We had a Great 1hr long counselling session, Great Job Counsellors!
We'll have more sessions soon, preferably the next wud be at 10PM IST now!!
Some of the key points!
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This will be my first attempt ........ are there any chances of cracking CAT in first attempt??
*ringsofsaturn: thr is no barrier that says a frst attempt person cant do it........*
*profootball25 adds - half the battle is lost - if u think - this being ur first attempt - u cant crack it. CAT 2006 was my first attempt at CAT and all other b school entrance exams .... the myth that CAT cant be cracked in the first attempt is WRONG . *
ashishyahoo: all possible chances -- 3 D's - Determination, dedication, devotion
*profootball25 adds - prep and hard work for CAT will take u most of teh way , but if u want to crack it - u need to win a mental battle . Prove it to urself that u can do it. Most of the ppl who appear for CAT more than once, do not lose out b coz of less preps. There are a lot of issues involved in CAT line Mentality , confidence , starategy etc.*
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m wil b takin CAT for the very first time n i m workin...
*ringsofsaturn : Me and pro both were working....we both put in our best efforts in spite of that....*
*profootball25 adds - Even if u working - and this is ur first attempt - it is possible to make it . U need to be sincere to ur work as well as to ur studies and cut down a bit on the tp
and a little sleep
*
ringsofsaturn : even in office u can utilize sm of ur time to devoted reading or improving vocab...that will help*
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i have already taken once and got 99.23 but screwed quants....how much time do u think i need to imp in quants and brush up other 2
ringsofsaturn : it may be the case that it was a one off day for u...how do u think in general ur quant is?
*profootball25 adds - did u analyse y did u lose out on QA ? is ur QA weak ? or less time given to it ?*
its good....i gave in 2005 with dirty 2 markers....one wrong 2 marker and quant percentile ell by 5%
ringsofsaturn : see thats the first step as Pro has said...Have u analyzed wat went wrng? The areas u think u are weak at or which are uncomfy fr u?*
profootball25 - 1 or 2 questions is all the diff between a < 90 and > 95 %ile .... getting perfect at a consistent 90 %ile + is the key , and tht is wot u can achieve by giving lots of Mocks and of course practising QQAD
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for all those with more than one attempt : dont u get bored after one try? how can u motivate urself to give it again?
ringsofsaturn: u jst have to get it in ur head that u have to give it...See smwhr its frustration which wrks...smwhr its peer pressure to succeed....smwhr its ur own determination...have u realized which one its gonna b fr u?*
reachmonil - Well... puys... with me the scenario is a little different. I am not completely into preps / do-or-die types. I have a good job in hand, a cuppla really good entreprneurial projects to look at, plus i used to teach for year and a half at IMS. So.. i am in constant touch with preps. Always. Its never like.. I have to START again! So... all I can tell everyone gunning for CAT again is... don't loose hope. Try like u neer did before. But, don't plan your entire year around CAT. Hane Plan B and Plan C ready, if, God forbid, you again falter in CAT!
reachmonil - For motivation, logging on to PG and seeing so many enthusiasts is an inspiration enough! Make a group of people who are at ur same level of preps, compete healthily in Mocks. It all happens here. But remember, all the ground work happens with a pencil and paper in hand. So, don't stay glued to PG at the stake of lopsy preps! :
*ringsofsaturn acc to me: personal motivation is btr than outside: Inspite of having a good salary I was frustrated with my job in the first month...Just knew i aint made for this type of job...think that in ur head and give ur best*
reachmonil- I feel all you guys are taking up MBA as an escape route from ur current job. Not coz u want to do this coz of x y z reasons.
*profootball25 takes Monil's point fwd - Absol correct - True Motivation to crack CAT ( +ve motivation ) will come when u realise y u want to do an MBA. Doing an MBA coz u dont like wot u do now is well a ( -ve reason ) , but a fair enough one.*
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i face lots of problems with vocab.........i jus can not remember words.... plz tell me a better technique
*profootball25 asks - are u doing flash cards ?*
ringsofsaturn : Read up....thats the key...get ur hands on each and every book u can find and read
nikhilkulk: CAT is no longer abt hi fundu vocab...... Its the usage that matters. Read, read and read
*profootball25 has a personal opinion - For Vocab - u do not need to read words .There are 6 months left for CAT . read . Read anything . The problem in CAT is comfort with subjects . U can easliy understand a passage on Cricket , but u ll take time for a passage on Bio technology. read - 1 newspaper , business magzine . Also read some articles on technolgy and subjects like Finance and Marketing ... not high level .. any article in paper / magz. Comfort level with subjects will give u confidence in VA*
CATCALL .if u look at cat qs in recent yr, having fundoo vocab is not the key now..not that it doent help..but the contextual usage holds the key nowdays..so read, read more and try to understand the contextual usage of words
*ringsofsaturn : U can start with sm novels....interspersed with sm heavy reading like philosophy books*
profootball25 - do not fret over flash cards - knowing 5000 words cannot help u crack cat - U need Speed in reading . Comfort level with subject . Reasoning in VA can only come after u can grasp the topic .
profootball25 - If e books are a pain - utilise travelling time . 30 mins / 1 hr a day is good enough for a start . U can increase time later
kgthedon - in that case I will suggest to go up by practicing RCs. Take up some old MOCKs and go up reading RCs...the topics are varied and will surely help to increase the reading speed
CATCALL ..if u hv a good vocab its gonna help u in all spheres of life and not only entrance exams
*crazyfootballer would just like to add that try to read on diverse topics and in initial few months concentrate on understanding the passages and then later on you can build up on the speed*
*ringsofsaturn Personal opinion: Last yr in FMS(2005) thr were 3 exercises directly frm Barrons list...As it is....Thats why I did it.....*
*ringsofsaturn : exercise frm Antonyms and one frm synonyms and 1 frm Spellings*
crazyfootballer says as far as vocab is concerned what I suggest is that just read - whether from barron, newspapers, magazines etc but always make sure that all the new words you learnt in that day (may be 2 or 5 or 10 whatver) just keep on using them in your normal conversation for few days. This way that word will remain in your memory.
CATCALL ...i for one wud disagree here.....instead of mugging things, i wud still sugegst to understand the contextual usage of words..this will always help u
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how to improve concentration...i am reading things but my minds wanders here and there ...how did u managed to concentrate for 2!\2 hrs
*ringsofsaturn : try to do pprs at home. Tht will help u to keep ur concentration fr longer periods of time.....as many as u can*
profootball25 - concentration again stems from the fact - Y are u giving CAT ? If u have a reason other than ( i dont like my IT job ) U will focus a lot more on ur preps. Though if u r on the other side ( i hate my job ) tht shd be motivation enough . Concentration is something tht is diff in prepartion . try to solve some sums in between. Take all 3 sections in breaks rather than at 1 continuous sitting . If u bored with QA after 45 mins .. read a novel for some time . If bored with DI . solve Sudoku
*crazyfootballer : As i said earlier try to read on diverse topic. Understandably, you'll not able to concentrate initially as that subject of the passage may not interest you but with practice definitely there will be improvement*
CATCALL ..yes..dude concentration basically stems from doing things which ur intially not intersted in ...but persist with it and slowly and slowly u will feel that its building on
*ringsofsaturn :another suggestion...If u feel that u cant concentrate...try maximizing ur score in the initial part..so that god forbid u lose ur concentration in the paper...u dnt fall into a trap*
*ringsofsaturn U see a movie fr 3 hrs concentrating...coz u like it...the moment u start to enjoy gvng pprs...u will gv more than ur best
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*ringsofsaturn Motivation...practice....self belief in solving questions.......*
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if u are staying away from home how did u manage your time...
anarchy ... see, first of all, you have to get the home city concept out of your mind. Try to make friends who have similar interests and get together with them in the weekends (at least)
*ringsofsaturn ,,although i wrked away frm hm...i took up a pg with a friend.we both used to goad each other to do btr.....try finding sm1 with ur wavelength and prep each other fr inspiration* .
anarchy : and join up a mock series as soon as possible.. see the home city doesn't really have any role to play in your prep... Just that you are more familiar with it... so as long as your resolve is nice, me thinks you should not be facing any problems what so ever
CATCALL ....yeah me too wrking ina city which is not even close to home town...first of all get this home sickness thing outta ur mind..then form a grp of like minded ppl in the city where ur wrking and prepare together...i dont think there shud b ne probs in this
if you spend a lot of time while travelling better utilise that time towards ur prep
CATCALL ....and yes get a hang of this place man..make pg ur second home..u will get many like minded ppl to work and help u out with ur preps..
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how many hours of practice is enough after a long day in office???
CATCALL ....again practise holds the key here..moreover u need not solve each and every q of the cat paper...selecting the proper qs also plays a very important role here....see leave the ego thing aside...u might be tempted to solve every diff qs...but here ur goal is not to be an olympiad in maths but to get a good %ile
anarchy... me seriously thinks a regular time (anywhere from the range of 1-2 hrs) everyday is way better than slogging it out in the weekends!!!
crazyfootballer It depends from person to person. Whatever you are comforable with.
CATCALL ..couple of hrs everyday shud see u thru...
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I tend to get irritated while solving LRs sometimes ..happens with RCs as well at times . And I lose my concentration ..And just go on wating my time and this affects my time division and ultimately my percentile
ajithsmiles , the first thing you get to finalize is your strategy ... Do not change your strategy so often that you dont have one at all ...
anarchy .. see dude.. obviously you are good at reading the stuff you are interested in (eg: QA or some topics like cricket tec etc). What you have to start doing now is get used to reading stuff which irritates you (eg: maybe philosophy, herbology, history etc etc).. this way you will be better prepared for at least the RCs..
*profootball25 reminds ppl Mocks deke kuch nahi hota . Analysis is most imp . Where di u go wrong . Where can u improve. No point just giving tests , if u dont have time to analyse*
*anarchy seconds !!! analysis is VERY VERY imp for mock tests!*
ringsofsaturn completly agreeing to Revant and CC here....even if it takes 3 days to analyze that shud be done
crazyfootballer : Get yourself acquainted with various kinds of topics. This is the only way you can be comfortable with LRs and RCs
*CATCALL we all counsellors are unanimous that its the proper analysis of the test papers which matters the most in ur preps...get hold of as many as u can and then get going
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is reading speed really really very important??
crazyfootballer . Try to interpret the passages properly. Speed will automatically come with time and practice
anarchy . if you have accuracy and reading speed, then you are a goddess of CAT
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Help
. shied away from QA practice. QA is weak - too bad - we need to slog . Slog --> not By heat .. Slog --> practice. Each and Every type of question , section , paper. Loads of Mocks , each having diff kinds of questions.* 
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