Common errors to avoid on the CAT’s Quant section
The quantitative ability segment of the CAT is regarded as being particularly challenging for the majority of applicants who want to take the test. Not to mention, it is the CAT applicants’ most dreaded portion. After a strenuous two-hour struggle with the Verbal and DI-LR portion, it is the last segment to be tackled. Even with a solid foundation in the ideas, the applicants struggle in the quantitative portions of the test because of fatigue and slow pace. Some applicants struggle to control their time throughout the exam or experience exam-related anxiety. Many applicants with backgrounds other than engineering would have been out of contact with quants for a considerable amount of time.
This is also one of the reasons why the majority of applicants struggle in the quant portion. There are a number of typical CAT Quant errors that need to be identified and avoided from the beginning of the preparation process. This blog post lists the frequent errors to avoid on the CAT’s Quants section as a result. It is advisable that candidates avoid making these errors when practicing or taking the CAT test. These errors may be made while you are preparing, and you will likely note them so that they are not made again.
Common errors to avoid on the CAT’s Quants section
The following frequent errors in the CAT’s Quants section need to be avoided.
Choosing the incorrect inquiries
The CAT creators have perfected the skill of producing a decent balance of simple and complex questions. You’ll notice that there are some simpler questions that only require a few seconds to answer when you look through the CAT question sheets from previous years. On the other hand, some questions will be challenging to answer, at least within the time allotted. The purpose of the diverse set of questions is to evaluate the applicants’ capacity for time management and choice. As a competent manager, you should start by focusing on the exam’s easiest questions.
You must perfect the ability of choosing the proper collection of questions to tackle in order to perform well on the exam. Depending on how much time you have left, you should start by tackling the simpler questions, then go on to the medium- and difficult-level questions. Such a strategy is used to optimize your efforts. You won’t get rewarded by CAT for answering challenging questions. As many questions as you can should be your goal. It will waste time and put you under more strain if you first get stuck on the challenging questions.
You could sometimes decide to start with a challenging question. Additionally, you should be aware that it is always preferable to move on to other topics if a question is taking an excessive amount of time, such as eight to minutes. Always remember not to lose your cool if you find yourself in such a circumstance.
Not understanding the ideas fully
The majority of the time, you will notice that while understanding the concept, you were still unable to answer some questions. This is a sign that either you don’t understand the concept very well or that your application abilities for the topic are lacking. Therefore, it is usually advisable to understand the principles completely. Never rely on memorization alone. Always make sure you fully understand the principles. During the first stage of your preparation, give the concepts enough time to sink in. After you have a firm grasp of the subject, practice questions that are connected to it. Answering practice questions can help you further understand your topics.
Lack of time management
One of the most frequent errors candidates make in the CAT quants portion is poor time management. Sometimes answering just one question makes a significant impact in a candidate’s CAT percentile. As a result, effective time management is essential for passing the CAT quants portion.
Always plan your time so that you have enough time to go through or view all of the questions in the quantitative portion. By completing complete-length practice exams and mock exams, the time management skill will advance. Additionally, make sure you never save too many simple questions until the end. You’ll experience unneeded anxiety and stress as a result, and you could miss out on certain queries that would be simpler.
Ignoring negative feelings like stress, lack of drive, carelessness, and impatience can be harmful to your mental health as well as your CAT preparation. You must use extreme caution to avoid engaging in the kind of damaging activity that applicants occasionally do.
Business managers are well-rounded individuals who have excellent emotional control. They excel at controlling the pressure that comes with significant duties. There are frustrations as well because success cannot be guaranteed every time.
Not attentive reading the questions
Think about the following example: You answer a lengthy but simple quantitative problem. Once you’ve fully figured everything out, you realize that certain values seem to be off because you can’t come up with a definitive solution. When you read the question again, you realize that you have read it improperly. You now re-answer the question with the appropriate values. But time was lost as a result of this. You spent 10 minutes answering a question that you could have answered in, oh, five minutes, maybe even less.
As you are aware, the CAT exam has a time limit. In the quant portions, candidates are constantly pressed for time to complete as many problems as possible. But always make an effort to read the questions thoroughly and carefully note the information from the question. You do not want to waste valuable time on your own careless blunders. Moreover, pay close attention while answering problems that require doing intricate computations.
34 questions with varying degrees of difficulty are included in the CAT Quants section. The majority of the questions have a medium degree of difficulty. A candidate can perform well in the quant section if they remain composed, use their time wisely, and avoid the faults listed above.
These were some of the applicants’ most frequent CAT errors. There is a lot of advice on how to study for the CAT and what the dos and don’ts are, but it’s also crucial to know the CAT no-nos. Students can avoid the typical errors that many other applicants make and end up scoring far lower than their potential in this method.