i do agree with LYNDON...
i personally feel that instead of following one test series....we should try and take exams of 2-3 coaching centres...
i would say enroll urself for one test series(like IMS)..and give 3-4 tests of time /cl and pt.The reason for this is coz every coaching centre has different strengths...like IMS has excellent RC and papers very close to cat(as philip suggested)....and CL and Time are good for maths and di.

PLUS each on of them follows a different pattern.

i do agree with PHILIP that time has one section very easy and one section cud be a decisive factor.But u never know...u might get a paper like this in cat2003...where one section cud be a decisive factor.. .After all cat is all about surprises..

i would definitely recommend TIME's test series...

philip mentioned their verbal section was easier...but i feel its coz he scored better there then on the ims ones:-)......

thier Rc passages were smaller than ims...but i liked the overall quality....anyway..my assessment is no mock test can prepare u for verbal section on cat.

whats more important is quant.....coz u can deal with some really quality probs under time pressure...also it helps u to prioritise n choose questions....like for eg..many times when i was analysing the paper afterwards...it made me realise i had dropped sitters in quant...like wise for di.....

also i felt both career launcher n time have good quant n di ques , which seem similar to the cat style
unlike ims which r more puzzle based...they r difficult n def good stuff for the mind...but not "cat type"...

but id recommend going for all 3 ...as many as possible

i had done
IMS- simcats 2,5,8 (in class) 3,4,7 (at home 3 days after the sunday , got the paper from a friend)
my ranks ranged frm 10-124...gen in top 50

i did TIME 11-20, last 5 in class the first 5 at home
rank ranged from 2-93

i did CL 3 tests at home, 1 in class
consistenyl in top 25

so , since my lowest ranks were
IMS:125
time:100
CL:25

i felt on cat , my lowest rank would be around 250....n assuming an equivalnet no had given none of these 3 test series

i say worst possible rank woulbd 500.....so theortically 4-6 calls


i might add tho..cat sucked big time....i did jus 79 ques ....n after philip told me he had done 117.....i had joked id be his junior :-)

so as for rank..try n assess it from diff test series...but go for time..coz i felt it has some good quality stuff

Well, by avg I means 2 things

- The tests varies drastically in every mockcat, and compared to IMS their similarity to real CAT is less. The verbal section (especially RC) is very simple.

- The quality of ppl taking the test is also not as good as IMS. I fell getting 150 out of 21000 ppl in IMS wud be better than getting 50th rank in 7000 ppl in time. Also the ranks vary drastically in TIME from exam to exam, bcoz in every mockcat, there will be 1 section which is the decisive one. 1 section wud be very tuff ( with topper getting 23-24 and avg stud 15) while other mite be damn easy (with highest score 46-47 and avg stud 25-2. Obviously the second section decides the rank. So u cud see ur ranks varying like anything, especially if you are strong in one section and weak in another.

In IMS the overall scores in various Simcats vary bcoz of presence or absence or certain type of question like syllogisms, but a certain type of qns (say RC, DS etc) remains more or less the same quality through out the tests. For time the difficulty of a type of qns also varies from test to test.

Now abt the 100 Rs stuff, U will get really good offers if u take there scholarship test and get a good score. And I think TIME test can be a good suppliment for IMS as the timings of the test are also different>

hi all

abt Faculty and classes u got to aks somone in delhi who knows both but about tests Time's verbal sections are more easier than IMS's. IMS is de best bet coz they follow de absolute standard of CAT and have the max nos of students ritin .Others are gud in particular regions but Ims have a pan india presence. Ofcourse they r not leaders evrywhr.
U can also rite a few test of Time and Career Forums for variety and also newer kinda of questions.It certainly does help.Carrer forum have really tough( irritating is a better word) papers in RC.
In north particularly u can get IMS package for 250 that makes it 1000 for the entire material..it was there about two years bak..dont know abt present situ..

cheerio

Err...with all humility Philip what exactly is "average" to you?;) (just for the sake of info...Philip scored 38 in CAT2002 (in quants section alone!) with 100 percentile in Quants..obviously!) But coming to the matter...are TIME tests worth taking then? I guess they charge around 100 bucks per test...have joined IMS and so will be taking SIMCATS...thought will complement them with TIME All India tests...but now I am having my doubts! what do you say? Should SIMCATS alone suffice? And what abt ppl who have joined TIME or other institutes? Would you suggest them to take SIMCATS anyway?
Cos' that costs around 3k I guess...what abt CAREER LAUNCHER? Are their ALL INDIA Tests good? Or will it become the case of "over-kill"? Mind elucidating on the criteria on which you say IMS Tests are better? The Type of questions and their complexity or by the sheer number of ppl taking it? or both?

Girish...!

I have taken some mock tests from TIME. That was of avg quality, but was value for money. I always preferred IMS, but I guess if you can get the IMS materials and Simcats from some of your friends, TIME shud be okay

HI All
No posts yet on this topic !