It has been quite a while since I wrote a general post for students planning to write CAT 2008 or any of the other MBA Entrance tests towards the end of the end of this year or in the beginning of 2009. Now that November 2008 is just six months away, it's time to take stock of your preparation.
Have you taken your first MockCAT for CAT 2008? (or SimCAT or AimCAT or CopyCAT, whichever be your preference) What was your score like? More than the absolute score, what was your percentile score like?
But even before you start gloating over your 99th percentile or feeling saddened that in the rat race called CAT 2008, you are left far behind with your 60th percentile, think things over in the overall perspective.
When did you start preparing for CAT 2008 seriously? May 2008, November 2007 or January'08 ? You surely can't compare apples with oranges, can you? If you started your preparation in early 2008, then you surely had a headstart over quite a few other competitors and they will soon be better geared to give you a tougher fight in the next mock-cat. So, stay happy, but don't get over-confident. Similarly if you started your preparation as late as May 2008, then don't worry if you haven't fared as well in the mock cat. Afterall, you are still on with your quant and verbal fundamentals, and by the time the second mock cat arrives, things will have changed drastically. You can now attempt that permutation and combination question, which you couldn't last time, simply because you know now the formula!
Now, for them, who started early, yet are lagging behind now. Surely, you can't give up on your hopes. Not so early, dear. Maybe you won't make it to the IIMs, but I won't be so sure, not just yet. What you need to do is stop, and spend time understanding what went wrong.
1) Re-open the Mock CAT paper, alongwith the answer key. Group your responses under these heads - did not attempt, attempted and got right, attempted and got wrong. Now, try and see if you can form some clusters. For instance, did you get a bunch of RC questions wrong? Or did you not attempt all quant questions of a certain type?
If that is the case, then all you need to do is go back to the fundamentals in this areas, study hard, and take another Mock 10 days from now. But before that, I'd suggest you should take sectional tests for those areas.
2) Where did the Mock CAT go wrong for you? Did you make too many mistakes, or was it simply a question of not attempting enough questions?
3) Did you attempt too many RCs? ( for instance 7 questions from 3 RCs, out of the total 10 on offer) - See, there are no hard and fast rules here: but if a certain approach is not working for you, you need to re-think, that's all. If you still think that this was the best approach, great. Now get the answers right. Somehow!!
Now you know the line of thinking - every once in a while, spend time analyzing. The CAT is a thinking manager's test. It's not a test of quant or verbal only. Remember you are not applying for a M.Sc in Mathematics or a MA in English. It's actually the MBA - and it's all about managing it well. Maths and English are mere tools.
Have you taken your first MockCAT for CAT 2008? (or SimCAT or AimCAT or CopyCAT, whichever be your preference) What was your score like? More than the absolute score, what was your percentile score like?
But even before you start gloating over your 99th percentile or feeling saddened that in the rat race called CAT 2008, you are left far behind with your 60th percentile, think things over in the overall perspective.
When did you start preparing for CAT 2008 seriously? May 2008, November 2007 or January'08 ? You surely can't compare apples with oranges, can you? If you started your preparation in early 2008, then you surely had a headstart over quite a few other competitors and they will soon be better geared to give you a tougher fight in the next mock-cat. So, stay happy, but don't get over-confident. Similarly if you started your preparation as late as May 2008, then don't worry if you haven't fared as well in the mock cat. Afterall, you are still on with your quant and verbal fundamentals, and by the time the second mock cat arrives, things will have changed drastically. You can now attempt that permutation and combination question, which you couldn't last time, simply because you know now the formula!
Now, for them, who started early, yet are lagging behind now. Surely, you can't give up on your hopes. Not so early, dear. Maybe you won't make it to the IIMs, but I won't be so sure, not just yet. What you need to do is stop, and spend time understanding what went wrong.
1) Re-open the Mock CAT paper, alongwith the answer key. Group your responses under these heads - did not attempt, attempted and got right, attempted and got wrong. Now, try and see if you can form some clusters. For instance, did you get a bunch of RC questions wrong? Or did you not attempt all quant questions of a certain type?
If that is the case, then all you need to do is go back to the fundamentals in this areas, study hard, and take another Mock 10 days from now. But before that, I'd suggest you should take sectional tests for those areas.
2) Where did the Mock CAT go wrong for you? Did you make too many mistakes, or was it simply a question of not attempting enough questions?
3) Did you attempt too many RCs? ( for instance 7 questions from 3 RCs, out of the total 10 on offer) - See, there are no hard and fast rules here: but if a certain approach is not working for you, you need to re-think, that's all. If you still think that this was the best approach, great. Now get the answers right. Somehow!!
Now you know the line of thinking - every once in a while, spend time analyzing. The CAT is a thinking manager's test. It's not a test of quant or verbal only. Remember you are not applying for a M.Sc in Mathematics or a MA in English. It's actually the MBA - and it's all about managing it well. Maths and English are mere tools.
1 comment:
Thats encouraging, but what if I've started my preparation in July '08, and still am in 60 percentiles in mock CATs... what are my chances??
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