THE A TO Z OF CAT PREPARATION

CAT entrance today is one of the most desired career route as seen by the young graduates. Clearing CAT requires certain specific attributes. These attributes are an integral part of a personality of a student and have to be infused as strong values to be made a part of his/her own system of learning.

The A to Z of these values can be listed as follows:

Attitude – CAT is all about a perfect mix of attitude and aptitude. These primarily include Speed & Accuracy, Language Skills, Quantitative skills, Personality, Communication skills & Sincerity. Only a perfect Fit of all these qualities will make it through.

Balance - In your approach to preparation a balance is a must. Focus on all the test area specifically and not over do or under do a test area. Usually a student fails to perform only on account of a test area he has been strong in and therefore had been neglecting it during preparatory stage.

Conviction - MBA entrance is all about a perfect mix of attitude and aptitude. U should have a strong belief on yourself . And your hard work would automatically make it.
A Positive Attitude May Not Solve All Your Problems, But It Will Annoy Enough People To Make It Worth The Effort. – Herm Albright

Direction – It is imperative to give yourself a proper direction for career pathway i.e. if you are appearing for MBA entrance, focus on it as a Career Alternative and just an entrance exam, Management has to be taken up as a profession and not a mere source of Income.

Efficacy - Doing right things is also equally important to efficiency (doing things right). It is possible that U may be solving the mock entrance papers with correct techniques, but are focussing on the areas that need to be developed at the same time, analysing your approach for a better score in the test paper?

Face it – What ever is the reality face it. It might possible that initially U may feel let down looking at your performance in the mock papers but every thing takes time, and U have to face it "Rome was not built in a day"

Gear up - For the challenge ahead. Just when U think U have got the grip on vocabulary for example , U might simply lose points on account of the same. This happens, U must gear up for the element of surprise in the CAT.

Hard work – There is no substitute for hard work in your endeavored for CAT preparation , there is no short cut for success . “I Find That The Harder I Work, The More Luck I Seem To Have." - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Introspection – Do your SWOT analysis, find out the areas U are weak in. If U are unable to improve your scores in RC , chances are that your reading habits have not been strong or focussed on reading a variety of topics. Work on it, start reading today, it is never to late to work on a good thing.
One Today Is Worth Two Tomorrows. => Benjamin Franklin

Judge your improvement - During your preparation focus on improvements and not just high scores have U improved on the test taking techniques ? , have U been able to manage your time well in the test ? evaluate your performance and be discreet in your judgement.

Killer Instinct - Approach the preparations with a Do or Die attitude, tell yourself “ I am going to make it even if it takes working long hours and late nights for the preparation“. But this should be before CAT, so that not all uncracker of CAT like me commit suicide. IT IS JUST AN EXAM ... don't make it bigger than life .

Learn - Tries to imbibe all the useful thing which come across to U , esp the tip’s and trick in QA section . It’s your learning which is always with U .
"Each Problem That I Solved Became A Rule Which Served Afterwards To Solve Other Problems." - Rene Descartes (1596-1650), "Discours De La Methode"

Maturity – Cracking CAT is not a child game so approach your preparations with maturity. Accept first that U need to learn and that there is much more to learn than what U know.

Nitty Gritty - Work on the detailing. Check out whether or not U have been able to rectify the errors U made plus also work on the time factor i.e. could U have solved the same question which U got right in lesser time?

Optimistic - Attitude makes a difference in the kind of scores U can expect. Focus on it for making things happen for yourself and refrain from thinking parameters like "this is too tough, not meant for me" or "This is so lengthy, how can a person ever attempt the whole section?". But beware optimistic alone can’t help U , if U have only optimistic traits then U are gulling U’r self .
Obstacles Don't Have To Stop You. If You Run Into A Wall, Don't Turn Around And Give Up. Figure Out How To Climb It, Go Through It, Or Work Around It. => Michael Jordan

Practice – Practice practice and practice .Keep working no matter what it takes. U cannot afford to take anything for granted or leave it to chance, your career is on the line. As things might just happen to be in your favour at the last minute and U would realise "Thank goodness I practice on it. I can do it now"
No matter what conditions you encounter in life, your right is only to the works--not to the fruits thereof. You should not be impelled to act for selfish reasons, nor should you be attached to inaction.
-Bhagavad Gita 2.47

Quality + Quantity – Tries to maintain the proper relationship between Quality and Quantity of your attempt. Blindly solving 50 questions a day or 100 questions a day or 2 papers a day etc. does not help.
CAT is not a all attempt paper so tries to maintain the Quality of your attempt.
Persistence Is The Twin Sister Of Excellence. One Is A Matter Of Quality; The Other, A Matter Of Time. => Marabel Morgan

Reading - Read, read and read. Read to enhance U’r reading speed , Read to enhance U’r domain of Knowledge. And last but not least Read to enhance U’r marks.

Shilly-shally – If your target is CAT , U just can’t have a shilly-shally (procrastination) approach, i.e one should avoid doing something like making big plans but never carrying them out.
One Today Is Worth Two Tomorrows. => Benjamin Franklin

Tolerance - To handle frustration and failures. Start with acceptance that "Yes I failed" or "I did not get good enough marks because I messed up" the fact that U have scored less only indicates that U still have a scope to improve drastically. Use U performance benchmarks to motivate yourself and a tool for improvement. For this U need to develop Tolerance.


Ultimatum - Give yourself an ultimatum. "its now or never. I have to make it happen" This will help U to boost your morale and make U work still more and especially when U need it the most.
When We Accept Tough Jobs As A Challenge And Wade Into Them With Joy And Enthusiasm, Miracles Can Happen. => Arland Gilbert

Vision and Values - A vision for self is a must. Look at your self 25 years from now. How do U want to see yourself down the career pathway. Give yourself a vision combine it with values and look at MBA as a mere stepping stone to achieving it.
To Accomplish Great Things We Must Not Only Act But Also Dream, Not Only Plan But Also Believe. => Anatole

Wisdom - To work and plan out well in advance. Do not leave anything for the last minute. It is advisable to start atleast 12 in advance to give yourself a cutting edge. But do not worry if U haven’t start for today with double speed then your peer.

Yen - For next few month U must have yen for knowledge and success
Winning Is Not Everything. It's The Only Thing. => Vince Lombardi

Zeal - To achieve the Peak of a Successful Career Pathway.
Nothing Great In The World Has Ever Been Accomplished Without Passion => G. W. F. Hegel