CAT Preparation Strategy for Repeaters

7/28/2019 CAT Preparation Strategy for Repeaters

1/32

Live One-to-One Online CAT Classes by IIM Al

www.spanedea.com


2/32

CAT Strategy

Second/ Repeat Attempt Second/ Repeat Attempt to CAT is important to most students as

it might be the last attempt.

Also another failed attempt on the CAT will result in the loss of

one more year

CAT and other similar exams like XAT,FMS etc are known for

changing patterns and differing levels of difficulty every year.

CAT Preparation requires hard work, meticulous planning and

systematic implementation

A correct mix of theory and concepts, practice, simulated testing

and detailed analysis Two Sins while CAT Preparation

A lot of people jump straight into problem solving and finding

shortcuts to do commonly occurring problems.

Jump into exercise based preparation without getting the

fundamentals right Before starting preparations for writing CAT for the nth time,

www.spanedea.com


3/32

What I Did Wrong? I Did not read any philosophy books, novels for Reading

Comprehension practice. I Did not prepare any dictionary / list for vocabulary.

I Did not try any method for speed-reading.

Had totally bogus Moc - CAT scores 6, 9 etc, never did post-analysis of

questions and later stopped giving them altogether, as they were

wasting my time and hurting my confidence. Skipped trigonometry, coordinate geometry, games and tournaments

and any topic that I couldnt grasp on the first two tries or anything that

would not go in my long term memory.

Did not do much arithmetic series and logarithm. Because most of them

would require the application of some special magic-move, which wontgo my long term memory.

Skipped most of quant/LR threads & discussions on online forums (Well

most of their sums go above my head anyways.)

Cant do much speed-maths or mental calculation of percentages for

DI/Quant.

Dont know squares upto 50.www.spanedea.com


4/32

Count your Sins

Low Mental abilityBrain has lost that ability tograsp, analyze or calculate things quickly without

calculator

Weak FundamentalsBrain has lost hold of basic

fundamentals used in CAT Verbal & Quant Sections; it

is accustomed to analyze complex problems

Time Management Solving questions within the

time limit to get maximum percentile.

PracticeNot able to do much practice on sample

Questions Especially student is not able to practice on

& score at highest level of difficulty within 3 min.

Screening of errors - Understanding why the answer

choice was wrong, making list of all the errors & doing

practice so that this errors are not repeated againwww.spanedea.com


5/32

Few Questions to ask Do I have mental stamina to work efficiency during

strenuous 140 mins (2.5 hours)?

Do I have approach/strategy for solving any type of

question in less than 2 min (whatever the level ofdifficulty)?

Are math fundamentals, grammar basics &

vocabulary list up to the mark to score 99+percentilein CAT?

www.spanedea.com


6/32

The Secret Key The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do

all problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the

score

Most important - knowing when to let go.

You have to quit and move if you are not able toanswer a question within the upper time limit.

Remember to take each question by itself. Don't worry

about the grand scheme, just one question at a time

Do not give up: CAT is a very logical exam and if youare good with logic you should be able to do

reasonably well.

Focus on the basics if you are not improving. Define

your weak areas and work on them. www.spanedea.com


7/32

MAD over CAT The CAT is a tough test. The CAT will humble you and bring you

down to your knees.

With enough practice and right guidance, you can beat it!

The key to success is training your mind to think differently and

act differently

Get acquainted with both the content and the length of the

test.

CAT is not rocket science, it just requires a lot of discipline

There are no shortcuts

Identify your weaknesses and then reviewing materials/doingpractice problems to fill those gaps

Focus on the problem types you're having issues with

TRUST YOURSELF. You are smarter than you think.

All of the knowledge is inside of you. You just need to discover

how to pull it out and apply it on test day!Fo

ranaverageIQstudent,

thepathisnotea

sy,butwho

sa

idanythingisimpossible-it

justtakesthat

littlemuch

longer.

www.spanedea.com


8/32

7 Point Strategy Mental Ability Improve mental ability, improve mental

responses, practice mental exercises and calculations daily.

Clear Basic fundamentals Through understanding of

principles through different books

Time Management Solving Practice problems with

timer, not more than 3 min for any question regardless of

difficulty level ( 4 questions 12 mins)

SWOT Analysis Know different type of questions in & do

SWOT on those types. More practice on weak areas.

Error Log - Error log will help you to know weak areas. Strategyto solve each type of question within 3 min

Process of Elimination Understand & Practice Process of

Elimination on different question types

Practice No alternative to practice. it is very important to

practice higher difficulty level questions for time management; tryto solve every question within 3 min

www.spanedea.com


9/32

Start Fresh @ CAT

www.spanedea.com


10/32

Analyze, Understand & Plan the

preparation Preparing for the exam

3 levels of preparation required to crack the CAT.

Knowledge

Exam Strategy

Confidence and Performance under pressure

3 Steps to ACE CAT Step-1 Learn all about CAT

Step-2 Do Self Analysis for CAT

Step-3 Execution: Mastering your strengths and improving on your

Weaknesses

Study Plan

Never Prioritize topics study all

What is prepared & what needs to be learned

Time Management

Set accomplishable goals

Stick to your plan

www.spanedea.com


11/32

8 important steps for CAT Prep

Identify where you stand

Build the Foundation - build the basics |

Revise the fundamentals

Study Plan and Time Management Sectional Tests and Exercises

Start acing mocks

Evaluation and analysis Know your strengths, work on your

weaknesses

Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture

Shortcuts and strategies www.spanedea.com


12/32

Identify where you stand

Where to start?

The ideal way to start preparing for any exam is

by taking a diagnostic test

Diagnostic test should ideally be of similar type as

the previous CAT exam.

You may take the test online/offline.

Detailed analysis on the results

www.spanedea.com


13/32

Build the Foundation - Revise the

fundamentals

Understand and Develop basic concepts tested inthe CAT

Understand different types of questions asked in

each section

Gauge your understanding by solving questions

for each Concept

Attempt extra practice problems on each concept

to go to Pro Level. Finally, move on to actual past CAT questions

to develop the CAT mindset

www.spanedea.com


14/32

Study Plan and Time

Management

Time is precious, while everyone has the sameamount of time, only those who manage it well

crack the CAT.

Budget your time Create a study plan to

manage the time effectively and efficiently.

Give plenty of time for each task and concept

Use a calendar to set specific deadlines.

Dont get nervous over deadlines; stay calm andkeep on track.

www.spanedea.com


15/32

Sectional Tests and exercises

Start taking sectional tests and time basedexercises.

At least 2-3 concept or sectional tests a week

See where you stand and measure

improvement.

Analyze the tests in detail to check:

Where have you gone wrong?

Why have you gone wrong? Solutions to questions that you did not attempt to

identify the ones that you could have attempted.

Analyze your performance after every test you

take. www.spanedea.com


16/32

Start acing mocks

Start taking mocks once every week to frame afull proof strategy.

Gauge your performance weakness and

strengths

Mock scores will also help you identify your aim

and strategy for the last few months before CAT

Start your mocks even if you have not completed

the chapters

www.spanedea.com


17/32

Evaluation and analysis

All the tests taken must be evaluated properlyand analysed.

Have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests

that you take

Track your performance section wise and concept

wise

Create a flowchart which will help you know

where you stand and how much improvement youneed in every section.

Analysis should include your attempted, non-

attempted questions. Silly mistakes and guess

work attempts. www.spanedea.com


18/32

Know your strengths, work on

your weaknesses Discover the areas, where you are strong and where there is a room for

improvement

Capitalize on your strengths and get rid of your weaknesses.

Challenge yourself by re-practicing problems in weak areas

Make stronger area into the strongest and work towards improving the

weaker sections. Always keep yourself motivated; do not stress yourself, by studying all

the time.

Over dosage often, as they say kills.

How to find your strength & weaknesses Simply pickup a past years

CAT exam papers1. Attempt as many questions as you can without putting the time limit in one

2. Attempt which ever you are confident of, don't make any blind guess for any

of the questions and make calculated guess

3. Check your answers and attempts.

4. Write down your overall score, along with sectional score

5. Repeat step 1-4 for 4 more past year CAT paper www.spanedea.com


19/32

Accuracy and speed: the perfect

mixture

CAT is not about solving 60 questions in 140minutes.

It is about solving 40 to 45 questions with 85 to90 percent accuracy.

Attempting all the questions is not the mark ofyour achievement in CAT

Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among 99+percentile

Focusing on accuracy may lead to spending morethan average time on the questions

Spending more time on one problem could causepanic towards the end of the exam.

An optimum mix of both accuracy and speed iswww.spanedea.com


20/32

Shortcuts and strategies

Try to find strategies and shortcuts for differentsections and concepts.

Increase your speed, improve your accuracy and

reduce time per question.

Collective studies with your friends and exchange

ideas and shortcuts with each other.

A common pitfall is learning the tricks without

understanding them. Best solution is to derive and develop tricks

yourself from the basic principles.

www.spanedea.com


21/32

Time Management during exam Practice the element of TIME in problem solving Most problems in management institute exams do not require

knowledge of rocket science.

These exams are about

Skill and knowledge

Ability to manage time in the most efficient manner.

How to solve problems in minimum time

Focus on 2 more questions and get proficient in them -:

a) How much time will it take me to solve this problem?

b) Compared to the problems that I have seen what level ofdifficulty do I think this problem lies in?

Important for candidate to decide

Which questions to attempt and which questions to leave

In which order - which might very well end up being the most

important thing esp. in exams where time is the crunch.FACT-double

thetimegiventoacan

didatein

exams,most

ofthecandidateswillsc

ore90%+

m

arks.

www.spanedea.com


22/32

Plan your answering strategy These are few points you must plan out before taking

the CAT-:

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 and1mark 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 surewww.spanedea.com


23/32

Find your strategy - Experiment:

Till you have found a rhythm/strategy keepchanging things

The target number of questions you want to

attempt,

The time you spend on each section etc.

This kind of experimentation will prepare you

for any surprise that you may find on D-Day

Perfect the optimum CAT-solving strategy

Strikes the right balance between speed and

accuracy,

Ensure that you clear all cut-offs and as wellwww.spanedea.com


24/32

Attention : Interviews and

GD/WAT Start preparing for the interviews and GDs from beginning Candidate needs to show that he/she has a well rounded

personality in complete admission process

Start orienting on this aspect six months before even applying to

the b-schools.

Know and Understand different question asked in interviews

Pick up a hobby,

Project something to be your hobby in an interview,

Good understanding of history, personal association, ground

details, rules, current news items related to it and finally yourviews on its future etc

For GD/WAT preparation,

Keep updated on General Knowledge/ General Affairs

Get a taste of the real thing

Preparing in groups of friends for GD/Essays is a good ideawww.spanedea.com


25/32

Current Affairs General Knowledge

Interview/GD/WAT Essays requires that yoube aware of your surrounding and current

affairs.

Read at least one good newspaper daily anda weekly magazine on current affairs (and 1

business magazine preferably) regularly.

Most publications from same media houses

would be a bit biased in some respectA variety of views from different media houses

would strengthen your knowledge of the

subject and help you especially in GD/WAT

Essay www.spanedea.com


26/32

Train Your brain Entire CAT evaluation (including GD/WAT/PI) is designed for

people who can work for longer periods of time without breaks

Train your brain for working effectively and efficiently for longer

periods of time

Build Mental stamina

Mental fatigue is real and it tends to snowball

At end of a exam, mental fatigue will cause him/her to think

more slowly, it will force you to re-read or re-calculate,

Spending longer on each question will only serve to fatigue

you even more.

Mental stamina is required to perform efficiently and to get a

good score

If you need to warm-up for an hour before beginning to be able to

concentrate and study productively, now is the time to break that

habit. You need to be able to start concentratin almost immediatel

www.spanedea.com


27/32

Work life balance

Keep yourselves distressed

Balance your work/study with preparation.

Be genuine to yourself and spend time every day

regularly in a systematic manner

Take it slow and do not garble all the information.

Work your way through different types of

problems and keep track of your performance in

every possible area Its about You and you know better about

yourself; device a strategy that works for you

Keep fine tuning the strategy, until you get better

results www.spanedea.com


28/32

Final Words CAT is a tough exam and you need to train your brain

for it.

The key to success is training your mind to think

differently.

Get acquainted with both the content and the length ofthe test.

CAT is not rocket science; it just requires a lot of

discipline.

CAT is a very logical exam and if you are good withlogic you should be able to do reasonably well.

The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do

all problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the

score

www.spanedea.com


29/32

About SPANEDEA

Every learner is unique, and so is every learning situation! SPANEDEA is an interactive learning platform through live

video and audio and a virtual blackboard

Founded in 2011 by IIM Bangalore 1998 batch alumni

Sanjay Bhadra, Nitin Bansal and Rajat Sharma

Based in Mumbai, India

Get more information at: http://www.spanedea.com/CAT

www.spanedea.com
http://www.spanedea.com/courses/registration/cat?type=Scrb_00_3_106_cathttp://www.spanedea.com/courses/registration/cat?type=Scrb_00_3_106_cat


30/32

Why Learn Online Customized learning from the convenience of their location.

Sessions/course customized to particular students need

Convenience - Convenient timing Comfort - At the comfort of your place, Spend less time on

traveling and more time to learn

Teachers personalized teaching -1on1 live teaching throughinternet,

Modular course content ebooks, interactive and customizedcontent/ courses

Qualitybest quality teachers Availabilityqualified teacher available all the time

www.spanedea.com


31/32

Benefits to students Choice

chose teachers, select courses,

Precisionexactly what is required, instead of needless 'full' Personalizationmy weaknesses at my pace, customize your

own course

Doubt clearing

interactive discussion required for doubt

clearing

Tutor provides comfort provides the invaluable hand-holding

Sufficient practice

pre and post session quizzes, full exams

More focus on concepts concept building

www.spanedea.com


32/32

www.spanedea.com

For more information on CAT - http://www.spanedea.com/CATOpenedex India Pvt. Ltd., 703, C-Wing, Mangalya, Andheri (E), Mumbai-400059, India

www spanedea com
http://www.spanedea.com/http://www.spanedea.com/courses/registration/cat?type=Scrb_00_3_106_cathttp://www.spanedea.com/courses/registration/cat?type=Scrb_00_3_106_cathttp://www.spanedea.com/

Documents

CAT Preparation Strategy for Repeaters