[sareet]

Hi...last year time was offering some discount on the basis of previous year CAT score(only above 90%ile). Don't remember the excat discount amount. For non TIME student it was Rs3700 odd and if you have scored above 90%le in previous CAT paper then it was RS 3100.

Don't remember the exact amount amount though...IMS doen't give any discount....

Originally Posted by diablorulez

can anyone tell me which test series offer discount on last year CAT score.n on how much score they give discounts

[vishal_9feb]

Originally Posted by sareet

Hi...last year time was offering some discount on the basis of previous year CAT score(only above 90%ile). Don't remember the excat discount amount. For non TIME student it was Rs3700 odd and if you have scored above 90%le in previous CAT paper then it was RS 3100.

Don't remember the exact amount amount though...IMS doen't give any discount....

I believe if u have 95% plus in last CAT, then TIME takes around 1500.
I am not too sure about discount amount but it is definitely substantial.

[sb29]

My 2 cents in the discussions...

Last year, my only source of preparations for CAT07 were Test Series and analysis sessions. I did not take any classroom coaching and it was my first and only attempt at CAT. I had taken IMS(full) and CL(half) test series.

I'd solved test series of almost all institutes. Even if I hadn't solved, I'd at least glanced through them. What I found is this:

TIME: Most people take this test series. So, it gives you a good national base. Also, TIME is very good if you are taking CAT for the 2nd time. I don't feel it is very good for first timers. TIME papers are very tough. TIME believes in a philosophy that if u attempt a tough paper, you will automatically do well in an easier paper (read CAT). This is a "maths olympiad" way of looking at things. But CAT is all about smart test taking and not hard test taking.

CL: They are a bit easier than TIME. But the drawback of CL is that they do not give proper national picture. Last yr the test taking junta were around 11000 on an average whereas for TIME n IMS they cross 25000 on an average. But their paper quality was good. I had taken CL test series.

IMS: These are the easiest of the lot when difficulty level is concerned. But the strength is that they provide easy but unpredictable papers. It takes all you strategizing skills to crack these papers. Very good for a first timer and good complement for a re-taker. I'd taken its full test series and also attended the National Acheivers' Workshop which was great.

What I feel is whichever test you take, the most important part is analysis. The day you take the test, you should analyze what were the mistakes you made and your thought process while making those mistakes. Also, for the questions you got correct, was there a better way to do things?

Many people bunk the analysis sessions conducted by the faculties which comes free with the series. But they were of utmost help.

Hope this helped.

[sandhurocking]

I totally agree with sb .... i found IMS very near to real cat... IMS though easy as compare to other but it was on d line with cat.... now thts wht we need...!!!! time ll give u better picture of ur percentile as most no of students take aimcat... but difficulty level is a bit high ... i took only test series with no class room coaching... n at times i left few ques of aimcat as their logic was out of reach....

my advice to everyone is tht do join IMS test series with aimcat/cl mock which ever u trust..... n as sb said analysis is very imp of mock .... tht wht i used to do....

best of luck to everyone...

cheers!!!!!

[sumedh]

hi puys....


My 2 cents on the issue......I took all three test series last year....and beleive me it was a huge mistake......i peaked at wrong time around september.....my mock scores touched great heights.....99.96 being best in an IMS simcat....my confidence or rather overconfidence touched a new high .It was a disaster waiting to happen.........i suffered burn out at the critical time when i shud have been on a high.....i had taken almost 40 mocks at centres and home combined.....Come D day i scored an average 98.99 percentile......with QA 99.43 VA 96.40 and DI 86.19...........obviously didnt get any IIM calls as Di was too low........Now reflecting on my prep last year let me list down my observations

1. It is not important HOW MANY tests you take but HOW WELL you take whatever tests you have taken.

2.Analysis is the most critical part of any test taking excercise.SO preferably take only 1 test a week in the last 2 months and 1 test in 2 weeks initially.

3.Take every mock test as a means to an end (read CAT) and not an end in itself.Dont be overjoyed at a good score and dont get dejected at a poor score.

4.Try experimenting for first 7-10 mocks....in the last 2 months stick to a fixed strategy and try to eliminate all possible problems you may face.

Now analysising the three test series i took...

TIME: Time conducted far many tests than required and got monotonous after a point of time with hardly any variations in format or type of questions.Also level was way to difficult at times.Time test series can be used as a good study material than as a test to be taken in 2.5 hours.One comes across many cool and difficult concepts in their papers.Being a Time test series student for 3 years came across few familiar questions many times.....was remebering a few answers as well....this was a great turn off..


IMS:this was the only test series which i took properly at the centres without bunking any.The way it was conducted at the centres was closet to CAT i feel.The paper are just the right difficulty level .They also spring a few suprises in every paper so the element of suprise is always there.However they went too far with the Simshock i felt.Overall i was most satisfied with this package.Dificulty level was very close to the actual cat 07 paper in all sections.

CL: this was a complete home package for me...didnt attend any at the centres...the DI was ridiculously difficult in all the mocks.It was so difficult that 9-10 used to be the cutoff in a 100 mark section.THis harmed me in my actual CAT.I had gotten into a mental block that solving 2-3 sets is sufficeint to clear the cutoffs.My speed suffered by solving ultra difficult Di sets of CL......In the actual CAT i ended up solving 1-2 sets less...though i had 100% accuracy.Clearly an xample of the dangers of solving super difficult papers.However VA of CL was good and i enjoyed it.DI and QA very really unnessecarily difficult.

So finally i wud like to say that try and take only 1 test series which suits you best and avoid getting into solving too many papers.analysis is the most important thing.Mnay a times i found myself not analysis papers properly just because a new mock was coming up in 2-3 days........Wishing everyne all the best

[sumitrungta]

Well since we are talking about test series papers and I happened to take a cpl of them (Time and IMS) i guess I can give my views here...

IMS : I took IMS cos I had joined der for the CAT classes but after taking them honestly speaking I found them of hardly any use. They are very easy and the actual CAT turned out to be very diff from IMS papers, atleast in terms of standards.
Taking IMS test series has probably only one advantage that it can instill some confidence in you but then that can be a fake confidence also because the papers arent that great.
So take IMS only if u happen to be studying there..

TIME : I joined specially for the test series and let me tell u it really helped because the papers were good (specially DI) and it always kept u going. With TIME I always knew that I had to work more and more hard for CAT and tats the best part of TIME, it keeps u going. Also given that they have a higher student base the percentiles are more better compared to odr institutes. TIME will prepare you for the worst so that CAT cant shock you and believe me it helps on the D day, as I had found out in CAT 2007.

I also had CL papers and they were also very good in standard but then CL will not give any kind of good precentiles cos it has a very small student base. But if u happen to have the papers u can go through them, it will help.

Final Word : No matter which test series u take up ultimately, one thing u must and I mean must do is analyse ur performance after every test and try to find any pattern in mistakes. Believe me I did this last year and I could see the results on the actual day cos I dint repeat the same mistakes. By mistakes here I mean any mistake be it judgemental or calculation or anything. Please do analyse your papers.

[rushivasani]

Here are my views:-

I would rate the three sections as Excellant, good, Average

TIME :- Quant(Excellant), VA (Good), DI (Excellant)
PT :- Quant(Good), VA (Excellan), DI (Good)
IMS :- Quant(Average), VA (Good), DI (Good)

CL ka, I dont have ny idea....

[phoenix19]

hey can someone tell me wether time ppl charge the old time full course students for the time test series again and also when is the next time aimcat?

[sandhurocking]

Originally Posted by phoenix19

hey can someone tell me wether time ppl charge the old time full course students for the time test series again ?

dude u hv to pay d test series amount but u ll get gud discount.... last yr 1500rs discount was given to d previous yr time student opting for test series....

best of luck

cheers!!!!

[cat.ka.maara]

Besides...the time website sucks...and dats quite irritatin...dats a bg negitive in time mock..