How should an aspirant prepare his timetable for the last 5 days?

In last 5 days, you can do mocks (AIMCATs and SAMCATs), analyse them and study and prepare as per the deficiencies revealed. You can also focus on revision of important concepts and formulae.

What should be the ideal strategy regarding the Mock tests in the last days?

Don’t do too many of them, like two every day. That is overkill. But don’t do too less of them, like one in 5 days. Focus on doing some, and more importantly doing analysis of them and then working based on the feedback received. Then, take another mock. Most aspirants can manage this in 2-3 days per cycle, so you can take 2-3 mocks per week. If you are very strong then maybe you can manage more and if you are exceptionally weak then may be only 1-2 in a week.

Now that the CAT authorities have sent the admit cards, you know your time slot for the examination. Do as many mocks as possible at the time of your actual exam slot. This will sync your body clock and body cycle to perform at the peak on the exam day.

What are the important topics for last minute revision?

There is nothing less or more important in CAT. CAT as a rule is a surprising paper with something or the other which is unexpected. Don’t focus on vocabulary building or starting new grammar rules but you can revise tricky questions of QA or common mistakes of Grammar.

How can the students increase their accuracy and speed?

Speed is a function of accuracy. Build accuracy first and then with repeated practice, you will gain speed on your own. Build of sense of urgency while doing the exam so that you don’t dwell unnecessarily on longer and time consuming questions.

How can the students stay calm, focused and motivated at this time?

Focus on the alternatives. Thinking that CAT is the only thing in their life will create unnecessary pressure. Think of past successes and how one overcame hurdles.

How can the students select the ideal question in the test that can lead to maximum accuracy?

Maximum accuracy is not a desirable aim. In the CAT, due to time pressure and negative marking, doing questions with 100%  or nearly 100% accuracy  may lead to a drop in the score/percentile since you are sacrificing attempts.

The ideal way to select is to look at all the questions and do the ones that are less time consuming.  You can do the sections in two rounds. In the first round, do the easy questions and “bookmark for review” the moderate ones. In the second round do the “bookmarked for review” questions to do the moderate ones and drop the tough ones.

How many questions should be attempted by the students in each section so that they can score 99+ percentile?

One cannot answer this question since that depends on the difficulty level of the test. In a difficult test the attempts will fall and conversely in an easy test, the attempts will rise. You should instead, try to focus on doing as many as you can, in the given time.

What are the common mistakes that students must avoid on the day of the exam?

Make sure you check the physical location of the centre, at least a day before and check how to reach properly in good time. Make sure you carry all documents necessary. Avoid heavy meals before the exam as it is a long and mentally and physically taxing exam. Don’t feel panic if the paper seems tougher than usual. If it is indeed so, it is true for all others too and thus percentiles will not be affected. Don’t go into the exam with a pre-determined number of attempts or scores in your mind. Don’t waste time on any one question. Move forward and read all the questions.

Do you have any advice from outside the daily grind?

On the last day you should relax. Watch a movie! Go and enjoy. Take your mind off the exam. That actually helps do it better!

About the author- Ankur Jain is the Chief Knowledge Expert, T.I.M.E.