With CAT being just over a week away, most candidates’ anxiety levels are usually over the roof. But in this crucial period, it is imperative to stay calm and devise a plan of action that keeps you focused and on track. So, here’s a guide on what you need to do and how to do it and most importantly, what not to do in the following week.
Hopefully, you must have covered all major topics by now as this is primarily the time for practising and revising (and not wander off into uncharted waters) for the final showdown.
MOCKS
In the last week before exams, don’t stay fixated on taking a mock every day. If, by ill fate, you don’t perform well in the mocks, it’ll severely affect your performance on the day of the exam. Instead, focus on revising the topics on you’ve already covered, don’t take any new tests, but do revise all the mocks that you’ve taken in the past and learn from them.
SPEED & ACCURACY
Your performance in the upcoming CAT 2018 will highly depend upon how well you’ve prepared so far and upon how adept you are at the topics which are your strong suits. The key to a high percentile in CAT is surely quality over quantity, but if you get stuck on a section or a question, that’ll spell doom for your aspirations. Therefore, time management is the most important area to focus on in the last week. Here is a pacing strategy to time your test better.
- Logic: 6-8 minutes for a set of four questions
- Data Interpretation: 6-8 minutes for a set of four questions
- Quant: 2 minutes per question
- Verbal: 8 minutes (max.) for reading a passage and 90 seconds to answer each question
STUDY PATTERN
Focusing on a single topic for long hours will create confusion and eventually frustrate your brain. It is best to try an intermittent study pattern to avoid this. For instance, if you study Quant for an hour, take a break and then switch to any other topic like VARC or DI. Repeat this process every couple of hours. Most importantly, don’t pick up anything new during this last week and just focus on revising and strengthening the areas you’re good at.
REVISION v/s STARTING NEW TOPICS
Your focus must be on consolidation at this point and it is really not advisable to pick up anything new in the last week before the exam. But if you really want to, then there are few topics that you can try and master during this time, whereas the extremely tricky ones like permutations and combinations, coordinate geometry etc. are best left alone.
POWER NAPS
Short naps are of utmost importance between learning and testing. Drop your eyelids for a while when you find yourself struggling with some Quant formula and see the difference after taking a nap. Power naps are kind of energy boosters which can help you immensely when you are struggling. Just make sure that you don’t doze off for 6 hours because that road leads to the panic lane.
THE DAY BEFORE THE D DAY
On the day before the exam, DO NOT TOUCH YOUR BOOKS & NOTES. Period. Just take a break, watch your favourite movie, eat your favourite food, sleep on time and walk in the exam hall well-rested, alert and confident.