Last minute tips for CAT 2020 (important as the exam is on Sunday)

2,27,835 candidates have registered for the CAT-exam 2020 scheduled on Sunday, November 29. Last year, 2,44,000 candidates registered for the CAT-2019 exam.

Shivam Joshi - Mentor in Chief - Quant, Endeavor Careers with 13 years of experience in CAT coaching have the last-minute tips for the aspirants.

ON THE DAY OF CAT

Eat Healthily, Drink Healthy:

Get up in time and follow your morning routine of exercise. Read Newspaper for half an hour to get your mind going and drop any lethargy. Eat good, eat on time. Consume light nutritious food and avoid heavy meals. Drink good, drink on time and keep yourself hydrated.

Don't be anxious:

Anxiety is when the mind is not sure of the outcome and it pulls one down. Meditate, Exercise, Read, listen to music or Simple, deep breathing exercise whatever works for you. Stay away from negativities and preserve your confidence in the run-up to the exam.

During Exam:

Time management:

It is a commonly known fact that CAT 2020 will have 3 sections and 120 minutes. On the instructions page, look to find out the number of questions per section. Once you know that, the next goal is to plan the maximum number of attempts from the section within stipulated 40 minutes. One should ensure that he/she reaches till the end of the section.

Question Selection:

An A-B-C approach for question selection should work well. You should aggressively look at solving all direct questions and the questions that can be done under 2 minutes in 1 st round, park the questions which seem doable but time-consuming and avoid the questions that are difficult / speed breakers. All the marked questions should be targeted in 2 nd round in residual time.

A good start is extremely important:

Winning the initial battle here is extremely important and that provides a much-needed confidence booster to every test taker. Key here would be "Dropping your Ego". You are not here to fight a battle on a topic or concept or prove how good you are at maths or logic. Avoid ego battles and respect the question and leave it for after the exam if you get stuck.

Focus:

When the timer starts leave all the distractions aside and trust yourself. Peak concentration and quick decision-making is what you require through these 120 minutes. One needs to remember that the section would be tough for everyone or easy for all so you cannot spend time brooding relative grading when the timer is ticking. The person who is able to concentrate at his peak of the ability and focus on the task at hand will be the winner.

RC and DI Sets:

When Solving the set questions, you should know the time assignment per Set/RC. Let us say ideally you have 7-8 mins per Set or RC. When attempting each such set you should know the time to understand RC and DI is an investment. So, don't be scared investing the first 5 mins with full concentration. Once you have done that ensure either you are attending maximum questions or leaving the set if you are clueless. Classic Mistake is after 5-6 minutes students trying to beat their head to get one or two questions right even if there is an incomplete understanding. Avoid it. If after 4 mins you are clueless leave the set. Consider it Sunk Cost and move forward. Be happy you have 4 mins extra for another set rather than sulking over time lost.

If losing way, go to breaking down the section:

Even with the best of the selection strategies, it is possible that you might get stuck in a few wrong questions here and there. If you see you are losing the section in between it always makes sense to divide the section into 4 mini quarters of 10 mins to ensure you reach the end.