00 to 99.20 percentile bracket. If you get 40-42% marks, you'll be amongst the top five percentile of test takers. If you get 33-35% marks, you will get a 90th percentile score.
How should I analyse mocks to improve my scores in the last few days to CAT?
To analyse mocks at this stage, figure out which answers you've gotten correct and how much time you spent on those questions. Resolve questions that you couldn't get right. Then, check all questions that you've not attempted and figure out how many of those you could've attempted but didn't. Take an assessment of which are the most scoring areas for you across all three sections across all mock tests that you've taken, and focus on strengthening those. This close to the exam, don't touch what you don't know.
I am scoring poorly in mocks and am on the verge of giving up on CAT. How do I motivate myself?
A lot of people will be scoring in the 50th-60th percentile range in their mocks and may be thinking of giving up; this is the time to NOT give up. Mocks are just for practice and do not define how you'll do on the actual CAT exam. The pressure of facing the CAT exam comes from your fear of the exam. Tell yourself that the world will still exist whether or not you get through an IIM. Try to attempt the paper with a carefree (and even disdainful) attitude.
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