Are you prepared to ace the CAT?

With barely three weeks to go for the CAT (Common Admission Test), a workshop called Road2MBA: The Latst Lap to CAT was organised by DNA and CPLC for aspirants from Mumbai. The workshop was attended by students from institutes like IIT, VJTI, Bhartiya Vidyapeeth, KJ Somaiya, Wilson, HR, KC, Mithibai, Sydneham, SIES, Ruparel.

Working  professionals preparing to get into their dream B Schools also were also present in large numbers . The workshop modules were presented by the founder of CPLC, Parag Chitale alongwith his expert faculty Sanjaya Misra, Abhishek Thakore and Manish Saliyan. 

Tackling online challenges
Traditionally CAT has been known for its surprises. Experts pointed out every year the IIMs make changes to the CAT right from number of questions and sections to the marking system. This year has surpassed the previous, with the CAT going online.

The number of aspirants has dropped from 2.76 lakh last year to 2.4 lakh, but the challenges are still daunting. The duration of the exam has gone down from two and a half hours to two hours with 15 minutes for the tutorial to the online module. The test which will be held over a ten day period starting November 28, will have different dates and centers for students. "The CAT will have fewer questions around 60-70 this year, but there is no clear idea about their allocation between the various sections," pointed Chitale.
"Only those students who can master the given challenges and get over the last minute surprises will be successful," added Misra. She referred to last year’s CAT where students were faced with 40 instead of 25 questions in the verbal section on the exam day. "With their time allocation going for a toss only those who stopped panicking and handled the mental pressure got through," she said. Even this year, students will have to create a road map of their passages in Reading Comprehension section and get comfortable with online interface instead of scrolling up and down continuously.

"The format of the CAT has changed, the structure hasn't," said Chitale to the rapt audience. "It is very important to go through the online tutorial put up by the IIMs in detail to overcome interface problems. According to us, the least affected section appears to be the quant section," he explained.

Comparing the Online CAT to tests like GMAT, Chitale informed that the CAT would be non adaptive which means that one can jump to any section and any question at any time.

"You can select an answer option and mark it for the review mode; then visit the review pane at a later stage and change the answers. Practicing using this mode can help save a lot of time," he explained. CAT aspirants will also have to keep in mind unanswered queries and surprises for the D-Day. There will be twenty different question papers, will the IIM's maintain consistency in their difficulty? Will there be a daily or ten day percentile? How many answer options will be set in each question?

"The biggest worry is at least out of the way," shared Chitale. "The IIMs have declared that that in case of emergencies like power failures, the test will be saved and students can continue without any time or efforts lost."

Softer Side of CAT
Why some people make it through the CAT and why some people don't  depends greatly on the mental state during the exam. Practising various sections of CAT is not the only way to crack the exam. One has to have a psychological edge over other competitors. "Cat is a product of your brain but also happens at the gut or emotional level," explained Thakore who is a passout from IIM Bangalore.

Thakore gave a complete low down on how to tackle CAT mentally. "MBA aspirants should ask themselves, why they are doing an MBA? If they have a strong enough answer then motivational levels rarely fluctuate," he explained. In the last few days CAT aspirants need to focus on their decisions.

Reinstate in themselves the belief that 'they are here to achieve', 'to get the prestigious seat at their dream B-school. For this, Thakore suggested several relaxation and visualisation techniques. "Relax yourself with music and let go off your stress and anxiety. Promise yourself that will give nothing but your best at the exam. Instruct yourself to make reasonable demands from yourself and moreover, imagine yourself living a life beyond CAT," he said.