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.
CAT 2022 is just 3 months away, and aspirants are advised to make the best optimum use of these months. While most candidates are focused on inculcating the skill of time management for the CAT preparation, some completely ignore the importance of time management during the exam.
In this exam, time management is very important while solving the paper, it becomes an important factor to determine your percentile. More questions in less time is what CAT demands, and this is only possible with thorough practice of previous year’s and mock questions and with the right strategy to attempt questions.
CAT 2022 Exam Pattern:
CAT 2022 is a computer-based exam, which is divided into three sections- Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation, and Quantitative Aptitude. The questions will be in multiple choice format, and a sectional timer of 40 minutes will be there. Candidates cannot switch between the sections during the exam.
| Section | Number of Questions | Sectional Time Limit |
| Verbal Ability | 24 | 40 minutes |
| Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation | 10+10 | 40 minutes |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 22 | 40 minutes |
How much time to spend in CAT questions:
The duration of the exam is 120 minutes, with a sectional timer of 40 minutes. Since, going between the sections is not allowed, candidats should plan accordingly to attempt which questions first from each section. Here are some tips that’ll guide you to mage time during the CAT exam:
- Experts suggest that a candidate should give 2-3 minutes per question to score a good percentile. Given below is the comparison of time vs percentile:
| Expected %ile | Time given to per question |
| 99%ile | 2 minutes/question |
| 95%ile | 3 minutes/question |
| 90%ile | 5 minutes/question |
2. The strategy should be to solve the easy questions first, and then to move towards the moderate and difficult questions and if time permits then the candidate may also go back to the questions they were stuck with. 3. Invest at least 5 minutes to revise the section, to see if the answers are correctly marked or not, or the questions are attempted or not. 4. Do not panic, if a question (which seems easy) but is taking a lot of time to get solved. In such a case, move on to the next question and come back only when all the questions from the section have been attempted/ or seen.
Also Read Sectional Time Management Tips for the CAT Exam
Time Management Tips for CAT VARC 2022:
VARC is one of the most scoring sections of the CAT. Here are some tips that will help you manage time well:
- Start with the Reading Comprehension section first, RCs are the most weighing part of this section. Out of 34 questions in total, 24 are from the Reading Comprehensions.
- The best way of solving the RCs questions is to first read questions and then read the comprehension.
- Try to solve a RC with six questions in 10-12 minutes, and give 5-6 minutes to solve the RC with 3 questions.
- After RC, candidates should go and solve the Verbal Ability section.
Time Management Tips for CAT Quant 2022:
- For the Quant section, attempt the easier questions first and then move on with the questions that are tough.
- Within the first 20 to 25 minutes, try to answer 12 to 14 questions. The remaining time should be utilized to attempt the difficult or time consuming problems.
- An average of 2.5 minutes should be given to each question in the Quantitative Ability section.
- Vedic math and shortcuts should be applied for solving the questions faster.
Time Management Tips for CAT DILR 2022:
- Solve the non-MCQ questions first, as there will be no negative marking in these questions.
- Seating Arrangement questions are very easy to attempt, so try to solve these in less than 15 minutes.
- Divide the time judiciously between Logical Reasoning questions and Data Interpretations questions. Allocate 15-20 minutes for the Logical Reasoning questions as these are less time-consuming than Data Interpretation.
Time Management Tips for the CAT 2022 Exam Day:
- Candidates should solve the easy questions first and then move towards the difficult questions
- There will be around 20 TITA (Type in the Answer) questions, which have no negative markings. So allocate 10 minutes in each section to solve the TITA questions.
- Spend at least 5 minutes revising and checking the questions already answered. Also make sure to check if all questions have been answered and no question is skipped (unless you’re unable to answer the question).
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