Hello Friends, This is Gaurav Kataria. Born and brought up in Delhi, I am a B.Tech Graduate from College of Engineering Roorkee. After my graduation, I Joined HCL Technologies as software Engineer. I was selected as one of the delegate for Good Governance yatra 2015 by Vision India Foundation. I am also a part of entertainment channel-Still Bachelor. I have pursued PG Diploma in Conflict Transformation and Peace Building From Delhi University. Currently, I am pursuing MBA-HR from NMIMS, Mumbai.
It feels great with a sense of achievement that every student securing such a percentile would love to have. It was a sense of satisfaction that finally, my efforts bore fruits. It is my pleasure to share my experiences here regarding B-school exam-CMAT.
I converted NMAT and IIFT apart from CMAT and joined NMIMS, Mumbai, MBA-HR programme last year.
My experience with CMAT 2016 was like this:
I felt that GK was the toughest section and Quants was one of the easiest sections in CMAT 2016. GK was a mix of static as well as dynamic questions that made it a bit tougher for me.Although GK was a section that needs less than 15-17 minutes however most of the questions that i faced in GK this time were quite tricky.
As Quants is my strong section, although i got 99.45%ile in Quants, I had to strive a bit harder to solve it first and this time it was a mix of easy and tough questions in Quants section too. I felt English was also one of the easiest sections in 2016 CMAT and i could easily secure 100%ile in it. It was on the similar lines of other entrance exams’ verbal section but with a caveat of speed and accuracy.
However Logical Reasoning was time consuming and some questions were a bit tricky in that section as well.
The CMAT exam consists of four sections with 100 marks each with 25 questions that need to be answered within 180 minutes. The four sections are: General Knowledge, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and Quantitative Technique & Data Interpretation.
As a tried and tested strategy for me, I started with the Quants section first, which was easy for me to attempt and I took only 25 minutes to complete 25 questions in Quants. Then as usual I picked Logical Reasoning which took most of the time during exam. I spent around 50-60 minutes on logical reasoning that I think was a good decision as it was a bit tricky and time consuming. Later, I shifted to English and completed it in 30 minutes and remaining time I spent on GK and then on analyzing the questions that i did not attempt in first round.
In my opinion, CMAT is easier than the CAT/XAT exam, however CMAT consists of GK as one of its sections that makes it a bit difficult. Like other entrance exams CMAT also has its own USPs. Time management and accuracy is one of the factors that an aspirants needs to take care while attampeting CMAT. No exam is easy or difficult, it the relative performance of the candidates taking the exam that determines the level of exam. According to me, the possible and best way to prepare for CMAT is complete focus on basics and short tricks in case of quants. Spending 1/2 -1 hour on News paper or updates will prepare you for the GK section of CMAT as well as other noteworthy entrance exams like IIFT and SNAP.
Along with that it is also important to make a strategy (as per your convenience) for handling the exam. Don’t start an exam with a rigid frame of mind. Try to gauge the possibility of attending maximum questions with accuracy in the limited time.
My preparation strategy tips for future aspirants would be give as much mock test as possible. I used to give mocks each week and then identifying the weakness that i encountered regarding time mismanagement or silly mistakes or lack of knowledge.
I was mainly focused on the two success mantras:
– Reading a lot daily and setting weekly targets for reading material and solving sectional problems in online material.
– Improving vocabulary by reading newspaper editorials, word lists etc and giving equal time to Quants and DI/LR on daily basis.
I also attempted previous year CMAT and IIFT exams to get a good hold over the exam pattern and then made adequate strategies for individual exams.
I would suggest your weekly schedule should be:
1. Everyday practice on Online topic tests and your preparation strategy should include thorough analysis of all tests.
2. Keep a dedicated whole day for revision of your notes or mocks that you have attempted in previous weeks.
3. Do keep in mind to practice at least one RC passages, DI & LR sets daily.
Do remember that sometimes the Mocks that you attempt are usually tougher than real Entrance exams – So there is no need to lose hope if you aren’t scoring very well in the mocks. Keep calm and all the best.
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