Looking at the strenuous preparation schedule advocated by the toppers in their post-selection tales of their CAT journey, many aspirants mistake CAT to be a deep-dyed test of aptitude. But this assumption is wrong because CAT is so much more than just your aptitude. It might be difficult to understand how but CAT tests you as a person, it analyses such traits in your personality that will make you a good leader. And, to excel at those traits, it is first important to understand what these attributes are and in what way they are tested in the CAT examination.
Persistence: No matter how cliché this sounds, but only and only a persistent individual can even come close to cracking the CAT. If you're not reading an article regularly for months preceding the D-Day, you'll find it very difficult to tackle the VARC section. If you're not solving a few sets every day, no matter how hectic your schedule is, the unpredictable DILR section will shake your confidence. If you're not persistent in practicing the basics of QA whenever you get a little free time, you'll not be able to recollect the concepts and formulae instantly in that stressful exam scenario. Getting results in life is a long-term process that requires unending resolve. So, the most basic thing the CAT tests is your unwavering determination.
Strategy: Every person is different with each having their strengths and weaknesses. Every aspirant that you talk to will be good at some topics you struggle with and you wil be good at at some concepts which dread them. This is why it is important for each one of you to introspect and map out a preparation strategy unique to you and that works the best for you. Whether you should give the maximum time to VARC, DILR, or QA, will depend on your capabilities and no one should be entrusted with the responsibility of making that decision for you. To plan out things that hold such vast importance for your future can be overwhelming, but this is one of the most useful traits for a manager. And, that is why the CAT tests your ability to gauge a strategy that suits you, not only for the preparation phase but for the actual exam as well.
Optimism: To rise consistently even after tasting the dirt is easier said than done. But, it is an important quality to have for a leader. Life will keep throwing bouncers at you, but it is your choice to either duck under them or play the pull shot. There will be a million such moments in your preparation journey when you’ll feel dejected. Sometimes it might be a bad mock test, or sometimes just a DILR set or a QA question you’re stuck on. You’ll feel like dropping the entire plan of even appearing for the CAT and might even start looking at the alternatives available to you. But, this is when it’s time for you to remind yourself that it is you who chose the CAT, and not the other way around. You have the upper hand here because this is exactly what you want to do in life. Optimism is imperative in this process because only this will help you get up after the shortcomings. We are all aspiring to be future leaders, and if you want to be one, you’ll have to have that faith and positivity that no matter what happens, things will get better. And thus, this is exactly what CAT prepares you for.
Calmness: This trait is, undoubtedly, the key to cracking the CAT examination. With all the overwhelmingness that comes with the CAT, we are bound to make mistakes if we let the nervousness get the better of us. When you’ll be sitting on your chair, looking at the computer screen, listening to the continuous clicking of the mouse all around you, you will feel anxious, which is completely normal. But, what makes the difference here is your ability to fight through that nervousness to give your best in the exam. There might come a point where you’re stuck on a question and don’t see a way forward, only a calm mind can help you sail through such situations. When you’ll become a top-level manager in an organisation or in your own business, you’ll come across hundreds of such events on a daily basis where you’ll have to make the most difficult decisions in the most pressured situations. Thus, CAT makes sure that the students that move forward onto the next stage of selection have this essential trait of calmness in their personality.
When you’ll be done with the CAT and the entire selection process, you’ll realize that this entire duration has made you a completely different person with qualities that will help you in every phase of your life. It is important to strike a balance between your aptitude and these aforementioned qualities to ace the CAT exam. And, if you ask me, more than the aptitude, this is what the CAT tests.