Question Selection in CAT

Question Selection in CAT – While talking about the exam strategy, most experts have always focused on – Speed, Accuracy, Time management as the most important factors for scoring well in an exam like CAT. But almost every time, they have forgotten one thing which relates all other factors in the examination – ‘Selecting the Right Questions’.

The right selection of questions can help an aspirant in getting the answers faster, higher chances that the answers will be correct, which will improve the accuracy, and finally it will help the aspirant to manage time in a much better way.

In CAT, the questions can be divided into 3 types – YES, NO and MAYBE.

1. YES type questions – These questions come from areas in which the aspirant is very comfortable and has done a lot of practice. The probability of getting right is very high despite a few of them taking more time to solve. The number of questions of this type depends on how many areas the aspirant is comfortable with. So, during preparation, a student should always try to keep as many areas/topics as possible under this head. Also, while writing CAT, one should focus on attempting all the questions of ‘Yes’ type first and should not miss any of this type. For a serious aspirant, at least 30-50% of the questions should fall under this category.

2. NO type questions – This is the easiest type to answer, as the aspirant, within the first 20-30 seconds, would realize that the question cannot be answered and leaves it un-attempted. In any exam, on an average, there would be 10-30% questions of this type. If the percentage is more, it means either the student has not covered the basics well or he/she is leaving the questions too easily without a proper try.

3. Maybe type questions – This is the trickiest type as the question always gives a feeling that it will get solved. In many cases, it has been noticed that even after devoting a considerable time, the student is no where close to the answer. The challenge that an aspirant faces in this type is whether to leave the question unsolved or to continue trying. Thus, he/she ends up losing unnecessary time. If the same happens for several times, then it will surely impact the overall score. There, will be at least 20-30% questions of this type in every exam.

In an exam, where 60% of the total score can put a candidate in the top 1% students, it is very important to choose the right questions. If you are having trouble choosing the right ones, then please go back to your drawing board and identify all those areas that will fall under YES, NO or MAYBE type for you.

All the best!

Written by:

Samrat Roy

Team Endeavor