CAT 2015 is all about time management, says CAT topper FMS student

With less than two weeks to go for CAT 2015, it’s time to gear up for the last round of revisions. Keeping that in mind, we decided to talk to Tapayan Bhuniya, a first-year student at Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) Delhi. Bhuniya scored a whopping 99.97 percentile in CAT 2014.

Speaking on CAT 2015 exam, he says, “I believe that CAT 2015 will be slightly more difficult in terms of time management because of the reintroduction of sectional time limits. However, the total time has been increased by 10 minutes. In the present format, a candidate gets more than 90 sec per question on an average to solve it. A candidate should be adept at solving problems keeping the time limit.”

Here’s Tapayan Bhuniya, discussing tricks of the trade and how to crack CAT 2015.

 

1) What is the minimum time frame needed to prepare well for CAT exam? How long did you prepare for it?

A time frame of six (6) months is sufficiently long while preparing for CAT. It depends on the amount of time one can dedicate per day on preparations. For me, the preparation spanned over a duration of 14 months. On an average, I used to dedicate about two to three hours per day for preparation.

 

2) Is it necessary to join a coaching institute or is self-study good enough?

Joining a coaching center does help, as they guide you on how to plan your preparation for CAT. The study material provided is concise yet relevant. You come across methods, shortcuts, tips and trick that help you save time and minimise errors. Moreover, coaching center test series is really important for a good preparation. However, self-study is required as it helps you imbibe the concepts and increase the efficiency of usage. So, I believe a mix of self-study aided by coaching institute is necessary.

 

3) What study plan did you follow for your CAT prep?

During the initial eight (8) months, I used to study a topic from a section and then solve the questions from that topic. The problems that proved to be difficult to solve or consumed more time were marked for later reference. During the final phase of preparation, I used to appear for mock tests on weekends, both in the offline and online modes. The tests provided me with areas or topics that I needed to work on.

How to analyse mock tests?

 

4)  How did you divide time for each section? Which sections did you spend more time on?

I made it a point to cover at least one topic from each section every week. I did not have any specific time allocation for sections. From the results of the mock tests that I had appeared for, I could infer that I used to score low in the Verbal Ability section followed by the Data Interpretation section. So I ensured that I paid more attention to that section and emphasise on the topics that I usually made mistakes in.

 

5) CAT 2015 test pattern has changed quite a bit. What’s your take on it?

Changes in the test pattern affects every candidate appearing for CAT 2015. However, I believe that it will be slightly more difficult in terms of time management because of the reintroduction of sectional time limits. However, the total time has been increased by 10 minutes. The introduction of a new section would not affect the pattern in terms of difficulty as these sections were previously present in CAT of previous years in the form of QA-DI section and LR-DI section.

CAT 2015 Preparation Strategy with On-Screen Calculator: 3 key Tips

6)  How should be a candidate’s preparation strategy for the new CAT 2015 pattern?

In the present format, a candidate gets more than 90 sec per question on an average to solve it. A candidate should be adept at solving problems keeping the time limit. Appearing for Mock tests help in this aspect. Also, since there would not be an option for switching between sections, the candidate needs to work on areas/topics that consume more time.

 

7) How did you work on improving your weak areas for CAT prep?

I used to revise the topic from class notes, study materials or books. Then I tried and solved questions on these from various sources.

 

8) How much time did you spend on revision?

I did not spend much time revising the theory. Revising the areas for me involved solving problems from these topics. I used to solve difficult problems from the previous topics. If I was unable to solve a problem, I would revise the relevant part of theory for the same and try to solve it again.

 

9) Any useful study material/ reference books you can recommend for CAT prep?

I used books by Arun Sharma and the study material of Career Launcher and some other institutes.

Important books for CAT 2015 preparation

CAT 2015 results have been declared! Check details here.

10) What did you do right to crack it?

A relaxed mind and a high level of concentration and confidence is what helped me a lot in doing well in CAT 2014. I stopped preparing one week before the test and ensured that I had a good night's sleep before the test.