As there are 30 questions in quant section, the time comes down to around 2.

30 minute per question if we want to attempt all 30. If I get an odd 3.30 minute per question I cant solve it in that given time frame. So I leave it and keep moving back and forth throughout the quant section. How do I tackle this issue? You need to stay calm and composed whilst taking a test. Do not get confused or restless and move from one question to another without solving any of them. For every question, you need to first read the same and in 20-30 seconds classify it as a "must-solve-immediately" or a "challenger-I will return to later" or a "forget-it" question. For the first category, spend 1.5-2 minutes more and solve the question. For the second category, mark the question and return to review it later after you have gone through all questions in the section. For the the third category, as the name suggests - leave them alone. If you master this approach, you will see that you are able to solve more questions correctly in the stipulated time and your scores will move upward.

What number of questions and accuracy level would be a safe bet to qualify for calls from the IIMS considering the past cut-off percentiles? Though the number of attempts would vary with the level of difficult of the test, a safe bet would be around an 80% attempt with about 85% accuracy to get a 92-95 percentile in each of the sections. This would obviously move upwards for a very easy test and lower for a tougher test. Correspondingly a 70% attempt with 85% accuracy should be safe enough for an 80-85%ile in each of the sections.

Practice easy, medium and hard judging approach next time.

The one and only thing which determines the success or failure of a candidate in any exam is the score obtained. This holds good for CAT, the first step towards securing a seat in the prestigious IIMs. Two factors determine the score obtained, number of attempts and accuracy. Therefore, the target of the students should be to improve on both. This needs a detailed plan for preparation and practice before the exam and during the exam. How to increase the number of attempts Question selection Students need to ensure that they attempt and answer all the easy questions in each section within the time allotted for the section. Then, they can proceed to answering the more difficult ones, if time permits. To do this, one has to attempt questions selectively, judging their difficulty level while reading them. The cardinal rule is to not miss on any easy question in the CAT paper; no question in the paper should be left unread.

Should you attempt the questions based on the difficulty level, or scan the paper first, or answer them on the go? The answer would depend on the test area that one is working
out. For questions on verbal ability, it doesn't make sense to come back to the questions after scanning them as most of them can either be answered or left out in the first reading. For quantitative ability questions, the constraints are different. The questions can be, in the first reading, left to be solved later when one identifies all the easy questions in the paper. The disadvantage is that there would be duplication of efforts in terms of reading the same question(s)

multiple times since by the time the scan is over and one comes back to the first question, the information on the question may not stay in ones mind and the question has to be read again. To avoid this, the students can divide the allotted time for the section into different chunks (eg: divide 40 min into four chunks of 10 min each) and in each time chunk, focus on a set of questions to be scanned for difficulty level. This way, one can ensure no question goes unread and all the easy to medium questions are attempted. For LR and DI, the questions are already in sets, thereby making our task easy. The answer would also depend on how good one is in judging difficulty level. If one is not so good in judging the level, then it is very likely that he/ she will get stuck in questions, there by wasting a lot of time. In this case, answering on the go will not be a good idea, as time will run out well before one reaches the end of the paper, there by leaving some questions unread. This violates the cardinal rule discussed above, of not leaving questions unread. The students should therefore assess how good they are on judging the difficulty level. They should look at their previous Mock CAT results to understand this. More number of easy questions left out or difficult questions attempted is an indication that there is scope for improvement here. Improve on accuracy Accuracy, the bug bear of many, is easy to talk about but hard to improve on. Practice is the key to improve on accuracy, preceded with a thorough understanding of basics. With two months to go for the exam, invest time on only what matters the most. Finally, all the preparation you put in should be checked in the subsequent Mock CATs you take. Similarly, your question selection plan should also be reviewed regularly, based on the Mock CATs you take.

Analysis of mock test

Note down the difficulties While taking the test, take a note of the questions which took most of your time. Also keep a note of the order of attempting the questions. "Note down the questions that took most of your test time and see whether you got them right. After the test, take a note of your attempt pattern, that is, which question did you choose first, what followed it and so on," says Atul Prashar, Product Head, TCYonline.com. According to Prashar, your performance depends a lot on the order of attempt of the questions or sections. So while you analyze your mock tests, keep this in mind and also from the next mock test onwards, keep the right order in mind. "Keeping a note of this for each test will help you optimize your attempt in the next mock test," he said.

Follow the 80-20 rule For the right method of analysis, Prashar suggests the 80-20 rule. "80 per cent of your problems are caused by 20 per cent of 'wrongly selected questions' or 'wrongly selected section first'. Just try to analyze and know 'what falls in YOUR 20 per cent' and do not waste time on those," he says. Check your accuracy If you have got an answer wrong to a question wrong, check the level of your accuracy. You should understand whether the mistake happened due to lack of conceptual clarity or was an error due to inaccuracy. "You should check the section to check your accuracy level, and see which question you should have got correct. Also, which are the easy questions that you missed out on?" asks Aziz Manva, Content Head, Testfunda.com. If you find this as the cause of the low percentile in mock tests, you should go back to the basics and get more practice. "If required, go back, and brush up on some of the concepts," says Manva. Check sectional percentiles Analyze the performance of the different sections. In this way you can find out the weakest section and prepare accordingly. "Work on improving the weakest so that you can clear the sectional cut-offs. Check whether you need more practice, or you need to brush up on the concepts. You also need to look at your attempts, accuracy rate, and whether you are attempting the right kind of questions," Manva mentions.