CAT_ Does Success Need a Formula

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AT: Does success need a formula?

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CAT: Does success need a formula?

aurab Sengupta | August 08, 2005

A lot is said and written about CAT/ XAT. And why not? Aufficiently good score in either of these examinations can get youdmission in one of India's top B-schools. A bright future is just a feweps away (two gruelling years, to be precise).

receive a large number of e-mails everyday from students who want

ps on how to clear the CAT/ XAT, and I'm going to share with youxactly what I tell them.

Study time: Quality or quantity?

Preparation for CAT cannot reallybe counted in terms of hours ofstudy. To an extent, it dependson the candidate's inborncapacity, which nobody canchange. What you can do,

however, is try and sharpen yourskills as much as possible.

he time required for this varies from person to person. There areeople who have studied for seven to eight hours a day and still noteared CAT, while there are people in very good B-schools whoseAT preparation was limited to two to three hours a day.

q

CAT 2004: Tips, strategies... more

ocus on your strenghts

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key point to be remembered is that you should always focus onour strengths. Once the cut-off in all the sections is cleared, it doesot matter where the marks come from. So, if you are good atnglish, spend more time on Verbal. The same holds good for Dataterpretation/ Data Sufficiency and Quant.

he objective is to maximise your total score. Don't forget, however, itvery important you clear the cut-off in each section of CAT (if you

o not clear the cut-off level in every section, you will fail CAT).

ince it is true you will not know the cut-off, you should try to ensureou do moderately well in all the sections and exceptionally well in the

nes you are good at.

q

Why English Usage is so important

ood at Quant?

general brush-up of your Class XII/ IIT screening level mathshould be enough. For people with a non-maths background, a good

RE/ GMAT book could serve as a great starting point for Quant

reparation.

ormula for Data Interpretation/ Data Sufficiency?

s far as DI/ DS is concerned, there is no fixed formula forreparation. You should keep practising more and more questionsntil you are able to come up with a definite strategy.

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

q

Are you good at group discussions?

et that Verbal edge

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

nce you become used to reading stories/ books, questions likeentence rearrangement, etc, will come to you naturally.

respective of how you choose to approach the exam, there is no

xed' formula for success. What I have mentioned above are some ofe things that have worked for me when I was preparing for CAT.

hope they help you too. Best of luck!

q

Key GD tips, revealed

Gaurab Sengupta is a first year PGDBM student at the Xaviernstitute Of Management, Bhubaneswar. His scores -- CAT 2004:

8.2 percentile; XAT 2005: 99.45 percentile and IBSAT 2004: All

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ndia 27th rank.

now how to ace CAT? Write in and let us know. Don't forget to

dd your name, age, the name of your management institution,he year in which you passed out and where you work now.

ON'T MISS!

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Countdown to CAT: A few tips

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Cat 2004: Tips, strategies... more

ustration: Dominic Xavier

Share your comments

What do you think about the story?

Read what others have to say:Number of User Comments: 2

Sub: problems in di and quant

hello there nice article buddy keep up the guud work i am aspiring for

cat this year but i have a few problems in di ...

Posted by Harpreet singh horra

Sub: Good article

Hey Gaurab, Cool tips man!! Keep writing such gr8 stuff for CAT

aspirants like us.

Posted by B.Sunil Varma

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