Common Admission Test or CAT as it is popularly known
THE COUNTDOWN to CAT 2009 has begun. The Common Admission Test, or CAT as it is popularly known, is scheduled for November 29 and millions of students across the country are preparing to take one of the most difficult entrance exams in the country.
It is also one of the most prestigious, as success in this exam guarantees a seat at one of the seven Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), a sure ticket to scale heights professionally. With the CAT coming online this year, the level of stress surrounding this entrance test has only increased.
In addition to the pressure of plugging all the gaps in preparing for the big exam, such as learning time management and finishing the syllabus well in advance of the exam, CAT 2009 applicants are under additional pressure to take the exam online. . The questions that bother many are varied: What if I am in the first batch to write the online test? Would an aspiring computer expert have a better chance? Would this CAT have more surprises than the previous ones? Is it necessary to change the strategy to crack the online exam? There are no definitive answers to these questions, but experts say the online nature of the test would not affect its level of difficulty. “CAT would simply go from being a paper-and-pencil test to an online one. Other than that, there will be no difference in the difficulty level of the test.
The biggest concern should be the strategy an applicant must adopt in the final stretch of preparation to pass the CAT. That’s important because cracking CAT is not only essential for a seat at the IIMs, but a good score also gives the student a chance to make it to any of the other A-list MBA institutes, which shortlist students for the group discussion (GD) on the basis of the CAT score.
The basic rules for cracking CAT remain the same: master the art of solving any problem in the minimum amount of time available, and focus on clearing each section.
Applicants need to understand that the CAT is not about checking how good your strategy is, but how well you know your fundamentals. The trick to passing CAT is to solve any question as quickly as possible, instead of trying to solve the hard questions first.” CONFIDENCE is another virtue students will need to be careful with, as overconfidence can spoil chances. of success, despite preparation.” CAT is all about testing your temper on that particular day. We have seen that even very good students fail simply because they were too confident.