The National Level Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to management courses in B-schools. Till the year 2018, the CMAT was being conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) but from the year 2019 onwards, the NTA has been given responsibility to conduct CMAT in order to provide MBA, PGDM, Executive PGDM courses in AICTE approved Institutions, University Departments/Constituent Colleges/Affiliated Colleges
Mentioned below are some tips for the preparation of CMAT 2021 examination.
Time Management
Time is the greatest virtue and one should always try and make good use of it. The first thing you should do is have time on your side; start with preparing for the test seven to eight months in advance. You should be familiar with the syllabus and have enough time to make revisions before the examination. This is not only going to make you familiar with the course but also boost your confidence and your scores.
Familiarize yourself with news/journals/magazines
One should get into the habit of reading, regardless of any competitive exams. When preparing for CMAT, make sure you get your daily dosage of the current affairs and whatever is making news- latest business news, market trends and news. Make sure you have time to go through the newspapers, magazines and journals apart from the syllabus. Don’t just be dependent on one newspaper; make sure you go through two to three of them.
Take regular mock exams
The idea behind preparing early is that one can have the time to get acclimatized to the syllabus; similarly the idea behind the mock test is to make sure that the student gets familiar with the paper pattern. This will not only clearly reflect what the student should expect in the paper but also boost the confidence level.
See: Top 10 CMAT Colleges for MBA in India
Precision along with speed
This might be true for most of the entrance tests out there. The need to be able to get that required speed for the exam is very important as you do not want to be caught in the paradox of knowing the answer and running out of time and not be able to answer the questions. You need to be able to maintain that balance of being able to answer questions correctly and not run out of time. You will only be able to achieve this with lots of practice.
Guess work while attempting the paper
Since there is negative marking in the CMAT, it is advisable that you abstain from guess work and not get marks deducted. Although there is a contradictory belief that most experts will stand by that although you should not be attempting questions you don’t know the answers to, but you should also not leave the questions where you are sure between two options as the chances of getting that answer would be right.
Topics/concepts which elude you
The things with topics that you have trouble understanding should be practiced undoubtedly but only if you have time on your hand. If you started preparing for the test, chances are you will have enough time to clear your doubts and work on topics you have a tough time comprehending. Otherwise, if you are short on time you should polish and practice topics which are clear to you rather than wasting time understanding things you do not know and then in the process losing the time to revise the known topics.
Make Short notes
No matter how many things you try there is just no replacement for making your own notes. Get into the habit of making short notes. Not only you will learn when you’re making them but they will prove to be very useful in the time of revision.
Revision is the key to success
No matter how much of the syllabus cover while preparing for the test, without revision nothing will last. Revision is one of the easiest things that will get you sure shot success in most exams. Revision not only familiarizes the subject and syllabus but also gives that boost in confidence. The more one revises the more you are familiar with the concepts of the course.
Best of luck preparing!
Also See: MBA Entrance Exams