Photographs: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com Vinayak Kudva, IMS Learning Resources
As the final countdown to CAT 2010 begins, Vinayak Kudva of IMS Learning Resources tackles some of the most frequently asked questions during this stage.
With only a few days left for CAT what would be your advice to students? What kind of strategy should they follow now?
The strategy for all students irrespective of their current level of preparation remains the same -- take tests, identify gaps and plug them (through reading, practice, classroom concepts/ application/ workshop sessions) to ensure that they perform well in tests that follow.
Three to four hours of planned effort on a daily basis from now should be more than sufficient to crack the CAT. Since time is less, take fewer simulated tests but ensure that the self-analysis between two tests is rigorous enough to help peak at the right time before the CAT.
Students should be aware of their weaknesses and not give up or become complacent as the test dates near. Do not leave your preparation incomplete, have the courage of going back to concepts whenever necessary and practice what you don't know.
With the CAT becoming shorter in length in terms of the number of questions, smart students will aim for a better percentile by trying to correctly solve most of the questions in the test. So the old approach of not attempting to solve difficult questions or leaving difficult portions of the syllabus during preparation may not be a good idea.
Try out various strategies for each practice test that you take such as dividing your time equally in each section or spending more time on the weaker sections by working quickly in the stronger sections. It is also important to attempt a variety of tests because you may score well in a test that is more suited to your strengths while the CAT may carry more questions of the kind you are uncomfortable with.
Conquer the CAT with precision and focus -- the game has changed to accuracy, it is not about speed. The test literally and formidably attacks your weaknesses. CAT is inviting you to tackle every question, spend sufficient time on it and solve it correctly. Continue to have a good reading habit -- it will help you ace the test. The quality of self-analysis between two practice tests is critical.
Last but not least, having a "I can, I will" attitude along with a smart and disciplined approach will definitely help.
Vinayak Kudva is Product Head at IMS Learning Resources.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
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How should students prepare mentally for the test?
Change always brings its own set of problems, which can be dealt with. Last year, the CAT had gone online for the first time and there were glitches. Prometric, the body associated with the conduct of the exam, acknowledged the glitches and did its best to correct the same. A re-test was conducted for students who were negatively affected.
This year, a lot of preventive measures have been taken so as to not repeat the mistakes and also to plug in or contain possible mishaps that might occur. The test window has been increased, there are fewer number of test sites and IIMs are leaving no stone unturned in having a hassle-free conduct of the test this year.
The bottom line is that you needn't worry about technical glitches -- just concentrate on your preparation. Only the form of the test has changed with the test becoming a computer-based one, the overall test structure and the syllabus of the test has not changed.
As a potential manager, you need to manage the test well. A manager in real life faces far more difficult challenges and problems and needs to innovate, take risks, make decisions in spite of lack of clarity and own responsibility for his decisions and actions. There is no place for anxiety, fear and other negative attitudes. Don't become complacent and don't make excuses. You and you alone are responsible for your success. Be in control of your performance and preparation and leave the uncertainties and suspicions aside.
Own the complete process of learning (preparing) and competing on the CAT and you will emerge a winner.
Areas students should lay emphasis on?
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While the testing areas are apparently Problem Solving, Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability, CAT stretches beyond these subject domains and entails a test of strategy, thinking, application of concepts and an ability to trade off between efficiency and effectiveness.
You need to manage both your strengths and weaknesses and ensure that the resultant is upbeat. Starting with the strengths, the first thing you need to do is to understand whether you have consistently done well in these areas to label them as strengths or was your performance purely incidental.
When your performance in the so-called "strong areas" is a consequence of random flukes, you have to immediately stop cheating yourself, categorise it as a weakness and revamp your approach vis-a-vis these areas. As far as weaknesses are concerned, you need to concentrate on areas that you don't like -- maybe it is reading comprehension or algebra or permutation and combinations. Conceptual flaws and loopholes in certain areas can assume the proportions of "weaknesses". This requires an immediate attention to fundamentals and revisiting concepts.
Practice what you don't know; the CAT in recent times requires that you become friendly with the unknown. You need to apportion out judicious time to all sections of the test. Placing the sections appropriately along the time curve is a skill you need to master. Ensure that you exhaust all ends of the section while selecting questions. Starting off in a sequence and not being able to reach the fag end of the section, because of dearth of time may keep you away from potential picks.
Importantly, practice reading online till the date of the test and be in regular touch with concepts and applications in quantitative and verbal ability.
How should I prepare for maths, reasoning and verbal ability?
In quantitative aptitude, brush up on the fundamentals of various modules -- Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry and Modern Math. Apply concepts and ingrain a problem solving approach, with a skill to identify the sequential steps for effectively handling the questions.
Students also need to stress on an integrated approach to solving questions; certain questions on time, speed and distance also entailed an application of concepts from geometry, while questions on permutations and combinations required concepts from number theory as well. The questions might look tough but more often require common sense to solve them.
For Data Interpretation, solve two or three good data sets from simulated tests or past papers everyday.
Reading comprehension is going to be an inherent part of the Verbal Ability section -- so practice reading on a daily basis. Try and make a precis of the paragraph and understand the nuances of the words. Read at a speed which enables you to comprehend the text. Revise rules of grammar and sentence correction, critical reasoning, parajumbles etc.
An optimum number of section-wise tests followed by in-depth analysis are the way forward in this level of preparation. It has been observed that a strong application orientation can take a test-taker to a performance level of 95 percentile in the CAT.
Lastly, it is advisable to take an adequate mix of paper-based and computer-based tests.
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