CMAT September 2014: Last minute preparation tips

by Mikin Shah

With CMAT September 2014 just a week away, it is high time for aspirants are pull up their socks. From how to manage time during the exam to how to divide time for preparation, it is critical that candidates maximise their efforts for optimal results.

CMAT exam is held for 180 minutes. Hundred (100) questions are divided in four sections: Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness. There’s negative marking (of 1 mark) for each wrong answers.

View CMAT September 2014 Analysis.

After months of hard work and preparation, it is time to get going! In these final moments of preparation, the aspirants are advised to consider the following aspects:

1. Do not add any new concept to your repertoire. This is the time to consolidate and strategise. Do not burden yourself with any new topic, formula or shortcut. Simply focus on assimilating whatever you have learnt in the last few months.

2. Appear for a mock test every alternate day. Starting from today appear for at least three to five mock exams depending on your exam day. The day between the mocks should be used for a thorough analysis of your performance.

3. Have a clearly defined strategy and sequence of attempts. My recommendation is to go for GK, Verbal, Maths and Reasoning. The general knowledge (GK) section can easily be tackled in 10 to 15 minutes and the verbal section can be allotted a time of about 40 minutes. This would leave the candidates with two hours to solve the Maths and Reasoning sections.

4. Do not fret about the GK section during the last few days of your preparation. No matter how well you have prepared, there will always be something that you do not know. A logical approach would be to go through a compilation of major headlines during last six months.

5. Expect the Reasoning section to be lengthy and Maths section to be challenging. This is what happened during CMAT February 2014. In such a scenario, please pay special attention to your accuracy levels. There are chances that you will be stuck in a couple of questions and will waste time. However, do not let such speed breakers lower your overall accuracy.

6. Enjoy reading! Spend at least one to one-and-a-half hours on a daily basis towards reading newspaper headlines, editorials, magazines etc. Try to be as diverse as possible in choice of topics ranging from politics, economics, technology and sports. This will relax your mind, help in comprehension and add to your GK repository. Candidates must appreciate that reading comprehension is a key skill (and not just a test topic) which is required critically across Maths, Reasoning and Verbal sections.

7. Please ensure that you sleep well for a minimum of seven-eight hours during night. Do not take a mock on the day before your CMAT exam. Know the exam center well and plan you travel conservatively.

Mikin Shah is the Founder & Director of Foresight School – An educational institute which specialises in MBA Entrance & MBA Tuitions. He was ranked first in CMAT Feb 2013 and fifth in CMAT Feb 2014. He can be reached at foresightschool@gmail.com
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