The only certain thing about CAT is that it is Uncertain. Well, no gospel this. However, what is never mentioned in the same breath is that, however uncertain the CAT may be, there is a CERTAIN way of cracking this test. We are going to first understand the same and next find this method that will ensure that you maximise your scores.
Let's take CAT 2006. This had 75 questions (25 questions per section) and a total of 150 minutes to spend. Simple math tells us that two minutes per question is the asking rate. Then, why is it that despite such a simple asking rate (almost like three runs per over in a 50 over game), it is difficult to achieve? The answer is equally simple. The pitch is a turning pitch (read there are pitfalls) and there is a lot of swing in the wicket (read there are surprises). For a technically better batsman (read for a person with good fundamentals), getting that total is a cinch.
Well, it is inevitable to compare CAT with cricket as there are so many analogies that can be drawn. But for now, let's concentrate on what CAT 2006 was and what went wrong.
When you look at a CAT paper, there are two variables which help you maximise your score viz Attempts and Accuracy. Neatly juggling these two parameters will help one score the marks that would be required to get that coveted call from the IIMs.
To use these parameters, there are basically two theories.
Grand Theory 1: If the paper is tough then go slow and concentrate on accuracy
Grand Theory 2: If the paper is easy try attempting as many questions as possible so that you can maximise scores.
English Section
This section was probably the most controversial section last year. Even experts disagree with the key that was provided by the IIMs. Yet, there are some basic issues that we tend to forget. Even though there were close to 10 questions for which the answers were ambiguous, the other 15 had no such devil in them. Consider this. If you had got just about 50-per cent accuracy in these 15 questions and two questions right out of the other 10 (ambiguous) questions, then your net score would be 25 (10 correct and 15 wrong: +4 for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong answer).
A 25 net score was 95+ percentile in CAT 2006 and was also the cutoff for an institute NO LESS than IIM Ahmedabad. Then why was this so difficult and why did a lot of students miss the cutoffs?
Both these theories fall flat in the face of a paper as difficult/ ambiguous as CAT 2006. There is also no reason to believe that CAT 2007 would be any different except the normal changes that one expects in CAT.
Flaw 1: In theory 1, it is assumed that if we go slow then there is a greater chance of accuracy. On the contrary, since the paper is difficult/ ambiguous, there is little chance that your percentage accuracy will go beyond 60 per cent and hence it makes no sense to go slow and even at the cost of accuracy you have to attempt as many as possible.
As can be seen from the calculation above, even with a strike rate (accuracy rate) of just 40 per cent, one can get a net score of 25 (which incidentally is also the required cutoff for IIMA for CAT 2007) if the attempts are maximised.
Flaw 2: In theory 2 it is assumed that if you go fast in an easy paper then you can maximise the marks. But in reality, for an English section it is prudent to go slow in a paper which has more easy questions as the accuracy percentage in an easy paper (for the easy questions) would be higher and hence taking unnecessary risks (there will still be difficult questions) in the paper would reduce this overall accuracy thereby making your score relatively lower than others' scores.
Hence neither of the two theories is really apt for the English section. In contrast, what I suggest is that you do exactly the opposite of what the two theories suggest.
If the English section is difficult, then try to maximise the attempts and if it is easy, then concentrate on accuracy.
Quant Section
The Quantitative section is totally different from the English section. Here the Grand theories work perfectly. The only reason they do is that in a Quant section the chance to guess an answer (unlike RC or Verbal) is very little and you can only answer when you know the question/ funda behind the question.
Here using the theories would work beautifully. Let's take CAT 2006 again as an example. The quant section in CAT 2006 was pretty simple. But if we look at the history of CAT, then attempting around 30 per cent of the questions with a high degree of accuracy would have done the trick. But since the paper was pretty simple it called for greater attempts. As was proved, the cutoff was close to 36 marks (out of 100) and that would mean nine questions right out of 25. This is closer to 40 per cent of the questions. And it is prudent to budget for some negatives and then the asking rate would go up to 15 questions (attempts) in that time. Hence the speed would become very important and you cannot be complacent even if you have attempted 10 to 12 questions.
However, in a very difficult paper (like that of CAT 2004), attempting less questions and concentrating on accuracy would be more than sufficient to get you the cutoff.
DI/Logic section
Here the theories don't work perfectly. However, the basic strategy for DI would be to divide to your time by the number of sets that are given and give equal time to each of the sets. What is of utmost importance in a DI/Logic set is the decision you take to continue or discontinue the set after the initial three minutes.
It is imperative that you give about two to three minutes of reading time for each set and then decide whether you should attempt it. If the set looks familiar and if you have already done something similar then it makes sense to go for it. Also, if the next few steps are obvious then you should allot another 9 to 10 minutes for that set.
In this manner you can give about 12 to 13 minutes per set (total of 39 min) and hope to solve three sets at least. The remaining time (six minutes) would probably go in checking the two other sets. In this way, there is a minimum guarantee that you would attempt three out of the five sets (as was true in CAT 2006).
One important but obvious strategy to be adopted is that if you are able to get only 3 or 4 out of the 5 questions given in a set, Never waste more time in the fond hope of getting those other questions too. It is prudent to set your sights on other sets than grappling with the same set (however tempting it may be).
Overall Strategy
If the CAT 2007 paper has all the three sections with equal marks allotted per section, then it would be prudent to give almost equal time to each of the sections. However, a word of caution here. You should allot time also according to your strengths and weaknesses.
It may be useful to give more time for both the strength and the weakness area and give less time to that section which is neither a strength nor a weakness.
For example, if you are strong in English and weak in Quant. Then the time allotment can 50, 50, and 40 minutes for English, Quant and DI respectively.
Also, it is better to consider that there are only 135 to 140 minutes for the exam and divide your time accordingly so that you get a buffer of around 10 minutes to salvage any section that might have gone bad or maximise scores in sections that are easy.
Finally, what is required, apart from aptitude, is an ATTITUDE for this CAT exam. Not to get cowed down by the magnitude of the eventual result is very essential to keeping your cool. Concentrate on the questions/ sections that you are solving rather than on the marks that you may get for that question/ section.
ARKS Srinivas is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and is the Director of T.I.M.E. Mumbai.
If you took the CAT several years ago, send us your inputs. How did you prepare? What did you do in the final month? What were your experiences on CAT day? If you could do it all over, how would you approach the exam?
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