Hello!
A long one, this
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Federer
First of all i would like to thank you ppl for taking time despite the hectic schedule you ppl have there, also its good that this has been started a bit early this time 
My problem is rather a unique one, My strongest area is supposed to be Quant, and its because of this i plunged into CAT , I was extremely good at Math all through my schooling/college, Verbal was my weakness and i wasnt exceptional in DI either, didnt prepare for CAT 2008 , and got 99.3 in DI , 97 in VA only 47 in Quant , though i was shocked at this, didnt bother much as i gave less time to Quant.
But this time the problem has become more serious, I ve been consistently getting between 97-99 and a couple of 99+, but I ve rarely cleared Quant cutoff(unless the Quant section is easy) , I ve cleared DI and VA cutoff all but once, and i am scoring decent enough to clear IIM cutoffs.
To blame it on lack of preparation wouldnt be correct as watever little prep I ve done till now is in Quant only.
Coming to my strategy, i give the maximum time to Quant ( 60- 70 minutes), and the rest between DI and VA, yet score above 90-95 in these 2 sections despite giving them less time
I would be thankful if u can tell what is going wrong with me and suggest a good strategy  |
There are 2 ways to look at this:
The isolated section approach:
In this, you look at a section in isolation and try to see what is going wrong. Paper analysis is of paramount importance here.
Rudraksh has taken care of this bit.
The overall approach:
CAT is a 2.5 hour test which tests more than anything, on-the-feet thinking. Do you have a tested and tweaked test-taking strategy? Have you tried different variations to see what do you do best when? I'll explain with a personal example.
I used to really mess up my QA section for a long time, although even I knew that I was not bad at it. I used to start off with QA because I wanted to do it when I was fresh. What was happening, however, was that my brain took around 10-15 mins to warm up, during which I could not think fast. If I started with QA, these first 15 mins were almost useless, and I ended up solving nothing and feeling enormous stress just 15 mins into the test due to the lack of output.
What I tried out - and worked wonders - was to give my brain some time to warm up, by doing VA for 15 mins, then switching to QA for an hour, and then going back to VA for 15 mins. Sounds complicated, but worked like a dream for me.
If your QA is fundamentally strong, try different strategies. Do it first, do it in the middle, do it in the end. Split it up, do whatever you want. Mocks are for you to experiment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikhilarora
Hii Harshad da and all mentors from iim k...I have a question regarding the section data interpretation...
my strong and weak areas are qa and va/rc...so far oa mock scores have been in the range 95-98 %tile and there has been a dip in the scores...currently i do qa first,give 50-55 mins to it and try to max,then di,give 45-50 mins to it and the rest to va/rc...the problem i am facing is that i am not being able to adjust to the online format of the data interpretation section...i do a lot of calculations(lots of paperwork) and di is particularly my weak sections...in the online format,drawing the necessary tables or accumulating the points from the sets have been difficult for me...intially i was reaching the cutoffs in di but in the last 2 mocks(cl and time),the scores have hit rock bottom and i would miss the cutoffs...in the last time mock,i had difficulty getting the logics in place and for the sets i could,i ended up doing errors(donno how since paper is yet to come)...in terms of preparation,i have finished the last year aimcats(reviewing and analysing all the di caselets),last year had done the cl series also,this year started them...in cat'08 though di was the weakest but with confidence could clear the cutoff(or maybe go near it)...it might seem like a specific problem but there are a few(actually many) unlucky souls like me who are facing the same problem and are pressing the panic button...
so my question is
1. how do i go on about the online data interpretation section(specially how to go on selecting the sets since jumping across questions is difficult,in pp format i used to go through the di caselets once in the first 5 mins,haven't manage to do it here)???
2.what should be the ideal preparation regime be for the di section for the coming 3 months so that i clear the cutoffs by a decent margin and also for decent performance in the mocks???
3.how do i increase the familiarity and acclimatisation with the sets???also do i leave a set if a difficult question chips in or be stubborn and solve the set and then move on???
It would be very helpful if u can throw some light on it...and sorry to ask in a general way but i thought that would be more helpful for others too...
thanks and regards...
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1. Try doing the same 5 minute thing in this format. Might be more time-consuming, but it might be ok after some practice. Copy the selected tables / charts on rough papers, and solve like before. Try to get as much on paper as you can. Would be worth the time, I guess. Tough to really suggest anything else
2. There's very little you can do in DI other than practice. Go through as many sectional tests as you can, preferably in the online format.
3. Again, practice, About difficult questions, leave them. Most sets will typically have 1 very tough question which is worth leaving. Don't get egoistic about solving entire sets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mile_stone
Hi
A gr8 initiative.
I wud like to clarify about the cbt format of cat.It seems frm the tutorial tht we wont be able to jump to a prticular question if desired directly ,it is going to be a sequential journey.How to handle this scenario nd if possible how to get voices heard for the same as it seems tht most of the cat takers r uncomfortable with this part.
Also wat cud be a suitable date for taking cat this year.
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It is, admittedly, a bit tricky to keep going through all questions to reach a particular question, but there is little that can be done about it, especially since the IIMs have already decided to keep it this way. It is possible that things might change according to feedback, but for the moment, this is the way it is
Suitable date.... whatever is convenient for you... I doubt that knowing how it is from the first few slot candidates would make a real difference. In the end, its you against yourself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sachy24
Great initiative guys...
I don't have a strong section but I'm fairly comfortable with quants and DI.
Overall mock scores...
I'm consistently getting around 70% overall in mocks.
Whether there has been any dip or rise in these scores in the last month or so
There isn't a notable dip or rise in my mock scores
Your current paper strategy
qa-Di-va with time split of 45-45-45-15
I need help on
How to increase my overall attempts in the mocks.
Increasing attempts and marks in verbal (my verbal score is fluctuating like hell)
How to select easy sitters in the mock papers.
I'm not able to score good marks in the section which I'm attempting last. (I tried 2 strategies here qa-di-va and va-di-qa)
I'm studying hard but still not able to cross the 90% barrier in mocks...
PLZ HELP
P.S.I have the will to work hard but I need to follow a correct approach
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Increasing Overall attempts & Identifying sitters:
QA :
Strategy 1: Go through the entire paper in the first 10 mins and identify 3 categories of problems : must-attempt (sitters), should try, and leave alone. Do NOT solve the paper sequentially.
Strategy 2: Divide the QA section into 5-6 parts. Divide your time into 5-6 parts. Stick to alloted time limit for each sub-part. Usually works well because the easy and tough questions are well spread out, and this strategy ensures that you attempt the entire section systematically.
DI :
Go through the entire section in 5 mins without solving individual questions. Identify 2-3 caselets where you feel you can think of ways to proceed. Solve these first. In the remaining ones, see if there are sitters (usually atleast 1 per caselet) which you can crack without cracking the entire case.
VA :
There are 2 basic ways to approach VA.
1: High accuracy, low attempts: You try to achieve 80-90% accuracy, and attempt 50-60 percent of the paper. Tough to pull off, even for people with excellent english, but does work for some.
2: High attempts, low accuracy: 50-60% accuracy with 90-100% attempts in 30-35 mins. Basically blitzkrieging through the paper and selecting the first option that comes to mind. Worked like a charm for me in 2 consecutive years, got 99.09 in 07 with an accuracy of under 60%.
Experiment with the strategy. Why do you have to finish off a section at a go? Break it into 2-3 parts and keep switching. Elaborated in the reply to Federer's query.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Here I come
hi puyz
gr8 initiative from u guyz.....
i m comfortable with DI n verbal but my main concern is abt QA......i m unable to attempt even 10 questions in it therefore i m not able to do well in it
i want to clear QA as well so how should i go abt this?
plz reply
thanks in advance
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Work hard on the fundamentals. Do you have good material? Do you use non-conventional methods like solving through options?
Is your problem weak maths or an inability to perform well in the QA section due to unknown reasons (like Federer)? Analyze your sections and introspect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by abhi911anand
First of all thanks for such a wonderful initiative...just wanted to know from u junta who have been there done that kinda thing...what actually should we infer from our mocks or rather i should rephrase it as what should be our mocks scores ideally be like to have a realistic chances of getting a gud score(99.xx)....i know i am asking a pretty subjective qs but i want to remove that luck quotient and offcourse hope factor out of equation.....
this will help us realize a certain benchmark....
cheers  |
What good mock scores tell you is that you are already there in terms of ability, and give you the confidence required to do well on the D-day.
I would say that it is tough to predict it either way. There are so many brilliant people here who never cleared a single mock cut-off, but believed in themselves and landed up here. On the other hand, there are so many others who cracked all mocks but failed on d-day. Its all up to you, how you respond to pressure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mohit28sharma
hey apurv...thanx for this initiative..
1) I am facing a strategy-related problem..
however i am not sure whether its the speed of solving or the pressure of time crunch...I am pretty fine with VA and that is the 1st section that i attempt...but my DI and QA are equally weak and I alternately allot them the second place while attempting the mocks....the one which i solve the first is always the better off (that too by a cool margin). Please suggest a solution as it is taking a toll on my preparation..
2) A prep-related prob..
The second one is the Puzzle-based questions...I am scared of them in the 1st place and prefer solving the analysis-based DI sets only...but depending on the uncertainity in the weightage of these questions i need to prepare for them...please lend me a way out!!
Thanx in advance!
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1. Have you tried putting VA between QA and VA? I had a similar problem. QA and DI require a high degree of analytical thinking as opposed to VA which is more intuitive. Putting VA between the 2 kinda gives your brain a bit of rest. It worked really well for me. Experiment and try different strategies.
2. Practice practice practice
No other way dude....
Cheers,
Harshad
Help
...........however, i have started recovering from last mock and have re-entered 90 + range..
Linear Mode
