We were all anxiously waiting for 28th November, and I will be lying if said that I was not shocked to an extent, shocked because though we had warned students at various forums to be prepared for initial minor glitches, administrative delays, more than expected time span for pre test formalities etc but not the major bottlenecks which a large number of students had to experience, test getting delayed for unduly long duration, getting cancelled, rescheduled and more.
But at the end of the day we were all very very hopeful that things would be smoother the next day. But tomorrow though a new day, 29th November reports left us dumbfounded, as the expectation from everyone was that the test which enjoys an iconic stature in Indian Education will be better managed. Having said that I have no doubt that CAT authorities would get rid of these initial hiccups fast.
For students who are scheduled to appear for the CAT over next 8 days there are important lessons to be learnt from the experiences of others in last couple of days.
1. Keep yourself informed but do not pay too much heed to what’s happening around keep your focus on your preparation and use the information that you are getting for accommodating such factors in your strategy.
2. Glitches are expected; prepare yourself mentally for that do not get overtly perturbed or distressed by these.
3. Prepare yourself for the worst i.e. you may miss out on giving the exam on your scheduled slot, be ready for rescheduling and consider it as a probability, plan alternate days; we believe CAT authorities are accommodating requests for changing the allotted rescheduled test slots.
4. Take heart in the fact that the level of question paper is relatively on the easier side as informed by students who have already taken the test and going by the principle or equity you can expect the similar level.
5. You know now that total number of questions are 60, QA section is relatively on easier side and DI/LR slightly on the trickier side, so plan your time accordingly
6. You are better prepared now as you know some of the don’ts like, a. “QUIT” is not to be touched unless you want to walk off b. to directly jump to a question use the “Review” grid rather than navigating using next button c. keep a count of your attempts on rough sheet as you do not see the indication on screen
7. The verdict is out “students who had not practiced enough on reliable computer based testing format are facing a lot of difficulties and challenges”, so prepare accordingly pick up that reliable computer based testing mock test software and practice EVEN NOW, till the last day.
8. There have been complaints that the test environment in someplace was also not adequate as it was noisy etc, I am sure CAT authorities have taken note of that and you may expect improvement there.
I would like to advise you again that do not get too distressed or overtly occupied with the negatives relating to problems being encountered in CAT Online exam, take only positives from there to be better prepared when your time comes.
Even for students who had to undergo the problems and their slots have been rescheduled, take it as a positive you have a better idea about what the test and testing environment has in store for you so you would be better prepared for the CAT now.
So all the best to all of you, I am sure tomorrow will be a new day and a brighter one too.
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