[ravispeaks]

Hi Frnds,
As we know that AIMCATS have been started and time is ripe for getting into the groove. At this time we shud all look back on our previous attempts at CAT and decide what went horribly wrong and how are we all planning not to screw up again :neutral:.

So i think this will b an ideal place where guys who were successful in 2005 and who were not, Plz pour in your thoughts and tell us what went wrong and how r v learning from mistakes
As of me i Joined TIME classes in March 2005, did nothing much bcoz of the Work at office.
then came The Aim Cat season, i just went to tests and came back thats what i did. It was difficult for me to clear the cut offs let alone ace the MOCKS.

These are the weak links i identified:
1)Not Having Deadlines : really having deadlines helps alot
2)Time management : Having a cluttered order of things never helps, Find a way to unclutter your priorities. More wisely Take one thing at a time.
3)Having misconceptions: Having false beliefs about your strengths can be a huge hinderance. For eg i thought i was gud at Verbal, Until it dawned upon me and then it was too late...
4)Have regular checks about your progress.
5)Getting tense during mocks was one of the reason i never cleared my cutoffs. So dont think about cuoffs, rank when u r giving the paper. Just attempt the questions on hand.

Hope Moderators dont lock this thread. I think this can make a huge difference to people who can relate to my mistakes. If there is any thread of similar objectives pls let me know. I will post there

Cheers

Ravi

[ashishyahoo]

Neva concentrated enough for DI - neva attempted good amount of questions in DI in da mocks - result...DI bombed in CAT 2k5 for me..

Though what the guy above has mentioned are frank realities...the thing about assuming whats not ur strongest section as ur strongest can put a person in grave trouble...da best way is to analyze ur mocks properly...

I am on da way to do da same...

Ashish

[amanonArun]

Well nice thread to analyse our mistakes.
Based on my personal experience, it does help if we learn by our mistakes. This will be the third time i am taking CAT. I could see the improvements in the last CAT compared to my first one, as i addressed a few of my mistakes from the first time round.

One of my biggest mistake, the first time round was that i was always thinking about my percentile, cut-offs and ranks during mocks and also during the CAT. This affected my percentiles pretty much. In CAT2005, i just went over there and didn't even bother abt the final results during the exam. My aim was, "do ur best, don't worry abt the result. "

Well, One common mistakes in both the CATS i had given was DI. I never concentrated on it and used to give it just about half an hour. Learnt the mistake by seeing my percentile scores in DI compared to other sections. If i had done properly in that, may be i would have got more calls than the 2 which i got and may be i would not have to prepare for my third CAT :(

-Arun

[Abhishek Jha]

hi all,

Guessing in a difficult paper can be catastrophe. Tasted this in last year's CAT. Further, try to take tests in all kind of environmental conditions.

The excruciating sound of motor pump accompanied with cacophany of crows for one hour at Presidency College,kolkata was too much for me. Concentration ki batti laga di. Guys, try to take home tests in adverse conditions, get out of the comfort zone.

chalo bye,
abhishek

[ravispeaks]

Originally Posted by Abhishek Jha

hi all,

Guessing in a difficult paper can be catastrophe. ...............
Guys, try to take home tests in adverse conditions, get out of the comfort zone.

chalo bye,
abhishek

Yeah Abhshek trying mocks in different circumstances can help alot....try taking one in middle of a wedding ....

Neglecting DI seems to be the bane of all evils....I can also relate to it ....Have simply neglected this very important section.
Guys who are good at DI can tell us what they do different that clicks...
Frankly speaking DI is quite intimidating for me....Seeing those huge graphs and numbers ....So the best way to conquer the fear seems to be to face it right now before its too late...

Its gud to see some responses, Guys plz pose ur thoughts abt what mistakes u made and how u r takling them ....

ciao

[SureThisTime]

Hi ravi..
good therad this one.
As for as I am concerned, I started my prep too late (in the month of Aug). When it was on a roll,there was a big break (personal one). I couldn't go as for my plan. I kept too much work towards the end. It was not done bcoz of the break.
Therefore, its always better to start the prep as early as possible.
Next, never analysed the mistakes done in the Mock tests.

There wasn't much improvement in the marks. As a result, confidence levels gone ddown.

Came back strongly towards the end, scoring 98 percentile+ in the last 3 mocks. But, couldn't perform on that day. Ended up with jus 83 percentile.

Now, awaiting for IMT result.

The big changes that I am looking for this year are: to unlearn bad practises, take heart from failures, build confidence and never repeat the mistakes.

[ajithprasadb]

I was performing badly in sentence correction in Mocks. As I didnt have the time to go through those again , I decided to skip it. In addition to that , I noticed that number sentence correction / grammar related questions had come down in cat 2k4. Hoped that trend will continue..Alas..D-day spoiled my expectations with 4 two-markers in sentence correction..needless to say, got just one correct.. And verbal bombed with just 88.xx percentile.

The trend in DI is towards more application oriented questions which require much more skill than plain graph reading. Will have to prepare for that too.

Only saving grace for me was quant with 98.22 %ile. ( missed some of the sitters though )

Ajith

[BUGS BUNNY]

Hi guyz,
I think you should continue on this thread
http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/cat-an...ght=things+CAT (Things You Should Never Do In Cat 2006)

This thread is much more informative cos you can read the experiences of CAT veterans

-
Bugs

[Oxymoron]

Please continue in the thread ferretted out by BUGS BUNNY...

thanks d00d..