How t o i n c r eas e ,t h e n u m b er

of at t em p t s i n t h e CAT p ap er
A lOT HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT THE P REP ARATION BUilDING UP TO THE COMMON
ADMISSION TEST (CAT), 2010; lETS DISCUSS HOW TO GET TO THE BEST SCORE
T
heoneandonlything which
determines. thesuccessor
failureof acandidateinany
examisthescoreobtained. This holds
goodfor CATaswell,thefIrst step
towards securing aseat inthe
prestigious IIMs.TheIIMsnot only
lookfor ahigh overall score, but also
for arelatively goodperformance
(score) intheindividual sections
(Quant, Verbal &l,J )I).
Twofactors determine thescore
obtained -number of attempts &
accuracy.Though thesetwoarenot therewouldbeduplication of efforts
completelyindependent of eachother, interms of reading thesame
let usfocusonthe"Number of question(s) multiple.times. This is
Attempts" anddiscuss thewaysto becausebythetimethescanisover
increase.it. andonecomesbacktothefirst
LQuestion Selection:Thestudents question, theinformation onthe
needtoensurethat they attempt and question will not stay inonesmind
answer all theeasyquestions ineach andthequestion has tobereadagain.
.sectionwithin thetimeallottedfor the Toavoidthis, thestudents candivide
section. Oncethey aredonewith the theallottedtimefor thesectioninto
easy questions, they canproceedto. different chunks (forexample-divide
answeringthemoredifficult ones, if 40min into4chunks of 10mineach)
timepermits. Tobeabletodothis, one andineachtimechunk, focusonaset
has toattempt questions selectively, of questions tobescanned for
judgingtheir difficulty.level while difficultylevel andattempted. This
reading them. Thecardinal rule isto way,onecanensure that noquestion
not missonany easyquestion inthe goesunread andalsothat all theeasy
CATpaper. tomediumquestions areattempted.
Thequestion whichusually comes A similar approach canbefollowed
tothemindof thestudents while for LDI section, andtheadvantage
attempting theCATquestions based here isthat most questions herewould
onthedifficultylevel isthat, whether bepre-dividedintosets, makingthe
they shouldscanthepaper frrst, or student's task easier.
answer themonthegobasedonthe 2. Order of AnsweringDifferent
difficultylevel.Theanswer would sections: Put your best footforward
dependonthesectionthat oneis andstart withyour strongest section.
workingout. For asectionlikeVerbal If thiSsectionturns out tobethemost
Ability,it doesn'tmakesensetocome difficult, it isgreat, asyouhavetaken
backtothequestions after scanning thebiggest thorn out of your way.If
themasmost of themcaneither be this turns out tobeeasy,then it would
answeredor leftout inthefIrst giveyoumoretimetoattempt the
reading. latter sections, oneof which isyour
But for aQuantitative Ability weakest. Doingthis alsoprevents loss
section, theconstraints aredifferent. of confidence,whichmight happen if
All thequestions canbereadfIrst and youstart withyour weakest or not so
easy questions canbelefttobesolved strong sectionandperformbadinit.
later whenoneidentifiesall theeasy Neverendwithyour weakest
questions inthepaper.But the section. This wouldmoreoftenthan
disadvantageindoingthis will bethat not, bethereasonfor students getting

intopanic modeasthetimeisrunning
out andthey arestill stuck withtheir
,weakestsection. Hence, thesafestbet
istosandwichtheweakest section
betweentheother two.
3.Having atried &tested "Time
Management Strategy": Bynow,the
students shouldhavewritten enough
number of mockcats(of good
standard), toknowtheir strengths and
weaknesses. Theyalsoshouldhave
tried out various strategies (order of
sections &timeforeachsection).
What invariably keepshappening,
unless thestudents aredisciplined
enough isthat, thetimefor thelast
sectionbecomesmuchlessthan what
thestudents hadallottedtoit. This is
becauseof thenatural instinct toget
onemorequestionintheearlier
sections'evenafter theallottedtimeis
over.Hence,thereisalwaysadanger
of thelast sectionsufferingdueto
lack of time. Toavoidthis, have15-30
minbuffer zoneat theend. Thiswould
cater for any indiscipline intime
management andensure that no
sectionsuffers.
4. All saidanddone, it isthe
candidate's stateof mindwhichplays
akeyroleintheexam. Keepacool
head, ignoreall thehype&hoopla
goingaround youandfocusonlyon
theexam.
The article is authored by Mr.
Ramnath Kanakadandi, Course
Director CAX TIME. (Triumphant
Institute of Management Education
Pvt. Ltd.) Hyderabad