Main Reasons Why Aspirants Fail CAT Exam?

CAT exam holds the reputation of being the toughest management exam in India. Despite months of preparation, there are many candidates who do not succeed in clearing the CAT exam. Some of the main reasons why aspirants fail CAT exam is due to over confidence, fear of exams, weak foundation in core topics, and sometimes even careless mistakes.

Candidates can keep reading the article to check the key reasons why students fail CAT exam, what are the top 5 common mistakes that give lesser score to CAT aspirants and how to avoid them. Along with that, candidates can check essential tips on how to clear the CAT exam with flying colours here.

10 Main Reasons Why Aspirants Fail CAT Exam?

The main reasons why aspirants fail CAT exam have been accumulated after reviewing various student experiences over the past years. Candidates appearing for the CAT exam in the future can refer to the below list, and ensure that they avoid the following.

1. Overconfidence: Students may dedicate months of their time preparing for the CAT exam, but sometimes their overconfidence and sense of superiority may lead to bad CAT exam preperation. Therefore, experts advise candidates to be confident, and without any stress on the exam day.
2. Poor Foundation: Many students lack a clear understanding of core topics, and have shaky foundations. Hence, they must seek help from teachers and their peers to clear their doubts and have a strong foundation in key topics. 
3. Fear of Exams: Stress and anxiety on the exam day can impact students negatively on the exam day. It can cause panic, blanking out, making silly mistakes and lead to poor time management. Therefore students must take as many mock and sample exams as possible to strengthen their confidence and have a calm demeanour on the exam day. 
4. Question Selection: A common mistake committed by CAT exam takers are selecting the wrong questions on the exam day. Many students are unable to judge an easy question from a difficult one. Again, leading to wastage of time and in turn leaving questions they could have scored easily from.
5. Being Unmindful: One of the main reasons why aspirants fail CAT exam is due to certain careless mistakes, like, miscalculations, selecting the wrong answer, not checking the answer etc. Therefore students must focus on re-checking their answers before submitting them.
6. Misreading Questions: Unfortunately, many candidates do not read the questions twice, even after clear instructions. Notreading it enough can often lead students to provide incorrect answers. 
7. Overstudy: Spending a lot of time preparing and studying for the CAT exam with no rest, can discourage students from retaining the information, and even lead to situations where they are not one hundred percent clear of concepts. 
8. Incompetence: The harsh reality of the CAT exam is that not everyone is cut out for it. Students may be hardworking and have all qualities except having the aptitude to crack a management level exam. 
9. Unpredictable Outcomes: Each year students face questions of different difficulty levels. One year it may be very easy, followed by an extremely difficult section to tackle the next year. Therefore, one is never prepared for what is to come on the question paper on D-day.
10. No Practice: Lastly, and most importantly, the main reason why aspirants fail CAT exam is because students just did not practise/study enough. Most aspirants lack a clear exam strategy, and proceed without any guidance or coaching, which might result in failure. Many a times they are not aware of changes in CAT Exam syllabus that result in poor results.

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What to Do If an Aspirant Has Failed CAT Exam?

If an aspirant has not succeeded in the CAT exam, they must not beat themselves up. There are other pathways which may turn out to be more lucrative for them. Below are some options to consider if an aspirant has failed the CAT exam.

• Consider Other Management Exams: Candidates can appear for similar exams to take admission in their dream B-schools like XAT, ATMA, GMAT, SNAP, NMAT and even state level exams like MAH-CET, KMAT, TANCET etc. 
• Focus on Weak Areas: If students are willing to retake CAT or appear for other management exams then they must focus on improving their weaknesses, be it VARC, LRDI or Quant. Sufficient practice can lead to better performance in the future. 
• Prepare a Strategy: As mentioned earlier, one of the main reasons why aspirants fail CAT exam is due to having no strategy. Therefore, it is crucial for aspirants to measure out an effective study plan to conquer the CAT exam in their next attempt. 
• Mock Tests: Toppers of CAT exams suggest aspirants to practise through mock tests as early as possible. It will help students become more confident, work on their time management skills and identify weaknesses. 
• Apply for a Job: Well it is not necessary that one has to retake or appear for another exam. Candidates can move on to the next stage by applying for a job, which will give them exposure to the industry and they will learn a lot from being on the job. If they feel up to it, they can pursue an executive MBA later. 

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Top 5 Tips to Pass CAT Exam

Candidates can further check some effective tips which have proven successful for students who took the CAT exam in the past. 

• Study Material: It is important for students to have access to the right study materials when it comes to the CAT exam. They must take advantage of the offline as well as online resources available for CAT. 
• Practice: Students must revise and practice through past year question papers, sample papers and take at least 2 mock tests per week to pass the CAT exam with high scores. 
• Exam Analysis: Toppers advise students to strategise by checking past year question papers, which will help them understand key topics, difficulty levels of sections and time they must spend answering each question. 
• Reading: Candidates must spend enough time reading books, editorials, newspapers, and magazines to work on their vocabulary and reading skills.
• Current Events: Students must be well acquainted with the latest happenings in the world of politics, environment, economics, finance, marketing and it will be beneficial for them during the interview rounds.

Must Read: How to prepare for CAT Personal Interview?