What is the shortcut to become a top manager in a big corporate house? It is nothing but an MBA from IIMs or from a reputed foreign university, barring few top-tier B-Schools like ISB, FMS and MDI. It is necessary to score well in CAT exam to get an admission in such Indian B-Schools. Many CAT aspirants believe that cracking this exam is a cumbersome process. Unfortunately, they are not wrong. It is a cumbersome process, but if you have a proper planning and ambitious mindset, nothing is impossible in this world (courtesy to the great emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte). Here are few simple but important tips, which will help you to crack the CAT on the first go if you follow it sincerely.    

Know yourself

If you are person with an attitude like “I Know Everything,” it will not help you here. The very first thing to do before starting the preparation for any big battle is to know your strengths and weaknesses. People are different with their study methodologies. Some are hard workers and others are smart workers (not mentioning about lazy workers, as this is not for them). Hard workers are students who utilize their maximum time to reach on the top. On the other side, smart workers are students who utilize their maximum effort in lesser amount of time. Understand your category and plan accordingly to finish the entire syllabus before the D-Day.    

Make a group of CATs

Check out the success stories of CAT toppers. Everyone has a common-factor- a group of enthusiastic CAT aspirants. It is not a difficult task to make such a group even for an introvert. Remember, “Two heads are better than one.”Invite your friend, who can solve aptitude questions easier than you can and know his secret tactics in it. Repay him by, helping him in bettering his verbal abilities. Making such a platform for healthy knowledge exchange will not only help you to develop more skills but also will make the learning a joyful process.      

Practice, Practice and Practice

There is no substitute for the word called ‘Practice’ while you are preparing for any kind of exam. Subjects like mathematics may look easier while you read line by line. However, close the text and try attempting the question again, definitely your answer will come to a dead-end. Try solving more problems, test papers and online mock tests. The more you try, the more you can gain the confidence.      

Strengthen your weak spot

Do you know what your Achilles Heel in studies is? Finding the answer for this as early as possible is the best way to approach CAT. Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning; these are the four category of questions in CAT exam. Look at it carefully and understand which one is your weakness and which one is your strength (leave it, if you are child prodigy). Give more time and care to the weak spots. At the same time, do not neglect the strengths completely as those are your lethal weapons to win this war.   

Keep calm before and during the exam

Do not allow your hard works to go in vain because of nervousness at the day of exams. There are no ancient mantras to keep this fear away other than believing yourself. Keep telling yourself that you have prepared well and you can do it. It has been said that scoring the first run in the first ball will give a batsman lot of confidence. Take a simple question to answer so that you can start scoring and the confidence of getting the first answer will keep you scoring.