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All I wanted to Speak about CAT CAT & Related BSchools

Chandoo
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Aah.. Atlast, my marathon post has completed. Well, it is devided into several posts to fecilitate easy re...
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Page 34 of 35
 
Page 35 of 35
 
Chandoo
06:43 PM, 14 Apr '04
14 Apr '04
CAT 2003

May - August, 2003

I took one week break to adjust myself to the new workplace. At abt may 19 or so, i took one Diagnostic CAT and my scores were reasonable. But i knew that i need a systematic approach to crack it. So, I have planned the next 3.5 months for every day.
My work schedule at that time was something like, 7-8 journey, 8-6 office, 6-7 journey. So, I have 3-4 hrs in the night to slog. May be even less on somedays.
I have categorized the entire syllabus for CAT into 4 broad areas.

LR
DI/DS
QA
VA

Then, I have identified the important topics in these areas. First three have abt 15-20 topics in each area. Last one was vast. So, i gave more preference and time to it.

For each topic in first three areas i have alloted one/two days and my aim is to complete that topic from either material or X class textbooks.
During the office hours i used to solve problems posted on cat-2003 Y! Groups/PG. It was really helpful and used to motivate me alot.

MOCK CATS

The first one was on 29-jun-2003. AIMCAT 401. At that time my preparation was only half done and i have so many topics to complete. But, the experience from last year helpmed alot. I have managed to get an AIR of 60, even though my netscore was just above half of my rank. But this thing happens with TIME First mockcats. After this mock, i made it a point to record my mock performances in an Excel sheet. The format was something like, Sl. Number, Date and Mock #, Vocabulary, RC, Quant, DI DS Logic, Comments. I have recorded almost all mock performances in this sheet. I used to write in about unknown words, shortcuts, question numbers, silly mistakes i made and mistakes in my strategy in that sheet. Before taking another mock, i used to go through that sheet. This helped me in consciously avoiding the mistakes i have commited in earlier mocks and fine tuning my strategy.

Some guidelines for taking mocks:

. Stick to time. If you are taking a 2 hour test, take it for 2 hrs only. Be merciless, especially if you are taking them in your room/home. Dont let anything disturb you in those 2 hrs.
. Use a watch and make it a habit
. Have a strategy in mind before you start the test. Take 2-3 mins to analyse the paper and say to yourself something like 'VA is verbal heavy, there are 4 rcs, quant has some diagrams and sets of questions, DI is lengthy, some ds questions were there, LR is absent, let me start with va and then move to qa and at last di'. Once you know the order of sections, stick to timelimits with in the section. Never let your ego come into the picture in those 2 hrs. I used to feel like, 'hmm.. VA was tough, let me spend few mins more here' to avoid that, i have devised a new method. I used to give timelimits as 35 mins for each section. And at the last i used to visit the toughest/easisest section and make up for a good overall score.
. Most importantly realise that, you have to get most out of the test. dont be egoistic and solve a problem for 2-3 mins. If you get it in 1 min, its ok, beyond that, learn to leave problems. Try to read as many as possible and decide what to solve quickly. This knack for identifiying so called sitters comes from taking 30-40 mocks in a span of 3 months.
. After the paper, dont rush to key. Take a break, relax for sometime and start looking at the paper. Try to findout correct answers without key. Analyse your answers and see if there is any fast/better method to solve the problems/questions. Try to reason out, why you have not attempted that RC or DI Set and cross check whether that is really a tough one. Try to estimate your score before jumping to the key. This will help you in giving a better idea abt your accuracy. After the analysis is over, then verify the answers with key and if needed go through the detailed answers. For me, most of the times, my mistakes used to comeout in the analysis phase. Checking with key was something like validating my analysis.
. Always try to share your mock scores/analysis with others. This will give you a better overall picture and good understanding of your relative standing. Use PG/Y! groups for this purpose. For many ppl, these groups are for posting scores. But realise the fact that, they are not notice boards. Instead, try to analyse the paper and post that also. With that you are helping no one else but yourself.
. Always calculate accuracy/speed figures for individual sections and net. And try to maintain a stable figure of speed and acc. If there is an abrupt change in those figures, try to investigate and findout the reasons. Ideally 60% speed with 80% + accuracy will help you in getting good scores. But speed sometimes varies with easiness of the paper. Identifying the trends of speed/acc in aug/sept will help you to fine tune your strategy before the d-day. for me, i was a 75 speed 70 acc person earlier. after some hardwork, i was able to cut on my speed and improve my acc.

Some guidelines for Individual Sections:

QA

I cannot over-emphasize the need for identifying sitters in this section. Most of the times solving 15-20 questions out of a 50 question paper will give you a 90+ percentile ( sometimes, even 99+ ) For me, QA has always been a strength. So, i used to do 25+ questions in most mocks and needless to say used to get good percentiles too.
From what i have realised from my preparation,

. Everyone has some weak areas in quant. For me Probability/perm/combns was a weak area. I used to leave all questions in that.
. Most of the times, solving the questions from 1-50 will not work.
. It is always better to give a shot to sets of questions. Somethings like 'A and B started from P and Q with 20 and 30 kmph speed at 10 pm on a day......' and then some questions on that. if you know the concept you can crack all the questions in that.
. you must know 3 of the following topics to have an easy sail thru the section. Algebra/Number Theory/Mensuration/Geometry. See the last 3 years CAT papers and you will know what i am speaking.
. Before starting the first mock, try to complete as many fundametals as possible on QA topics. Use a notes to jot down the unknown formulea/shortcuts.
. While analysing the QA Section, try to findout the sitters/easy ones you have missed out during taking the mock. And try to reason out.
. have some thumb rules based on your strategy. For me, I always,
- read and try to attempt 1-2 liners no matter what
- read and try to attempt questions on menuration/geometry ( you can recognise them easily, coz, they have either numbers or figures in them )
- read and try to attempt questions on logs/algebra ( same funda again )
- start from somewhere in the middle of the section. never go from 1-50. It is always page by page.
- read and try to attempt sets of questions ( especially those on if a+b = a*b^2 or on graphs or on functions )
. Most importantly never compare. Yes, If you QA is not your strength, dont even bother about toppers. Just try to clear the cutoffs and that is all. Dont crib about ppl attempting 35 questions. Instead try to beat them in your strong points.

DI

i have only one line to say

PRACTISE

VA

Well, by now you have recognized the poor english in my posts. So, I am not good enough on commenting this. I never have been a topper in this area. But ppl say that 'Read alot, it helps'
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