The Common Admission Test (CAT) is one of the toughest exams in the country. Despite careful preparation, many candidates make mistakes as a result of stress, anxiety, and restlessness. Therefore, it is best to get advice from last year’s top scorers on how to prepare for the B-school entrance exam. They can provide guidance on some of the most common mistakes that aspirants make. Given that the CAT is less than a week away, let’s take a look at what toppers recommend.
Chirag Gupta who scored 100 percentile last year said that he read a lot in general while preparing for VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension). He told Shiksha, an educational news portal, that he mostly read fiction and it helped him a lot. For DILR (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning), he concentrated on identifying and familiarising himself with specific types of sets. “I applied this strategy in the mock test and read every set in the first five minutes. I began the section by doing the easiest DI set/s, then attempted the easier sets of the LR section. It will ensure that you will always clear the sectional cutoffs,” he said. For the Quant section, he focused on getting his fundamentals right from the start.
He goes on to say that he took about 50-60 CAT mock tests, which he believes is probably the most important aspect of CAT preparation. Lastly, he said that his exam day strategy was just to stay calm and not think too much about the results.
Bir Anmol, another last year’s CAT topper who attained a 99.94 percentile, said that all he did was self-study. Speaking of his preparation, he said, “I solved Arun Sharma sir’s CAT books for VARC, LR, DI and Quant. I attempted as many past year CAT questions papers (timed attempt) as I could attempt, on weekends.” He also stated, “I used to analyse my shortcomings to improve further.”
He went on to assert that his academic background assisted him greatly in the Quant and DILR sections. He stated that he simply practised and answered many questions without using a calculator. “My VARC strategy was to read more and to improve more. Para jumbles and summary-based questions need a lot of practice and critical analysis for understanding the gist of solving such problems,” he said.
The Common Admission Test 2022 is scheduled for November 27. The test will be given in a computer-based format. It will be administered in three sessions for 2 hours at different locations in 150 cities.
