Basic Strategies to Crack the CAT, XAT, SNAP, IIFT, JMET, etc

One thing i would advice everyone is to have 3 to 4 strategies handy. Because Cat is well known for throwing surprises.

First and foremost you should take it for granted that this year the questions are gonna get tougher.Your aptitude, Time management skills, your attitude to tackle different questions effectively will seperate you from the rest. The first thing you need to do on the "D" day is to stay calm and composed and focus on the job on Hand.If the paper is tough than it will be tougher for most of them, the key over here is not how many questions you attempt,but how effectively you attempt.

One thing you shouldnt be doing when the paper is tough, Panick. Its very easy to panick under such circumstance, but to stay firm requires some toughness from within. Stay Cool and composed and more importantly believe in yourself.

I feel the initial 2-3 minutes you should reserve for glancing through the paper and than only can you determine your strategies. According to me the strategy should be first attempt Your strength section, then move on to your weakest section and finally on to your intermediate section. Give Optimum time to your strength section, 5 mins lesser to your Intermediate section and 10 mins lesser to your weak section comparatively. And the final 4 - 5 minutes should be reserved for glancing over your answers.

Remember itz your attitude not your aptitude that determines the altitude that you achieve.

Strategies to tackle CAT, XAT, SNAP,IIFT, JMET, etc.

First and foremost you need to determine your strength and weakness i.e whether you are comfortable with Logical Reasoning, DI or Quant, Algebra, Geometry or Reading Comprehension, Vocab.

There will be three section Ist Section Data Interpretation/Logical Reasoning/Analytical ReasoningIInd Section Quantitative, Geometry/AlgebraIIIrd Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary. The order varies every year.

Strategies

The best way to crack CAT is to attempt your strength section first followed by your weak section and finally the remaining section. This strategy works 99 out of 100 times. If you attempt the tougher section first, then there is very high chances of you panicking and crumbling under pressure, thus lowering down your morale while attempting the easier section. Out of the alloted 2 hours reserve 40 minutes for the easier section, 35 minutes for the tougher one and 40 for the remaining one, 5 minutes for glancing through your marked answers.


This year the CAT paper has been changed to a 150 - minutes test. In order to Crack CAT efficiently you need not only have the ability to solve questions quickly but accurately and efficiently. The questions although not that difficult bearing some few exceptions but there is always an exceptionally high emphasis on the speed and accuracy required to solve the questions in the paper.

CAT urges that the MBA Aspirant perform equally well in all the sections of the test. It is not enough to secure a good score in the test as a whole - the candidate has to score equally good in all the three sections name RC/VA, DI/LR and Quant. When we are talking of performing equally well, we are considering those lakhs of students who will be taking CAT this year. You need to stand out amongst those. We need to look at this in more relative terms. Hence you need to achieve that minimum cut off score in order to qualify for the further selection process i.e the Group Discussion and Interview Stage. It takes lot from you to actually get a call from IIM's unless and untill u are born intelligent.

The parameters that IIMs or other Institutes uses for selection are:

* CAT Exam
* Group Discussion
* Interview
* Work Experience
* Academic Record (Class 10 class, Class 12, Graduation)

If you dont plan properly and devote unequal time for each of the section than you might get a very high score but will fail to get a call from top tier institutes for failing to clear the sectional cut offs. There are cases where candidate with 99.10 percentile got a call from IIM's but candidate with 99.5 failed to get a call. It also depends on your work experience and academic records. The basic funda of CAT is - do reasonably well in every section rather than concentrating on and doing extremely well in one/ two sections. Getting a very high score in one or two sections at the expense of the others will lead you nowhere and will eventually destroy the very purpose of answering CAT!

The key to crack the CAT exam is to keep your cool and maintain your composure during the entire length of the test. This may sound deceptively simple but is easier said than done. The pressure levels would be high, yes, but you have to use your adrenaline to work faster and smarter. There is no point getting bogged down at any point in the paper. CAT does not expect you to attempt all or even nearly all the questions. It is test of speed, Accuracy, Mental Toughness, Ability to Optimize Decision Making and much more!