With the aim to throw light on the path of the
preparation for CAT 2012 preparation, MBAUniverse.com has started the
Live Expert Chat series on ‘How to prepare for CAT 2012’. With around
100 days left for the exam, the CAT 2012 aspirants are geared up to give
their best shot in their preparation.
The last Live Expert Chat
was held on Friday, July 6, 2012 with Byju Raveendran, CAT expert and
founder, Byju’s CAT Classes. The participants posed questions varying
from preparation to the chances of making it to the top B-schools
according to their backgrounds and pattern of CAT.
Excerpts from the chat.
Q: Anuj: I want to know the best strategy to tackle Quant section.
A: We should always understand that questions from topics under Algebra such as Equations, Inequalities, functions compared to Percentages, Ratio Proportion, Profit and Loss etc are always more. An added advantage of being strong in Algebra is that many unconventional techniques like Assumption and Substitution can be used many a times reducing the time taken considerably. Always make it a point to revise things that you have already covered from the time of starting your preparation but do not exhaust yourself doing all this in the last few days.
Q: Karan Aghi: What should be my daily plan to study for CAT 2012? I was working for the past year but now I have given up my job and I am preparing for CAT 2012.
A: Having lots of time in hand is a good thing but ensure that you focus on your preparation strategy starting with an analysis of your weak and strong areas. As there are four different question types in CAT, you need to look at these sections individually and then make a weekly plan to begin the preparation. Then finally start taking mock tests to analyze your scoring and non-scoring areas. This will help you in your final lap to CAT 2012.
Q: Anuj: I have some work experience. How much weight would be given to it by IIMs and the top B-schools? Also, what should be the proper strategy to get sectional cut offs?
A: Every B-School has its own short listing criteria. It only comes into light after the CAT results are announced. So for now, I would suggest you to concentrate on just maximizing your score in the test. Also, with the new pattern being introduced last year, it might be beneficial for you in terms of clearing the sectional cut-offs. For instance if you are weak in DI, you can still compensate for that to a certain extent if you are strong in Quant, by solving some more Quant questions.
Q: Sambit: I am good at Math. But somehow, I am not able to score well in the Quant section. Could you please give me some tips to maximize my performance?
A: Use mock tests to identify the reason behind your low scores and maybe even lesser attempts. Solve questions from your strong areas first and then move on to weaker areas. Also spend more time trying to improve on those sections where your attempts and accuracy is low. CAT is an exam where common sense plays an important role and hence, methods like approximation and assumption using answer options will work wonders. CAUTION: Don't try all of this for the first time on the D-Day, in other words prior practice is a must!
Q: Shashank: How do I start to prepare for VA and LR?
A: Last year’s CAT pattern might prove to benefit those who are weak in Verbal Ability, as one can manage the VA-LR section to a certain extent if they are strong in Reasoning or vice versa. There is more flexibility because of inclusion of logical reasoning questions which has always followed a set pattern looking at the last 10 years of CAT. For VA, RCs are always going to be the game changer. RC preparation can be done even in the last few weeks by trying to solve an RC passage using the keyword approach. Identify the main theme from the RC questions and look for those themes from the paragraphs. This can be practiced even in the last few days by improving attempts so as to get more clarity while reading the passages. There is no shortcut to improve the reading speed, but the shortcut is to READ more and more!
Q: Shashank: With 100 days remaining, can we start preparing now, or it is late?
A: It is never too late to start preparing for an exam which tests nothing but your basic concepts and common sense. CAT is a two and a half hour exam, and 100 days is more than sufficient if you plan your preparation accordingly. You can also solve previous year CAT questions to analyze the common patterns.
Q: Aparna: I have 58.4 per cent marks in my 12th standard so will it create problem for me while going for the CAT 2012 and getting admission in B-schools?
A: Previous academic records is a criterion for short listing along with your CAT scores and other factors but each B-School has its own short listing criteria so a weak score in 12th or even your 10th can be compensated with a high CAT score. So now start the battle for CAT 2012!
Q: Anuj: How frequently should one give the mock tests and is there any shortcut to Geometry problems?
A: At this stage, you can attempt a mock CAT once a fortnight and as the D-Day draws close, you can take one or two mocks every week. The important thing here is that, you should spend as much or more time analyzing each mock CAT you have attempted. Every mock CAT should be a learning process where you can understand and improve on your weak areas, if any. Area based questions are a frequent type in Geometry, where dividing a regular figure into equal parts can help you arrive at the solution faster. Approximation is another tool you can use to eliminate wrong answer choices.
Q: Ebin: I am weak in DI. How should I start preparing for DI questions? Will it be okay if I attempt maximum QA questions and leave DI questions for the first section in order to clear cut off?
A: To begin with, leaving any section or question type completely is not a good idea. The good news is - question types under DI is covered through concepts related to percentages, averages and ratios so once you are familiar with these areas then all you need to do is to understand and interpret the data so as to start cracking the DI question sets. If you go through the previous CAT papers you will understand that there are only a few question types that are asked, that will give you real confidence.
Q: Shashank: Has the level or standard of questions asked decreased much after the computer based CAT started, or it is almost the same?
A: This is a good query that runs in the minds of most aspirants these days. The good thing is that the IIMs have always maintained a standard with respect to the sections, types of question, and the level of difficulty. The online version has made a difference to CAT in terms of creating a cloud of uncertainty but the questions haven't been a cakewalk for any CAT aspirant in the last two years!
Q: Anuj: What is the weightage of Data Sufficiency questions in the QA & DI section? Please mention the types and how to prepare?
A: If you look at the trend in the previous papers, Data Sufficiency questions range anywhere from 0 to 15 per cent of the questions which appear in CAT. Questions can be based on basic mathematical concepts, Data Interpretation or Reasoning skills. You can understand the type of question by reading the directions carefully, but you can keep the following tricks and traps in mind while attempting DS questions.
Trick # 1: Answer obtained should be unique.
Trick # 2: There is no need to solve the question completely. Remember that we are only interested in finding out whether the given data is sufficient to solve the problem or not.
Trick # 3: Even a “no” is an answer. So if you can answer the question as “no”, you have sufficient data to solve the problem.
No here are some traps which you must be careful of while solving the DS questions.
Trap # 1: A unique answer does not mean we cannot have two different answers from the two statements separately.
Trap # 2: Treat each statement separately. Do not hurry once you realize that statement 1 is sufficient to answer the question. Do remember that you have a possibility of both the options alone being sufficient to answer the question.
Trap # 3: Do not forget to try both the statements together to get to an answer after both statements individually have failed to give you an answer.
Q: Anand: How do I prepare for the vocabulary section, if I have to start from scratch?
A: What you can always keep in mind is that half of your VA section is going to be RC based. If we look at the rest of the Verbal Ability part of CAT we can easily identify the other important topics, such as sentence completion, Para-jumbles and some grammar based questions. The simple tip is - start reading and immediately see a marked improvement in your RC attempts. Read Voraciously!
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on CAT 2012 Live Expert Chats.
The last Live Expert Chat
was held on Friday, July 6, 2012 with Byju Raveendran, CAT expert and
founder, Byju’s CAT Classes. The participants posed questions varying
from preparation to the chances of making it to the top B-schools
according to their backgrounds and pattern of CAT. Excerpts from the chat.
Q: Anuj: I want to know the best strategy to tackle Quant section.
A: We should always understand that questions from topics under Algebra such as Equations, Inequalities, functions compared to Percentages, Ratio Proportion, Profit and Loss etc are always more. An added advantage of being strong in Algebra is that many unconventional techniques like Assumption and Substitution can be used many a times reducing the time taken considerably. Always make it a point to revise things that you have already covered from the time of starting your preparation but do not exhaust yourself doing all this in the last few days.
Q: Karan Aghi: What should be my daily plan to study for CAT 2012? I was working for the past year but now I have given up my job and I am preparing for CAT 2012.
A: Having lots of time in hand is a good thing but ensure that you focus on your preparation strategy starting with an analysis of your weak and strong areas. As there are four different question types in CAT, you need to look at these sections individually and then make a weekly plan to begin the preparation. Then finally start taking mock tests to analyze your scoring and non-scoring areas. This will help you in your final lap to CAT 2012.
Q: Anuj: I have some work experience. How much weight would be given to it by IIMs and the top B-schools? Also, what should be the proper strategy to get sectional cut offs?
A: Every B-School has its own short listing criteria. It only comes into light after the CAT results are announced. So for now, I would suggest you to concentrate on just maximizing your score in the test. Also, with the new pattern being introduced last year, it might be beneficial for you in terms of clearing the sectional cut-offs. For instance if you are weak in DI, you can still compensate for that to a certain extent if you are strong in Quant, by solving some more Quant questions.
Q: Sambit: I am good at Math. But somehow, I am not able to score well in the Quant section. Could you please give me some tips to maximize my performance?
A: Use mock tests to identify the reason behind your low scores and maybe even lesser attempts. Solve questions from your strong areas first and then move on to weaker areas. Also spend more time trying to improve on those sections where your attempts and accuracy is low. CAT is an exam where common sense plays an important role and hence, methods like approximation and assumption using answer options will work wonders. CAUTION: Don't try all of this for the first time on the D-Day, in other words prior practice is a must!
Q: Shashank: How do I start to prepare for VA and LR?
A: Last year’s CAT pattern might prove to benefit those who are weak in Verbal Ability, as one can manage the VA-LR section to a certain extent if they are strong in Reasoning or vice versa. There is more flexibility because of inclusion of logical reasoning questions which has always followed a set pattern looking at the last 10 years of CAT. For VA, RCs are always going to be the game changer. RC preparation can be done even in the last few weeks by trying to solve an RC passage using the keyword approach. Identify the main theme from the RC questions and look for those themes from the paragraphs. This can be practiced even in the last few days by improving attempts so as to get more clarity while reading the passages. There is no shortcut to improve the reading speed, but the shortcut is to READ more and more!
Q: Shashank: With 100 days remaining, can we start preparing now, or it is late?
A: It is never too late to start preparing for an exam which tests nothing but your basic concepts and common sense. CAT is a two and a half hour exam, and 100 days is more than sufficient if you plan your preparation accordingly. You can also solve previous year CAT questions to analyze the common patterns.
Q: Aparna: I have 58.4 per cent marks in my 12th standard so will it create problem for me while going for the CAT 2012 and getting admission in B-schools?
A: Previous academic records is a criterion for short listing along with your CAT scores and other factors but each B-School has its own short listing criteria so a weak score in 12th or even your 10th can be compensated with a high CAT score. So now start the battle for CAT 2012!
Q: Anuj: How frequently should one give the mock tests and is there any shortcut to Geometry problems?
A: At this stage, you can attempt a mock CAT once a fortnight and as the D-Day draws close, you can take one or two mocks every week. The important thing here is that, you should spend as much or more time analyzing each mock CAT you have attempted. Every mock CAT should be a learning process where you can understand and improve on your weak areas, if any. Area based questions are a frequent type in Geometry, where dividing a regular figure into equal parts can help you arrive at the solution faster. Approximation is another tool you can use to eliminate wrong answer choices.
Q: Ebin: I am weak in DI. How should I start preparing for DI questions? Will it be okay if I attempt maximum QA questions and leave DI questions for the first section in order to clear cut off?
A: To begin with, leaving any section or question type completely is not a good idea. The good news is - question types under DI is covered through concepts related to percentages, averages and ratios so once you are familiar with these areas then all you need to do is to understand and interpret the data so as to start cracking the DI question sets. If you go through the previous CAT papers you will understand that there are only a few question types that are asked, that will give you real confidence.
Q: Shashank: Has the level or standard of questions asked decreased much after the computer based CAT started, or it is almost the same?
A: This is a good query that runs in the minds of most aspirants these days. The good thing is that the IIMs have always maintained a standard with respect to the sections, types of question, and the level of difficulty. The online version has made a difference to CAT in terms of creating a cloud of uncertainty but the questions haven't been a cakewalk for any CAT aspirant in the last two years!
Q: Anuj: What is the weightage of Data Sufficiency questions in the QA & DI section? Please mention the types and how to prepare?
A: If you look at the trend in the previous papers, Data Sufficiency questions range anywhere from 0 to 15 per cent of the questions which appear in CAT. Questions can be based on basic mathematical concepts, Data Interpretation or Reasoning skills. You can understand the type of question by reading the directions carefully, but you can keep the following tricks and traps in mind while attempting DS questions.
Trick # 1: Answer obtained should be unique.
Trick # 2: There is no need to solve the question completely. Remember that we are only interested in finding out whether the given data is sufficient to solve the problem or not.
Trick # 3: Even a “no” is an answer. So if you can answer the question as “no”, you have sufficient data to solve the problem.
No here are some traps which you must be careful of while solving the DS questions.
Trap # 1: A unique answer does not mean we cannot have two different answers from the two statements separately.
Trap # 2: Treat each statement separately. Do not hurry once you realize that statement 1 is sufficient to answer the question. Do remember that you have a possibility of both the options alone being sufficient to answer the question.
Trap # 3: Do not forget to try both the statements together to get to an answer after both statements individually have failed to give you an answer.
Q: Anand: How do I prepare for the vocabulary section, if I have to start from scratch?
A: What you can always keep in mind is that half of your VA section is going to be RC based. If we look at the rest of the Verbal Ability part of CAT we can easily identify the other important topics, such as sentence completion, Para-jumbles and some grammar based questions. The simple tip is - start reading and immediately see a marked improvement in your RC attempts. Read Voraciously!
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on CAT 2012 Live Expert Chats.
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