CAT notification is out. Mocks and test series sales are on a rise. Stress levels are up. Confidence down. Self-doubt up. A prevalent scenario, you might be able to see around you or most probably with yourself as well. With the release of CAT notification, aspirants start counting the days left. With the passage of each day, no matter the amount of efforts, it always seems less. Studying multiple hours a day, trying to cover the concepts of quants and LRDI, and forgetting them the very next day, this is something you must have experienced and might still be experiencing. You just gave a 2 hour long mock and are anxiously waiting for the report, and turns out you have scored a very low percentile, driving down your whole motivation and enthusiasm of giving CAT, and thoughts of not giving CAT popping up soon after because of self-doubt. This is something, almost every CAT aspirant goes through. So what can one do in such a crisis-like situation? Well here are some of the suggestions or tips to follow during this time:
Analyzing mocks:
Scores in mocks at this stage might be low but that shouldn’t be a matter of concern as you are still at your preparation stage and have enough time in your hands. What should concern you is when you are not analysing your mocks. One thing I suggest to all the aspirants is to analyse each and every question in mock even if you got it right, just to understand the logic behind their reasoning and comparing it with your reasoning. That might take even more than 3 hours for a 2 hours mock but each and every second of that is worth it as this process constitutes a major part of your speed and concept development.
Number of mocks:
Another question I generally receive is how many mocks should one give. I suggest you to give at least 20 mocks plus past year CAT papers for your preparation.
Concept preparation:
You might forget 90% of what you learn today. So my first suggestion is building your concept by understanding it and not memorising it. Second suggestion is that you may follow 1-3-7-15-30 rule for your revision schedule. And last suggestion is to revise the concepts immediately in which you faced problems while attempting any mock.
Dealing with motivation and stress:
It’s normal to feel stressed but remember you still have enough time in your hand to change the course of your action and build your concept even from scratch. If you are facing major issues in a particular section, you may also go for personal coaching from any of the trainers or your friends as well. The mocks at this stage are not there to test your competence but a practice exercise to check your weak areas and speed and tactics development exercises. Also, do note that these mocks are generally at a higher level as compared to CAT. So don’t worry, and keep moving. Analyse mocks, revise concepts, build your speed and remember mocks are not measures of your competence.
CAT 2021 Score Vs. Percentile - Check Details Here
Do we still have time to prepare with low levels of preparation and limited time:
Yes definitely. I personally have seen people who with even 2 months of preparation were able to crack this aptitude exam. So even with low level of preparation or no preparation at all, devoting enough time to the preparation can help you score pretty great in the final test.
CAT 2022 Study Plan For Students And Working Professionals
Final tip:
Just remember that you still have almost 4 months in your hands and things can change a lot in such a big time frame. So don’t let your current performance in tests demotivate you or inflict self doubt in you. You have the ability and chance to change the course of action and rectify any past mistakes if any.
All the best!!
Recommended:
- "From An ICU To Scoring 99.83%ile In CAT" - How Shashwat Made It To IIM Calcutta Against All Odds - https://bit.ly/3Qucdev
- I Couldn’t Believe My Eyes When I Saw A 100%ile Against The VARC Section, Ft. Aditya Doiphode, CAT’21 VARC 100%iler - https://bit.ly/3Ap8adF
- 3 Best VARC Strategies To Ace CAT 2022 | Radhika Mohta, CAT 99.65%iler - https://bit.ly/3cdOYGx
CAT Notification is released, Now is the time you take your preparation seriously and go the extra mile. To aid CAT aspirants, we have compiled a few sectional tests as a giveaway. Take them now and see how your accuracy turns out!