CAT Exam - 5 ways to score high

For the admissions in some of the most prestigious MBA institutions in the country, the Common Admission Test, CAT exam is the qualifying examination.

Cited to have an application intake of around 2.3 lakh students, CAT exam is one of the most competitive examinations in the country.

In the last one month of preparation, candidates should stick to the core examination strategy, that is knowing the exam pattern, practicing with sample papers, and attempting the mock tests.

Samples questions can be of a great help while preparing for CAT exam.

Wish to know how?

Here's how sample papers can help you score high in CAT exam 2021.

1. Rigorous practice

For securing a top percentile in CAT exam, you need to have a section-wise exam strategy. There are three sections, and you need specific strategies to ensure that you crack them right.

* Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) evaluates your knowledge of language and your reading skills.

You may want to focus on fact inference judgment, verbal reasoning, para completion, and analogies to attempt the VARC section successfully.

* Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR) has historically been one of the toughest sections in CAT exam for candidates.

Typically, sections that need more preparation are data sufficiency, data arrangement, binary logic, caselets, clocks and calendars.

* Quantitative Ability (QA) tests your understanding of the number system and arithmetic reasoning.

Candidates should identify which of the topics from arithmetic, geometry, algebra, mensuration, and calculus are they weak in, and supplement that section with sample question papers.

Practicing with can help you identify and creation a sound section specific strategy.

2. Understanding the CAT exam pattern

The CAT exam is divided into three sections and will have around 76 questions.

The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section and Quantitative Ability (QA) section will have 26 questions each, while the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section will have 24.

The duration of the CAT exam 2021 will be two hours and for each section, the time limit will be 40 minutes.

Expected pattern

Knowing the exam pattern thoroughly equips students to attempt the exam with confidence and instils poise and assurance, which is necessary in a high-stakes examination like CAT.

3. Mock Examinations

CAT exam is not just a test of subject knowledge. It is also an assessment of:

* Time management

* Discipline

* Speed

* Accuracy

There are innumerable tips for cracking CAT exam, which focus on maximizing the number of correct attempts per section.

This can only come with practicing with solved sample question papers.

Practicing with can help mimic the actual examination scenario and the more you practice, the more you develop your problem-solving skills.

It also helps you to identify your weak areas and hone your strong ones.

In addition to that, by solving a large number of sample papers, you build speed, discipline and accuracy, skills which are crucial in a high stakes' examination like CAT.

Oswaal CAT have ample questions and the latest solved paper for 2021. It also has previous years' (1990-2008 & 2017-2020) exam questions to facilitate focused studies.

4. Thorough analysis

Thorough analysis of attempted questions is as important as the preparation itself.

By analysing where you went wrong, you will unlock insights into what are your weak areas.

These could be because of a conceptual misunderstanding or because of an incorrect inference. Analyse every sample question paper to uncover patterns of your weakness, work on them and you will certainly see an improvement.

Also, through analysis you should look at improving your attempt accuracy of your weak areas.

It's not just enough to fortify your strengths, strategize them!

Your efforts should be directed at bringing up your weaknesses so that you can maximize your chances of getting a high percentile.

If DILR is your weak area, then you cannot avoid attempting questions. DI constitutes an important part of CAT exam, and you should certainly look at improving your skills in DI to optimize your scores.

You also have to cautious about accuracy. Make sure that you focus on accuracy along with speed as there will be negative marking for each wrong attempt.

Oswaal has subject wise trend analysis. This enables you to do a deep dive on the topics and investigate the trends in the paper and prepare accordingly.

You can also map the subject wise trends to your performance and further close the gap towards achieving high scores.

5. Learning aids

CAT exam focuses on fundamentals and application. Students need to keep a set of reference notes handy for important topics in QA and DILR section.

Prior to the examination, you can start going through the notes to ensure top of mind recall during the CAT exam.

Whether it is DILR or QA, prepare short tips for attempting questions for every section and keep them handy. Follow the framework in attempting the questions and improve your time with every attempt.

has learning tools like Mind Maps and Mnemonics, Concept wise Revision Notes which aid students' preparation for CAT exam.

Bottom Line

CAT preparation is one of the most exhausting and demanding preparations.

Students prepare for CAT exam usually while studying in another course or also while working.

Juggling all these responsibilities takes a toll on their health and preparation. Hence, they have to be mindful of maintaining a balance during their preparation.

CAT preparation requires singular focus and dedication.

With only a few weeks remaining for the CAT exam, candidates must focus on the core examination strategy and the basics to get high scores.

Good Luck!

This story is provided by Oswaal Books.will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Oswaal Books)

( With inputs from ANI )

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