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Sunday, July 1, 2007

CAT preparation tips

Study time: Quality or quantity?

Preparation for CAT cannot really be counted in terms of hours of study. To an extent, it depends on the candidate's inborn capacity, which nobody can change. What you can do, however, is try and sharpen your skills as much as possible.

The time required for this varies from person to person. There are people who have studied for seven to eight hours a day and still not cleared CAT, while there are people in very good B-schools whose CAT preparation was limited to two to three hours a day.

Focus on your strenghts


A key point to be remembered is that you should always focus on your strengths. Once the cut-off in all the sections is cleared, it does not matter where the marks come from. So, if you are good at English, spend more time on Verbal. The same holds good for Data Interpretation/ Data Sufficiency and Quant.

The objective is to maximise your total score. Don't forget, however, it is very important you clear the cut-off in each section of CAT (if you do not clear the cut-off level in every section, you will fail CAT).

Since it is true you will not know the cut-off, you should try to ensure you do moderately well in all the sections and exceptionally well in the ones you are good at.

Why English Usage is so important
Good at Quant?


A general brush-up of your Class XII/ IIT screening level maths should be enough. For people with a non-maths background, a good GRE/ GMAT book could serve as a great starting point for Quant preparation.

Formula for Data Interpretation/ Data Sufficiency?

As far as DI/ DS is concerned, there is no fixed formula for preparation. You should keep practising more and more questions until you are able to come up with a definite strategy.

Initially, don't worry about time limits. Start timing yourself only when you need the the advanced stage of your CAT preparation.

Are you good at group discussions?
Get that Verbal edge

It would be ideal to do some regular reading. You could read anything -- magazines, novels, etc. Most coaching centres would ask you to memorise word lists, but I don't think that helps at all.

Once you become used to reading stories/ books, questions like sentence rearrangement, etc, will come to you naturally.

Irrespective of how you choose to approach the exam, there is no 'fixed' formula for success. What I have mentioned above are some of the things that have worked for me when I was preparing for CAT.

I hope they help you too. Best of luck!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

i had joined a instiute to prepare for CAT to get admission in one of IIM.am i going right to crack CAT to get IIM?

1rd69 said...

sorry dude u r going to FAIL

Anonymous said...

actually both of u!

Anonymous said...

Dear first "Anonymous", with such a terrible english, even if IIM professors train you, you can't clear CAT. improve your vocabs.

Parag said...

Guys stop pulling legs. Don't you all have been doing this for the last 10 years (well m counting time u started using your own brain) .. and where has it landed you ? Not satisfactory, if I may guess.

So get a life! All four of you.

Anonymous said...

hi i wantd to knw hw can i start ma prep for cat n which r gud coachin instis. wt sort of books shall i refer for initial prep? i just did ma 12th.

haramol said...

CAT is done after graduation..
After 12th, u can do a combined course of graduation PLUS MBA.. Some institute offer that.. its a 5 yr course.. But u got to chk inst reputation before u apply...
I advice u do graduation first, start reading newspaper... people advice to read HINDU.. BUT dont just jump to HIndu right away.. U r a biginger, so read TOI, or HT to develop reading interest... read their editorials which will help build views... A good site for nice articles is http://www.competitionquest.com/articles.php

U will get more on this site

Anonymous said...

Hey Guys ! Lots of Leg pulling Here On this blog. Stop That All. And Concentrate On the Preparation of Cat Exam..... i have an best Online >Cat Preparation site where You can Find Free Online Test, fully Last Year Solved Tests and Much More....
Visit On: tcyonline.com

Anonymous said...

hey....i am persuing bcom...n this is my 1st year............so could u plz tell me...should i start preparing for CAT.......??

BHUVANESH said...

My Best practice as a 99 percentile scorer is to do test papers.

weekdays: 1
weekends and holidays: 3

I have completed 500+ tests before appearing original test. Don't forget to read newspaper and magazines daily.

Thats all I did...

BHUVANESH said...

Know you inner defects by yourself because you shouldn't give chance for some other person to point them out.

Anonymous said...

Nw i m in sy.bba ft n just started cat prepratn ...i m little bit cnfuse..tat in which section i shud cncetrate mre....:)