Last hour preparation hacks for CAT 2020: Read how you can ace the management entrance test

Common Admission Test is considered by many to be one of the most skill and knowledge-oriented examinations. It is conducted to secure admission to candidates into top IIMs and other notable management institutes across India.

Candidates appearing for CAT 2020 will be faced with three broad sections, English Language & Comprehension, Quantitative Analysis and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. The questions will test the candidates informed decision making skills and little guesswork. Time management skill will come into play effectively here, due to the fact that the timing is reduced from initial 180 minutes to 120 minutes, thus the candidate has to maintain a definite strategy to ace every single data.

Read- CAT 2020: Important Points to Avoid Any Mistake on Exam Day

CAT 2020 Tips for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

This can be one of the most scoring sections, only if you concentrate effectively. Solving passages, para jumbles, critical reasoning, fill in the blanks will form the basis of preparation. It is advised to focus on basic grammar and phrases which will come into play during Vocal Ability.

Read and read, it is important to read at the newspaper, magazine, novels, fiction books to get the idea about the passages and new words, this will eventually enhance your reading skills in a vast sphere of knowledge. Write new words, idioms in a cue card.

Read- Strategies to Crack CAT 2020 VARC with Ease: Key Mantra to prepare Effectively

Finally, there is no fixed pattern for Reading Comprehension section, thus attain knowledge about different topics and have a glance at the questions before reading it to get the idea of the difficulty level and then sweep through the passage quickly and assess how easily you understand it. Broaden your perspective towards questions.

CAT 2020 Tips for Quantitative Analysis

Candidates will only be able to ace the examination only if they are precisely clear about the fundamental concepts. Brushing up the basic topics to arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, elementary combinatorics as eventually regular practice and solving mock tests will help you to crack the section.

Read- Strategy to score 100% in Quants

Remember QA section, apart from a regular test of one’s conceptual and calculation skills, is also a test of scanning skills of the candidate. Thus, to be precise and save time, learn the tables till 40, squares up to 30, cubes up to 20 and percentage equivalent of fractions till 25 which will increase your accuracy while solving the paper. As most of the problems are above the edge maintain a formula book, note all the important formulas and go through them regularly.

Read- How to Prepare for CAT 2020 Quantitative Aptitude?

It is advised to solve mock papers for Quants, as the candidate has to solve a question within less than 2 minutes. Thus, practice a lot to attain the notion of the difficulty of paper, and target the ones moderate & easy effectively.

CAT 2020 Tips for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

DILR doesn’t have a fixed syllabus, it is less knowledge and more skill-oriented section. Here the candidate has to maintain a definite strategy of solving regular mock test papers to attain a knowledge about the difficulty of the section concerned.

Get familiar with all kinds of graphs and charts in DI and solve sudoku, crosswords to sharpen your set skill in LR. Practice quick calculations to maintain the time management skill which is required to get rid of the exam pressure.

Read- Think out of the box to solve each puzzle of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

Due to the absence of set syllabus, the best thing to do for the candidate is to solve mock tests and online papers, attempt 20 questions or 4 sets each of DI and LR daily. Each set usually takes 10-15 minutes to solve. Try to solve them within 8-12 minutes. 

Scanning the section properly and selecting the right sets is the key to have a good percentile in this section.

To conclude one should devote 2-3 hours of dedication to the core concepts. The candidate just can’t study with the set mindset, as the questions which are asked are offbeat and unconventional, thus, solve the mock papers regularly and follow the above hacks mentioned to levitate & broaden your knowledge. Keep in mind to conceptualize & analyze your arc of notion to get the required score to crack CAT 2020 with flying colors.