How to improve RC.
You must have heard this umpteen no of times. There is nothing new I am gonna add. But still.............
The mantra to crack RC of CAT is to
Read, read and read.
now the question comes Read what.
Well dovote atleast 1 hour only for reading. Read Newspaper editorials, magazines and some novel or book. After reading an editorial column or a magazine article, close your eyes and try to recollect what have you read, try to summarize that. This will improve your comprehension.
Time yourself while reading editorials. try to improve by 1 sec each day, this way you can improve your reading speed.
By following these two steps, you ll be able to strike a balance between your reading speed and comprehension. And that is the only thing required to crack RC.
Besides reading, make a habit of attempting 1 RC passage everyday. By doing this, you ll be exposed to lot of RC passages on varied topics and you ll come to know about your mistakes. While attempting practice RC passages try to be accurate. And see it as a challenge.
Try it for few days.
-Vishal
CAT is not about how much chunk u know its abt applying the chunk the u already know.
I hail from a very week educational background from where i did not get the g\hradcore concepts of MATHS and as well as English. I'm basicllay week in the big chaptes of both of them. But I have a storng concepts of things like P/L, DI, ratios, Geomatry(but not trigo).
tried to concentrate on only these concepts. Now it was by left hand work to solve these probs(I'm left handed btw).
So in CAT tried to find good questions in both ENG & MATH to attept as few probs as posible but those should be choosen which r sure that u r correct. and then i pour my whole time in the section of DI.
But couldnot clear math section. hard luck next time.
I would say its about applying urself as u r and not applying urelf after trying to change urself.
CAT is all abt holding ur nerves while appearing as it is abt accuracy and speed. all the efforts can do down the drain if one loses his/her calm. one should try and relax in the week b4 CAT (personal opinion).
should CAT b conducted on the lines of GRE?? one will not have to wait to have another go at it, plus one can get the result on the same day. if planned properly it can b a success, eliminating chances of paper leaks. wat say guys???????
D.M.
hey people,
just thought i would share this you guys; my two cents worth :)
Prep for CAT 2004.
Belling the CAT:
Joined my company in july, and was working hard for the first 2-3 months..I had pretty much decided that CAT wasn't going to work out as it was already october and i had not started the prep yet. That was when one of my cousins who is an IIM alumnus pumped some sense in my head, and i realised that a month's hard work might just see me thru, and now i realise, that the prep in that last one month, is the one that really matters.
Since i started late, i didn't have time to go thru the IMS Basic reading material (BRM) or any other notes.. Most of my preparation was through tests. I started out with the section tests in Math, Verbal and DI. Used to do one to 2 sectional tests a day on weekdays, depending on how late i got back home. Around October end, I started giving full length tests- atleast 4 per week.
Preparing only through tests may seem like an ad-hoc way of going about it, but here is why it worked for me:
The most important part of the test, is the post test analysis. I put in an average of 1.5 hours solving the remaining qns in the test, and then i made a grid with the Q Nos. and the type of qn (eg. geom, avgs, %ages etc.) just to find out what my strengths were. Also this helped me recognise what kind of problems i usually got right..and what kind i usually goofed up in, where i needed to put in more effort, where i needed to brush up my concepts..
in CAT, there are some qns that one shouldnt even touch. (for me these qns were Simple interest/compund interest) This exam is about taking a look at as many qns as possible. I looked at every question beginning from the first- if i didnt know how to solve it within15 seconds, i would leave and go to the next. If i knew how to solve it, but it wasn't working out even after 2 minutes, i would leave and go to the next. And after the test, i would realise that these qns were well left, coz they gave me time to do other questions.
These are just my strategies. It may or may not work for someone else, but who knows...it might just help.
My split up of time was 30 minutes Verbal, 45 minutes Quant, and 45 minutes DI. i sucked bad at DI.. somehow a lot of practise helped me. Actually, even in the actual test, i had a lousy performance in DI. But it worked out, and i'm not complaining.
GD/PI:
Then, in around end of december, i got calls from all IIMs except B. Now there was a task at hand- I had to improve my GK. Believe me, in 22 years, i had rarely read the newspaper! So i spent the next three months reading newspapers (TOI, ET) like there was no tomorrow. didnt read any business mags though.. i barely had the time.
Brushed up on my BE project, picked up a bunch of subjects from engg and browsed thru the chapters, read up on my favourite authors etc.
Did a lot of introspection and came up with long essay answers for the B school forms (man, that was a pain!)
Basically in a B school interview, there are 5 broad areas they want to cover.
1. You
2. Acads/ work ex
3. Extra curricular
4. Career plans
5. General awareness
1 is clearest, and 5 is the vaguest. I tried to make sure i concentrated on all of these.
My GDs were always ranging from good to near perfect, and PIs from horrendous to fabulous :)
Finally converted all the calls i had, and now joining A 
What i realised was, that it is not important to answer all their questions.. if you don't know, the best thing is to tell the panelists. "i dont know". If the question is a riddle/math puzzle, atleast think about it for a couple of minutes before you say "i dont know".
It is better not to make excuses/blame the system for your lack of knowledge. Just make sure you come across as a person with clarity of thought, with firm views on matters of concern, which are based on facts and not on bias.
Whoa.. I have gone on and on.If you have managed to reach this point...you must be a tolerant person of boring long mails! Thanks for giving it a read :D
cheers,
mad.
After having taken CAT a couple of times, i think i can surely lend some tips to future IIM aspirants. Well, I had started with a percentile of 97% in my first casual attempt at CAT (real CAT) which came down to 93 in the second more serious attempt (thanks to DI). Having finally made it to one of the IIMs this year here is my ten cents of input.
Well, to begin with i was not very good at Verbal, real good at quant and unpredictable with DI. My strategy for CAT was something like 45-50 min. for Verbal (to clear cut-offs) , 30 min. for quant and 40 min. for DI. I nearly always managed to clear verbal and quant cut-offs but struggled with DI which was somewhat unreasonable since i was pretty good at quant in general. The basic flaw which i have identified is the strategy lot of us apply to the DI section. I personally (very strongly) feel that the key to cracking the DI section is in sticking to timelines (close to a question a minute), mugging fractions, tables and attempting max. sets. I realised that a compromise on accuracy still seemed to work for me (since the net score still shot up if i stuck to timelines). I think the mindblock or the DI scare is the main impediment. No wonder, once i changed my strategy i had soon shot into the comfortable league of people with 20+ marks from previous individual scores of 12-16 at max. Also, another important observation was that it is important to keep trying our hand at tests from various institutes since these tests have their individual pros and cons. The IMS tests help u build on accuracy but CL tests are really good for building up on speed. Last but not the least, the old mantra of experimenting with various strategies really helps in identifying what works best.
Njoi
First things first, a clarification: this isnt an attempt at a how-to guide for MBA preparation no one, least of all yours truly, would be in a position to come up with such a generic tips-n-tricks handbook. Neither is this intended to be some sort of inspirational gyaan there are plenty of been-there-cracked-that seniors, instructors, well-wishers and more experienced CAT-takers 😉 who could be applied to for that. This is just a simple and honest chronicle of the months and weeks before and after I took CAT, appeared for interviews at four b-schools and finally managed to secure an admission. Encapsulating the entire experience and all that Ive learnt from it, in just a few paragraphs isnt easy but given that I wouldnt want this piece to substitute for sleeping pills, Ive made a conscious attempt at space control. Part 1 deals with the first half of the battle the written exam: CAT. The second part will be dedicated to the next round the group discussions and interviews.
CAT or GRE?
This is unarguably the number one dilemma most third year engineering students are faced with. Take GRE, stay tech-focused and hop continents; or take CAT, wave pleasant good byes to engineering and jostle for space with a billion others right here in India. Decisions are often governed by many factors other than just interest and aptitude the latest IIMA foreign salary reported in the previous days newspaper, the US software job situation, the MS funding scenario, the is MBA better with work-ex? argument and so on. Happily for me, the choice wasnt all that difficult after the phenomenal amount Id been learning in college from the most outstanding faculty in a top-of-the-line engineering institute, I could think of nothing but taking CAT!
Getting off the blocks
Six months of preparation, two hours a day, is sufficient to crack CAT. Needless to say this wisdom came from a leading coaching class. I wouldnt say theyre wrong, but Im uncomfortable with the generality of the claim. One size never fits all there are many individual factors which should determine how much time you need to put in for CAT. I always had it at the back of my mind that CAT and my seventh semester exams would most likely clash, and felt more comfortable budgeting more than the conventional six to eight months. When the great Mumbai University announced two final semester exams on either side of November 21st (CAT day), I felt relieved Id given myself the extra time allowance.
Lesson: 150,000 people may take CAT every year but theres no need to match your preparation schedule with the other 149,999!
Down to the Nuts and Bolts
Goal setting, self discovery, visualizing yourself treading the corridors of Blah Blah Institute of Management the first few weeks at any coaching class is likely to be full of such inspirational sessions. Im sure these pedagogical techniques have some sound theoretical foundation, but personally I found them to be a waste. To a certain extent succeeding in CAT is about self belief and motivation, but isnt that the case with everything? Its far more important Id say to get cracking with the nuts and bolts of the exam: Quant, English and DI.
Lesson: Cut through the hype and hoopla surrounding CAT. You dont have to be a Zig Ziglar to achieve a decent score (and by the way, neither do you need to be a Shakuntala Devi!)
QED: Quant, English and DI!
The first rule of CAT preparation, I was told, is that all sections of the test are equally important. Theres nothing to be achieved by cracking two sections and goofing up one. There is perhaps enough evidence now to cast serious doubts on the credibility of this conventional wisdom, but nevertheless its a useful thumb rule to follow. I didnt find anything a huge struggle but wasnt particularly extraordinary in any one section either (even my final result pretty much indicated that!).
Quantitative Ability: They say all engineers are good at Maths. Id like to stick my neck out and say that they have got it wrong! At most, theres no discomfort with numbers because of constant exposure to them but an engineering degree certainly doesnt inculcate any special numerical powers. My personal quant barometer fluctuated through my preparation quite dramatically initially I found the going good, then I hit rock bottom once the practice tests began, only to recover towards the end (and thankfully on d-day!)
English/Verbal Ability: Probably my most comfortable area the only advice Id give anybody is: READ. Im more of a newspapers and magazines guy, but I made an effort to lay my hands on different types of books. Apart from being the best way to tackle RCs, I think reading is a great vocab builder any day preferable to mugging enormous word lists.
Data Interpretation: DI is perhaps the trickiest section of CAT. Unlike the other two sections, no one generally ranks DI as their biggest strength or biggest weakness. I was never particularly fond of the number crunching caselets, so I looked to score in the analytical reasoning questions. As it happened, CAT eventually delivered something which fell somewhere in between these two categories and left me quite stumped!
Lesson: Dont assume you are good or bad at anything. Solid practice is far more important than believing your aptitude or background will see you through.
The Mock Tests
Practice tests are undoubtedly the most important phase of CAT preparation. They give you a feel of the real thing and highlight weak areas much faster than any amount of non-test practice can do. The first thing the mocks did for me is show me the Quant mirror cut offs of 10 marks out of 50 were hard to achieve and this was demoralizing to say the very least. All I can say is that Im glad I persevered even after those pretty severe setbacks. But its not just about hanging in there its about improving! Thats where the importance of analyzing tests once theyre done cannot be over-emphasized. Most analyses lead to the irritating, but at the same time encouraging, observation that more than a dozen easy questions exist in every section but have missed ones kind attention. Perfecting the art of sitter spotting is the key, I would say, to scoring well in CAT.
Lesson: Use the mocks wisely. Use them to discover strengths and weaknesses and to formulate a strategy for the big day. Many people fret about the second decimal places of their mock test percentiles this is pretty pointless if not accompanied by some serious introspection.
Leading up to D-Day
The most stressful part of the entire preparation for me was the time just before CAT. Much to the exasperation of the student community, University exams had been announced to coincide beautifully with CAT. And preceding them was the usual rigmarole of submissions, class tests and vivas. There was little time now to go through new topics (Permutations & Combinations being the first casualty!!) and the Mocks and home tests were all that I could manage. The only time I could seriously relax was the day before D-Day, when at the cost of my Advanced Microprocessors paper two days later I decided to hang up my boots and watch some TV!
Lesson: Its ideal to finish off exam prep well in advance so that CAT can hold prime importance in November. But having spent four years in engineering college, I can safely say this is IMPOSSIBLE! So there is no real option but multi-tasking the most important of those tasks being praying!
And then it was done
The paper was a shocker weighted marking for the first time ever in CAT, 123 questions for the first time ever in CAT, sub-sections for the first time ever in CAT, DI with no conventional DI yikes! My first thought on seeing the paper was: CAT 2005. My next thought, two hours and 60-odd attempts later, was: CAT 2005.
Lesson: Never expect anything from CAT except a frequent change of stripes!
Results and Missed Calls
The time I logged into the CAT results web site of one of the IIMs, was the first of many tense moments of the last six months. I found that a number was now associated with my name: 99.34 percentile. Actually, there were three other numbers as well Quant: 98.9, DI: 94.58, Verbal: 97.31. The initially feeling was one of ecstasy I had, after all, outperformed my mock CAT scores!
The next morning though, was like being yanked from the clouds right into a rabbit hole. One after the other, five hallowed Indian Institutes of Management flashed a rather impolite Sorry, you have not been shortlisted for GD/PI message. Only IIM Calcutta, for some reason, deemed me fit for the next round of their selection process.
Lesson: Two consecutive days are capable of delivering two absolutely opposing emotions!
But the others came a-calling!
After the five missed calls (or would wrong numbers be more appropriate?), there was plenty of why didnt I make it analysis. Actually, to be honest, it was more like why the $% didnt I make it! Each time I almost managed to convince myself that my DI score did me in, Id come across people with lower DIs and Ahmedabad calls! And then there were lower verbals and Indore/Kozhikode calls and lower everything and Bangalore calls!!
Thankfully, things just looked up from there on. I got calls from all the other institutes I had applied to: SP Jain, MDI and NITIE. Things were now really looking up ... it was time to shoot out of gloom and begin preparation in right earnest for the four interviews I was shortlisted for!
Coming Up (hopefully soon!): Lessons on the road to B-School Part II: The GD/PI experience
u probably don even know me or may not even read this post!! But let me tel you sumthing that came from my hear .. Thank you boss .. Youve have motivated me to ultimate levels!
1 more thing I dont thing your VA is so bad & it doesnt always needa topper to give advice !
Your post & effor was out of the world
All the best 4 future .. my best wishes r with you !
chow
luv nd luk
namit
hi guys,
this is the 1st time i've visited this thread. went thro' some of the posts on CAT Preparation. thought i wud also give my two cents to the future aspirants.
I got calls from 15 B-schools (including 6 IIMs). I didnt go for the NITIE & IITD GD/PI and converted all the other 13 calls. Ill be joining IIM, Ahmedabad in June.
This was my 3rd attempt at CAT. I had %iles of 95 & 97 in my previous attempts. But, what made the difference this time was my systematic & serious preparation.
Preparation Tips:
I believe that the best way to go about CAT preparation is to join some coaching institute. You wont have to worry about books etc, as these people would give you enough study material. And you would have a structured preparation.
There are many things required for success in CAT. I divide them as 10-30-60. I mean that 10% is destiny. 30% is the coaching you take. This includes study material, faculty & the quality of the MOCK CATs that your coaching institute gives you. 60% is YOU. You have to believe in yourself & tell yourself constantly that you have that thing in you, which the IIMs or the other B-schools are looking for.
You should have single-minded devotion to CAT preparation. It becomes a bit difficult especially for the people who are working. But, you have to set your priorities in life.
Give yourself some cushion i.e. some back-up options while filling up the forms. I mean that along with IIMs fill up the forms of some B-schools that would give a call at lower %ile. Also, appear for other tests like FMS, XAT, JMET etc. Things might not go as planned in those 2 hours. But, by doing so, you can ensure that you have more chances to prove yourself.
Please take your MOCK CATs very seriously. The %ile that you get in the MOCK CATs, irrespective of the institute you join, is normally the %ile that you get in CAT.
While giving MOCK CATs, do all the experimenting in the first 5 or 6 MOCK CATs. After that, devise a strategy & try to get into a groove.
Please go with an open mind while going for the final examination. You should have a tentative schedule ready if the pattern of the exam is something like you except. But, CAT & the other exams are known to change their patterns any time. in such a case, prepare a strategy there & then. In CAT-2004, we had questions of 0.5, 1 & 2 marks. This had never been done before. Many students were simply too shocked by this & could not attempt the exam well. Please dont let this happen to you.
I think, if you follow all these tips along with serious preparation, nothing can stop you from making it to the best of the B-schools in India. But, remember, there are no short cuts to success. You have to work hard & smart for it.
I dont wanna discuss about the merits & demerits of the various institutes on a public forum. if u need advice on that front, send me an e-mail or PM.
wishing all of you All the Best!!!!
Atul Mehta,
IIMA(Class of 2k5-2k7)
hi pagals
i m RIA . I AM DOING ECONOMIC HONOURS(1YR) FROM DU .IS THERE SOMEBODY WHO WILL TELLME THE OPTIONS AFTER THIS COURSE.
Hi Ria!
This is not the thread the above post should be in. You can use the search option above to find your answers.
BTW I am pursuing Eco (H) second year. For any help PM me(Click on my username on the left and then click send a private message)
ALL THE BEST
IIMA Batch 2008
Didn't know there's a three year program at A, which students still doing their undergrad could participate ...
i simply cant understand why some people just post the most useless info in such an important thread
This is meant for ppl who really need inspiration to crack cat and some *&^%& post in the middle about matarial/course info stupid 1 liners kill the mood. Mode of the forum I call upon u to DELETE these posts, (including mine) not just editing them!
vahgar Saysi simply cant understand why some people just post the most useless info in such an important threadThis is meant for ppl who really need inspiration to crack cat and some *&^%& post in the middle about matarial/course info stupid 1 liners kill the mood. Mode of the forum I call upon u to DELETE these posts, (including mine) not just editing them!
I've been planning the same for some time now...A few days back I had also advised ppl against unnecessary posting...Guess that hasn't worked....
Well...hopefully in a day, I will purge this thread of all unnecessary posts ...
hey chandoo..
ur analysis is actually inspiring dude. plz plz plz help me in my preparation for cat 2k5. ive got da material. ppl say uve to be smart in your preparation. is dere any so-called smart way to do preparation?
or shud i just start readin da theory and solve questions in da package? i am a little confused hearin ppl's comments and advices on how to go about crackin cat. i am relying on you coz i myself am doin my engg. ive just given my 3rd yr exams. now dat i am free,i desperately wanna make da nxt 2 months count.
plz help me out as to how to go about it.
Hey Chandoo,
What a gr8 post man!!! 
😃
Ur determination and ur will made me believe that yes I can do it and the belief to make it irrespective of your strenghts and weaknesses has really got me thinking seriously for CAT.....
Ur post really made me sit up... I was very confussed abt taking CAT the 2nd time this year.....but after reading your posts all my inhibitions are gone......
Thank u soooo much......
All the Best to everyone prpg for CAT'05 and to Chandoo for ur future .....
Cheers- Shilpa.
Hey hey....u all seem to be so much bothered with the reading thing of CAT...but to tell u the truth...ultimately all this reading wont add so much...u know.
U may feel that u r fast but actually u reduce ur speed advantage with the errors.
The truth is over the next six months ..only thing that will help u in getting across the VA/RC section will be ur approach to the paper. Thats rite people the ultimate thing that will matter is the approach to the paper and how efficiently u all do it.
Please bear in mind that i am not trying to discourage anyone from doing reading practice. But the reading part will only help some one over a period of few years and u cant really jump ur levels up in six months.
But U r the best judge and Reading more will only help...so keep on doing it
Regards
Preet
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
I found a lot of similarities with u chandoo...hope that continues till the IIM selection....I took the Quants material again after reading ur post
great going............inspired me a lot ...... u still there in the PG ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them
all yourself.
hey guys
i am a engg student from not an iit or nit.
i am from ordinary engg college
i wanna know that whether there is priority for iitians or nitians over otheres or not
Hey Dude..
i dont think there is any preference as such for IITians ....i am not from IIT ans still made it..
and IITians are few in number...its just that there is a lot of hype abt IIT +IIM grads...which leads to a mistaken idea that u need to be an iitian to make it through to the IIMs..
sibs