But less than 1% of them will earn admission to one of the highly selective Indian Institutes of Management.
Faced with such a daunting challege, how can you best use the last 90 days for CAT preparation?
How should you analyse your mock CAT scores?
How can you detect the difference between easy, medium and difficult questions?
What's the best way to maximise your percentile?
Munish Kumar and Atul Prashar, competitive examination experts with Top Careers and You, chatted with Get Ahead readers on September 6 and answered these very questions.
For those of you who missed the chat, here's part one of the transcript:
VARUN asked, HI, straight question will 2 months be enough to get ready 4 cat? ive been going for classes and taking mocks, verbal isnt a prob, di i hover very close 2 the cut offs, this side or the other - quant - i really need 2 work hard, and i am trying -with this state how shd my prep be to do well
Atul Prashar answers, I think you can do it. Just prepare a comprehensive list of the topics in quant that were problematic in all the mocks that you took and act on them
Pontel asked, Myself Pontel. I am studying VA every and each day for three hours only. Still my score is not improving. How can I improve my verbal scores?
Munish Kumar answers, You have to identify your areas of weakness. If you have taken mock CATs, you will know what type of questions you are not able to get right. Now, CAT verbal lays more emphasis on reasoning than on vocabulary and grammar.
Ganesh asked, trigonometry is my weak link...any book you would recommend for this?
Munish Kumar answers, There is one by Loney. But I strongly recommend you take a trigonometry test and have it evaluated by your trainer. No one requires in-depth information about a topic in September.
Bhup@n9 asked, inspite of goin through most of the topics ,i am not able to score in Quant,Can you please help out
Atul Prashar answers, The only problem seems to be in your approach. Do not focus on quantity of tests rather the quality of your analysis and discussions.
Vijaye asked, Wotz the avg score per section on CAT?
Munish Kumar answers, It all depends on the level of difficulty. You have to be in top 1% of total test takers.
subha asked, i want to know how i need to go about last one week preparation before CAT O7
Atul Prashar answers, work on stress & time managemen, review all the mocks and see which strategies to attempt the exam worked well.
Rutu asked, What should be my study pattern if i wish to start NOW for the CAT 2007?
Atul Prashar answers, You are very late, Ritu. Give one or two mocks and have them analysed by some CAT experts in your city. This would decide your course of action.
arpit asked, hello sir,i have started taking aimcats of T.I.M.E since the past few weeks,however my percentiles havent been great,nor consistent.sometimes 92-93 and once even 75.but m doing gud at the place i go for coachings.are aimcats much tougher than the actual cat?
Munish Kumar answers, Whether the test is easy or tough, it's same for all. Percentile score does not depend on the level of difficulty but on the relative score
FILM asked, IS cat most difficult standardised exam in world?
Atul Prashar answers, Content wise, yes. Attempt process wise, there are some even trickier like GMAT, GRE etc
arpit asked, hello sir,i have started taking aimcats of T.I.M.E since the past few weeks,however my percentiles havent been great,nor consistent.sometimes 92-93 and once even 75.but m doing gud at the place i go for coachings.are aimcats much tougher than the actual cat?should the scores of aimcats be taken as benchmarks for cat scores..pls reply and do help out
Atul Prashar answers, You must take aimcats of more than one institute to logically evaluate your prepartion
esha asked, How to prepare for verbal section?especially for grammer part..
Munish Kumar answers, Perhaps you know that there was not a single question based on grammar in CAT 06. Still you have to work on basic grammar rules so that you can pinpoint the error and rectify it.
Bhup@n9 asked, In English,my socres are fluctuating. I am always in a doubt whether to give more time to questions or to go with speed + no.of attempts statergy
Munish Kumar answers, For CAT, accuracy is more important than speed. In the verbal section, you should make an inital selection of questions that you are confident about and then proceed.
Bhup@n9 asked, In English,my socres are fluctuating. I am always in a doubt whether to give more time to questions or to go with speed + no.of attempts statergy
Atul Prashar answers, It's good you know your area of focus. Try to further break down the performance into score in RC, EU etc. It may be only RC is the problem. then you can focus on that particular weak area.
Bhup@n9 asked, In the RC section, i usually attempt the most number of questions,only to find that i have missed the answers narrowly,Can you tell me a way to tackle this problem ??
Munish Kumar answers, We should aim to spend less time on the passage and more on the choices. Proceed through POE. The incorrect answer options could be extreme answers, half-truths or phrases directly picked from the passage.
subha asked, how to improve my speed in reading comprehension
Munish Kumar answers, Bear it in mind that you are not reading for words, but for important phrases and for main idea. RC is less of reading, more of comprehension.
sk asked, will just clearing the cut offs in all sections ensure a good score? or good calls?
Munish Kumar answers, Clearing the cut-offs only makes you eligible for a call, thereafter it is all as per maximisation of total score
esha asked, I always score less in DI... kindly recommend any book for DI and how many hours I daily need to Prepare DI?
Munish Kumar answers, Now a days, questions in DI section are more logical than calculation based. You should follow any puzzle book like George Summer to improve.
Kharbanda asked, Hello Sir! I will be giving CAT-08 please let me know how to begin preparing for it.
Munish Kumar answers, This is right time to start preparation for CAT 08. Work on Basics of mathematics up to 10th level, grammar up to +2 level and devote lot of time on diversified reading on subjects such as philosophy, psychology, religion , culture, science, business, etc.
rohit asked, I have close to 8 years of workex? What are my options (Colleges & Courses) through CAT?
Munish Kumar answers, B-schools like SPjain give maximum weightage to work experience. You can also take GMAT and try ISB.
rohit asked, Hi My Q is Can I clear CAT with>= 93%tile if I start preparation now. I may have 4-5 hours on weekdays & 10-12 hrs on weekends.What should be my strategy.Thanx
Munish Kumar answers, Now it's time to take mock CATs and try diffrent strategies so that you could know which strategy works the best for you. Also identify your weaknesses and work on them.
krishan asked, in mock cat my score is not very good at the same time i m very much afraid with the negative marking and so many times i confuse to select the appropriate question??? how do i proceed further for cat with in 2 months?
Atul Prashar answers, The problem is test anxiety. Carry home one or two mocks and take them overight -- one untimed other timed. You will see your confidence building up.
Raja asked, Hi Atul\Munish. I am getting around 88-92 percentile in mock CAT conducted by TIME. Do advice me on how to go about anaylsing the mock papers and what should be strategy for the next 3months. My scores are almost the same in all three sections but i am not able to maximise it...do advice
Atul Prashar answers, We have given a way to analyse your MOCKs. The article can be found here.
Catty asked, can you suggest some books,that helps in tuning the referential reading skills
Munish Kumar answers, The important thing is that you should read articles on different topics.
Catty asked, i am not able to score in Quant,even in the easiest of the mocks i'll attempt 10-11 questns,when i analyse at home,i am able to pick the sitters ,why is it so i get stuck up mentally in the exam
Atul Prashar answers, You have answered your question yourself, Catty. Define the maximum time that you will spend
on any quant question. Leave it if it takes more than the time you decided. Sometimes you spend more time on intial questions and, in your hurry, answer the rest of the questions wrong.
Tomorrow: Part II