With only a few days remaining before CAT, the tension has never been higher.
With so many things going on at once, how can you bring the exam into proper focus?
Are there any last minute tips you can use to maximise your percentile?
And what should you remember on exam day?
Arindam Lahiri, competitive examination expert with Career Launcher, answered these questions and more during a November 13 chat.
For those of you who missed the chat, here's the transcript.
hiii asked, hi there i have not given simcats and i am very nervous now what should i do ?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Hiii, Just Chill - you have not done a trillion other things - dont live in the past - look ahead Just give your best.......Enjoy.
hiii asked, i am weak in geometry part what should i do ?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just pick up qs from areas in geometry which you are comfortable in - leave other qs from geometry
aks asked, wat shud be last moment strategy...
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just revise what you have done so far, RELAX and enjoy the process Avoid getting tense, as this will build up pressure
hiii asked, hi i have not got my admit card also inspite of sending a mail to iim what shuld i do ?
Arindam Lahiri answers, You can go the CAT site and get a printout of your admit card using your CAF no. and go to the center with photo id and two photos.
akks asked, i know that i can crack DI but speed takes a toll and i end up short, what should i do?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Focus on the sets that are more familiar to you and do the max qs that you can do in 45 to 50 min - do not spend too much time in any one section if you are aiming for IIMs
shakti asked, is it better to join in any MBA institutes after having work experience?
Arindam Lahiri answers, It is question of personal choice - however, having work experience in a business org before doing MBA does help during the course
Omkar asked, Any idea wat to do for RC?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Pick up the passages that look more readable to you and attempt as many qs from each passage - you do not have to necessarily attempt all qs in a passage.
mechieamit asked, not too sure about words and their synonyms........hav read a lot but seems i hav forgotten them..what to do .....pls advise
Arindam Lahiri answers, Word meanings are not directly asked in CAT - do not get too bogged on this - focus on what you can do well and feel confident of going in to the test center on 18th Nov
Pankaj asked, How many Questions will be there in CAT 2007
Arindam Lahiri answers, Will answer this on 18th November....... Dont get bogged down on this.
Madhur asked, Which of these institutes ask for sectional cut-offs in CAT - SP Jain, MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Other than MDI (on some years) all other non_IIM instis do not look for sectional cut-offs (but will obviously not entertain a very low percentile in one section
richa asked, hii , though i hav appeared for aimcats but despite my efforts havnt to managed to cross 90 % in any of the tests.this is makin me nervous ..
Arindam Lahiri answers, Does not matter - you need to do your best on the day - 18th - just focus on revision and relax. Getting nervous will surely spoil your party on 18th night
dinesh asked, can i tell us abt the strategies u implemented when u gave u r CAT??
Arindam Lahiri answers, One simple mantra - attempt the max no of qs I can and not think about how much will I score. Focus on your effort not the result
100percentile asked, Hello Sir, Any guesses on what will be the difficulty level quants section ?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Good user id.........the difficulty level will be the same for all test takers - you have to do better than the others
hiiihow asked, do i have to collect my admit card 1 day before the 18th (test date)?
Arindam Lahiri answers, You can go the CAT site and get a printout of your admit card using your CAF no. and go to the center with photo id and two photos.
Amit asked, Mr. Lahiri, m quite weak in maths have got 4 days.. i stand 70-75 percentile in mock cats. maths is weekest. Which topic shud i go for next 4 days?>
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just revise - dont have to do any new topic or the topic that you are weak. Try not to make a mistake on a topic which you are usually OK with
debanjan asked, I never manage to get both my speed and accuracy levels high at the same time.If i have to compromise on 1 ,what should it be??
Arindam Lahiri answers, If there are low number of qs like CAT 05 and CAT 06, focus on accuracy. However, if you have a larger no. of qs - you will have to speed up
rameshahp asked, Hi Arindam, I was planning to take up CAT2008. But I applied for CAT 2007 also and got admit card. I have not prepared well? Is it a good idea to attend CAT2007. Is there any limit to number of attempts?
Arindam Lahiri answers, There is no limit to the number of attempts till date - However, you must be mentally prepared that the experience can be disastrous - it should not affect you next year
medici asked, how to attempt the questions of Upstream - downstream type in verbal?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Read the instructions carefully and use your reasoning skills to eliminate options.
vishnu asked, what 2 do at the last time of CAT ie before one day....should any revision is done....
Arindam Lahiri answers, You can revise what you have done well so far - a day before CAT just relax and enjoy - on the day of CAT do not think about what your performance will be - just go and write the exam as well as you can
ajay01 asked, hi my score varied in 90's in MOck CATs that i had taken wht to do in the end to get a shot at IIMs
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just relax and try to give your best on that day.....
debanjan asked, There were some names of non IIM institutes mentioned in the CAF.Do we need to apply for them separately and what is the admission procedure for them?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Yes, you will need to apply separately for any non-IIM institute that you want to send your scores to. Each one them will use CAT score to shortlist candidates for GD/PI out of the people who have applied to those institutes
ppp asked, If there are negative marks for unattempted questions, what should be the strategy????
Arindam Lahiri answers, Depends on the relative quantum of negative marks - if it is lower than getting it incorrect - it is better to not attempt them
jayaram asked, how to get a gd score in this cat which sections should be attempted first and what is the priority????
Arindam Lahiri answers, It is good to start with your strength area and then move on to other sections
ab asked, I have been pretty inconsistent with aimcat's scoring from 58 - 99 percentile.. so I am a bit worried... Any suggestions for last couple of days of preparation?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just relax and continue to focus on the process of doing the paper without any stress - it is the only way to maximize performance
medici asked, can we expect verbal based questions or logical questions in VA?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Both types have been coming in CAT in the past years - however the trend has been an increase in the number of logic based qs in VA
Rajeev asked, hey Arindam !!!! do I need to revise all the AIMCATs I have appeared for...
Arindam Lahiri answers, Not necessary - just look at some of the papers where you have done well - see what you did well on that day and try to make sure that you follow the same on CAT day (as much as you can)
Amit asked, Does the marking scheme shud affect our stratigy to tackle the paper, sir? (+4, -1) or (+2- .25) scheme or (+2,+4, -.25%) scheme..
Arindam Lahiri answers, Not too much - except that a low negative marks %age may allow you to take a few more guesses as compared to a high negative marks %age
Ankur asked, I have heard people using two phased strategy in CAT exams. i.e. they attempt each section for about 40 mins each first and then come back to each section again for about 10-15 mins depending upon the difficulty level of each section. Is this strategy fine?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Depends on individuals - this is indeed a common strategy - but may or may not work with you. It is a little late to experiment. If CAT on 18th is on the predictable pattern, try using the strategy that has worked for you in the past
moturaj asked, i hv got a max percentile of abou 94 in mock cat.Can i get admission in an iim. i carry 6 yrs work exp wih me in powersector . Did not understand your answer.
Arindam Lahiri answers, I ahve not given you any answer - Whether you get an admission to IIM - Yes, of course. But you have to do well in CAT, do even better in GD/PI and then.......
medici asked, just having an idea abt cutoffs would help me to pace well......i can allot my buffer time to sections i feel i have not done well...just an idea sir..
Arindam Lahiri answers, No point in trying to estimate cut-off while doing the paper - it will eat away from your productive time. Just focus on doing well in each section with "almost" equal allocation of time - if you think you can do better in a section, spend a little more time on that section
chetan asked, hi sir, m a cl student.how far do mock cat percentiles differ from actual cat percentiles?
Arindam Lahiri answers, If you do well on the CAT day, you will have a better %ile than your mock CAt %ile
harshad asked, i loose my concentration during paper solving, what should i do
Arindam Lahiri answers, Try meditating and practice stting in one place for at least 150 mins everyday from 10:30 am to 1pm
rashi asked, whts is the approx percentile expected by NITIE
Arindam Lahiri answers, NITIE need 93%ile +
clify55 asked, Hello, I always take around 50-60 mins for VA (attempting first) & this makes it difficult to attempt DI next which needs time. My scores in VA are better than the rest. How do I tackle the accuracy factor in VA if I take less time??
Arindam Lahiri answers, You should try to reduce the time spent on any one section to a max of 50 min. You will have to spend enough time in each section
vishal singh asked, hi i got..99.2 last year..and have been getting percentile between 90 to 99 in mocks this time....just wondering what shd i do in the remaining 5 days..in fact i am on leave from wrok....
Arindam Lahiri answers, Just chill and relax...Dont get bogged down on what happened last year
saravanan asked, Hi..Can you please tell me the usual percentage of cut off which the IIMs ask for?
Arindam Lahiri answers, 99%ile plus will be a safe percentile for calls from IIMs
sriharsha asked, i haven't scored consistently in the aimcats, i am ok in quant and di but not so with verbal, how should my approach be?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Try to maximize your overall score and do your best for VA
Harsha asked, I got 96 percentile in CAT 2006 any suggestions as to what I should be doing this week and on the D-Day
Arindam Lahiri answers, Jst relax - do your best for the day
ARINDAM asked, could you give a last minute sectional and total cut-offs estimation ?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Do not bother about cut-off - just make sure that you are doing the best
rashi asked, sir, does SP Jain take CAT % for their corporate programmes .. which r other 1 year programmes which take CAT %
Arindam Lahiri answers, SP JAin corporate programmes do not need CAT score - Do not know about any 1-year course under CAT affiliation
Binod asked, sir, what to do in these five days?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Take one practice test (FLT) and on other days just revise whatever you have done so far - do not spend more than 4 hrs each day on CAT preparation. Dont do any prep on 17th - just enjoy
wer asked, arindam ji admit card nahi mial site pe likha hai ki 17th ko milega on the test center between 3 to 4: 30 id proof ke liye passport le jaao kya?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Any photo id (attested) can be taken to your center between 3 pm to 4:30 pm on 17th (as per CAT website)
saravanan asked, Hi Arindham,two questions: 1) Till date has there been any negative marking for unattempted questions in CAT? 2)And has there been time limit for each section after which we are not supposed to go back to previous section?
Arindam Lahiri answers, Let me answer the two ques: 1) Not known so far in CAT so far in the last 15 yrs 2) CAT has done it only once in the nineties - however, was regularly done by xat for a number of years
abcd asked, sir please reply.. am very tensed what surprise possibly can we expect this year???????
Arindam Lahiri answers, You will get some surprise - including the fact that you may have no surprises
vikash asked, how to use last day before cat
Arindam Lahiri answers, Focus on getting relaxed - go watch a movie or read a novel, do whatever relaxes you as an individual.
