CAT 2017-18: Exam Tips And Strategy

The CAT 2017 will happen on Nov 26 and the process of exam registration will end on Sept 20

As the registration for CAT 2017 exam has already started, one must be prepared to face any questions in the exam. For those preparing for Common Admission Test (CAT) need to know that the CAT 2017 will happen on November 26 (Sunday) and the process of exam registration will end on September 20 (Wednesday). This year, the exam will be organized by the IIM –L. The IIMs will organize the computer-based exam 140 test centres across the country in two sessions. Candidates will have an option to select 4 Test Cities in order of preference.  The duration of the Exam will be 180 minutes. The CAT entrance examination is conducted for admission to these 20 IIMs and more than 100 institutes across India. The elite IIMs are at Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam. The IIMs will also release a tutorial to understand the format of the test on October 18. Candidates must work on the tutorials available on the website well in advance.

Important dates:

• Registrations for the exam:  August 9
• Last date to apply: September 20
• Admit cards: October 18
• CAT 2017 Exam: November 26
• CAT 2017 Results: January 2018

Exam Pattern: There will be three sections; Verbal Reasoning & Reading Comprehension (one), Quantitative Aptitude (two) and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (three). The first section will have 34 questions with 1 mark for each question. The second section will follow the same and the third section will have 32 questions with 1 mark for each. The Exam is for 100 marks and the duration is 60 minutes. Don’t be alarmed or tensed with this. We share some simple tips that will help you go easy through preparations and the exam as well.

Tips and Strategy: 

• Take a computer-based mock CAT 2017. It will make you familiar with the actual test environment. It will help you completely prepare to take the computer-based test on your CAT day and save any wastage of time on understanding the mode of test.
• Solve previous year CAT sample paper to have an actual feel of the test.
•  Analyse your performance in the mock tests and evaluate your scoring areas based on CAT exam pattern. This will bring clarity on your strengths and weaknesses.
• Check out the explanation of answers and to find out the strength of your concepts the core concept for solving each question.
• Always list don the questions that you failed to solve even though you had the concepts clear. Then revisit the textbook or your CAT preparation materials and revise the concepts
• Focus on your strong areas and build on the same.
• Put all your efforts towards the areas which you have nearly been able to control and solve questions on the same
•  Practice as much as you can. This will surely make you go easy with the questions during your CAT exam day. 
• Set target but be open to number of attempts
• Make a schedule for practicing a fixed set of questions daily. It is essential to get organized first. Make it a daily habit to solve questions. Initially you may start with one test or a question paper depending on your capacity. One should be able to practice 2-4 full length question sets in the last month before the exam. You may have a stop watch to measure your performance while practicing.
• Ensure that there are no distractions around. Bank exams demand one-pointed attention when it comes to practice. It makes sense to have a group study with your friends preparing for the same. A group study would help you gain new insights or techniques to solve the problems quickly. However, if you are not comfortable with group study, you may practice alone and meet your friends once in a week for guidance.
• When it comes to your question set, never get overcome by anxiety or nervousness. These psychological barriers do impact your performance. Time management is the key. Once you get your question set, go through the section and see all the questions if possible. Select the problems thoughtfully. It is not compulsory to solve each and every question of all the sections. Choose Verbal Reasoning & Reading Comprehension English first. It may help you save time for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning and QA. Solve easier questions first and mark the tough ones. Once you are done with the easy ones, start at once the marked ones. And most important, never ever get hooked up to one single question. It is a huge risk. If you are not able to solve it in one minute, leave for the next.
• Last but not the least, if some concepts are not clear, please discuss with your friends or teacher well in advance. If you start looking for help few days before the exam, your friends or even best friend who is also preparing for the same will not be able to help you!

We wish you Best of Luck for your exam!