How to Improve Accuracy in CAT Without Sacrificing Speed

How to Improve Accuracy in CAT Without Sacrificing Speed

Management institutes in India are highly competitive in terms of entrance exams, one of which is the CAT. Every year, it receives a bunch of applicants. However, not more than a few thousand score that high to get into the Indian Institutes of Management or other top B-schools.

The key to mastering CAT is speed and accuracy; in this blog, we will look at the pointers to improve accuracy.

Tips to improve accuracy in CAT

Yes, champ, accuracy can be upgraded in CAT without losing speed. Focus on the fundamentals, constant practice, time management, and correcting flaws.

Focus On The Basics

The CAT syllabus comprises elementary concepts of various subjects: quantitative aptitude, verbal ability, and logical reasoning. To improve your speed and accuracy, you should first learn the fundamentals of these subjects.
Make significant revisions to the basic concepts and formulae using different application formats. This would solidify your foundation, allowing you to progress to more difficult areas.

Identify Your Strengths And Weaknesses

Everybody has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to different subjects and question types. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses allows you to devote more time and energy to improve your weak areas.
Spend more time on weak areas, and try to improve them. On the other hand, spend less time repping strong points so you can devote more time to other areas.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Mistakes serve as valuable learning opportunities. When you make a mistake, take the time to figure out why you did it and what you could have done differently.
That way, you will not only put your mistakes behind you, but also improve your speed and accuracy for the future.

Calculators are not recommended

CAT aspirants will benefit greatly from using manual calculations. Aside from using calculators, they should improve their manual calculation skills while studying for the CAT.
Speed and accuracy can be achieved with calculators. Practicing calculations, however, has a number of benefits. The greatest of these benefits is the improvement in mental agility and numeracy.
Candidates practicing manual calculations gain an insight into mathematical concepts, thereby increasing their flexibility in the mind and a better understanding of arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. This potent combination brings speed to the advancement through CAT problem-solving and prepares one to face intricate inquiries from the state.
Moreover, the manual checking by the applicants helps them in realizing the numerical relationships and patterns so that they can provide shortcuts and quick methods for tackling problems with little use of calculation. Hence, the calculator manual method reaches out to all preparation forms for the time-bound exam. This combination of calculator and manual calculation practice provides CAT candidates with different problem-solving skills during the exam.
Manual calculation also improves students' self-efficacy when presented with a mathematical problem in an examination. The problems on CAT can be quite tricky and often difficult for a calculator to solve. Therefore, manual calculation helps as an additional fitness tool for students to gradually work through different problems that would otherwise be tedious and sometimes impractical for a calculator to solve.
Manual calculation practice improves accuracy and reduces dependence on external aids. A candidate, therefore, becomes better at detecting and rectifying errors in computations, thereby increasing levels of precision. Nevertheless, CAT is much more than a speed test; it also tests the accuracy of aspiring candidates.

Quickly review the answer options

One of the most important aspects of the CAT exam is a quick pass over the options. This quick look provides an overview of what each question may provide as possible answers, and it is now time to brainstorm a range of possible solutions and create a mental map of what the future holds. The initial glance helps in the understanding of patterns, keywords, and types of answers, which is very useful for problem-solving.
Another application is to identify some obvious answers or eliminate wrong answers and therefore narrow down the number of answers that may be correct. This quick viewing may also result in some familiar concepts being recognized, thus speeding up answer selection.
This quick review also prevents most of the time being wasted noodling over the problem itself, as it is intended to give direction to local questions. Now, keep in mind that the next step is to conduct a thorough study and critical analysis of each option to arrive at a correct decision for the examination.

Most Common Mistakes While Taking CAT Mock Tests

Remember, your one mistake can break or make it. So, here are some common mistakes during CAT preparation to be avoided to improve accuracy without sacrificing speed.

Not reading the instructions properly: Candidates often ignore the instructions and make mistakes. For instance, they might not realize that there is negative marking in a particular section, or they might not understand the format of the questions well.

Too much focus on one section: An important part of being strong in each section is devoting some of your time and energy into perfecting that area for improvement, which at times leads to leaving other sections unattended, resulting in an unequal scorecard, which might later hurt one's admission chances into the desired B-school

Neglecting to revise: Most typically, candidates who do not revise their mock tests tend to repeat the same mistakes. Revision teaches you to get where you erred and where you can make improvements.

Not analyzing the Mock test: Candidates who do not indulge in analyzing their mock test miss out on vital insights. Analyzing the mock test helps one understand in which areas they went wrong, what they got right, and how they could have performed better. Also, you identify your strengths and weaknesses.

Stuck with hard questions: A lot of time is wasted and other questions aren't answered as those stuck on hard questions. People usually get into a situation where they can't answer a question immediately, and they need to move on.

Conclusion

The ongoing struggle between speed and precision reverberates throughout the CAT exam preparation process. This challenge frequently leaves students torn between rushing through answers to cover more ground quickly, risking penalties for incorrect responses, and taking a careful, measured approach, which may limit their overall score. The idea that prioritizing speed over accuracy is deeply embedded in the minds of CAT aspirants.
However, CAT preparation should not require such a trade-off. There is a misconception that answering more questions results in a higher score, but this is not always the case. Ignoring opportunities for improvement is not an option.

Sambhavi Prakash