HI GUYZ......this is a message from my friend vinay whose currently in iimk......got one call from iimk and converted it......this is what he has to say about cat.
"Common Admission Test , more popularly known as CAT, is the exam that the best B-Schools in India use to shortlist students for the MBA degree. Applying for CAT, automatically implies application to all the 6 IIMs. A lot of other B-Schools also use CAT as the entrance exam, but an explicit application is required. Most notable among them are SPJain , MDI , TAPMI and the list continues. All those schools have various criteria for short-listing a candidate. It is usually a combination of Academics, University of graduation, quantity of work-experience and the degree held. Most notable points here are that, stream of the graduation degree is not mentioned in the application as well as the relevance of work-experience. Obviously, these come into picture at the later stages of selection, but we shall restrict our scope to clearing the first round, which is CAT.
CAT is a test, usually held for a duration of 2 hours. The main purpose of the test is to test the proficiency of the candidate in various sections such as Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Mathematical Ability, Reasoning and Data Interpretation. CAT is characterized, most notably, by the lack of transparency that surrounds the exam. All the talk about CAT scores etc. is educated speculation and calculated guessing. It is known, for sure , that there is negative marking. But the extent of the same is not known. And a candidate who has made it to the interview doesn’t really know the exact extent to which his score has helped him get through. Another feature that distinguishes CAT from other competitive exams, is its unpredictability. One can almost be sure, that he is in or a surprise, when he takes up the exam.
Considering the above factors, it is very important to be prepared to expect anything and not to be shocked or startled just before the exam. Another common folly is getting oneself psyched to take up CAT. People keep thinking so much about it that, it actually makes them so nervous during the exam that their performance comes down by about 20 % than what they are capable of. One may score a great deal in the practice tests and achieve wonders, but its performing in CAT that matters. All that has to be kept in mind is that, it is the duty of the student to perform well in the test, and the institute decides its own shortlist depending on its requirements. It always helps to be benchmarking oneself regularly and it does motivate a lot.
Considering the High level view of CAT. It has about 150-200 questions to be answered in 2 hours. These are divided into sections usually 3 or 4 of them in all. Ideally, these sections can be very discreet ones with one section on verbal ability and reading comprehension , one on mathematical ability and other on Data interpretation. Reasoning is usually in either or both of the latter two sections. But, it is possible that all the questions maybe interspersed in any section. We shall assume a 3 section paper from now on. So, the strategy obviously varies accordingly if it is a 4 section one.
To start with, one needs to assess the amount of time available to them for preparation. The test’s held on the second Saturday of December. The types of preparations can be categorized into :-
1) Long term Preparation (> 6 months)
2) Medium term Preparation ( about 3 months)
3) Short term Preparation ( About a month)
1) Long Term Preparation :- Theoretically this is the ideal way to prepare. 6 months is quite a long time to brush up on basics, improve mathematical speed and techniques . Basically, it provides an ideal launch-pad before going for the killer punch. However well one may prepare, It does help to join a good institute for CAT coaching for a couple of reasons. The material is provided and class room coaching does help if one can build up on it. The second and most important reason is a person can assess himself with respect to others. Obviously each institute has its plus points, so the choice is left to individual’s discretion. Last, but not the least, time bound tests ensure that one is fairly well aware of the situation.
The Person who starts preparing may start by taking a diagnostic test for
Starting point. Then he can get familiar with the various questions that can appear in CAT. This could be for about 10 days. He needs to also assess the average time he takes to attempt one question in various sections under conditions such as
1) He is fully sure that he knows the question and the way to compute the answer.
2) He knows the question and the method but is not very sure becoz it’s the first time he is encountering such a question.
3) The question seems familiar and he thinks he knows it.
4) Back Tracking the Question from various answer choices ( Method of elimination).
5) Doesn’t really know but is forced to attempt( this shouldn’t happen ideally).
The Data one can get with this is really helpful because when the full length tests start, it becomes very easy to determine the choice of questions to attempt. After this, he can get down to learning mathematical concepts and word-lists. During the learning, its important to be kept in mind that the concepts need to be very clear. Once, that’s done, Speed of solving should be improved. The Speed Training exercises should come in handy.
By the end of 3 months, the person would have reached an adequate level of proficiency in each of the topics. By taking tests at regular intervals, the improvement can be gauged. For the next couple of months, he can start with one test on a Sunday. The test can be evaluated and by then, his strong and weak sections can be identified. He should be able to build up on his strengths and try to work-around his weak areas. Strategy is a very important thing in CAT. It is this that separates the students mostly. A not so well prepared candidate with a good test strategy has more chances of getting a better score than a person who is very well prepared, but totally lacking in strategy. For example, a person better in mathematics than most others is foolish if he attempts a lot of questions in mathematics than the other two sections. The Idea is to maximize the score after having scored atleast , a minimum in all the sections. Since the CAT is unpredictable by nature, its best to divide the allotted time ie 2 hours by the number of sections + 1. So for a 3 section CAT, u have 4 time slots of 30 minutes each. Attempt the max possible in all the 3 sections in 1.5 hours. After that , one would have a clear idea of which section he thinks he can maximize the score in. So that section needs to be cleared.
The last one month is all about test taking. Ideally one test everyday, out of which atleast one taken in simulated class-room conditions. It also makes a lot of sense to exchange question papers of various institutes at this time. The Tests should be reviewed and one needs to find the deviation from the expected score and the reason for the same. This way, the candidate is really well groomed for CAT. By the first of December, his performance must have reached a maxima. Its all about maintaining the performance level from then on.
2) Medium term Preparation ( about 3 months)
If the first one is the ideal one, this is the most practical alternative. Not too many ppl can take 6 months out consistently for 6 months. In here, the first month needs to be set for concepts. Word list is left to the person depending on the time he can allocate. Second month should be one test a week plus speed exercises plus building up on concepts. In the third month its all about test taking again.
3) Short Term Preparation ( about 1 month)
This method is definitely a chance. So, first of all , there should be nothing to lose if the person doesn’t get thru. One week of concepts brushing up plus speed trainers with a couple of tests. The idea of going thru word list should be thrown out of the window. It should be ensured that whatever the person knows, he must know it well and just take a chance by leaving the ones he is not too comfortable. Speed in verbal and Data interpretation can be achieved quite easily. Mathematics, unless the person is very confident of his ability, should be aimed to clear. Maybe attempt about 15 questions in 30 minutes and get most of it right. By second week, Test taking should start. It can be observed that the marks in tests improve quite a bit with more tests taken. So, its all about working it out and reviewing it and learning as much as one can from the review.
Coming back, Accuracy is a very important part in CAT. In a section like verbal, normally not too much emphasis is paid to accuracy because the time taken to attempt one question is lesser than say, in mathematics and it’s a lot tougher to be sure of the correct answer. Reading Comprehension is all about practice. It takes a lot of time and at the same time, one could end up getting a lot of questions wrong. Mathematics, on the other hand takes time, but a question a person is sure about usually tends to be accurate. An exception to this is Data Sufficiency. Data interpretation is also about practice and concentration. Also solving one graph need not necessarily mean attempting all questions associated with it. If some question has too much of calculation involved, its advisable to skip it. Reasoning, especially Analytical and Logical are the easiest of the lot of questions and usually turns out to be accurate too. So, none of those questions should be missed out on.
That comes to the end of what I think is a good way to go about preparing for CAT. Any feedback is highly appreciated. And I wuld be willing to clarify if any doubts do creep up. I can be contacted at
vinneigh@yahoo.com Good Luck
~Vinay Subhash Chandra
hope u guyz picked up something from this.....
ciao
bingo
)" 
jus 51 days to go 
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how to deal with CAT preperation each day.. -
01-10-2005, 11:53 AM
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