CAT is a national level entrance test for admissions to MBA in various Business colleges. It is considered one of the most difficult entrance exams. The competition is getting tough year by year because the number of aspirants is increasing substantially. Therefore, there is heightened pressure on the candidates to try their best and perform better than others. Though consistent practice is a crucial part of preparation, CAT syllabus revision also plays an important role in fetching good results. No matter how much you have practiced, if the concepts are not revised strategically, it is very difficult to retain the concepts and achieve the desired results. It becomes all the more important to have a revision plan in place and thereby, follow it religiously.
How to make a revision plan for the CAT Exam?
It is not possible to revisit all the material like sessional tests, question booklets etc., that you used throughout your CAT online preparation. Therefore it is important to decide- a) What is to be revised? b) How to make notes that would help with revision? c) How frequently should one revise? Let us try to answer these questions one by one.
What is to be revised?
- Formulas: While starting off with the basics, one comes across many formulas. These should be revisited several times, otherwise retention of these formulas will remain an issue. Formulae, when learnt by heart, are easy to retain. Besides, handy formulas save a lot of time and energy. You will also learn new shortcut formulas while solving mocks and booklets. They must also be revised.
- Basic Concepts: Basic concepts must be revised regularly. CAT intends to check the aptitude and focuses more on understanding and concept clarity, rather than factual information. Therefore, a thorough revision of basic concepts will lead to better understanding and good performance.
- Short Tricks and Techniques: Learning shortcuts and related methods are a salient feature of entrance exam preparation. These short tricks must be revised and practiced well.
- Important Questions: Questions with unique solutions are the ones that are considered extraordinary. There is only a specific way to reach their solution. So, such questions and their solutions must be revisited frequently.
- Keep revising the squares and square roots; cube and cube roots; basic multiplication tables. It will help with mental mathematics and save your time in lengthy calculations.
How to make notes that would help with revision?
- Maintain a formulae notebook. If all the formulas are jotted down in a single notebook, it is easy to refer to them without worrying about missing important formulas.
- Short tricks and techniques; important questions; squares and cubes, and their roots should also be put in one notebook.
- Make chapter/concept-wise notes of formulae, short tricks and other important features of each crucial concept/chapter. The revision notes will be more organized that way.
- Make a note of all the concepts that are to be revised. Keep all these in one place and start doing it from the very first day of exam preparation.
- Use a highlighter or some symbols to mark important questions and concepts simultaneously. If needed, mention the unique trick against the question itself in the book or the study material.
How frequently should one revise?
- Revise whenever you have time. Keep some notes handy that can be revised daily while travelling or before going to bed. Make it a point to revise all that is covered throughout the day.
- Make a schedule for periodic revisions (weekly, monthly or biweekly). Revise the formulas, short tricks, basic concepts etc. covered within that period.
- Revisit your notes before giving the mocks. If you retain the basic concepts, you will be able to link them with questions in the mocks.
- Reserve the last few days of the exam for final revision. Final revision must include revising all the concept/chapter wise notes, and other important concepts identified during mock analysis and practice. The basic fundamentals of mathematics must also be brushed up.
Have faith in the notes and revision you have done. Do not be intimidated with other ways of preparation and revision. Everyone has their own areas of weakness and strength. So, their revision plan must be planned accordingly. Someone may need to work more on a concept that you find easy to understand and vice-versa. Trust your preparation, and that you are ready to ace the CAT exam.