Why do students get low CAT scores?

The CAT exam does not use the concepts of passing or failing. You will either receive a high percentile, which will allow you to quickly receive a call from IIM or one of your top universities, or a low percentile, This will stop you from getting a call for the following admissions phase. Therefore, in theory, no student who is studying for the CAT exam should fail it; instead, it is the percentile that determines whether he receives a call from the college of his choice. This post will highlight a few of the typical errors that students make when preparing for the CAT. Correcting these errors would undoubtedly help you pass the CAT Exam.

Too much emphasis is placed during CAT preparation simply on one segment.

Students who are studying for the CAT place a lot of emphasis on one or two portions while entirely ignoring the other section. For instance, a student may place an excessive amount of stress on the Quantitative and Verbal Ability sections while ignoring the DI and LR sections entirely. The three components of the main test are equally important, and skipping one will lower your percentage. The majority of the time, students skip through a portion because they are intimidated by it or lack confidence in it.

The most widespread misperception among students is that the CAT test consists mostly of quantitative and English components, thus we should focus on these two. Only by administering practice exams can one prepare for the DI and LR portions. This is entirely incorrect since the DI and LR portions should also be given similar significance because, according to recent patterns in previous CAT question papers, these two areas were the most difficult of the three. If a student ignores half of the CAT curriculum, he or she cannot reasonably expect to perform well on the CAT test. During your CAT preparation, you should give each subject and topic on the CAT curriculum equal weight.

What number of questions should I aim for to achieve a 90+ percentile?

Students who are studying for and want to take the CAT exam made this error. Most students ask their mentors how many questions they should attempt in order to achieve a 90+ percentile score. How many questions I should try to answer as best I can. It is one of the causes of CAT failure. A student who has completed 15 questions will attempt to answer the remaining 5 questions using informed guesses if they learn from someone else that they must attempt 20 questions in order to receive a score of 99+ percentile for that particular area.

The student is taking the highest risk possible, which will negatively affect his accuracy level, his score, and percentile in that part. Therefore, you should never insist that you must attempt these many questions in order to achieve a 90+ percentile score. The student should have a plan for attempting the paper, but that plan should be based on the amount of time the student wishes to devote to each sector rather than the number of questions they should attempt.

Too many mocks being given without preparation

The students who are studying for the CAT read the success stories of the students who excel and try to mimic their method, which has resulted in the habit of giving too many mock exams. The best performers are aware of their skills and shortcomings and prepare for the exam by giving mock CAT exams. These pupils have finished their topics and only require mock exams to achieve their highest possible grade. A student should give 10 to 20 mock exams in the ideal scenario, but only after thoroughly reviewing all the ideas and subjects.

Simply finishing the material and performing practice exams would be a waste of time, and receiving a poor grade will discourage you. To avoid making this error, the student should assess his level of preparation and choose how many mock CAT exams to administer. Your weak areas should be strengthened using the lessons you learned from the simulation.

Overconfidence

The primary killer that causes poor performance and low percentile is overconfidence. The majority of pupils believe they are far superior than others and that they would breeze through the exam. It is one of the causes of CAT failure. This mindset is not appropriate for students to hold when studying for and taking the CAT exam. To succeed in an exam, a student should take it with confidence and without worry.

Not everyone has the potential.

As harsh as it may sound, not everyone will score in the top 99 percent. It’s possible that you lack the necessary ability to pass the CAT and that your potential is slightly different. Perhaps tests that are more theoretical or subjective are more your style. Our board toppers and JEE toppers are distinct for this reason. Even in MBA examinations, there may be differences between XAT and CAT top scorers due to the somewhat varying skill and aptitude requirements in each question. Therefore, we suggest that everyone take the CAT along with other examinations like XAT, SNAP, NMAT, etc. since you never know what could work.

Exam anxiety

Some of us, like myself, struggle to work effectively under pressure. As a result, the performance is subpar. Additionally, the blunders you refer to as dumb mistakes are caused by test pressure in addition to being silly. The mantra to handle such a scenario is therefore slightly different. Consider what may go wrong that would be worse and how you would handle it. Most of the time, having a strategy in place for damage management can ease your mind.

Moving forward, we can also point to a lack of commitment and fewer CAT mock exams as causes of failure. But it’s true that people with five mock exams also succeed in receiving a score of 99.5 or above, and in contrast, I’ve seen motivated individuals with a significant number of mock exams perform at or even below the 90%ile. However, before taking the CAT, I still recommend that everyone take 30 or more mock exams.
Having said all of this, keep in mind that the CAT is a 3-hour exam meant to screen applicants and is not an evaluation of a person’s aptitude or abilities.