While we are on the CAT preparation journey, we are bound to make a few mistakes. However, we can learn from the mistakes that students generally make, and steer clear off them. Make sure you keep these seven very common mistakes in mind and do not get trapped into them during preparation.
1. Quitting your job
We have repeated this over and over again, and we still lay emphasis on the fact that CAT exam unlike UPSC does not require a preparation of 14-15 hours per day. Giving your focused attention for 3-5 hours per day is enough to sail you through the preparation and CAT Exam smoothly. So, do not fall into the trap of leaving your job and going all in for your CAT preparation. It is always better to prepare for the exam along with your job!
2. Living, Eating and Breathing CAT
Making your life all about CAT preparation and exam will definitely freak you out on days things aren’t going really well. And trust me, there will be times when you have bad CAT preparation days. So, try not to put all your eggs in one basket, and do not Live, Eat and Breathe CAT. Have other things/routines to look forward to after giving 3-5 serious hours into your preparation. This will re-route you to a CAT preparation journey that is rigorous yet less stressful.
3. Worrying about the selection criteria
Constant fretting about the selection criteria for the CAT Exam and different colleges will not lead you anywhere. You might have scored X% in Class 10, Y% in Class 12 and Z% in UG, but that’s already done. You can neither change it nor control it. Thus, worrying about it will only eat up your time, which you could have spent on preparing for the exam. Remember, control the controllables and loosen up about things beyond your control. Focus on your preparation irrespective of the selection criteria and concentrate on acing the CAT Exam.
4. Whining instead of preparing
Whining and worrying about things that are beyond your control will add no value to your preparation. Instead, it will eat into the time you could have utilized for your preparation. Do not crib and complain! The system in place is not designed against you, it is designed to test your efficiency and potential. So, focus on your preparation, turn a blind eye to the uncontrollables and ace your CAT exam.
5. Falling in the “short-cut” trap
Learning and understanding the concepts and fundamentals lay the foundation for your CAT preparation. Do not get tempted by shortcuts. Shortcuts may work once or twice, but that is not the case always. Hence, it is better to understand what you are doing and try to apply the concepts to the questions, instead of relying on a random shortcut whose credibility nobody can vouch for. Start from the basics and keep amping up your level as you go through your preparation journey.
6. Not Planning well
Planning is a crucial step in CAT preparation. Without proper planning and implementation, it is likely that your preparation will lose track and deviate from its goal after a point of time. Analyse your areas of strengths and weakness, and make a schedule giving ample time to cover and practice each topic. Make sure you also incorporate Mocks in your schedule. Read all about mocks in CAT preparation here. You can also use 2IIM’s customized schedule for your preparation.
7. Putting revision on the backseat
Revision is one of the most crucial parts of your preparation. Very few people have a brain that remembers everything they read/learn. Most of us forget atleast 90% of the things we learnt within a week. Hence, revision comes to our rescue. Revision reiterates the concepts and fundamentals in our brain till the time it becomes very easy to recall them.
You can prepare as much as you want to, but in the end, if you do not focus enough on revision, it’ll all be in vain. Spend 10 minutes on the video below which explains in detail about the “Art of Revision” and how you revise based on the time left for preparation.
Stay focussed. Stay consistent in your preparation. Avoid making the mistakes that people generally make. There is nothing stopping you from acing the CAT exam.
Vibhuti Sharma works with 2IIM as a Product head.
Leave a Reply