Timely tips to bell the CAT!

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is scheduled to be held on November 16 for admissions into various MBA programmes of business schools in the country. The following is a compilation of the most common questions posed to CAT aspirants.

An attempt has been made to answer some of the common questions, provide guidance to tackle CAT and clear some myths about the examination. So, here we go...

Student: I have not had a great academic background so far. Can I clear CAT?

Definitely. To clear CAT you do not need academic success as much as the willingness to work hard, smart and utilise your time most efficiently. The last four lines of the poem If by Rudyard Kipling answers it best: If you can fill the unforgiving minute, With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, And — which is more — you’ll be a Man, my son.

How much time should I spend every day preparing for CAT?

Well, you need to spend all the time you can get. If doing well in CAT is your goal, you need to focus your time and efforts on preparation.

Most people, if asked on the one thing that has contributed most to their success would probably say ‘focus’. To give you a rough indicator, two to three hours a day should be sufficient. But more than the time you spend, what is really important is how much you can take out of your study time.

I can solve most questions from sample papers at home but I am not able to do the same during mock exams. What should I do?

There are two important factors that contribute to success in CAT. One is accuracy in problem solving, and the other is speed. In your case, you need to develop speed. Try a simple exercise at home. When you take a mock CAT exam at home, use a stop-clock and write down the time you start and leave a question adjacent to the question. After the exam, you may find that you have spent a lot of time on the questions that have not yielded marks.

You need to judge more quickly if you can solve a problem by reading it once. If you are not sure how to get the answer after you read it, you probably have to go to the next question without wasting time. This way, if you can spend most of your time in solving all the easier questions, you should be able to clear the exam.

How to spot the easier questions during CAT?

As the general advice is to do the easy questions, students tend to frantically search for easy questions in the paper. If you too are doing it, chances are that you probably will actually miss a lot of questions that are easy. We surely cannot spot all the easy questions by just glancing through the paper and attempting what looks to be easy.

A more effective approach would be to read the problem one by one from the start of the section. After you read and understand a problem, you decide if you think the time you spend on this problem will quickly give you results. If you can’t spot how to do it soon enough, go to the next question.

This way, you let questions come to you and you decide what to attempt and what not to. At the same time, you need to ensure that you go at a steady pace, which will ensure that you read all the questions. This way, you will not miss any easy questions.

I have tried a lot of shortcuts. But none of them has yielded results consistently. Is there anything I am missing?

I am not aware if there are any real shortcuts to long-term success in pretty much anything. We need to identify what is stopping us from getting the desired results. For example, in ‘reading comprehension’, is it the lack of the right shortcuts the problem, or is it the inability to comprehend passages or questions very well the problem?

If your answer is the latter, we need to find ways to develop those abilities than look for shortcuts.

To develop reading comprehension skills, try the following exercise:

Choose newspaper articles on subjects you are not competent on, check the time and start reading. You can read at whatever speed you are comfortable, but ensure that you do not read the same line again. When you have finished reading, note the time and record the time you have spent on the passage.

Next, close your eyes and try to recollect your understanding of the entire passage. You will then get feedback on your ability to comprehend.

If you do this exercise regularly, I am sure you will see your comprehension improve and naturally when that is tested in CAT, you can get the desired results.

What is the best way to prepare for CAT?

One way is to join a programme in a leading institute and prepare from the material given there. Alternatively, you can take the mock exam series from a good institute and analyse your performance vis-À-vis other aspirants.

Are there any good books that you can suggest for CAT preparation?

Yes. Some good books I have come across are: The Complete CAT Digest (Tata McGraw Hill), How To Prepare For Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT (Tata McGraw Hill), CAT Topic-wise Analysis of Previous Years Question Papers 15 Years (1993-2007) (Arihant Publishers), How to Prepare For The Verbal Ability And Reading Comprehension for the CAT (Tata McGraw Hill), The Pearson Guide to Quantitative Aptitude for CAT (Pearson Education), Vedic Mathematics (Published by Motilal Banarsidass).

What should I do after CAT?

You should start preparing for group discussion and interview immediately after CAT. Reading the newspaper everyday and noting down your opinions on different subjects will be very useful when called for a group discussion or an interview.

Can you give us a checklist of things I need to ensure on the day of CAT?

Aspirants need to realise that a bit of anxiety is normal and a little bit of stress is needed to ensure peak performance on the day of CAT. Keep your mind open and free from any last minute preparation. Reach the centre much ahead of time, so so as to avoid unwanted stress. A good night’s sleep will help you give the energy needed to endure 2.5 hours of problem solving during the next day. This is often the best you can do one day before the exam.

I am taking CAT this year. Which are the non-IIM institutes that use CAT scores I should apply?

There are about 118 institutes that use CAT scores for admission to their programmes. Some of the very good non-IIM institutes that use CAT scores are (in alphabetical order) Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Tiruchirapalli; Indian Institute of Forest Management; Institute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai; Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur; Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad; International Management Institute, New Delhi; KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon; Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad; Nanyang Business School, Singapore; NITIE, Mumbai; SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai; TA Pai Management Institute, Manipal.

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