How to get a perfect score in CAT

As Common Admission Test 2020 for admission to top B Schools is scheduled to be held on November 29, it is important that you follow a systematic and strategic plan in your last leg of preparation.

It is essential for you to remain calm and well prepared. You should always remember that a perfect score is not a 100 percentile but only your personal best. Keeping that in mind, it would be beneficial to note down a few last-minute tips to help you get your perfect score.

Continuous testing: Start solving mock papers every alternate day. This will not only help you get acquainted with the exam pattern but also highlight the areas where you need improvement.

Analysis: Analysing each test paper will help understand the level of your preparation. You need to identify areas and sections where you are spending more time than required and which areas you are neglecting. Post-test analysis will help you understand the areas where you went wrong and help you tweak your preparation process. You should identify the weak points and clear any existing doubts around it.

Preparation strategies: Every aspiring candidate has a different strategy which works best for them. For instance, you can experiment on your time management within sections and find out how much time you are spending on each topic.

Revision: Multiple revisions will help you retain all that information in your head. Practising and re-visiting what you have learnt will strengthen your confidence and help solve questions on the day of the examination fast. Recollecting everything you know is important rather than learning new topics.

Speed building: Common Admission Test (CAT) tests your time management skills as each section has an allocated duration of 40 minutes and you will not be allowed to revisit a solved section again. While solving mock papers, it is always advised to practice time-bound pressure-based tests with a stopwatch in front. This will help you build your time and accuracy skills.

Fresh mind: It is advised to inculcate an early sleeping habit a week before the exam. An uninterrupted 8-hour sleep followed by some energising morning breakfast will keep your mind fresh and help get through the strenuous two-hour examination.

Also, it is important to not overstress yourself. Overstudying can burden your mind. It will result in decreased retention of information. If you feel demotivated while preparing, recollect the reasons you want to write the exam. This will boost your confidence.

On the day of the exam, if you find the paper difficult, it is important that you accept it and move forward attempting questions that you find easier. It would be useful to attempt the tough questions at the end.

(The writer conducts classes for CAT)