Common Admission Test or CAT is a test conducted on the national level to get admission into management courses in top B-schools and Indian Institutes of Management.
The entrance test is conducted to analyse candidates’ data interpretation skills, quantitative ability, logical reasoning and verbal ability. The MBA exams in India evaluate the management aptitude of students by testing their analytical and communication skills. The exam needs intense preparation of four to five months. The CAT entrance exam is considered eligibility criteria if you want to get admission into various IIMs to pursue management and business courses.
All graduates can attempt the entrance test, which usually takes place in November every year. CAT is an online mode of entrance test conducted at the examination centres. In August 2011, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) announced that they would use the CAT scores instead of the Joint Management Test (JMET).
Tips to Crack CAT 2022 Examination
1. Plan your preparation
Students should adequately plan a study schedule according to the syllabus and CAT Exam Date for daily and weekly purposes. Be careful while making the study schedule to avoid leaving behind any crucial topics. Make sure you distribute equal time to all the topics and cover the entire CAT syllabus.
2. Know the syllabus
To crack the exam in the first attempt, knowing the CAT syllabus is fundamental. Though the IIM, which conducts the exam, does not prescribe any specific syllabus for CAT, you can still get a lot of information about topics by going through the past years’ CAT question papers. Based on those papers, you get to know the topics on which questions are mostly asked. In this regard, your coach can guide you by helping you with the topics and questions to be emphasised. Having a good and thorough understanding of the syllabus will help you study and perform better.
3. Proper time management
While preparing for an entrance exam, time management plays an imperative role, especially for candidates attempting the CAT exam for the first time. Candidates should know how to manage their time and allocate equal timings for all the subjects. Try to avoid wasting time and utilise your free time for revision.
4. Solve mock test papers
Students should solve mock test papers to get an idea of the exam pattern. It teaches them to use time efficiently and get to know its importance. Also, read newspapers and editorials regularly. Make it a habit to practise these papers unless and until you become perfect.
5. Follow the exam pattern
Students should know the syllabus and the exam pattern and prepare accordingly. Firstly, they should start with the topics they are more confident about but simultaneously give importance to the exam pattern. When you begin your preparation, follow the exam pattern instead of going through all the topics. It will help you score excellent marks.
6. Join a coaching centre
Joining coaching is also a good idea. This builds accountability because you will interact with other CAT applicants and be very well aware of the competition. These professional classrooms have fixed timings and will help you maintain a regular study pattern. Even on days you don’t feel like studying, you can simply attend your coaching class and learn something substantial.
7. Identify weak points
Try and spend more time studying topics you are not good at. You might be discouraged at first, but it is necessary to know your plus points and the areas where you are weak. By identifying your weak areas, you will now be able to focus more of your attention to make them your strengths. So, we can conclude the article by saying that preparing for the CAT exam is challenging. Students can score good percentiles with proper guidance, CAT coaching, dedication, and hard work. They can also refer to study materials that are available online such as partnership questions, group discussion topics, etc. being confident will help you crack the CAT exam.
