Six steps for CAT 2011 - 2012 Exam Preparation

by Pritika Ghura Want to bell the CAT 2011? Want to get calls from IIMs and XLRI? Want to get the best scores in your tuition batch? Then follow these steps. Learnhub in association with experts presents six steps to get into your dream management institute. 1.

Know what the test consists of: To score well, you need to know what sections the

test paper consists of. CAT consists of Quantitative Ability or mathematical aptitude, Verbal Ability or your English language skills and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. The Quantitative Ability section consists of the topics of Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration and all those topics which you have studied till class X. The topics covered in Verbal Ability are reading, grammar, comprehension and vocabulary. The questions on Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning are on Graphs, Charts etc. It is very important to know the content of the test, to ace it.

1.

Know your strengths, work on your weaknesses: Plan your preparation after
knowing your strengths and weaknesses. For this you should take a diagnostic test as it will tell you where you stand. Speaking on the importance o working on your weakness, Abhishek Jha, a IIM alumnus says, You should identify your strengths and weakness and work out a strategy based on your strengths. Cracking CAT is all about time management. You dont need to answer all the questions, but have to ensure that you crack the maximum questions in what your are confident about and ensure that you crack the minimum required in your weak sections to clear cutoffs and thus division of time so as to get the maximum out of the paper is very important.

2.

Work on your weaknesses: Start your preparation after gauging your weaknesses.
Experts say the first step is to start with class X level CBSE/ICSE books on Math and English grammar. One should also read newspapers, business dailies and magazines as this exercise will help you to understand different topics and increase your hold over English, general knowledge and various other topics. Speaking about importance of reading newspapers, an expert on CAT said, English is always the key in CAT. You should try to figure out if you are weak in comprehension or is it with questions in verbal ability and work out a strategy based on your strong points. Ideal case preparation for English is reading editorial of a paper like Hindu with full comprehension and underlining those words which you dont understand and then find out those words meaning next day. This will help improve your vocabulary. Many institutes like T.I.M.E., IMS Learning, Career Launcher and PT Education also prepare you for CAT, and are especially useful if your fundamentals are weak,

3.

Prepare a time table: To excel, one has to be very organised. You should make a time
table and follow it. Manish Saraf, COO, PT Education, in an interview to a news portal, has divided the time table as allocate 45 days to get all fundamentals of Quant, Verbal and DI/Logic in place. Slot one hour per area, i.e., three hours of study every day."

1.

Practice makes you perfect When you get a grip over the basic syllabus of
the CAT exam, you should start taking regular mock tests to know your preparation status. Also you must see if you are improving after taking the tests and analyse your performance.

2.

Plan your answering strategy: These are few points you must plan out before taking
the CAT-: Which section, whether it is English, Quantitative Ability or Data Interpretation, you are going to attempt in the beginning, followed by which section and which in the end. Within these sections, what will be your order of attempting the various types of questions? For example, within the English section, will you do Reading Comprehension first or begin with the Verbal Ability part? What is your time allocation strategy? How much time do you plan to spend on each of the sections? In particular, do you plan to devote equal time to each section or slightly more time to the section that you are the strongest at? How will you respond to a differential marking scheme if that is specified? For example, if there are 2 mark and 1mark questions, do you plan to attempt the 2 mark questions first? Do you plan to spend some time at the completion of the exam, cross-checking or verifying some of the answers, especially of those questions that you are not really sure of and have just estimated or guessed the answer?