HOW TO CRACK THE CAT
"ANISH ARYAN IS AN ENGINEER FROM IIT BOMBAY.HE IS SHARING HOW HE CRACKED THE CAT EXAM AND GOT MANAGMENT SEAT"

Awhopping 99.9 percentile in CAT 2009. And he is now pursuing his PGP at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Anish Aryan speaks on how he cracked the Common Admission Test (CAT). I did my mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay. In my third year, I got interested in other areas like management and decided to take CAT. I got through in my first attempt with 99.9 percentile. I went for the CAT test series at a coaching centre six months before CAT.
The classes were on weekends and I tried to attend as many as possible. CAT does not require as much preparation as IIT JEE. I studied for an hour every day and a minimum of three hours on weekends as I used to take the tests. The tests are useful; they help you in gauging where exactly you stand among others and where your strengths and weaknesses lie. Managing the time is everything in CAT. The knowledge required is just basic Maths, logic and English. But the challenge lies in answering the maximum questions within the time limit. All three sections must be covered. Not one can be neglected.
Managing time depends on where your strength lies. You should know what you are good at and what to start with. In the first round, do not spend more than 40 minutes in one section. If you do, you will lose out on the others. This is where the tests come into play. The more tests you take, the better. Online tests, I feel, are much better than the pen and paper ones. Last year, I had a problem with my first attempt. However, the second one was smooth. The process is much faster, it helps you go back and forth more quickly and smoothly.

MYTH'S ABOUT CAT

"The basic difference between those who crack the CAT and those who don’t is the mindset. Most aspirants start out by telling themselves that the CAT is ‘too difficult an exam to crack’. This self-defeating thought is often supported by some false notions about the exam. Let’s destroy a few myths that students love to hold onto."

Myth 1: “Only engineers can crack the CAT”
Terming the CAT a ‘difficult exam’ and giving up on it thinking that only engineering students can crack it, is pure escapism as one does not want to put in the efforts that the preparation demands. Results have proven that non-engineers have done just as well in the CAT as students from an engineering background. Ankit Doshi, a commerce graduate from Mumbai University, who scored 99.7 percentile in CAT 2008, says “The most important thing to keep in mind for the CAT is common sense. The ability to gauge the test and adapt to it quickly is the key.”

Myth 2: “I need to be brilliant at both verbal and quantitative aptitude.”
It’s possible to do well in the CAT with any one area as your core strength. A lot of people who were not comfortable with math, have managed to crack the CAT by following a simple strategy - manage the weak area, maximise in the area of strength, and manage time to maximise the overall score. The CAT contains several simple and elementary questions as well. Having a fear in one area makes one ignore those questions or approach them as if they were tough to solve.

Myth 3: “I need work-experience to get a call from an institute.”
Though the proportion of people with work-experience is usually higher and varies across institutes, there is no rule about freshers not being admitted at all. Most institutes want diversity in their batch, and hence freshers are given a chance because of the fresh perspective they bring in.

Myth 1: “CAT is only about the IIMs.”
IIMs are only a few of the many institutes that accept the CAT score. There are many other good institutes that one can consider taking admission to, through the CAT. An IIM call may be cherished, but do not get disheartened if you don’t get a call. CAT offers many other excellent options besides the IIMs.

Myth 1: “I can manage preparation for CAT the same way as other (college) exams.”
CAT cannot be approached the same way as regular college exams. Unlike college exams, one cannot do justice to CAT preparation through ‘ study’ or during ‘preparatory leave’. CAT needs regular, consistent practice over a period of at least six months. It’s a classic case of ‘slow and steady wins the race’, in which consistent effort is far more important than short bursts of intense study.
Another important point to keep in mind is to look for ways to solve a question until one discovers the most favourable method. It’s a case of constant and never ending improvement. Mitesh Gursahani, IIM Indore batch of 2009-11 says, “Much of the perceived difficulty of the CAT arises from the hype that is created around it, making it seem as if cracking the CAT is nothing short of a miracle.”
Having seen through the above falsehoods, one also needs to bear in mind a few more seemingly minor but significant things. The first amongst them is persistence. There will be days of disappointment, and tests with terrible scores. It’s good to know this before you start preparations so that you can take disappointment in your stride.
Also, enjoying the process is important. Akanksha Thakore, IIMA batch of 2007-09, says, “I thoroughly enjoyed the process of preparation. I immersed myself in it, giving very little thought to what the outcome might be. It helped me focus my energies and do away with the pressure of results.”
Above all, one needs to start by believing ‘I can crack the CAT’. Says Thakore, “I told myself that I'm good enough for the IIMs, and believed in it. If I had not, the battle would have been lost even before it began!”
‘I can’ should be your mantra as you begin preparations for the exam. That’s where the right mindset begins.

CAT EXAMS

Ending a three decade old paper-pencil format for the Common Admissions Test(CAT), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) have decided to adopt a computer based model for CAT 2009. From now on, applicants will select a test date from a period of ten days towards the end of this calendar year.

“The CAT will be conducted at Prometric centers across the country. The locations of these centers will be determined only after all applications have been received. Students will get some idea about how to prepare for this year’s test when the CAT advertisements and booklets are released,” said IIM Bangalore (IIM-B) Professor Amarnath Krishnaswamy.

The primary reason behind this decision is the manifold increase in number of CAT applicants in recent years. Approximately 2.5 lakh candidates wrote the CAT in 2008 and this is an increase of 163 percent as compared to 2003 when about 95,000 students attempted this test. The IIMs have encountered difficulties in conducting the CAT in the past. In 2003, CAT question papers had been leaked and this resulted in a retest being held later that year.

The IIMs believe that a computer based CAT will result in flexibility in choice of selection date, ease of registration process, better physical environment and test experience. There will also be enhanced security in terms of biometric identification of candidates and video monitoring. Such a format is expected to improve communication between candidates and IIMs in terms of programme information, test delivery, receipt of admit cards, and receipt of score reports.

“The nature of study preparation doesn't depend on whether the CAT is a paper-based or a computer-based test”.

Every year the CAT has changed in some way or the other. This year, the change is with respect to the mode of taking the test. As far as preparing the concepts are concerned, there will not be any change. However, you have to go through sufficient online practice to acclimatize yourself with the online testing process. The nature of study preparation doesn't depend on whether the CAT is a paper-based or a computer-based test. You need material that will cover basic concepts explained in a friendly manner, CAT application based questions for practice with explanatory answers and test papers. Also check out the material of most of the reputed MBA training institutions.

You do not need to be computer savvy to take an online test. All that is required is the ability to use the mouse and a few basic keys. Do not worry on that front. spend at least 5 hours a day for the ultimate preparation.

Expert Suggestions : Follow Strategies

* Preparing Maths

* Preparing Data Interpretation

* Preparing Analytical reasoning

* Preparing Reading comprehension

* Preparing Verbal ability

* word list

* Reading

There are two phases of preparation

Preparation for CAT 2010 - First phase:

In this phase you should get good grip on fundamentals and get familiar with all chapters and problems . Do not look for speed solving or feel any sort of pressure while preparing fundamentals. Learn with your own efficiency, without getting into fundamentals clearly speed-solving is not useful. Please manage to allocate at least one hour a day for reading newspapers, magazines. It is better to subscribe for any good magazines during the preparation. Get in touch with current affairs

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Schedule your weeks to prepare accordingly because haphazardness will waste lot of time. If you have been preparing without any study structure then whatever you may achieve would have been increased up to 50%. Try to shuffle the subjects also, so that you do not get bored with one subject. A good time table for 1 days look like below:

Day 1:

1 hour reading

2 hours of math

1 hour of analytical reasoning / data interpretation

1 hour of reading comprehension exercises / verbal ability

Preparation for CAT 2010 - second phase(self analyzing and improving):

By the time you finish the fundamentals which is about second week of august, you will get a fare idea on the area of your weakness and strengths. Make a tabular form of topics categorizing strengths and weakness to have a clear picture on it. Keep weak areas in mind and try to improve yourself by focusing them more.

From second week of August you can take section tests along with revision of topics in alternate day, here if you think you have to allocate more time you should do.. You must start taking comprehensive tests by the beginning of September.

Things you look to learn in comprehensive tests of 2-3 hour long, is how to manage paper so the attitude here should be the same like a batsman who wants to score as many runs as possible in the last 10 overs in onedayers. You should think of scoring as much as possible ,but most people will get emotional to have a challenging problem and stuck up solving only that problem.

After you tested yourself spend time to analyze it. The key points to analyze your test:

1. Speed:

See if your speed is better than previous tests, notice if you do not understand basics you cannot apply them to tougher problems. Both these attributes are a prerequisite for speed solving;

2. Concentration:

Most of we do not use two hours sitting at a stretch; a high degree of concentration is also not easy for first time test takers. Comprehensive tests make us to sit for two hours at a stretch and we increase our attentive span.

3. Time Management:

The most important value provided by the comprehensive test is an idea of our strengths and weakness. So you should manage time and allocate certain time to each section depending on your strength and weakness

4. Accuracy:

Accuracy is the number of correct questions out of attempted questions. if this is low you need to go and revise the chapters which are reducing your accuracy because marking wrong option will impose negative marks in cat.

5. Finding Traps:

You should avoid false positives or false negatives i.e., you shouldn’t leave easy questions thinking they are hard and attempt hard questions thinking they are easy. analyzing your progress on the above four : compare with the previous attempted paper on above all points

Mock Exam

There are 160 to 220 objective type CAT sample questions and divided into three to four sections. Each CAT sample question question has four alternate answer choices and the candidate has to choose the best answer for each of the questions and mark it on a special Optical Reader answer sheet.

The duration of the test is of 120 minutes. This literally translates to answering a CAT question in 48 seconds. Most successful aspirants do not attempt anything more than 120 plus questions. And quite a lot of them attempt between 85 and 100 questions.

1. The accuracy or strike rate

Each correct question carries 1 positive mark, while each incorrect question carries negative marks. Hence, it is important to get a strike rate of over 85% - that is reduce the number of negatives.

2. Smart Selection

As you will not be generally able to attempt all CAT sample question, and you skip between 30 and 50 questions. Most important thing to success is selecting questions properly. Remember, every correct question carries the same 1-mark and each incorrect answer carries a one-third negative. So be careful and choose the questions that you have practised a lot and smash them.

CAT evaluates your presence of mind and the ability to perform under pressure. You cannot prepare for CAT during the last 10 days.Minimum of 3 to 9 months of regular preparation is essential.

CAT sample questions tests your skills in four broad areas :

1. Verbal

* Sentence Completions

* Analogies

* Reading Comprehension

* Antonyms

2. Math (Quantitative)

* Quantitative Comparisons

* Standard Multiple-choice

* Data Interpretation

3. Analytical

* Analytical Reasoning

* Logical Reasoning

4. General Awareness