Please share your thoughts on QQAD

[OperationBLACKI]

Originally Posted by Aarav

Exactly my point - if some people don't want to learn hard way and scrap through fluke then I can't help. After all it's just 1 question in a day - if you solve that in 2 minutes - QQAD will be a FLOP (not that we are claiming great victories right now). At the same time we DON'T want you to struggle for 30 minutes daily in a useless excercise and reach nowhere.


With such a widespread criticism, it makes sense to reduce the level of QQAD problems - though I'm not convinced about its efficacy.

It has been a really wonderful discussion here since the last few days ...Never before have we tried to find out the efficacy of our efforts in such a mass manner . I totally agree with Aarav . Just couple of suggestions from my side

1) Get more smart questions in QQAD than difficult ones . As siddhesh_joglekar rightly pointed out we are not here to crack any olympiad (My aplologies to others who don't take it likewise ) All we want to develop is a clear,faster and smarter thinking . If we flood QQAD 2K8 with toughies , maybe few of us would learn some amazing concepts and probably apply them in some questions . But if we were to design QQAD 2K8 with smart concept oriented questions (not encessarily a toughie) then we would definitely make some more puys think out of the boxes . It would go a long way in boosting confidence amongst us .

QQAD has seen some brilliant questions being answered by some great mathematical brains ....When I saw QQAD for the first time I used to get intimidated by the questions and answers and always used to think why I can answer them ..A toughie would really break one's confident if one is not hardpressed to persevere and sweat it out .

Aarav all upto you man ......@ Puys ,Aarav would definitely be loaded with too much of work this season and by no ways can we afford to not continue this tradition of QQAD . Maybe some experienced guys can chip in with questions and send them to Aarav . This would reduce the pressure on Aarav to some extent . Just my thoughts .....Do chip in with suggestions ..

[Iota]

though a juvenile in the PG world, i have been a vivid follower of the QQAD thread. Even i keep the repository of the previous 2 yrs QQAD questions and go thru wenever i can. lets not forget QQAD was loved in the form it is. one question a day(QQAD level->packed with lots of concepts) -- able to solve it or not --> it is worth 10 question a day.
I am not very sure if ppl are too much prejudiced about the CAT replica question, but then again those questions are readily available in the web/market evrywhr. to me QQAD is a breather.
I personally believe that it always satisfies me that i have come across to a new concept every day. QQAD in the level it is - is a gem-- and will surely loose its shine if changed.
Ya thr r ppl whom i met said QQAD is too tough to solve it,but also thr were many who said-yaar QQAD rocks.
@Aarav & Vineet always wanted to thnk u guys for such wonderful initiative,
thank u and kudos to both of you for sharing such comprehensive quant concepts.

[utsavmamoria]

For the starters, Quant Question a Day was started in Feb 2006 and as the name suggests - was primarily 1 quant question a day, though we kept it dynamic for short durations with even 3 problems in a day. The 1st edition went on till November 1s week and in all 264 questions were delivered along with 2 sectional tests.

The 2nd edition of QQAD started in April 2007 - the format was same as that in 2006, but some additional sectional tests were also delivered. We ran a mini survey last year to know what users think about QQAD's problems and not surprisingly more than 60% rated the problems as tougher than CAT quant questions. 2% found QQAD as child's play.

I want to meet that 2% .

We would love to start QQAD's 3rd edition but this exercise should have good reasons and motivation.
(1) We have no concrete proof of the fact if QQAD did really help puys score more marks in quant CAT. A good number of QQADites made to IIMs in 2006 and have calls in 2007, but we never ran any statistical test for the Assertion : "Did QQAD help them score 99.XX?"

Aarav,

I have never been very good math student, but when i started my preps for CAT , I was really dissapointed by what the coaching classes material had to offer. I found the material simplistic.Most of the questions were based on tricks or a single concept, whereas what i felt that we needed questions which allowed us to use 2-3 concepts at a time. QQAD came to my rescue and it allowed me the much needed practise i was looking for. It allowed me to look at a problem differently and try different approaches (though I was wrong most of the times).

The biggest plus I have derived from QQAD is that I developed an interest in solving problems.It also encouraged me to participate in other quant discussion threads. This allowed me to improve immensly and gave me the much needed confidence to take on Quant.

(2) Do people see us as just another time-pass product or have faith in QQAD's methodology to teach and benefit aspirants?

And yes QQAD helped me. From a 88% in CAT 06 (Which was a hopelessly easy paper) to 97.xx in CAT 07, I think QQAD did the trick for me.My perception toward the quant section has changed. Initially i just looked to scrape through the cut-offs, now I look towards it as a section where I can score and boost my percentiles.To a good extent, I owe my MBA admit to QQAD.

(3) Is the existing format good enough to be carried forward or you want some changes in the teaching methods?

The level of the problems is tougher than CAT , which is what I believe required. We cant trust CAT, for it can throw anything at us.So better toil now than repent later.I feel that there is no need to bring down the level of QQAD.There is no fun in solving problems you know that you can always solve

Yenjaay

[Aarav]

Thanks everyone once again though I would still want to hear more
Each one of you has given gem of an input - and it would help us a lot in the future.

Our idea initially was to present QQAD as it has been till last 2 years but give more sectional tests that are exactly CAT like. But, based on your suggestions - we might deviate from the original - but without changing the DNA of QQAD i.e. something that you don't find in the market.

The issue of resources working for QQAD remains unsolved though. Hope to find a way out - and will inform you very soon on this

[shivendu]

Aarav,

QQAD is a gem of PG. Please start it for '08 batch as soon as possible.
Only one suggestion- please lower down the difficulty level a bit(make it more tricky) so that it will be more useful and fruitful to CAT junta, because QQAD in this format seems to be Olympiad's prep resource rather than CAT's prep resource.

[mejogi]

The questions placed on thread, CAT 2007: Quantitative question a day by Arav bhai, sometimes by Vineet bhai, were most of the time, unlike CAT, very time consuming, tougher and involved concepts from different sections. These questions put the juntas on their mettle to solve it, not only quickly, but also smartly. But more than this, the questions were very interesting and sometimes based on the real life situations, which are not easy to explain unless one sees the questions asked last year. Sometimes, initially, the question seems very obscure, even absurd but as it starts unfolding it shapes into very clear mental picture. Sometimes I wonder how these questions were shaped and made. Answers to this question are their careful and persistent effort and there is no limit to imagination. For this I take my hat off to both of them.
It was a nice experience solving questions together, trying to crack it as early as possible, forgetting the whole world, never giving up attitude, going through all the possibilities, conditions, observing different perspectives, and it is the learning point and getting confusions cleared. At last we reached the multiple solutions with crystal clear concept. I goofed-up many times while solving but was corrected by peers, so was done to others. Solving the questions together seemed like a team on mission and it is needless to mention the advantages of team work.
From my personal experience, I found that the questions asked in CAT were quite easier than that of asked here and these equip and facilitate us to sail smoothly this journey. With full confidence I can say, even a guy not preparing for any entrance examinations will be hooked up to those wonderful, magnetic questions. By the end of September, I found, all the mathematical concepts and formulae were at my fingers’ ends. I am sure most of the puys have fared well, at least in Quant section, in the CAT 2007 and all other management entrance examinations.
I enjoyed a lot to be part of that group last year, though joined lately. And I am sure this year will be no different.




rgds
Jogi

[kewl.bantee]

hi
i glanced over all ur pouring in comments and underlined a common point,every1 is urging to lower down the difficulty level.and moreover the weightage of QQAD wont be much if difficult sums are not posted as pointed out by arav.but its also factual until and unless QQAD brings help to tackle probs in CAT,its no useful just by maintaining its standard with very difficult sums.so wot i say arav , lets create a balance between all these.post 2 probs everyday, one must be above cat standard which wil keep us equipped for any pattern change in CAT and the other equivalent to CAT standard.wot i feel its easier to make an already good student better, but the kudos lies when u transform a som1 from avg to good/better level.there only one's effort really counts.
luv

[Aarav]

Originally Posted by kewl.bantee

hi
i glanced over all ur pouring in comments and underlined a common point,every1 is urging to lower down the difficulty level.and moreover the weightage of QQAD wont be much if difficult sums are not posted as pointed out by arav.but its also factual until and unless QQAD brings help to tackle probs in CAT,its no useful just by maintaining its standard with very difficult sums.so wot i say arav , lets create a balance between all these.post 2 probs everyday, one must be above cat standard which wil keep us equipped for any pattern change in CAT and the other equivalent to CAT standard.wot i feel its easier to make an already good student better, but the kudos lies when u transform a som1 from avg to good/better level.there only one's effort really counts.
luv

I loved this post - and had to think a lot before answering your statement in bold.

We will bring down QQAD's difficulty level. But let me be very clear on this - QQAD will not be for struggling stars in quant - if you are one such, enrol in the coaching institutes where they can have one to one session based on individual needs and charge you appropriately for that - I'm still not sure if this helps unless there is a serious urge on the part of an individual to learn and progress.

When we started QQAD we were very clear on one aspect and that holds today also - at the end of the day we want you to ponder and ponder hard - there should never come a time when your progress in learning quant ends. The moment that happens - you might be a champion in eyes of few but it does no good to you in terms of knowledge.

QQAD is a tool to make you score well in quant - how well and effectively one wants to use this is entirely your choice.

[convivial]

hi........
after reading all the posts in this thread and putting some thought over it wat i feel is that people r worried more on 99.xx %ile thing......i know end of the day it counts the most but i feel we shud focus in the long run..........variety and difficulty level is the essense of QQAD......if u reduce the difficulty level....u r takin out life from QQAD.........QQAD makes us THINK......thats the most beautiful thing abt QQAD......we shud not take QQAD just as set of practice ques dat u solve and the same type of ques u solve in CAT and get 99.xx%ile.....QQAD is experience in itself..........so i feel aarav bhai and co must carry on the good work....


cogito,ergo,sum.........

[kewl.bantee]

ty arav
i would mlove to tickle my cells really hard to solve a very tough sum on qqad.but what i posted in my last thread is wat i assimilated from a majority of posts to lower down the level.we must remember in cat we wont face any similar ques but it would matter how much we hav exercised our brain to acquire flexibility which enables us 2 solve a completely new prob in CAT.and i guess this is the main moto of QQAD and to tackle with sums under QQAD one must above avg in quant skills.