A few years back, I attended the Chennai convocation function for aspirants who cleared the Company Secretary (CS) exam (a relative of mine had cleared the exam). The Chief Guest was Padmashri-awardee T. N. Manoharan, who is a pre-eminent figure in the Banking and Accounting sector in the country with his book being a must-read for all CA aspirants. He was part of the government-appointed team that cleaned up the Satyam mess and paved the way for the transition to Tech Mahindra. His keynote address was leavened with wisdom and had too many punchlines for me to recount here, but one of the things he said is spot on when it comes to the way we should deal with success and failure. He said…
celebrate success with all your heart, but do not let it get to your head and do not let failure enter and break your heart; use your head to find out the causes and deal with it
The first phase of taking SimCATs is done, and handling those results, which can seem pretty demotivating, would not have been easy. Aspirants usually start off full-steam, thinking 99-plus percentile — IIM-A — and then, when faced with these ups and downs disappointments, tend to lose heart and start going through a phase of self-doubt.
This post is about how you should use your head to deal with that phase.
Setting the right attempt, accuracy and score targets
Unlike in the time when I was taking the test, we have tons of actual CAT data at our disposal to provide us with clear milestones.
The table below gives the score ranges at different percentile levels based on the last three years’ CAT.
| Section | 85 Percentile | 95 Percentile | 99 Percentile | 100 Percentile |
| VA-RC | 20-24 | 29-33 | 39-42 | 60-65 |
| DI-LR | 13-18 | 19-25 | 29-34 | 51-62 |
| QA | 14-19 | 23-29 | 33-43 | 57-72 |
| OVERALL | 41-50 | 60-67 | 84-102 | 142-163 |
From the above, table it is clear that at a sectional and overall level, the range of scores is in a narrow band over the last years in all cases except when it comes to the QA and that too at a 99 & 100-percentile.
The first step is to set the right target section-wise and not aim to move more than one column to the right at a time per section. If you are currently at 85-percentile in QA, then your target for the next SimCAT should be 95 and not 99-percentile.
So, your task before the next SimCAT is to
- look at your average percentile in a section: last 3 tests, last 5 tests, whatever is best indicative (for example, if you were not at all prepared in the initial SimCATs, no point including them to calculate your average)
- look at the next milestone in the table above — for example, if you are 82 percentile, set your next target as 85 percentile,
- look at the score required for the same
How are you going to get the extra marks to reach your target score — Accuracy?
Most people reduce this to a simplistic equation of increasing attempts, but a look at the table below shows that you are better off increasing your accuracy rather than increasing your attempts to reach a higher score.
| ATTEMPT-ACCURACY-SCORE | 8-10 | 11-13 | 14-16 | 17-19 | 20-24 |
| 50% | ~9 | ~12 | ~15 | ~18 | ~22 |
| 65% | ~14 | ~19 | ~24 | ~29 | ~35 |
| 75% | ~18 | ~24 | ~30 | ~36 | ~44 |
In my opinion, based on the statistics that we have seen with the toppers and the rest of the population, a realistic accuracy target for each area/section is as follows:
- Verbal Ability — ~65% — 5 out of 8 questions
- Reading Comprehension — 65% — 8 marks/set
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning — 75% — 8 marks/set
- Quantitative Ability — 75% — 8-11 marks/set
What is more important is to observe that you get greater gains by improving your accuracy by one slab than by increasing your attempts by one or even two slabs.
For example, at 50%, increasing your attempts from 11-13 to 17-19 will take your score from 12 to 18. This is also under the big assumption that increasing your speed by 50% to increase attempts from 12 to 18 will not dent your accuracy at all!
But at the same 11-13 attempts, increasing your accuracy from 50% to 65% will take your score from 12 to ~20.
So, Step 1 — You have to reach 65% accuracy in all sections.
For VA-RC, the only way to achieve the same is to follow the technique of solving that we use in all of solution videos of SimCATs. The two RC Masterclasses, especially RC-2, can be really helpful as well.
For QA, the three posts on how to improve your accuracy detail the three steps to reach higher accuracy levels.
For DI-LR, these two posts explain how to get the job done.
How are you going to get the extra marks to reach your target score — ATTEMPTS?
Sir, should I increase the attempts in my next SimCAT?
Honestly, this question has always amused me. The underlying assumption here is that you can increase you attempts at will!
Imagine a fast bowler asking his blowing coach — In the next match, should I start bowling at 150 instead of 135!
Well, if you can bowl 6 balls at 150 without hurling beamers at the batter’s head or making your wicketkeeper go diving in all directions, why not?
Firstly, increase your attempts only after your accuracy has stabilised at 65%. And how do you go about it?
VA-RC: You cannot directly attempt 3 passages instead of 2 in a SimCAT. You should practice 3 passages with a timer of 25 minutes for at least 10 sets with a conscious effort to focus harder while increasing speed.
And this is important — if you have to drive your bike faster, say at 60, you have to focus much harder than you would need to drive at 40!
Once you are clear that you can take up 3 passages in 25 minutes while maintaining your accuracy at 65%, then go for it in the next SimCAT. Otherwise you will find that your score has dropped, and that sets off another crisis of confidence.
QA: In QA, you need to figure out what is stopping you from attempting more questions:
- Speed: You know all concepts in Arithmetic, Algebra, and Geometry but are able to attempt only a few questions because of lack of speed.
- Concepts: You have good speed, but you do not know all concepts in all three areas, resulting in you leaving many easy questions
If the problem is speed, then you need to ensure the following while solving a Quant question:
- Do not start copying information from the question to your paper as you are reading
- Do not start solving before you reach the end of the question
- Do not write each and every step of the solution. Skip writing steps by doing them mentally.
If the problem is concepts, then you need to go through the masterclasses of Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. If you have no idea at all of, say Algebra or Geometry, then watching the concept videos first will help.
DI-LR: The same as QA. You need to check whether speed or concepts — 3/4-Factor Venn-diagrams, Spider Graphs, Weighted Averages — is the problem.
A possible elephant in the room!
One of the lesser-discussed issues is test-taking stamina.
Your question selection is fine. Your speed is fine. Your concept coverage is adequate. But you just cannot perform at your optimum potential for 2 hours.
After 60 minutes or roughly towards the latter half of the DI-LR section, your mental energy tends to flag, you get stuck on questions that you later discover were sitters. In short, your brain refuses to budge.
This straight away means that you do not have the mental stamina to perform at your peak for 2 hours.
When I took the GMAT in 2017, I found that I too, was not at full testing fitness. My workload was pretty heavy, so I took Mocks late at night (and only two at that).
On actual test day, I had to take the AWA and IR sections, which I skipped in the Mocks, so on test day by the time I reached the middle of the last section, Verbal, I realised that for 15 minutes my brain had shut down and I was solving questions based on gut-feel and not using my own processes. As a result, I got a good score but in Verbal I scored, 42, lower than I did in my mock.
The same thins happened in the CAT, the next year. It was a 3-hour paper, and after around 140 minutes, my brain shut down for 20 minutes in the QA section. I was unable to solve easy questions and just could not get bat on ball properly. But it did restart and I was able to knock off a few questions.
How do you solve the problem of test-taking stamina?
You cannot develop a skill or a capability directly in a mock. You need to develop it in practice.
- No practice session should be under 2 hours.
- Every session should be executed in the same conditions as the actual test — phone switched off, no breaks.
- Take tests only when you have the mental stamina to take a test — late-night after a long day’s work might not be the best indicator of your abilities.
The next thing you should do
Set your goals for every week from now until the CAT using the data and the process outlined in this post:
- Section-wise: Percentile, Attempts, Accuracy
Make a weekly prep plan aligned to achieving those goals.
You need not have improvement goals for every section in every week. This will lead to a little-bit-of-everything every day sort of prep.
You need not practice for more than 2 sections in a week with clear goals for each section, starting with your weakest sections.
Do not worry whether there is enough time to improve. Give everything you have to reach the best percentile you can this year. Even if you do not make it to your dream school, you will have less distance to cover next year, and more importantly you will know your capabilities in the real sense.
I got through the CAT on my second attempt, a very stress-free attempt with limited but very high-quality prep, because I gave everything I had in my first attempt and knew exactly what I needed to fix.
As they say, with respect to performing in the final stages of different sports — late into the fourth quarter of basketball, for example — go deep or go home.
The CAT Writer 