Sunday, January 18, 2009

Path to CAT/ACCA CBE EXAM success!

One of the very asked question of CAT/ACCA reign is HOW I SHOULD PREPARE FOR MY CAT or ACCA CBE EXAMS

Before we come to our success steps to CBE exams I like to clear some misconception

  • CBE exams are NOT a shortcut or an easy way out as compared to paper based exams
  • To WRITE NOTHING does not mean READ NOTHING! Majority of students consider as it is a computer based exam and they don't have to write anything then why should we read or remember anything as only keeping the concepts which they have gathered from in-class lectures will do all the tricks.
  • So many students think that in CBE it will be easier for them to manage time as they will not be writing anything. NO! CBE in itself is by no mean any provision to make "in-paper" time management easy.
  • And yes… some even give this lame reason that it will be easy to cheat in CBE. Come on guys grow up! How to pass CAT ACCA CBE exams tips to pass CAT ACCA computer based exams

Success Steps

Step 1: Follow your teacher!

Don't try to be over efficient, as it will be fatal and don't be inefficient even it will choke you in the end. A large number of students fail because they think that they will do more than teacher will be able to tell them and resultantly left in the middle of no where. So, follow! Teachers keep you in the right direction. Remember! Doing RIGHT is more important than doing MORE.

Step 2: Good students do their Homework!

Study guide is the only authentic source you have in text form that will give you refined knowledge about the syllabus. Go through them because this examiner while making the paper put this book in his mind and will chalk out the paper

Home assignments are critical, just remembering what you have learnt in the class is not enough. Unless you don't test your knowledge you will not be able to gauge yourself to know how good you are.

How good exam kits are? For practice and challenging yourself Exam kits are good. But doing just objective questions is NOT enough. Another aspect you MUST know; exam kits will do you good once or at max twice. If you think that you will gain anything from the same kit that you have done already two times than you are in the lands of fool as your mind will start remembering the loop holes in each question and thus you will not learning anything NEW instead you are getting good at memorizing the answers. Remember! You will get new ideas and knowledge only when you put yourself in new situations.

Do check the sources at the end for practice questions

Step 3: Treasure Hunt!

Study texts, exam kits and class assignments are such tools that will be available to all and almost all will get benefited in the same way as only one person will be putting the same ideas and knowledge in all of you. So, in what way you can be different? What makes you more capable? For this you have to delve deep, hey I am not talking about some Tomb Raider fantasies.

  • Read accounting magazines, like Student Accountant, the most aspiring source for me. What not you got in here: technical articles, problem solving, carrier dos and don'ts, technologies worth knowing about and on and on…
  • Just go through examiner's report and you will know what goes inside examiner's head while he sets paper and when he checks paper. Learn from others mistakes or lose marks!

Step 4: Curing the "Exam-o-phobia"

Learn, Practice and Manage. It's better if you write this as: Learn Practice, Practice, Practice, and Manage.

Just keep these three things at every point in your carrier especially in exams. In Step 1 and Step 2 you have the idea of learning and practicing respectively, now its time to manage things. What should be managed?

Manage what you have learned. How? Make revision notes

Manage your subjects. How? Allocate time to each subject that you are attempting on the basis of difficulty level or length of syllabus of each subject.

And at last manage your Exam. How? Yeah yeah… that same old "Do what you think is easy for you to do" But believe me this doesn't make any sense now. You should do justice to each question give your solid concentration to each question and if you reach an answer review it in your head cross question yourself to confirm even if it is as easy as 2 + 2.

The questions of CBE can be divided into 4 types of question:

  • Multiple choices, worth 1 or 2 marks
  • True / False, worth 2 marks
  • Multiple responses question, worth 2 marks; and
  • Number entry in which you will put in the value in the blank box that you will calculate yourself

Concentrate, concentrate again and again that what the question is all about whenever you read examiner's report he is found complaining about 2 things:

Students were unable to understand the question, Solution: Do more questions

Students lack the adequate knowledge, Solution: Read the text books cat acca online exams

Some tips for 3 days to D-Day!

  • Don't do extra stuff like new questions or assignments
  • Don't reach out for study texts, read your notes or key points
  • Sleep well, as sleeping less will further deteriorate your nerves and you may end up in sleep debt. AVOID IT ALL COST shortcuts to pass CAT ACCA CBE exams
  • If you got any confusion don't try to solve it yourself get to your teacher immediately!

Hope this article has helped you a bit. Best of luck!

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