Tips to Crack CAT 2019 for Repeaters: CAT 2019 Preparation

Reappearing for CAT this year? We list here a few tips to crack CAT 2019 for the aspirants retaking the exam. We are sure these tips can help you prepare well and ace the test this year with a high percentile. Repeating CAT is a wise decision if your earlier attempt at CAT didn’t go well due to certain fixable mistakes. Writing Common Admission Test again shouldn't be a matter of shame or demotivation instead you should see it as another opportunity of making it to your dream B-school. This time, with a tweaked exam taking strategy and these smart tips to crack CAT exam 2019, we believe you'll effortlessly bell the CAT.  

Tips to Crack CAT 2019 for Repeaters 

CAT 2019 exam date is 24th November 2019. With the exam now almost a month away, it’s okay to self-doubt, feel the jitters and be scared too, after all it is about your career that might get a right direction by cracking this management entrance test. All the renowned B-schools of the country accept CAT score for granting admission to various post graduate management programs. So, this makes acing Common Admission Test 2019 all the more important.  We understand that CAT is one of the most difficult and the most talked about exam in India. Every year over 2 lac management aspirants take this test with an aim to secure a seat in one of the country's premier Business Schools. Though apart from the CAT score, these Institutes also take into account the academic history, gender, interest into extra curriculars etc. for shortlisting the candidates for the GD/PI rounds, it is crucial to obtain a good score in CAT. 

CAT Preparation 2019 Tips for Exam Retakers 

The CAT cut off for the esteemed management colleges lie in between 92 to 99+ percentile every year. And, trust us, not everyone obtains such a high percentile in their first CAT attempt. Every year thousands of candidates reappear for CAT with a fresh mindset, smart preparation, positive attitude and an improved exam-day strategy. So this year, we hope and believe even you'll do the same and ace this entrance test with such a high score.  To help you crack CAT exam 2019, we know these tips are nothing less than a secret formula. And since you are a CAT repeater, these tips to crack CAT 2019 are a must to follow. 

Reminisce and Analyze

As a CAT repeater, you must try to remember and analyze to identify what went wrong in the previous attempt and why were you not able to do well in the exam. Is it that you didn’t attempted enough questions in the exam or devoted a lot of time on one particular question? Or you got nervous and couldn’t solve the problems in the exam. Everybody will be having their own reasons for not making it in the first attempt. The foremost tip to crack CAT 2019 for repeaters is to reminisce and understand the root cause in order to look for a probable solution that can lead to victory this year. See, at the end of the day it is just another exam. Repeating the old mistakes or losing confidence on the D-day will not help, in fact you might end up failing this year too. Remember CAT is held only once a year so realize the importance of the exam day, jot down your goof ups and work around them this time to give your best shot at CAT this year.

Tweak you CAT Preparation Strategy 

If you are getting stuck at 85 and 90 percentile at your CAT attempts, it means that you do have an idea about what is not working in your favor and where are you lacking in your preparation. You being a CAT repeater must tweak your preparation strategy along with formulating a suitable exam-day strategy. Bring a few changes in the kind of questions you have been solving. Develop an understanding of the CAT exam pattern and syllabus. Take a note of topics you have already prepared and the ones that are still left. Ensure that you are not wasting your time in repeating and practising the topics/questions you find comfort and ease in. One of the significant tips to crack CAT 2019 is to come out of your comfort zone and prepare for the not so easy portions. Most of the CAT aspirants coming from Engineering or other technical background find it easy to get along well with Quant, DI and LR but when it comes to Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, they find the section too difficult. So, if you are also one of the kind, then you should focus on the VARC section.

Keep coming back to the Basics 

Even if the exam is a month away and you are engrossed in your last minute CAT 2019 preparations, just concentrate on polishing your basics. CAT is all about speed and accuracy. CAT is not a knowledge exam but an aptitude test, so as a CAT exam repeater, you must ensure that you are thorough with the fundamentals of all the topics. If you are weak at a particular topic, do not hesitate to go back to the basics. The experts and CAT toppers have always advised the exam takers to be good at solving the questions purely on the basis of the most rudimentary concepts. These are usually whatever you have learned in English and Maths till class 10th.

Befriend Mock Tests

This is certainly the most important tip to crack CAT 2019. Mock tests can help you reflect upon the level of preparation and can serve as a great tool to gauge the amount of ground left to cover. Take at least two series of mock tests of two different coaching academies. However, don't run after taking a lot of CAT mock tests, focus on analyzing your mocks and identifying your mistakes. Jot down the topics where you faced the max difficulty in answering and thereon put in more efforts to excel in those areas. Each mock test will have a mix of easy, medium, and difficult questions. The proportion of these questions will vary depending on the level of difficulty of the mock. To ace the test, devise a CAT exam strategy and implement the same while taking the mock tests. Keep formulating such strategies and trying them while taking the mocks till you come up with that one right and apt CAT 2019 exam taking strategy for yourself. Implement this particular d-day strategy on the exam day to crack the test with a great score. 

Avoid Procrastination

We understand as a CAT repeater, the preparation might get monotonous and boring. Studying the same topics over and again to ensure that no topic is missed out often leads to procrastination. You must set timetables for yourself, keep changing the question bank, reach out to your fellow CAT aspirants to have discussions on various questions and the different approaches that can be adopted to solve these questions. You must look for ways to make your CAT 2019 preparation exciting to keep your mood and mind under control. Solving the questions with a new and different approach all together might save your time and also make your preparation intriguing.

Keep a Check on your Confidence and Overconfidence

As a CAT repeater, you might not realize when your confidence may turn into an overconfidence. Thus, it's really important to keep a check and develop an understanding about maintaining a good balance between the two. You may often get a feeling of knowing everything, every topic, formulas on your tips, calculations all set in your mind but still keep pushing yourself to revise the simplest of the topic each and every time. This will surely help you to keep a check on your confidence.  We hope these tips to crack CAT 2019 will help you ace the test this year with an amazing score. Good Luck!