Your attitude on D-Day matters more than your attitude throughout the CAT preparation journey. Stay Positive, and Give your best, without giving a thought to what can probably happen in the future. Why? Because if you think you are doing great in the exam, there is a very high chance that you might get overconfident and end up making silly errors. And if you think you are not doing great, you might end up making silly errors because of the anxiety that unfolds. In this article, we bring to you some final advice, motivation, and guidance by Shashank Prabhu (Chief Menor - IMS), Prasad Sawant (Chief Mentor - IMS), Arks Srinivas (National MBA Head - Career Launcher), and a few IIM alumni. Read on!
Recommended For You:
10 Quotes/Dialogues for CAT aspirants (What I Learned From 10 Years Of CAT) - Prasad Sawant - Chief Mentor At IMS
1. What happens on the D-day is a result of what you have done in the past. It's never about the D-day alone.
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. - Jacob Riis
2. If you have given your best so far, you should be proud of yourself, irrespective of the outcome.
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes not that you won or lost, but how you played the game. - Grantland Rice
3. If something goes wrong, don't be harsh on yourself. It's okay.
Whatever deity may guide my life, dear lord, don’t let me die tonight. But if I shall before I wake, I’d accept my fate. - Roadblock in G.I.Joe: Retaliation
4. CAT is NOT the most difficult thing that you'll face in your life. Treat it with respect but don't be scared of it.
We never lose our demons. We only learn to live above them. - The Ancient One, Dr. Strange
5. The way you had a life pre-CAT, you'll have a life post-CAT and you'll be able to drive it the way you want.
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. - William Henley, Invictus
6. If you get stuck on a question, either move to another solvable question or change your thought process. You will find a way out.
What are your choices when someone puts a gun to your head? You take the gun, or you pull out a bigger one. Or, you call their bluff. Or, you do any one of a hundred and forty-six other things. - Harvey Specter, Suits
7. Don't overthink/complain about the competition, admission processes, college cutoffs, etc. They are beyond your control.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. - Reinhold Niebuhr
8. Don't give up on your dreams - during the CAT or after the CAT. Don't label yourself a loser if you don't score well because a 2-hour test doesn't decide that, you do.
More than being called a loser after losing to someone, it is worse to be called a loser after losing to your own self. - 'Bevda' in Chhichhore
9. Be present in the moment and don't let the monkey in your head take the driver's seat during those two hours.
You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. - Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda
10. If CAT doesn't work out, there are other tests and b-schools. Things will fall in place eventually.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. - Marcus Aurelius
Hope this helps. Best wishes to all the CAT 2021 aspirants! Chak de!
Things That Might Go Wrong At CAT 2021! - Shashank Prabhu, National Chief Mentor - Quant at IMS
1. You might reach your centre late because of the unavailability of cabs, public transport or wrong directions in general
2. You might reach extremely early to your centre and might start feeling nervous looking at other takers who are doing their last-minute revisions
3. You might get a chatty invigilator with his/her phone at full volume
4. You might be seated right in front of the AC, under a non-working fan, next to a window with direct sunlight
5. You might be asked to put your thumb impression after you start with your VARC section
6. You might have a fidgety neighbour who keeps on clicking their pen every few seconds
7. Your system might stall in the middle of the test and you could lose your momentum
8. You might not solve a section to the best of your ability
... and the list goes on!
A lot of test-takers get anxious by just imagining things that could go wrong. The whole idea behind visualising outcomes is to also think about ways to react to these situations and not getting affected by them.
I have always believed that the fewer the surprises you encounter on the exam day, the better your performance. So, back your prep, be confident and that should be half the battle.
All the best!
24 Hours To CAT | Arks Srinivas - CEO, MBA Group At Career Launcher
How To Do Away With Last Minute Jitters? - Tips By An IIM Lucknow Alumnus
Finally, the day you had all been waiting for, is right here, knocking. The exam which would open the doors to new career opportunities and a prestigious b-school degree, is less than 48 hours away. All that you had been preparing yourself for, these past few months, boils down to this single day- the ultimate game of T20! We bring to you a few pointers to keep in mind, while you go there and give your best.
It is that time of the year again. The most dreaded and the most important entrance is just a few days away. We have all been there. Those days were an experience of a lifetime. That is why we thought that it would be the right time for us to help the aspirants with some tips on how to tackle these stressful days with a special focus on the last day. We understand that this will turn out to be an important time of your MBA journey and you would probably want to make the most of it. But it is also important to enter that hall with the right frame of mind.