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One day to CAT 2011: What to do, what to avoid

Last updated on: October 21, 2011 15:37 IST

In the first part of last minute CAT 2011 preparation series, ARKS Srinivas, an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and ex-Director at T.I.M.E, Mumbai, spoke about the mental strategy.

In the second part, he shared section-wise tips and strategies to cracking the CAT.

In the third and last part, here, he presents a low down on what to do one day before the exam. Read on.

All the serious contenders for the coveted IIM seats would be waiting with bated breadth for the morning of October 22, 2011 when the new saga of CAT for this year would begin.

You have a fair idea of the paper pattern, the various sections, and are battling anticipation as the stakes are high. Yet, there is something inexplicable about the CAT which makes it the exam it is!

Whatever marks you may have got in the Mock CATs and other exams till now DO NOT MATTER. The only thing that matters is what you do in those 140 minutes in the exam.

Like Shah Rukh Khan has said in Chak De, those "70 minutes" per section is all that matters! You have to forget that the world exists in those 140 minutes and realise that you are in front of an exam, which can make your life and career.

For such an important exam, you cannot get into the exam without a well thought out strategy. A strategy, which has contingency plans for the unforeseen, and unexpected!

Also read: 50 MOST important formulae for CAT 2011

Also read: The 10-point mental strategy for CAT 2011

Also read: Last minute tips from CAT 2010 toppers

Let's quickly look at what needs to be done for the exam as a whole and each section within the exam. Some important home truths are useful to reiterate.

Objective of the exam: Maximise Scores.

Importance of Cutoffs: DOES NOT MATTER. You would neither do less number of questions in a section if the cutoffs are going to be low nor suddenly would you be in any position to attempt more questions just because the cutoffs are expected to be high.

Recognising that cannot suddenly become a Sehwag if you were all along a Dravid makes eminent sense going into the exam.

You will play to your strengths.

Overall strategy

Anyone who is somebody who understands any entrance exam would say that there are only two ways in which you can maximize scores.

It is far easier to say that you should increase attempts and reduce mistakes than actually do it in the actual exam. Hence your strategy should try to give you the chance to do the above two.

Since the time limit for each section is fixed (70 minutes and 30 questions), there is no need to divide your time for the overall exam. The way to take this CAT is to consider that there are two halves of 70 minutes each.

Section I – Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (30 questions�� minutes)

There are two ways in which you can attempt this section.

Strategy 1

Advantage

Not leave out questions from either of the areas.

Strategy 2

First 35 min

Next 30 minutes

Advantage

Section II – Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (30 questions-70 minutes)

Ideally use ONE Strategy

CAT Essentials

GO CRACK IT!

The author has been the All India CAT Course Director at T.I.M.E and has more than 15 years of experience in training students for CAT and other entrance exams. He is presently the Director at Vanguard Business School based out of Bangalore.