Liv’ED It is an ED original style where we write about our personal experiences on experiencing and reviewing any app/place/website which gives us a feeling of coming back for more.
Yesterday marked the end of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2021, and also of many students’ dreams and hopes. This may be a little too heavy of a line to begin this article with, but it is always braver to stare directly at the truth than avoid or sugarcoat it.
I, like over 2 lac other aspirants, appeared for CAT yesterday. And it was a serious attempt. I had studied smartly, analyzed my mock attempts, and improved upon my weak areas. As a science student, you may be able to guess what my weak area was. Yup, the VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension) section.
The stereotype holds. Quants was my strongest suit and VARC the weakest. Throughout my preparation, VARC haunted me and I also tried to avoid it. But, Quants was my go-to section whenever I needed a morale boost. I was so occupied with dreading VARC that I had forgotten to consider that even maths can mess it up just as much.
Experience Of CAT 2021
CAT was conducted, like in 2020, in 3 different slots (morning, afternoon, and evening) of 2 hours each. Mine was the 3rd slot. I had prepared everything from my end. I had been preparing for about 6 months, which is the ideal time to prepare for it.
All that was left was to appear for the actual exam and give my best in it. The exam started at 4.30 PM. Oddly enough, the song from Game of Thrones “Jenny of Oldstones” was stuck in my head and I was humming that on repeat till 4.29 PM. That was my brain’s peculiar way to be at peace, I guess?
Anyway, the exam started and the VARC section, to my surprise, went pretty well. It was actually easy. LRDI section went well as well. The real surprise was Quants.
Read More: Breakfast Babble: Why I Hate Indian Parents And Their Obsession With UPSC/MBA
The section in which I was the most confident of my skills actually became the worst thing for me. The first 3 questions were quite easy and I could solve 2 out of 3. But then, something happened. I couldn’t find easy questions anymore.
I picked up some arithmetic questions but they were really lengthy. So were algebra questions. Geometry was always my weak point and I don’t prefer to even look at those questions. I panicked really bad. I messed up my exam, in a way I could never have imagined.
This is a live example of the fact that even IITians can mess up Quants. One of my classmates from IIT also didn’t do well in this section and we both wallowed in our shared misery over ice cream.
I was numb when I came out of the exam center. I had no clue as to what my future held, it seemed so bleak. I didn’t have the guts to tell this to my parents. But I did eventually, and they were super supportive. Their reaction actually helped a lot.
My WhatsApp was flooded with messages from friends asking about my exam. I didn’t read any of those. I had nothing to reply with.
But, today was much better than yesterday. And, I look forward to figuring things out while I prepare for CAT 2022 now.
Sources: Blogger’s Own Experience
Image Sources: Google Images
Find The Blogger: @TinaGarg18
This post is tagged under: CAT 2021, IIm ahmedabad, IIMs, indian institute of management, good score in cat, common admission test, last sunday of november, quantitative aptitude, quants, LRDI, DILR, Logical reasoning and data interpretation, VARC, verbal ability and reading comprehension, inference based questions, puzzles, mathematics, science student, iit delhi, student life, corporate, jobs, MBA
Other Recommendations:
In Pics: Didn’t Get Into Top 10 MBA Schools? These Alternatives Give Great ROIs Too
