Sonam Jain, JBIMS Batch of 2011
CET -A different ball-game
With less than a month left for the written test, its time you all gear up and make the most of this time. CET is different from most of the other tests as there is no negative marking. So, one has to change his strategy massively. Unlike CAT, speed is as important in this test as is accuracy. Also, the break-up of marks (Written test: 200, GD:17, PI:17, Work-Experience: 2, 10th n 12th marks: 4) is very unique. It clearly shows the importance of the test vis-A-vis the gd-pi. A good score can strengthen your chances of making it to your dream college to a great extent. Some general things that one needs to keep in mind:
CET 2009 (percentile): 99.99
Written Score: 157
I started preparing for CET quite late, somewhere in mid-January. Since I had prepared well for CAT, my fundamentals were quite strong. So, I directly started giving mocks. However, this isn't advised in case this would be your first exam or you were not prepared well for your previous entrance tests. The biggest mistake that you could do would be solving papers without getting your fundamentals correct. So, first just solve set of 30-50 questions on various topics like quant, DI, logical reasoning, vocabulary, reading comprehensions, visual reasoning amongst others. Remember to time yourself while solving these. Also, alongwith giving mocks you also need to analyse your papers. Some students make the error of giving a mock everyday and sometimes even two mocks a day. Doing this will not ensure improvement, as you will keep repeating your mistakes. Analyse the paper by measuring your attempts, your accuracy, sections which took up time and sections which were scoring. This activity will help you identify your weak and strong areas. Make sure you work on your weak areas and polish your strong sections before giving the next mock test. Ideally, sit for a mock test every alternate day. I had a problem with visual reasoning because it's the only thing I had never encountered before. During the course of my preparation I worked really hard on these type of questions and the result were clearly indicative of my efforts. While giving the actual paper, I kept my practiced strategy intact. I solved some 90 questions in the first one hour, followed by the other 90 in the remaining time. I had a decent attempt of 180 in the final paper. While giving your mocks you can try different strategies, but in the process find the strategy that you are most comfortable with and stick to that one in your final paper. At the end of the day, keep in mind that it is just another aptitude test. Don't freak out and maintain your calm. All the best!
With less than a month left for the written test, its time you all gear up and make the most of this time. CET is different from most of the other tests as there is no negative marking. So, one has to change his strategy massively. Unlike CAT, speed is as important in this test as is accuracy. Also, the break-up of marks (Written test: 200, GD:17, PI:17, Work-Experience: 2, 10th n 12th marks: 4) is very unique. It clearly shows the importance of the test vis-A-vis the gd-pi. A good score can strengthen your chances of making it to your dream college to a great extent. Some general things that one needs to keep in mind:
- Focus on your strengths. For all those who have a problem with quant, remember that there are only 20 questions based on Maths.
- Focus more on reasoning and English. Both these areas are extremely important as they are scoring and less time-consuming.
- To crack this test, speed is more important than anything else. An attempt of 140 with 100% accuracy will not assure you a seat in JBIMS. It is extremely important to increase your attempts with a decent accuracy rate.
CET 2009 (percentile): 99.99
Written Score: 157
I started preparing for CET quite late, somewhere in mid-January. Since I had prepared well for CAT, my fundamentals were quite strong. So, I directly started giving mocks. However, this isn't advised in case this would be your first exam or you were not prepared well for your previous entrance tests. The biggest mistake that you could do would be solving papers without getting your fundamentals correct. So, first just solve set of 30-50 questions on various topics like quant, DI, logical reasoning, vocabulary, reading comprehensions, visual reasoning amongst others. Remember to time yourself while solving these. Also, alongwith giving mocks you also need to analyse your papers. Some students make the error of giving a mock everyday and sometimes even two mocks a day. Doing this will not ensure improvement, as you will keep repeating your mistakes. Analyse the paper by measuring your attempts, your accuracy, sections which took up time and sections which were scoring. This activity will help you identify your weak and strong areas. Make sure you work on your weak areas and polish your strong sections before giving the next mock test. Ideally, sit for a mock test every alternate day. I had a problem with visual reasoning because it's the only thing I had never encountered before. During the course of my preparation I worked really hard on these type of questions and the result were clearly indicative of my efforts. While giving the actual paper, I kept my practiced strategy intact. I solved some 90 questions in the first one hour, followed by the other 90 in the remaining time. I had a decent attempt of 180 in the final paper. While giving your mocks you can try different strategies, but in the process find the strategy that you are most comfortable with and stick to that one in your final paper. At the end of the day, keep in mind that it is just another aptitude test. Don't freak out and maintain your calm. All the best!