[Neo2000]

After the stupendous(?) success(?) of my last article I got enough requests (ok, only 2!) to seriously consider writing this one. After all, if there's one half of the CAT population only studying for the CAT, and I got their approval , only makes sense for me to go after the other half i.e. working people's approval na? So, continuing with the trend of writing from my personal experience(and thus boring you), let's get down to some gyaan giving.


The working dude(or dudette) can be easily classified into 2 categories—he(or she) that does and he(or she) that doesn't. Those of you who don't,STOP! Proceed to read my other article. Or anything else you might find interesting. If the best you do at office is generate hot coffee from the heat of your chair, you are better off reading the Science magazine. Or some novel. Or some self help book. And yeah, get paid for it too! Oohhh the joys of being a bench warmer :-)
(Psst-- You do realise that your evaluation report aint gonna be very flattering but if you've got an IIM call to flaunt who cares right?)



In the Beginning:
Right, Working junta—the people who work ungodly hours everyday and(shudder!) the weekends too. Did ye know that atleast 1 half of the CAT junta has no other work in the world right now but study full time for CAT?? Which means that you have no other option but work your b-o-t-Tom off if you want to make it. Which means No Whining, No Cribbing , No Moaning , No Slacking(ok maybe a little of the first 3 but a strict No No to the last one). Period.
First things first. You start NOW! Not in June or May or even April but NOW!! Given the long hours you work, you don't want to reach THE Disaster Situation(hereafter ominously referred to as D.S.)--You are trying to ace the Mocks ,all the while thinking "If only I'd finished/studied these topics(better)"


Exercise in Analysis. Do a SWOT analysis on yourself. What are you good at? So-so at? Weak at? You cannot afford to go to the test centres without being strong in 2 sections and good in the third! When are your best study hours? Early morning or late night? Do you study best in groups or alone?


Read this PsychoD's article


Once you've read that, combined with the SWOT analysis above and Munira's article even more above, you are ready to start. You now have a fairly good idea of the important topics( Whaddya mean you dont? Read the articles again then) Munira has also given you an excellent timetable. Try it.


In your case, a time table is essential otherwise you reach D.S. quite comfortably. You have to keep track of topics covered, topics pending and time remaining. Don't even think about "catching up on the weekend" That's a temporary solution to your conscience (I am assuming you have one) but will still lead you quite happily to D. S.
Create a buffer period in your timetable. There will be weeks when you will get absolutely no work done/the quality of your work will be circumspect/you will fall sick. Make allowances for all these and more. Ideally you should have 3 time-tables. Munira's is the long term one. Create a monthly(medium-term)time-table wherein you hope(hope is eternal isn't it?) to finish X amt of work and a weekly(short-term) time-table--topics to be covered during the week(yeah right.) Even as I typed the above statements, I realised creating 3 time-tables might sound like a lot of work. But it really isn’t. Just look at last year's "Calling all CAT-2005 Junta" thread and work off it. Or even the “Calling all Cat-2006 Junta”

The Middle Ages:
While it may not be possible for you to devote 2-3 hours everyday, you have to devote atleast 1-2 hrs . This is apart from whatever class you join(weekly/weekend). On days that you have been fortunate enough to get home at a decent hour,study Q. Even DI. On days where you've slogged like a donkey and are dead tired read the newspapers/editorials. For that so-so feeling days, try a hot water bath. Then decide if you are tired or fresh enough to try Q/DI. Whatever happens you have to get atleast 2.5hrs of Q ,1.5 hrs of DI and the rest to VA.
Me, I was good in VA and Q and weak in DI. So I'd study my VA/Q during the weekdays and squeeze in a few sets of DI everyday. I used to be home by about 9 or so. Dinner and a hot bath and I was ready for some serious work by 10:30. Study till 11:30/12. Sleep. Wake up at 5:30/6 do DI till 7.Weekends were off for me so this was my consolidation period where I'd go over my week's work and note mistakes/weak areas/catch up on pending work.


Get friends to e-mail you e-material. Find some yourself and mail it to your office id. That way during a slack hour, you can atleast get some work done. Join 1 of those groups that mail material every other day. Atleast there you'll have someone to clear your doubts and keep you on track. PG once mentioned about doing something along those line. Pray that he starts this year itself.


There used to be an old joke that did the rounds(I haven't seen it in a while so I guess it's retired now) which listed the reasons why you were an IT professional or worked in an MNC(Apply 1 that fits you). One of the reasons was "You secretly prepare for the CAT only to find your PL sitting behind you in the hall" . Funny eh? It won't be as funny though when your PL walks off with the IIM call. He'll be jobless most of the time. You won't. So look around. Find out who else is preparing for the CAT. Look for familiar faces at the Mock Test Centres. You should form a study/support group with these people. They are the ones who will be helping you during working hours, who cover for you, who give you e-material they've sourced from places, who talk you out of jumping off the office floor( and then shove their 100percentiles in your face. It always happens—trust me).


Every once in a while, you will get a day off. Don't spend all day studying. Perhaps a coupla hours in the morning that's it(Factored this into your buffer period?). Spend time with family/friends. Catch a movie. Recharge your batteries. It is important to enjoy the whole CAT prep experience. You never know, you may not get to do it again next year :-)


p.s The Dark Ages or the period before CAT that is filled with Mocks,FLTs,Sectional Tests et al is dealt with in a future article.

---------------
Added by Mahip:
Please check these links to read all the articles which Neo has mentioned the first post.


Got through? Good. Now what?
By Arun 'Psychodementia' Jagannathan
Published: March 29, 2005
PaGaLGuY.com - The Everything of MBA, CAT 2007, GMAT, XAT, CAT 2008, SNAP, IIM - Got through? Good. Now what? - Admission Tests

The Below Average Student's Guide to Cracking the CAT
By Neo2000
Published: December 10, 2005
PaGaLGuY.com - The Everything of MBA, CAT 2007, GMAT, XAT, CAT 2008, SNAP, IIM - The Below Average Student's Guide to Cracking the CAT - Admission Tests


Confessions of a serial almost-100 percentiler
By Munira Lokhandwala
Published: February 12, 2006
PaGaLGuY.com - The Everything of MBA, CAT 2007, GMAT, XAT, CAT 2008, SNAP, IIM - Confessions of a serial almost-100 percentiler - Admission Tests

Read for Speed - Munira Lokhandwala Unleashed!
By Munira Lokhandwala
Published: March 7, 2006
PaGaLGuY.com - The Everything of MBA, CAT 2007, GMAT, XAT, CAT 2008, SNAP, IIM - Read for Speed - Munira Lokhandwala Unleashed! - Admission Tests

Where do you stand in your CAT preparation?
By Munira Lokhandwala
Published: July 6, 2006
PaGaLGuY.com - The Everything of MBA, CAT 2007, GMAT, XAT, CAT 2008, SNAP, IIM - Where do you stand in your CAT preparation? - Admission Tests

[ameriprise]

Hi all,

This is suppose to be my first post. Recently registered on to this site and found this quite helpful.

I am a software engineer by profession and working in Bangalore. I have recently joined a coaching institute for CAT 2006. I am quite determined to make it in this year and hence looking for someone to guide me, to schedule my routine for preparation.

What I am looking for is an answer from someone who has managed to get into IIM's/B-School along with his work going side by side. I am able to take near about 3 hours everyday out of my work for preparation. Listed is the question that i am seeking answer for :

1) Out of 7 days in a week, I know giving importance to all modules equally is important. How should I manage to do this. Right now, everything that I am studying is jumbled up.How can I effectively put in my 3hrs per day of work to justice for all modules like Quant, Vocab, LR/DI and general stuff. Please provide me with a possible schedule that I can follow throughout dividing my time for all modules/week.It would be of great help to me and also for those who are facing the same problem all around the place.

Thanks n GodSpeed,
Ameriprise.

[mice]

hi....


i cant advice u much on this...
but ithink most imp factor is to reralize ur strength n ur weakness, this shud be base of ur overall preparation. u can go through Munira's article confessions of a serial almost 100 percentiler, it wud giv u an idea of how to develop ur schedule.
brushin up ur basics n fundamentals is also very imp.

after decidin on all this, one can go ahead.. try dis, i tried kind of successful as well...
best of luc to u n me as well

tk care
bbyeee

[abhaychem]

hi,

i m too working & aimming at cat 2006. i work for 12 hr .but some what manage it in way follows

1> take less sleep alternate days 6/4hr u get 2*6=12hrs
2> read while traveling pre of RC
3> while break in office try to remeber vedic maths tips

these r few ......

abhay

[svraman]

Shouldnt this thread be
"The Working Dude/Dudess's Guide To Preparing for CAT!'

Dudette middle ka lagta hai ;-)

[andthentherewas1more]

Originally Posted by Neo2000

The working dude(or dudette) can be easily classified into 2 categories—he(or she) that does and he(or she) that doesn't. Those of you who don't,STOP! Proceed to read my other article. Or anything else you might find interesting. If the best you do at office is generate hot coffee from the heat of your chair, you are better off reading the Science magazine. Or some novel. Or some self help book. And yeah, get paid for it too! Oohhh the joys of being a bench warmer :-)
(Psst-- You do realise that your evaluation report aint gonna be very flattering but if you've got an IIM call to flaunt who cares right?)

@ neo
Good article and loads of great gyaan but this part was totally uncalled for .

@all
I find that motivating oneself to actually prepare is the major problem while working so once that is done you can follow the advice given by some really fundoo junta here.

[anupamd]

Originally Posted by ameriprise

Hi all,

This is suppose to be my first post. Recently registered on to this site and found this quite helpful.

I am a software engineer by profession and working in Bangalore. I have recently joined a coaching institute for CAT 2006. I am quite determined to make it in this year and hence looking for someone to guide me, to schedule my routine for preparation.

What I am looking for is an answer from someone who has managed to get into IIM's/B-School along with his work going side by side. I am able to take near about 3 hours everyday out of my work for preparation. Listed is the question that i am seeking answer for :

1) Out of 7 days in a week, I know giving importance to all modules equally is important. How should I manage to do this. Right now, everything that I am studying is jumbled up.How can I effectively put in my 3hrs per day of work to justice for all modules like Quant, Vocab, LR/DI and general stuff. Please provide me with a possible schedule that I can follow throughout dividing my time for all modules/week.It would be of great help to me and also for those who are facing the same problem all around the place.

Thanks n GodSpeed,
Ameriprise.

hi Ameriprise ,

I got 97.8%ile in CAT '05 and have converted NITIE. Here is what i followed and really found very helpful .

Divide ur coverage into area specific like following:

1) RC
2) VA
3) Maths
4) DI
5) DS & LR

Now you have 5 working days a week :

make pairs for the 5 areas (one pair to be covered each day) listed above so that each area will appear 2 times a week....
eg: MONDAY --- Maths & RC ::: TUES --- VA & DI ::: WED --- RC & DS/LR ::: THUS ---Maths & VA etc.........

Now this will ensure that u will cover all areas atleast once in the week(incase of busy work schedules). This way u would only require 1.5 to 2.0 hrs everyday for 5 working days which is quite manageable. For the rest 1 hr you go thru the reading stuff like news papers etc.

On saturday cover the area which u feel u could not cover satisfactorily in the week.
Sunday would be for taking tests or continue with the work left over during the week.

Hope this helps.

[Reva Maheshwari]

This is a good idea to touch base with everything during the week!

Originally Posted by anupamd

hi Ameriprise ,

I got 97.8%ile in CAT '05 and have converted NITIE. Here is what i followed and really found very helpful .

Divide ur coverage into area specific like following:

1) RC
2) VA
3) Maths
4) DI
5) DS & LR

Now you have 5 working days a week :

make pairs for the 5 areas (one pair to be covered each day) listed above so that each area will appear 2 times a week....
eg: MONDAY --- Maths & RC ::: TUES --- VA & DI ::: WED --- RC & DS/LR ::: THUS ---Maths & VA etc.........

Now this will ensure that u will cover all areas atleast once in the week(incase of busy work schedules). This way u would only require 1.5 to 2.0 hrs everyday for 5 working days which is quite manageable. For the rest 1 hr you go thru the reading stuff like news papers etc.

On saturday cover the area which u feel u could not cover satisfactorily in the week.
Sunday would be for taking tests or continue with the work left over during the week.

Hope this helps.

[explore.ashish]

Originally Posted by ameriprise

Hi all,

This is suppose to be my first post. Recently registered on to this site and found this quite helpful.

I am a software engineer by profession and working in Bangalore. I have recently joined a coaching institute for CAT 2006. I am quite determined to make it in this year and hence looking for someone to guide me, to schedule my routine for preparation.

What I am looking for is an answer from someone who has managed to get into IIM's/B-School along with his work going side by side. I am able to take near about 3 hours everyday out of my work for preparation. Listed is the question that i am seeking answer for :

1) Out of 7 days in a week, I know giving importance to all modules equally is important. How should I manage to do this. Right now, everything that I am studying is jumbled up.How can I effectively put in my 3hrs per day of work to justice for all modules like Quant, Vocab, LR/DI and general stuff. Please provide me with a possible schedule that I can follow throughout dividing my time for all modules/week.It would be of great help to me and also for those who are facing the same problem all around the place.

Thanks n GodSpeed,
Ameriprise.

Hmm... then you are looking for an answer from me. Well I was or rather still am working with Godfrey phillips India ltd...as Asst. Manager Sales (5 months) been working for over two years now. Had 99.14 in CAT 2k5 and CLIK calls. Joining K.

Now your answer. there are a few riders here. Where are you right now in terms of preparation. Have you done an analysis or taken CAT earlier.

Now as for your preparation plan...I think 3 hrs is more then enough for CAT over a period of say 4 months. You have about six! I think you should start with analyzing your strength / weekness areas. For example I realized that it was proving very hard for me to cope up with higher maths. My target was to clear cutoffs in the maths setion...I decided to forego the entire module and it worked for me. Also I knew RC was giving me trouble so i set myself a target of two months to raise my accuracy levels to 80+, One exercise everyday. I did that irrespective of time. Some passages took more time some less.

The point is I set myself a deadline untill which I was only working towards strengthening my base and experimenting. Only for an hour a day apart from my regular reading.

Thereafter the focus shifted to taking tests and analyzing. Two tests a week. Analysis. nad then working on whatever turned out to be a weekness. the problem is that each test is a different identity. So in one you get 100 % accuracy in say DS and in the next 30%. You would thus need to understand what you real weekness is...i.e. identify a trend.

And remember one thing. Its the D-day which matters. So dont be discouraged by the MockCAT results. I had an average of 95 %ile in MockCAts last year but could score only 92.55 in the CAT. This year i had only one above 90 %ile score. in 8 SimCATS. But the final results!!
Cheers!

[aspire]

Hi guys ,

Found this thread too , on the same topic too...Pls check out here also or pls requests the mods if any to merge these threads


http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-an...preparing.html (Working for 12-14 hours and preparing for MBA)


regards

shailesh