Anisha has done MBA in Marketing from NMIMS And Executive Management(PMNO) from Harvard Business School. She has been instrumental in growing CATKing Digital with her experience with Marico and Henkel in the past.
NPAT 2017 is just around the corner and we are sure that you have put in the adequate amount of effort required to crack the exam and be ready for the D-DAY. In order to enhance section wise performance, you must have come across some valuable advice which has been given by your faculty, seniors, subject matter experts and coaches. Here are some of the NPAT specific tips for your assistance.
Ten days before the exam:
1. Few is better than more : Over the period of next 7 days focus on taking 5 mock tests through the week rather than planning to take 2 mocks per day. Analysing the mocks is far more important than giving more number of mock tests. Focus on the mistakes you have made and make a note of the important concepts in the questions.
2.Quality over Quantity : Revisit the challenging questions from previous mock tests and selected ones from the past papers or study material. It is always good to keep a track of the important questions in a separate notebook from various sources. Keep all the shortcuts handy.
3. Ensure Uniformity : It is advised not to visit multiple websites and looking for too many exam tips ! The more you read the more will you get confused. Don’t get carried away by what happened in past year NPAT papers and start drawing parallels for this year. The Cut-off for every year is different, just stick to your basic plan and follow it religiously, every individual is different.
4.Maximize Efforts :Focus on improving your raw scores and covering all the important sections during the preparation. It is strictly advised not to focus on calculating the ‘ideal’ attempts and ‘ideal’ accuracy as the paper is relative and the cut off varies each year. Right now, your only focus should be on maximising your raw score. At the end of the day, you should be satisfied that you reached the peak of your potential.
5.Set Biological clock :Try to follow a strict time table and schedule mocks during the time of actual exam. This will give you an edge over others while improving your concentration and comfort at the same time. Also, following a schedule will help you to cover more topics in an organised manner which help you on focus more on the daily targets.
A day before the exam :
- Reach the test centre well before the time and make sure that you keep the admit card and stationary handy to avoid the last minute rush.
- Abstain from the last minute discussions happening at the centre of examination from you’re your friends circle. Often students discuss about how comfortable or depressed they are about the upcoming test. Refrain from such discussions and just feel confident about your own preparation.
- Usually there is less than a minute available to solve questions in this 120 min test, so much of the focus should be on speed. Pick up the section that you are most comfortable with and focus on the questions which you are most comfortable with. In addition to this, it is important to adhere to section wise timing strictly. Make sure that you read every question in the paper. For example, the section-wise time durations can be as follows Quantitative & Numerical Ability (50Q) : 40 minutes English (50Q) – 30 minutes Reasoning & General Intelligence (50Q) : 40 minutes Unattempted questions – 10 minutes
- There is an option for reviewing the marked questions. It is important not to get stuck on a question while giving the test. Often students underutilize the ‘Review’ option. One should just mark the questions in case of doubt and move ahead. Instead you can revisit the questions in last few minutes to make intelligent guesses. Attempt them rather than the unmarked questions. This will reduce your risk of getting them wrong, which in turn will boost overall attempts without undue compromise on accuracy.
- Remember, it’s not the number of attempts alone or the accuracy alone that will matter, but your total raw score will impact overall rank. In any case, wild, random guessing is prohibited at any stage. 6.Students typically get stuck in a particular section and lose the track of time. While there are no section level cut-offs, disproportionate time spent in one section will eat into the time available to attempt easier questions. Thus, this section can be a make or break and may eventually decide your admission prospects.
- It is advised to stay positive and rely on your preparation. Since this exam is relative the same difficulty will be faced by everyone. Just take your mock tests seriously. Best of Luck !
