Sakshi Education
How to prepare for CAT in a month:
The clock is ticking and the countdown has begun. With just 30 days to go, it is now down to the last leg of your preparation. The hard work that you have put in over the last year and half to realize your dream of entering the prestigious IIMs now needs to channelized in the right direction. This last one month can make a lot of difference to the end result.
As an aspirant for one of the toughest entrance exams in India, first and foremost, ensure that you are in a positive frame of mind. Keep reminding yourself that you have put in lot of work and hard work never lets you down. However, I am sure that there are other questions in your mind? How do you formulate a strategy that makes you stand apart from the two lakh applicants that you're competing with? What should your plan be in clearing the sectional cut-offs or analyzing your mocks or revising the syllabus?
According to the experts, the last 30 days before CAT should be carefully divided between the revising concepts, taking mocks and analyzing them. You should also be ready with your test-taking strategy. Know that this time is meant to have an sound strategy that results in your success in CAT. These are some of the things that you necessary need to do in the next one month.
Time to focus on your strengths
This time is meant to work and improve in the areas where you are strong. This is the last lap and now is not the time to work on your weak areas. Reduce focus on them. You could spend some time on the gray areas to work and convert them into your strong points. But remember to revise the basic concepts in your weak areas.
The maximum focus though should be on the concepts you're strong at and using them to boost your scores. Also, make sure to work on areas where you have conceptual clarity but end up spending more time. Through practice, you can reduce the time spent on them allowing you to increase your score.
Brush up your basics
Many experts emphasize on brushing up your basics in the final end of preparation. Running through the notes that you might have made during your practice, checking up the formula cheat sheets, revising grammar and vocabulary (flash card apps like Vocab Prep will help you too!) will make your work easy on the day of the exam. Remember that if your fundamentals are strong, you will be able to tackle any kind of question, be it a straight one or a tricky one. Within these 30 days, ensure that you have 360-degree knowledge on the important fundamentals.
Mock tests - two to three a week
If you haven't already, it's time to finalize your test-taking strategy for your exam. And make sure that you follow that in your Mock Exams. Keep fine-tuning the strategy so that you have the different scenarios covered.. Remember that without a well-devised strategy, you might feel that your preparation is inadequate.
It is not just about attempting Mock Tests but analysing them is the key. Do note that your Mock Scores are only a guide for your preparation and not an absolute indication of what might happen on the final examination day. At the end of the day, your score in CAT is what matters and not your score in the mocks. So, use these mocks to understand your strong, grey, and weak areas. Make use of them to help you structure your preparation and identify areas where you need to put in additional efforts.
Keep away from starting new topics
While you take the mock tests, it is possible that you still find topics that you have no idea about. There's no reason to panic here. At this stage, all you need to do is work on the concepts you're sure about and utilize the time to revise them. Even if you start a new topic now, you would not be able to grasp it completely and lose out your valuable time in doing so. Months of hard work invested should not go futile. Hence, accelerate things up for the last mile and do not put on extra burden on yourself.
A working test-taking strategy is your secret sauce
By this time you must've taken a lot of mock-tests and solved many question papers from previous years. Use them to understand the pattern of the exam and develop your strategy. Understand the way questions are asked in each section. Do not let any section take the backseat at this point of the time. And make sure which kind of questions would you want to attempt in each of these sections along with the ideal number of attempts. This is how you can develop a strategy of your own.
This test taking strategy is what differentiates the toppers from others who also gave the exam. With the right approach, one can make it to the top B-schools in the country. It is the strategy you come up with which makes the difference in this final end of preparation.
And last but not the least, do not give up! 30 days is still a lot of time and a lot can change between now and the final CAT Exam. If you find yourself under pressure, tell yourself that it is okay and every other aspirant is under pressure too. Fight on! All the best!!
Adithya Lanka (IIM-Calcutta) , Chief Technical Officer – Conduira Online
The clock is ticking and the countdown has begun. With just 30 days to go, it is now down to the last leg of your preparation. The hard work that you have put in over the last year and half to realize your dream of entering the prestigious IIMs now needs to channelized in the right direction. This last one month can make a lot of difference to the end result.
As an aspirant for one of the toughest entrance exams in India, first and foremost, ensure that you are in a positive frame of mind. Keep reminding yourself that you have put in lot of work and hard work never lets you down. However, I am sure that there are other questions in your mind? How do you formulate a strategy that makes you stand apart from the two lakh applicants that you're competing with? What should your plan be in clearing the sectional cut-offs or analyzing your mocks or revising the syllabus?
According to the experts, the last 30 days before CAT should be carefully divided between the revising concepts, taking mocks and analyzing them. You should also be ready with your test-taking strategy. Know that this time is meant to have an sound strategy that results in your success in CAT. These are some of the things that you necessary need to do in the next one month.
Time to focus on your strengths
This time is meant to work and improve in the areas where you are strong. This is the last lap and now is not the time to work on your weak areas. Reduce focus on them. You could spend some time on the gray areas to work and convert them into your strong points. But remember to revise the basic concepts in your weak areas.
The maximum focus though should be on the concepts you're strong at and using them to boost your scores. Also, make sure to work on areas where you have conceptual clarity but end up spending more time. Through practice, you can reduce the time spent on them allowing you to increase your score.
Brush up your basics
Many experts emphasize on brushing up your basics in the final end of preparation. Running through the notes that you might have made during your practice, checking up the formula cheat sheets, revising grammar and vocabulary (flash card apps like Vocab Prep will help you too!) will make your work easy on the day of the exam. Remember that if your fundamentals are strong, you will be able to tackle any kind of question, be it a straight one or a tricky one. Within these 30 days, ensure that you have 360-degree knowledge on the important fundamentals.
Mock tests - two to three a week
If you haven't already, it's time to finalize your test-taking strategy for your exam. And make sure that you follow that in your Mock Exams. Keep fine-tuning the strategy so that you have the different scenarios covered.. Remember that without a well-devised strategy, you might feel that your preparation is inadequate.
It is not just about attempting Mock Tests but analysing them is the key. Do note that your Mock Scores are only a guide for your preparation and not an absolute indication of what might happen on the final examination day. At the end of the day, your score in CAT is what matters and not your score in the mocks. So, use these mocks to understand your strong, grey, and weak areas. Make use of them to help you structure your preparation and identify areas where you need to put in additional efforts.
Keep away from starting new topics
While you take the mock tests, it is possible that you still find topics that you have no idea about. There's no reason to panic here. At this stage, all you need to do is work on the concepts you're sure about and utilize the time to revise them. Even if you start a new topic now, you would not be able to grasp it completely and lose out your valuable time in doing so. Months of hard work invested should not go futile. Hence, accelerate things up for the last mile and do not put on extra burden on yourself.
A working test-taking strategy is your secret sauce
By this time you must've taken a lot of mock-tests and solved many question papers from previous years. Use them to understand the pattern of the exam and develop your strategy. Understand the way questions are asked in each section. Do not let any section take the backseat at this point of the time. And make sure which kind of questions would you want to attempt in each of these sections along with the ideal number of attempts. This is how you can develop a strategy of your own.
This test taking strategy is what differentiates the toppers from others who also gave the exam. With the right approach, one can make it to the top B-schools in the country. It is the strategy you come up with which makes the difference in this final end of preparation.
And last but not the least, do not give up! 30 days is still a lot of time and a lot can change between now and the final CAT Exam. If you find yourself under pressure, tell yourself that it is okay and every other aspirant is under pressure too. Fight on! All the best!!
Adithya Lanka (IIM-Calcutta) , Chief Technical Officer – Conduira Online
Published date : 27 Oct 2018 12:28PM
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