How to get the best out of AIMCATs(Cont'd)
Section I :Introduction
Section II : How do I get more out of AIMCATs
Section III : Additional Analysis &
Action Plan after AIMCAT results are declared
Section III : Additional Analysis
& Action Plan after AIMCAT results are declared
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Discrepancy
between your estimated score and the one reported on the website
If you notice any large discrepancy (difference of more than 2 in your
attempts, right or wrong answers) estimated by you against that reported on the
website , it is possible that the darkening of ovals done by you on the OMR
sheet is improper. Please pay special attention to this. Otherwise you may lose
marks unnecessarily.
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How to use AIMCAT Feedback
A thorough analysis of the AIMCAT results provided on
T.I.M.E. website will help you get an
insight into what's happening with your performance in the AIMCATs. It also
helps you to understand your relative performance vis-à-vis the entire student
community writing T.I.M.E.
AIMCATs.
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The feedback given to you
on AIMCATs consists of the following:
Section-wise Results
Area-wise Results
All-India Comparative Performance
Question-wise Analysis
Toppers' List
Snapshot of your Performance
Performance across AIMCATs
Let
us look at the parameters on which you are given feedback under each of the
above areas.
Section-wise
Analysis: This gives the performance of the student in each section. In
addition to your City Rank and All India Rank, you get your percentile score,
percentage score. These two parameters are also the scores given in the Score
Card of CAT. In addition, you can also know the cut-offs in each section as
well as the cut-off for the entire paper as a whole. These cut-offs are the
levels that you should aim to get a call from the IIMs. With the help of the
percentile mark, one can understand how close the student was to the cutoff. A
safe percentile mark in each section would be around 85. You should strive
towards achieving this target in each section. A thorough analysis of the ranks
in each section along with the percentile scores in the section will give you
an indication of where you stand in the entire lot of students writing the
AIMCATs.
Area-wise Analysis: In addition
to the Section-wise analysis, the Area-wise analysis can be used to check your
performance across various test areas within a section also. Whereas section
wise analysis gives you the relative performance in the section, area wise
analysis will give the relative performance in each area viz., RC, VA, QA, DI,
DS and LA. So you can check your percentile rank in various areas and work on
those areas where your performance is less compared to the other areas. In fact
this will also help students understand the relative proficiency of the entire
test takers.
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Question-wise Analysis: The Question-wise
Analysis gives the following feedback for each of the questions in the test:
the correct answer to the AIMCAT, the answers marked by you, the difficulty
level of the question, number of people who attempted that question and the
number of students who got the answer correct. This analysis will help you to
tally the marking you are supposed to have done on the OMR with what you
actually had marked. In addition, you can know what type of questions you
should have attempted and what should have been left out with the help of the
difficulty level as well as the data on the number of people getting a
particular answer correct.
Toppers List: This is the list of all those students who have cleared
the cut off in all the sections. Please note that by studying the toppers
marks, you can understand the pattern of the toppers scores i.e. which areas
they are scoring marks in and which sections are not easy to score and
accordingly modify your preparation. You should try to get into the toppers
list as many times as possible so as to get the confidence of making it to the
IIMs.
All India Comparative Performance: This will give the marks at various
rank levels in each of the sections. Please note that the sum of the marks of
the sections may not be equal to the total (all sections taken together). The
importance of every mark is clearly brought out by this All India Comparative
Performance analysis. A simple analysis of how better your rank could be can be
gauged by looking at the marks you have got and comparing it to the person who
is ranked 100 places ahead of you. This will hopefully propel you to go a
little faster in your exam and attempt more or be a little more careful so as
not to make mistakes in the exam and thereby get the extra marks to improve
your rank.
Snapshot of your Performance: In each section of the test and for each
level of difficulty of questions, Snapshot identifies the questions that you
got right, those that you attempted but got wrong and those that you did not
attempt. The color coding helps you identify the mistakes in your strategy and
helps you fine tune your approach before you go for the next AIMCAT.
Performance across AIMCATs (Areawise and Sectionwise): This will give a
picture of what has been your performance across AIMCATs at one shot. This will
also help you to understand which of the areas you need to concentrate on and
change your strategy for attempting the paper. For example, if you have not
been crossing your cutoff in say verbal and RC by a mark or two in every
AIMCAT, then it may be worthwhile in changing the time limits that you set for
yourself in that section and give say 5 minutes more than the time you usually
give to ensure that you cross the cutoff comfortably.
3. Target-setting
Your target in AIMCATs cannot be just an improvement in your NET score. You
should be clear that the ABSOLUTE SCORE in the AIMCATs is not the most reliable
indicator of whether you are improving. For example, a lower score in a
relatively difficult test could be better than a higher score in an easier one!
Percentile score or rank are the only reliable indicators of your performance.
It is suggested that you should fix a target for the next AIMCAT after you
finish analyzing the current one. This target can be a two-stage one depending
on your performance level:
Stage I: Target to clear the cut-off in any given section where
your score is lower than the cut-off score.
If you narrowly missed the cut-off in a section, did you miss it because:
a) you gave it less time? Or
b) attempted fewer questions? Or
c) have low Accuracy score?
On the other hand, if you missed the cut-off by a wide margin in a section, is
it because:
a) your "fundas" in this area are poor? Or
b) you gave this section very little time?
In either case, you have to prepare an action plan to reduce/eliminate this
lacuna.
Stage II: Target a higher score / percentile
This is a bit more difficult. As explained earlier, higher absolute score may
not necessarily lead to higher percentile score or higher rank, hence your
target has to be in terms of percentile rank. To do this well, you will need to
develop the ability of assessing how difficult/easy each of the sections/whole
paper was. This can be done by benchmarking the test paper against one or more
of the earlier tests. This is a skill that can be acquired over a period of
this and this is where we expect the long series of 20 AIMCATs to really make a
difference to the student.
In
a Nutshell
Be
up to date with your Basics:
Remember that, over the past few years, CAT has been placing increasingly more
emphasis on the sheer ability to tackle a question and solve it, when compared
to resorting to shortcuts, speed, selection of questions etc. Therefore, you
better be up to date with your basics on the topics that you would have already
covered in class.
Be
regular:
Do not miss out on any AIMCAT unless it is absolutely unavoidable, and take
each AIMCAT seriously, as if it were the real CAT itself – minus the
consequences, of course! In short, always give your best go at it but never let
it get to you!
Analyze,
analyze, and analyze:
After each AIMCAT, spend at least 2 to 3 hours
analyzing each section of the paper. This is undoubtedly the most enriching
experience that you can extract out of the AIMCATs. Try and first work out each
and every question in as many different ways as you can think of and only then
look up the solutions for the same. It is in this phase of your prep that you
can expect to significantly improve your understanding of the basics and more
importantly, you ability to apply them in an exam scenario.
Clarify
your Doubts:
Do
not hesitate to approach your respective faculty to clarify your doubts and
gain useful and important inputs. Also, forming small groups with three to four
of your friends to dissect and discuss each AIMCAT, after you have done your
share of individual analysis, is also a very good approach to maximize your
learning.
Track
your performance regularly:
Most of the above mentioned effort needs to be put in within the first two days
after each AIMCAT. As soon as the results of the AIMCAT are made available on
the website, ensure that you take enough time to look them up diligently. The
AIMCAT results that are made available on the institute website are
meticulously planned, comprehensive and personalized analyses that are intended
to give you invaluable feedback regarding your performance. This feedback will
guide you towards a better, more focused and effective preparation.
Plan
for improvement:
Two to three days before each AIMCAT, make a short plan of improvement – to be
implemented over the remaining AIMCATs and also the rest of your preparation
and overall approach – on the basis of all the analysis that you would have put
in for the previous AIMCAT. This plan should be a dynamic one, subject to
modifications and improvements with each AIMCAT.
On
a final note,
know and remember that the competition is bound to intimidate you on more than
one occasion over the coming few months and you better be prepared for spells
of self-doubt, despair and discouragement – they are all a part and parcel of
the game – which you will eventually become accustomed to and, hopefully, use
as stepping stones to reach greater heights in your preparation and career in
the long run.
I
am reminded of the famous lines of the song ‘Sunscreen’ by Baz Luhrmann -
“
Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the
end, it’s only with yourself
( the full extract is on
www.lyricscrawler.com/song/3953.html
)
WISH YOU ALL THE BEST!
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