Chandoo's account was amazing... inspired me to post my experiences too

All I wanted to speak about CAT

The Early Years

The first time I heard about CAT was in Class XII... when I thought MBA was for Commerce grads.

The second time was in first year of graduation. I was wondering what I should PG (postgraduate) in. I knew it had to be a communications/journalism related field. Looked up the MICA site & saw that they select thru CAT. At that time I thought... "Oh.. CAT's that super-tough test. Not worth slogging it out if I'm gonna apply to only one insti."

Over the next couple of years I met people who had actually taken the test, and it didn't really sound super tough. Still, the profile of the average CAT-taker appeared to be Techies-who-hate-coding or Engineers-who-wannado-something-else.

Summer of 2003... my decision was finally made. Thanks to a combo of friends in B-Schools, an old Math teacher from my schooldays & CNBC - corporate India suddenly appeared very glam. IMS & CL successfully sold CAT to me. I decided, management, or more specifically, communications management was my calling.


The Preps

So, I targetted MICA & signed up at IMS, Hyderabad in April-May 2003 for the classroom course. Also started with the customary worship of ET, BT, BW & CNBC India.

I took the prelim test at IMS & found I almost maxed the VA/RC section. Quant, I wasn't so good at. LR & DI were cool. Religiously attended the 6:30 am classes at IMS. Rushed back home. grabbed books and rushed to college in the opposite direction. I'd be solving Quant sheets during ImmunoGenetics lectures in college. I enjoyed every minute of the preps, because I liked Math.

Never "worked" on VA/RC. I don't believe in concepts of Reading Speed & stuff that IMS prescribes. Instinct helped a lot in this section.

For DI, I tried to learn the speed calculation techniques etc, but on Test Day, I don't think I used any of it.

So, CAT preps took up abt 1 or 2 hours a day from April-September. Most of it was for Quant. Solved every problem from BRMs & section tests. Dug out my CBSE math books & worked with those too.


The MockTests

I took tests at IMS & PRIME. Also solved all the TIME mocks at home. Invariable fell short of the cut-offs in Quant. I cleared all SIMCAT cutoffs only 3 times. Lowest rank was in 1800s, highest was 21 (IMS). Averaged between 50 to 400 otherwise.

I found the feedback sessions awfully frustrating. "Recognizing sitters" was something that I couldn't perfect. The take-home tests were decidedly easier... but somehow, I couldn't carry the form into the SIMs.

November 23rd & After

LeakCAT came and went. I felt I had done decently. But not close enough to the scores posted on PG.

Shut my books till Jan 1st. FMS was around the corner, so I restarted preps. Panicked a bit coz I had no material left to solve. SO I signed up for the CL take-home tests. Suddenly I had a deluge of papers to solve. Went at the rate of a-paper-a-day, till ReCAT. Got calls from FMS & NMIMS meanwhile.

Feb 15th

Felt decently prepared. Did the test. Came out feeling I had messed up DI... I should have attempted more. I was a nervous wreck till the online solutions came out. Then it hit me: DI was okay... it was Quant that I screwed up royally.

Still, I had hopes. But the minute I entered my CAT No. on the IIM-B GD/PI call page, they crashed. IIM-B was my dream-school for a while, but I guess Lady Luck listens only to your first wish

Final position in CAT: Overall a 99.38 %ile. 99.57 in VA/RC, 97.3 in DI. 77.7 in Quant.
Applied: IIMs, SPJain, MICA.
Calls: MICA

Interviews

In hindsight FMS was a sad story. They hated my profile... suspicious about the "BSc in Genetics" background. NMIMS was disgusting too.... last person in panel to be interview in a session where 90 people had GD/PI. Didn't have any hopes.

MICA was far far far better. Profile was appreciated, even respected. Qs were friendly. GD was dull, but still managed to make a point. A "feel-good" experience.

The Wait

Was shocked to find that I was waitlisted at MICA. An excruciating 20-day wait, & I was in.

So, The pre-MBA experience:

It had highs and lows... but it was a wonderful 10 months. Met a lot of people, made some wonderful friends (at IMS, at PG, at interviews), learnt a LOT. There were some sacrifices made too... Had to give up freelance assignments which popped up during cruial prep days; missed out on a lot of college activities, quizzes etc; also went through a break-up.

But those were ten months of my life that I'll always treasure. Getting admission ensured a sweeter end to the pre-MBA process. Because i'm not sure whether I'd have had the will to go through it all again.


Lessons learnt:
I don't have an MBA-call-getter profile: "Life Science grad from Hyderabad" (as opposed to "Engineer" or "Grad-from-swanky-Delhi-college") and no full-time work-ex. Still, no regrets... I can't complain coz I ended up getting to what I initially aimed for - MICA.

All the best to all MBA aspirants 2004. PG is the coolest place to be! :)

Deepa

CAT hota kya hai.

My two elder bros ar both from IIMs (A and c resp), and both did not prepare for CAT. Got through in their first attempts. Both C.As. CAT did not give perentile around then, but i know that their Math was far worse than mine.

I have prepared for CAT twice (grudgingly and without much seriousness). Have got high percentles (98+) both times, and am half a CA. Got into L and I last year, but still gave it up to finish CA.

I feel that if you can keep your cool, then clearing cut-offs is amazingly simple. getting 15 is not that difficult if you choose the rights Qs.

So please stop sweating 'bout CAT and get on with your lives. Just a couple of hours a day reading papers, and solving puzzles is good enough for the above average candidate. And take some Mock CATs for practice. Do Math BRM's on your own and leave hte rest to lady luck (the most important ingredient, i say) .

And work on GDs and interview, they are more difficult than CAT as quality of competition is much better.

p.s. (food for thought): Heard that IIM-A is the most difficult B-school in the world to get in as applicants per seat is highest. But would not that logic make iim-i and iim-k much tougher to get in as seats are lesser and 99% of IIM-A applicants also apply to these.

Some Links for Vedic Mathematics

ics.uci.edu
truman.edu
geocities.com/vedicmathematics
Vedicmaths.org
vedmaths.tripod.com
Mahrishi.UK
TCY Online
lesmurdie.wa.edu.au

Acha, So I hope you have clicked in @ least some of the links. No need to waste time by going to any of the links buddy , It is highly improbable that you will apply any of this shortcuts in a pressure cooker type MBA entrance exam.But still, In case you are interested you can go and check. I never bothered to check.





Some Other Useful Links


Urpercentile


Cat2k2

Cat2003
Bized.ac.uk
Magical Methods
Tryets
Sheppard Software
Amos Web Tutor
Investor Words
India Infoline
CoolAvenues
Economist
Remittag
BrandQuest

Some tips no one else in this world will give mane indyan Inputs

1.When you start preparation keep some target B schools that you want to get into.Make sure you choose B Schools in such a way that you will get a better opening after completing your MBA.ie No need to go for a A- or B rated School in case you are working in a reputed MNC.It wont offer any value addition to you.

2.Ranks in Mock CATS are not the actual indication in case you are not consistent enough.I had ranks ranging from 22 to 600 and I screwed up CAT quant big time ;-D.But I was lucky enough to getinto FMS where the rejection ratio is even higher ( 60 seats and 30000 applicants).If D Day of an exam is your lucky day you will get through. In case you screw up it is your fate , no need to crib take it as it comes.

3.Plan your preparation in such a way that you will attain peak on the week of the D Day.I know quite some people who burned a lot of midnight oil but couldnt get any call @ all.It is not a case of hard preparation but smart preparation.

4.Finish your basics well in advance so that you wont have any doubt regarding the basics while you start off with the tests.Identify your strong areas and try to maximise in those areas.

5.In entrance exams the only thing that matters is score and not the number of attempts .Try to have a decent score across all sections so that you will clear the sectional cutoffs.

6.If you have good accuracy it will help you a lot in cracking CAT big time.Try to pickout the right questions and Of course it is not easy .It comes only through practice.

7.Read far, wide and deep .It will help you in Verbal Section and during your GD's and PI's.

8.Dont be overawed by the tag of any of the top B Schools or the rankings by major magazines.As long as you are sincere and smart in your preparation you have a decent enough chance anywhere. There will be hazar institute wars going on in Internet and between students.Remember that you yourself are creating a negative image by taking part in this cheap gimmick game , it doesnt add any value @ all.You are wasting your energy by taking part in Institute Wars .After all majority of the companies that comes to all these schools are same which means you may end up in the same job whether you have done your MBA from UVW or XYZ.


9.Try to get some study partners who are almost in the same level as you in the initial stages.Take common tests and compare your performance to gauge the level of preparation.

10.Remember that a B School entrance exam is not a knowledge based exam , it is a matter of startegy , presence of mind , common sense and your luck .The only thing that you can hope is that everything will go well on the D day and others screw up.

Hey Guyz ..here goes Lijo aka Indyan's two pennies worth..poor guy does not want publicity..but real good info must never be hid..so here goes LIJ's article on CAT prep.

Preparing for MBA Entrance Exams - Indyan Inputs

Buddies, No need to read this if you are not preparing for MBA entrance exams ;-D .Why waste your time?



I will tell you my experience. I had a lot of money to blow up when I joined a software company fresh out from College .I laughed out loud when I heard the Citibank Interactive voice response system announcing the hefty amount of my first salary because I was thinking about my shoe string budget during my graduation. It was treats , parties and eating out for the first three months but after that I realized that well, this is not I wanted to do. The Salary was good and everything was fine but there are weeks in which I had to work 88 hours (out of the 168 hours in a week) and what is the point in working hard in case you are not interested in what you are doing.

I was contemplating about a post graduation in management when I was doing my final year engineering .Even though I had an offer from a software MNC I had written CAT earlier to see what 'mother of all entrance exams' is like;-D. Preparationa for CAT is an emotional roller coaster ride if you are serious enough .You can see your scores fluctuating across various tests and your ranks rising and falling. It will help you a lot in understanding your personality and may have an overall positive or negative impact on your personality. I have seen people cribbing about not getting into IIMs after making it to other premier B schools. What the hell? An MBA from IIM is of course highly rated but still you can't say only an MBA from IIM will make you a better manager ;-D.I know one guy who was selected for IIM K four times including this year ( when the panel asked whether he knows where Kozhikode is ) but never went citing that he wants to do an MBA only from A.B or C.Then there is the case of one guy who had A B C calls but he was late for two interviews and couldnt convert the other.It is a matter of priorities , seriousness and what people want.

In case you are working you may have met all these people giving out all these reasons
-- 1 year exp ("too early, still not settled in job"),
-- 2 years exp("never got time to prepare, project pressure"),
-- 3 years exp ("had to go onsite"),
-- 4 years exp("maybe I should save some more money and then try for an MBA in a American B school"),
-- 5 years exp ("currently contemplating marriage")... :-)

In case you are serious about MBA I am of the belief that you should try for it seriously @ least once. In case you are already placed in cushy jobs and are happy with their work should really give a hard look before taking the plunge to do an MBA.This mail that I got from a senior who is working in Unilever will help you

"Another thing that gets lost in the din created by the 7 figure salaries, placements abroad, and colorful brochures.. is that.. even in the best of B schools in India only the top 15% (at max top 25%) get all these talked about jobs. The rest of the 75%+ percent still get jobs, but not of the high flying type. Of course there is still the promise of making it to the top leagues soon (by virtue of having a B school tag and working hard the first couple of years..). So people who are already placed in cushy jobs and are happy with their work should really give a hard look before taking the
plunge.

At the end of the day. no decision is easy. You must learn as much as you can before you make a decision so that you are not driving blind. At the same time, once you take a decision, stick to it even if it hurts. Having been through all this, these are some of my learnings..

-- If you are good and hardworking... it really does not matter what the qualification - you will do well in your career - not having the "right degree" might at best delay your progress
-- CAT is really no great deal.. its 100% hardwork.. and then praying that the other guy screws up. Once inside a BSchool, you realise again.. its only hard work that matters. Guys from IITs, RECs, Univs abroad etc.. are no different from you. Infact some of them are real specimens.. and make you wonder how thay got so far!!
-- If you don't make it to one of the top B schools, its worth taking up a job and trying again rather than doing an MBA anyway. An MBA from an unheard BSchool, has virtually zero value.

Hope this helps you take a more informed decision" .

So see MBA is not all rosy and shining and even it will have the travails but if you are going to like what you are doing well I dont feel then it shouldn't be a serious problem.

Ever wondered what is special about people from premier B schools or why people from Premier B Schools are given high packets? (It is like the Ad of Jockey underwear when one guy exclaims about another "What does he have which I dont have?")All students in premier B Schools have been filtered across various strictly followed criterion and they are expected to perform from Day 1.Every year IIMs and other Premier B schools are in news during their placement time for the hefty pay packets that have been offered in the respective campuses(other than MM Joshi vs IIM Fee controversy) .But even after these rigorous course the number of students who wish to start something on their own is very less. Why? I dont know.If the course is so rigorous why do everyone opt for an Aaram Se job ?They are supposed to take on any real life challenges after the B School stint..
.

What is so special about B Schools was one of my genuine doubts when I started of with my preparation and it was answered by K S Bhaskar who runs Ascent Education in Chennai .He told me " An MBA is a jack of all trades.He is expected to perform from day 1 and what B Schools does is filter students who can perform , if you can be among the top 1000 in say 1,50,000 students or say top 60 among 30000 students after a written test which is considered to be tough and a gruelling(?) interview then you will definitely perform.But once you do an MBA may be after two years your experience and performance will count. It wont matter whether you have taken MBA from say XYZ institute in kanyakumari or ABC institute in Mumbai.But the opportunities provided by ABC institute in Mumbai or any other metro will be far greater when compared to anyother.So try to get into a premier B School in Top 10"



The basic allure of all MBA entrance exams is that everyone thinks it is easy to crack it since it has only some basic maths and Angrezi.Agreed what matters is those two hours , but in case you are not born brilliant then you may have to work very SMART to crack it.The only thing to remember is that the final score and clearing the sectional cutoffs count and other than that nothing else matters in a B school entrance exam.You are expected to work hard and smart for cracking the entrance exam because that may help you in the intense cut throat competition in your B school.




All B school entrance exams are a matter of two hours.Plenty of hype is created now a days regarding MBA and stuff . If you see the ads in THE HINDU metro in Chennai you will feel that half of the world wants to get into a premier B School. Dont think about others , think about you.You need only one seat among the coveted 2000+ seats in premier B schools and if you feel that you have the potential to do it then you will . "I was born Intelligent , Education ruined me" is a slogan which is fit only for T shirts. What an MBA entrance exam be it CAT,GMAT,XAT,FMS or SCMHRD tests is what are the fundamentals you have acquired through 15 or 16 years of education in comparison with others. Even if you have got first rank in JEE and thoughout your school the only thing that matters is those two hours.If you screw up , well your fate -your preparation has been like lines drawn on water .If you crack it , well good for you. So never ever give up your job, things you like for a year etc... to prepare and crack for this feline ghost and dont be afraid of this ghost.You yourself can know whether you can crack it or not once you write the first three Mock CATs by your institute.However if you feel that you can still crack it after scoring low then buddy you may, who knows?I have seen people like that too. Let us hope the best may happen to you .

In case you are preparing for MBA entrance exams here are some resources that may help you and I hope you will share it with your friends who are preparing for B School entrance exams.


The best Link that you will find in Internet for any of the Indian MBA entrance exams

PAGALGUY

Some Links for Online Word Subscriptions
Dictionary.com
MywordaDay
A Word A Day
Merriam Webster
Yahoo Words
Your Dictionary
Number2.com
All Words
Onelook Dictionary
365 words


Most of these sites send a word everday to your mail box.It is a nice way to improve your vocabulary in case you are a wordophile or someone who is preparing for a vocab based entrance exam.

CAT GYAN # 6

*********************************

PART I


Let me begin with the resources on the Web. For starters subscribe to word services. They send an email everyday in your inbox with the meaning, etymology and sample usage of a word. The best and most popular service is run by Anu Garg (featured in Wall Street Journal and Readers Digest among many other newspapers/mags) Anu is an Indian living in the US. Catch him at www.wordsmith.org/award The words are sometimes arcane. However, do not get intimated by them. Easier words come from Merriam Webster by mail everyday. Hit
www.m-w.com


Websites (humble comments by yours truly)

www.coolavenues.com (Annual average salary survey this year published in many magazines. Decent source. Runs another yahoo group called catavenues. It was so voluminous and crappy thats why i started this group. catavenues has 2400+ members)

www.bizkool.com (OK)

www.indiabschools.com (Most pages not in place. Made a survey of
top B schools for Outlook)

Websites of Coaching classes

www.imsindia.com (Good place for initial intros to institutes)

www.cflogic.com (Good place for finding out results. They also have analysis of various papers on their site)

www.careerlauncher.com (They email query handlers generally respond with alacrity. i have had good experience. i mailed them some bouncer math fundas to which they made diagrams in MS Word and replied within a couple of days. Mail
helpme@careerlauncer.com)

Others

www.naukri.com (Good GD/PI tips. already posted on catprep)

www.iimcal.ac.in (Few tips for IIM aspirants. They also have CAT chat with their own students. Most user friendly institute. They sent my friend a CD when he got a call for GD/PI)

www.indiainfoline.com/bisc

Lots of portals have their own education sections where they have covered MBA studies in detail. ex education.sify.com Also check education vortals like egurucool.com and if I may add www.pagalguy.com/cat here now :wink:

Also go thru the following links

http://soyouwanna.com/site/syws/wrerrors/wrerrors.html
(To avoid writing errors. Will help you in english section)

http://soyouwanna.com/site/syws/logic/logic.html
(Some stuff on logic)

www.grammarbook.com (Decent)

Hit www.excelatexam.com for GD/PI experiences of sucessful
students.



PART II

The debate/discussions on whether to read questions before attempting a passage is like debating whether the chicken came first or the egg. Try both for 10 odd passages each. You'll find out for yourself which is easier.

Familiarity helps a lot. Attempt passages which you are aware of. In case you are an arts student you are better off starting with a passage on psychology than say, NTTDoCoMo.

I had the habit of underlying a few things here and there. I found it helpful. Try whether it works for you.

The biggest myth that I came across while preparing for CAT is the widespread belief that engineers are not good in English and non-engineers are good in English. The opposite holds true for Math. This is to put in one word 'baloney'. Engineers who matter have their English as well Math polished. Stop thinking in terms of engineers and non-engineers.

I was an IMS student. Have studied very little from Career Launcher. But from whatever little i did, i found IMS english at a higher level and hence more suitable for CAT. Math from CL is better. It seems that this times CAT had a couple of sums straight out of CL's preparatory matter. (For the record only - a sum about some water in grapes)

Keep reading editorials. Cannot overemphasize it. Any newspaper - business or non-business. I particularly found Indian Express editorials better than Times and Business Standard editorials better than Economic Times. (This, by the way, is a classic mistake used by paper setters over and over again. The english here is wrong since i am coming editorials of BS to ET rather than editorials of ET) Arguments suggesting that editorials are boring to read and other things are OK are specious at best. Nothing else in a newspaper is worth reading.

Do not spend disproptionate time mugging up words. CAT, unlike GRE, does not ask synonyms or antonyms (Atleast thats what the trend's been) This year they had a new type of question where they checked whether you knew how to use words.



PART III

Caution : Coaching Class preparatory matter have sums that have never ever come in CAT and never will. The clock some is a good example. CAT has never asked "What day was 23rd July 1983?" You can dodge these questions and not waste time studying them. For more info, consult some experienced person.

I started studying in late May. I was studying regularly for CAT. In case you intend to do the same, May-July is a good period to start depending upon your individual abilities. Ideally study less of English from October onwards. English cannot be improved in two months. Maths can. However, keep practicing English passages.

Data Interpretation : Can't write much. Know your reciprocals. And always read footnotes.


PART IV

You could ask your local class for last years paper. They reproduce all papers. This is how they do it. Senior faculty fill CAT forms like you and me. They then sit for the exam and analyse the paper. They do not mark a single answer. Meanwhile, the junior faculty is asked to memorise 5-7 questions with options. These questions are pre-assigned. After the test, the junior faculty then reproduces the paper to the best of their ability. (Obviously English passages cannot be reproduced. )However, the topic and difficulty is noted.

This time the top institutes have emphasized quite a bit on accuracy. Speaking to quite a few students, I realized that there were many students, who had attempted few questions with very good accuracy, who had got calls from IIMs.

-------------------
Tht's it folks! All The Best

CAT GYAN # 5

Step one:
"Macro-Picture"
Last few months have gone in addressing every single important issue of your test fundamentals, short-cuts, test taking techniques, simulated tests, etc. Now is the time for us to move away from these important but operational matters and look at the macro-picture ahead of you.

One or two sections are not to the best of your liking. You hate some sub-sections, etc. But forget all that for the next 17 days. Your task is not to solve the entire paper. Re-look at the objective. Do your best in those two hours. Get a minimum score on each section and maximize your overall performance. Worry about CAT as a whole.

Time to freeze your broad strategy with the understanding that it may have to be altered slightly after you face the CAT.


Step 2:
"Match Temperament"
All your hard work and sweat put in single-mindedly (!!!) will be tested in those 2 hours. Just 2 hours!! How can a two-hr test pass a judgment on your ability to make it to an IIM? Is it not too cold? Perhaps even cruel!! No scope for any error.

But this is a reality. And champions are made of stuff that brings out their best when it is needed the most. What you need in you now is match temperament. BIG MATCH TEMPERAMENT (BMT)

We need not travel far to understand what it is - Steve Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar, Glenn McGrath. They are BMT personified. Put them in a difficult situation. One realizes that they have reserved their best for that day. Unshakable self-belief is the virtue of all these champions.

All your brilliance and high scores at home is a waste if you cave in under pressure, under competition. These are excuses invented for lesser mortals called Losers. Pressure and competitions are always in ones mind.

Step Three:

The Ultimate Mantra SELF BELIEF

An average performer overcomes his own limitations with the mantra of Self-Belief and surpasses the benchmark of expectations others set for him. Because his self defined performance standards are much higher than set by others - Sachin, Steve Waugh.

This mantra is hidden somewhere in each of us. The champions have discovered it for themselves. You need to discover it for yourself. This is the best occasion for the discovery.

Work consciously on it. Nobody can do it for you. Not even the most sincere of your well-wishers parents, friends, teachersTell yourself
"ONLY I CAN DO IT. AND I SHALL."

CAT GYAN #3.

Logical problems are generally time consuming. My suggestion is that avoid these problems in the first instance.

Remember, your objective is to score the maximum amount of marks in the
given time. You will not be penalized for having solved all the easy problems in CAT. Neither would you be given special credits for digging out the tough problems. CAT, fortunately, to date, does not have adaptability in difficulty levels as GMAT does.

So, the first lesson in test taking strategy is -- choose your questions smart. It is easier said than done. You gain confidence about the questions that you can attempt adn the ones you have to skip only by continuous practice and scrupulous analysis of your previous test papers. Take each of the tests that you have done to date and
analyse every single question - see how long you took to crack the question - was it out of fluke you got it right? or you actually knew how to do it? Second, check out if you made use of the answer choices to arrive at your choice - if so pat yourself - you are on the right track.

Sometimes, it helps to have some very simple rules.My advice would be to crack only those problems where you can use the answer choice (like substituting them in the question) to arrive at the solution in the first instance. And after solving all of those questions where you can use the answer choice, if you are still left with time on hand, attempt the other questions.

Given all this logic - logical question does not fit in the first or the second go. If you still have time and the only question you have left unanswered is logical question, then try and solve them. To get sufficient practice, get one of the GRE books like Barrons. they have sufficient exercise on these type of arrangement problems.
Draw tables and try and represent whatever data is given to you in either tabular or pictorial form. It helps you to crack the problem effectively.


CAT GYAN #4

One of the key things to note is to have a strategy before you take a Mock CAT.

One thing that I have found to have worked for a lot of people is this.
Whether there is a section wise time limit or not, set a limit for yourself.This year CAT, as mentioned in the brochure, is one where there is going to be no section wise time limit.

So give yourself time limits for each section. Say, Quant 50 minutes, DI 40 minutes and Verbal 30 minutes. The individual section wise limit will vary from person to person. But the above is a reasonably good representative sample. Then attempt questions in each of these sections and move to the next section 5 minutes before the time limit that you have set. That is in 45 minutes for Quant, 35 for DI and 25 for Verbal. At the end of 1 hour 45 minutes take a quick evaluation as to how you have performed in each of the sections. If you feel, you have not done well in say,
DI, spend the remaining 15 minutes on DI. On the contrary, if you think you have done reasonably well in all three sections, spend the last 15 minutes on the section that will give you the maximum returns.

In all of these, keep one thing in mind. Maintain as much accuracy as possible in the first 1 hour 45 minutes. In the last 15 minutes, make intelligent guesses. For instance, if you can eliminate 2 out of the 4 answer choices and you are not sure which of the other two to tick, take an intelligent guess. This does not mean that you mark anything during the last 15 minutes. Remember, what I said was INTELLIGENT GUESSING and not random ticking.

I was browsing through my mail box,came across few mails I use to treasure as a CAT Aspirant.They were posted by Arun (Psychodementia,if i'm not mistaken?) in the CAT 2k2 group.

These mssgs were posted in June.Heck,jus 2 weeks to go,so I'm posting them here.
Series of CAT Gyan...6 of them.

CAT GYAN #1

When you take CAT, what makes a crucial difference in determining whether you
crack CAT and get into the IIM s or not is how quick you can attempt questions.

One of the key observations that might throw light on CAT cracking methodologies is that - in most cases students spend about 60% of the time in quant and DI section on calculations. If you can make a difference to your calculation speed, even if it is marginal, it will make a substantial difference to your getting into an IIM. After all people make it to the cut off by a margin of 0.25 marks.

We will intersperse our question a day with a fast calculation tip every now and then and about 5 exercise problems for each method. Practice speed calculation whenever you have to calculate anything. Engineers particularly,should try and throw their fx 100 calculators away, at least, for the time being. And commerce graduates do not go anywhere near your calculators for the next 6 months.

CAT GYAN #2

For those of you who are serious about CAT - I think its a 20 week race from this point. A small piece of advice from an old hat

1. Take a day off from your regular schedule this week and take a representative diagnostic test.

2. Check out where you stand -- identify your weak and strong points.

3. Start identifying ways to minimize the impact of your weak points - if its math - work out a chapter by chapter strategy and start cracking them systematically - remember the math in CAT is not one of rocket science. It is eminently crackable - only that it needs some hard and more importantly a lot of smart work.

4. For those of you with little or no reading experience - RC could come a cropper - start reading extensively from today - always carry a book with you - even if it is a thriller or a romantic Mills and Boon - read, read, read...

5. If you are still in college, it might be a good idea to form a small team of 2 to 3 like minded people and have a healthy competition. This small study circle will also help you share work load in cracking techniques in different chapters. While one could find out all short cuts in Percentages, the other person might be able to have the meanings and usages of common Latin and French words. Co-opetition is the latest management buzz word.

6. Unlike semester exams or month end sales targets, CAT needs sustained effort - so start today. It still is not too late. I started my preparation in late August 1991 - CAT was in the second sunday of December then. And I was working for L&T; at Ballard Estate in Bombay and staying in a Chummery acco in Malad (It is a 34 km one way travel everyday - roughly 3 hours in travel). And I managed calls from B, C and L. I could have worked harder - but then I suppose it was short sighted ambition. Do not let that happen to you. Do not come up with excuses such as -- semester exam, project work, no time -- if you have the determination to crack CAT, you will.

7. There are already over 10,000 excuses for not cracking CAT. May be you can add a few more. But remember, the only reason you will be into an IIM is because you badly wanted to be there.

8. Finally, if you do not believe that you have it in you to crack CAT, do not even attempt CAT. Believing that you can make it is the first step to getting there.

I wish you all success in your CAT exam. I hope this forum helps you in achieving your career dreams.

Chandoo.......I will try to sound different.......your post sucks big time !!

he he he just trying to be "different", "thoda hatke" as most hindi movie/music directors would say about their movies/songs.

You were the first guy I called when I knew the CAT results were out. And you know that you were the first (or the second depending on if Garfield's cell was busy ) I'd call up after each AIMCAT.

Dood, you are dedication, dilligence, perseverance .......... all the "good words in the dictionary" personified. You are the guy my mom would have wanted to exchange for me

Hell, infact even if you didn't go for an MBA, I would still think you are a winner.

Arun

PS: BTW Channe ke jhaadh pe chad gaya toh uttar ja bete.............

Hi Chandoo!!

Urs was a really enlightening one.
Today people sign up fo r cat just for a whim or fancy.ur post has shown that it takes real slog to get to the top. wishing u all the very best for ur future.
when nothing works remember that cat is not life !!!

Hi Chandoo! after reading all those praises and hearing so much from others abt your experience me too decide to check it out today...

It was a marvel :smilecol: the way you went about :snipersm: for CAT.

Your experience is hell affa guide for us : s

Me will definitely try and follow ur advice . But right now (these couple of days) I am .

Keep up the good work as a mod and me hoping that you get to the best of IIMs .

Well!
But..er........that raises the BIGGEST question!
Is it really necessary to prepare for CAT?
Am no kidding here guys.......
Its been my belief that CAT is just an aptitude test and it requires no preparation!

So.......DONT PREPARE!

Rajesh

Half of your belief MIGHT be jus about correct...tht CAT tests ur aptitude.....(well thts again debatable!!but thn ill leave it for another day !!)..


"and requires no preparation......."..now here is where the issue arises....unless ur extra ordinarily intelligent CAt requires preps..even if ur extraordinarily intelligent unless CAT is one amongst a host of options, U need preps !!....the probability of success is always increased by preps...
Even till last year i belonged to the group of No need of preps for CAT :)....did well enuff in VA and ok in Quant...Did 9 Qs in Di for a % of around 60 !!!.....thts whn i realised tht preparations/test taking/analysis of test/strategy etc are of paramount importance and not just aptitude... i also know of a batchmate who came to know tht the next day was CAT whn we were watching Dil Se movie the evening before..the next morning we woke him and pushed him to write..he got all calls.... ..ofcourse he didnt go foir any interviews..he's presently doing PhD in US after MS frm IISc.....but thn those are the rare "thingies"...i treat such beings as negligible for all I care !!

On a more philosophical level, i guess people who preps and cracks can "internalise" their success best and learn frm tht as well as take inspiration frm tht in the future...For eg:- Chandoo can get inspiration frm this sucess for future endeavours since he's internalised the success process and believe in his ability to work hard across and above difficulties/challenges....(Do i "smell" of Stepehen Covey ??heheh...i know i DO..but i believe in him !!)

cheers

suhas

DO PREP !!!!

What was that !!!

I always felt that that I had done quite a lot of preparation for CAT.But Chandoo makes me feel as if my preparation was peanuts in front of him . 50 Mock CATs.... never thought of so many...

Its really a mind booster. Had read a lot of such articles previously (Article ???couldn't find another name for it..) but this was different in the sense that it was written by a person who was involved rather than a 3rd person just giving tips on how to crack CAT.

Great repository for those giving CAT 2004 , particularly for picking up small-small ideas that make big difference later on.

Chandoo , please post your CAT result (Percentile break up section wise) , no. of calls received , and an analysis (if possible) to complete this article.....

For other members who believe in doing it in those 2 hours , I accept that everyone has got his own way of doing it best. But I feel that it is better to be prepared (Though the level of preparation varies ). Anyway Would love read your experiences of belling CAT on the first shot.

good post chandoo .. i read thru the whole of it .. was really interesting!
as for preparing, i guess a little bit of it is necessary to fine-tune some topics and formulating some strategy after identifying ur weaknesses and working on them
if you have no weakness as such so far as CAT pattern is concerned then no prep may help

one point i wd like to add here.. prep for me was givng 20 tests seriously and analysing them.. so i am not sure which category i fit into.. but yeah being mentally prepared for something does not mean that it is not the real u who cracked something.. being mentally prepared is something one shd always try to do... of course.. life will try to derail that prep

in some ways , Rajesh is right . I know quite a few people who got calls ( some of them even multiple calls ) , without any serious preparation . But I stand by my opinion that the best way to crack CAT is by preparing well and taking a lot of tests . Agreed , quite a few people may have done well without preparation , but Im pretty sure that the number of such people among the total no. of people getting calls is a small fraction . Sure , things like luck and mental- toughness do have a very significant role to play . But without a strong foundation and solid practise , most people will find themselves directionless on C-day .
So as Navjot Singh Sidhu would say , " BETTER TO PREVENT AND PREPARE , THAN REPENT AND REPAIR " .

Nikhil

Ah! "To Prepare or Not to Prepare"! Well guys can vouchsafe for Rajesh a.k.a "Life and Nothing more" cos he is my college mate and knew how "serious" he was for CAT But the point is Rajesh your case is an exception...it's an irrefutable fact that more than IQ luck also plays a major part on the D-day...things have to click irrespective of your preparation or lack of it....so d00d exceptions don't make the rule..in fact it seldom does!;) Though one may "have it in him/her" preparation always helps. Just my 2p.

Well!
That was a terrific post Chandoo.....
But..er........that raises the BIGGEST question!
Is it really necessary to prepare for CAT?
Am no kidding here guys.......
Its been my belief that CAT is just an aptitude test and it requires no preparation!

All CAT does is test your 'basic' language and analytical skills.A majority of us would be able to answer most of the questions if given infinite time.So CAT just puts one under 'pressure' because you have 150 questions to answer in 120 mins.In a way,CAT just simulates the working condition one might face when he/she becomes a manager.So CAT does nothing but assess an individual's potential to work as a manager!So why prepare for it?

Again,look what happens when you prepare....(There are people who prepare for 2 years or even more!Please!Am not trying to demean their efforts in anyway!).......When you prepare for an aptitude test like CAT,you are continuously pushing youself to become something that you are actually not. You might even crack CAT.......but believe me!its not the 'real you' who has cracked it......you may not be able to reproduce such a result at all times!For those 2 hours you had 2 years of preparation.......you WILL NOT have 2 years to prepare for every two hours in your work as a manager!Preparation can only create a pseudo-aptitude to crack CAT on that day.....nothing more!It infact spoils the chance to assess ones 'real' aptitude!

So.......DONT PREPARE!

Btw,..... I got calls from ACLIK.........n i did not prepare for CAT.Absolutely nothing more than the 2 hours i spent taking the test.

Well!I would love to read the responses!

Rajesh

Hi Ppl
My exp has some sililarity and a little difference from Chandoo's
CAT 2002
Around 4 months of prep and quite a few simcats,flopped CAT,only SPJain call and flopped that big time.
In the meantime ,got placed in campus took the job up.
CAT 2003
Prep for Nov23 CAT - Absolutely NONE
Prep for Feb15 CAT - Nov23 CAT
And Result time - ABC
Preparation is a part of cracking CAT but the most important thing to cracking CAT is to perform at your absolute best for just 2 hours on the appointed day and not crack under pressure.
For CAT2004 aspirants - Prepare as hard as you can but dont over do it.sometime too much of some thing is also as bad as too little of it.

BrainOverflow

This was definitely one of the better posts at PG. Congrats Chandoo...more for your spirit to fight back in 2003 than for the admit per se! And abt your "poor English" because of a vernacular background - dont worry too much about it. I know someone who studied (upto graduation) in Hindi medium but works as an accent trainer in English! (She teaches new joinees to speak correct English with an American accent so that customers can feel at ease when talking to them) at a call center. So if they can do it, you can too - maybe with time and effort.

Afterall everybody knows "Dont mock ppl who speak broken English. It means they know another language".

Good luck!

heyyyy chandoo...gr888 post re...very meticulously mentioned...

m in da same shoes as u were after CAT'02...no IIM calls...just MDI..(m sure aint getting the final call)...no job on hand..tensed...anguished..

but ur post has rejuvenated me...first thing....i gotta find a decent job...

thxx chandoo...once again...gr888 post!!

well, while Chandoo has done a wonderful job in describing his experience which has a lot to learn from, its important that the CAT'04 givers learn to experiment and make their own strategies...and yes, this happens when u give lots and lots of mock CATs as chandoo mentioned.
try solving the paper in a different style each time and practice on the style that maximises ur score...i'll post more on that soon.

bow.