Final Strategies to Bell CAT:

With one month more to the C-Day, the anxiety levels will be hitting over the skies for students preparing for CAT. A lot of Do's and Dont's come from different quarters, to soothe and give confidence to the anxious students. IIM-B students had organized a CAT workshop in Vista, IIM-B Business Fest, where they had shared some strategies to keep in mind, with one month to go on.

The panel has 4 students, 2 boys and 2 girls taking up questions from the participants. The structure of the discussion was spread across so as to cover 3 areas:

• CAT related Strategies
• GD/PI
• Life at IIM/Life after IIM.

I would focus only in the first part for now,strategies related to CAT exams, [The remaining i will share after the CAT exam gets over]. Some of the notable points which came up in the discussion were,

1) Everyone of us will be following a particular strategy to bell CAT. Like attempting Quant,DI and Verbal or the other way around.What ever the strategy is, Freeze your strategy now, and follow that strategy from now onwards. All permutations and combinations which we would have tried till now, from that by now one should be having a fairly clear idea of which strategy works better for himself/herself. So take that Strategy for now, and Stick to it. In the coming Mock SIMCAT's, use that Strategy.

2)This is for people who are working and who would have plans to take 2 weeks off for preparing for the exam. What has been suggested is that during the Last week, dont keep anything new to learn/study. What will happen is when you study a new chapter for the first time, if you find it hard to understand , chances are that it might tank down your confidence. Instead what you can do is take leave 2 weeks before the exam or the end of this month, where in you can learn the new concepts which you have to learn.

In the last 1-2 days , use that time to go through the formula's and papers you have solved already. Have some revision during that time, instead of solving Mock papers, or learning any new stuff.,. Keep up your confidence as high as possible and let your energy be available for the C-Day. :)

3) While solving the 3 sections, once you have attempted all the sections and in case you have some spare time left, its advisable to go back to your stronger section and try to solve some more questions instead using it for solving something new. You have a better chance to maximise your scores in your stronger section which will increase your percentile.

4)And the MOST IMPORTANT POINT is "Its all in your MIND". Have a cool attitude.,.What ever you have to do, you have done it. Now you just have to deliver and see what happens. The way how you carry yourself on the Exam day will matter a lot.,. Believe in Yourself and Leave the rest the Divinity.

P.S: All the above things were said by the IIM students who were in the Panel. I would like to convey my thanks to them ( 4 students who were in the Panel) and the Organizers(Gautam,Shyamu) for initiating this workshop.

GodSpeed.,.