CSAT Strategy: K.N. Chandana

CSAT Strategy:

My GRE Score: 329/340

CAT: 96.88 Percentile

So, my practice from the past helped me pass it without any practice

I don’t remember ever doing any formula revision also

But 2023 paper was a nightmare to me too and I don’t expect to score above 80 in it, even if I was sure I’ll score above 66.66.

For 2024, Strategy I would take would be:

1. Solving last 5 year papers and focus on math question types instead of topic at the start

NOTE: (For humanities students, please try broadly starting at core basics from one CSAT book in market but keep questions of CSAT exam before you ; this is to ensure clarity and balance reading and practice)

2. I will note down questions I got wrong and I’ll search on that specific question type and practice more questions of that model ( Ex: 10 people doing work in 7 days type of question, I’ll search on method to solve and practice more)

Practice is Key in CSAT

3. I’ll focus on doing mocks of different coachings - at least 6 papers of different coachings available via Open Simulators or Free Materials and practice them

If you are scoring on border, do 10 mocks at least to become more confident

4. Similarly, make a note on question types that I’m consistently getting wrong - Make a small note on a formula or way to solve ( Need to revise this after Paper I on exam day and hence has to be only one A4 size sheet)

Idea is to score 70-80 and we must see if we are able to score that in mocks.

5. For English, solve comprehension of last 10 years and check with UPSC Key. You’ll understand gradually that you need to only focus on what is in paragraph and not your previous knowledge on it.

6. For reasoning and assertion, try to cross out options on first go. And then solve it. This is what I did for Reasoning of math questions this time. Practice is the key here too.

Big pointer on CSAT exam day is Confidence. Be confident. Even Engineering and MBA grads like me are finding the paper difficult and could have failed CSAT easily. So it is equally tough and as long as you practice with exam focus, you’ll make it!

Humanities according to me- play to your strength:

Do maths for first 30-35 minutes

Start English 27-29 questions after half hour mark and finish all of them in a go - your bulk marks should come from here and then get back to math in the last half hour, then your goal is to mark only if you have solved correctly

If you attempt 42 questions this way:

32 correct questions in this will give you a score of : 71.66

30 net correct in this will be : 65

So- remember the role of accuracy in CSAT