Ayush Khowala on strategies to beat the stress before CAT 2020

 

“Every time I felt anxious during exams, I would close my eyes for a minute and calm myself. This helped me mitigate the time loss that would have occurred had I panicked,” says Ayush Khowala with refreshing candour. He appeared for the most important exam of them all, CAT 2019 and came out with flying colours to secure his admission with IMI Bhubaneswar. He shares his tips and tricks to beat the stress a month before the test.

Ayush reveals that he started his preparations for the test 5 months before the exam. But the last couple of months were reserved for mock tests alone. “It’s not the time to learn a new concept. Instead, focus your energies on mock tests because they help you maintain your speed and accuracy for the exam. It’s also important to analyze your mock tests to gain an understanding of areas you should improve in,” he says on a thoughtful note.

In the last leg of preparations leading up to CAT 2020, it’s also crucial to start taking mock tests depending on the actual time slot. Ayush believes it prepares your body and mind for the exam day. “I understand that this year there will be doubts and questions because of the sudden change in the exam pattern. This can create psychological pressure on you before the test. I strongly recommend 8-10 hours of sleep before the exam day,” he offers practical advice.

Besides keeping a positive outlook before the exam, Ayush had also developed a strategy that helped him ace the test. He lets us in on the secret as he says, “When I appeared for my CAT exam I glanced through all the questions first in order to locate the easy ones. Once I had finished answering the easy questions I naturally had the confidence to tackle the difficult ones.” The strategy paid dividends and took him closer to his goal.

For Ayush, the goal was to secure admission at a B School that would shape his transformation into a corporate professional. Armed with a solid CAT score he picked IMI B with Finance and Marketing as his specializations. “IMI B has everything a B School should have and has better NIRF ranking in its category. Moreover, it has been performing exceptionally well during the past few placement seasons, and in fact, has a 100% record,” is his parting shot.