Busting Myths & Important Tips Archives - PRAQTISE - India's most fun, adaptive and personalized online preparation platform for MBA entrance tests like CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, IIFT, etc.

Is it worth taking a one-year drop for CAT?

Praqtise — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 10:28:03 +0000

Manoj and Swati have cleared MBA entrance examinations with good percentile and have begun getting calls from many of the top B-schools in India. However, neither Manoj nor Swati have secured a call from the B-school where they want to study. Manoj plans to take a one-year drop for CAT and other MBA entrance examinations. The following is a conversation between Manoj and Swati:

Manoj: Hey, Swati, how are you?

Swati: I am fine, how are you?

Manoj: I am fine too, but I am a little worried because I haven’t gotten a call from either of the top IIMs, which is where I wanted to study.

Swati: Yes, even I am a little worried because even I haven’t gotten a call from the IIMs. However, I have received numerous calls from the newly opened IIMs and many other B-schools across India.

Manoj: Yes, even I have received numerous calls from the other IIMs and most other B-schools. However, I don’t think I am going to accept the calls. I think I will take a one-year drop for CAT and appear for CAT and other MBA entrance examinations again. I will surely get into one of the top IIMs if I have more time to prepare.

Swati: Let me stop you right there. My mother tells me that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Do you understand what it means?

Manoj: Of course, I know what it means. But I have always wanted to study in one of the top IIMs, and that is where I will study, even if it means a one-year gap after graduation.

Swati: You may be making the right call for yourself, but I think I will accept an admission into the best B-school into which I get admitted. I don’t want to waste another year going through the same repetitive routine every day. I believe, even after graduating from a slightly inferior B-school, I can capitalize on the entire year, instead of taking a gap year for CAT, toiling it away.

To drop or not to drop, that is the question!

This is the case with most students who do not get accepted into the B-schools of their choice. However, is it a wise decision to wait another year in the pursuit to secure an admission into an institute of your choice? Or is it a more prudent decision to accept an admission into a slightly inferior B-school and capitalize on the time that you would otherwise toil away. Some believe that taking a gap year for CAT and other MBA entrance examinations and getting into a B-school of their choice will open a world of fortune to them. Others think that waiting another year to get into a marginally better B-school would not make much of a difference.

There is no decisive answer to this question. It is entirely based upon the thought process of every individual. No one choice is better than the other – both the choices have their advantages and their disadvantages. You are the best judge of what is a better option for you out of the two. However, after reading this blog, you might have a better answer to the question than you had before. This blog will provide a better understanding of the gap year after college pros and cons as well.

One-year drop for CAT – Is it worth the wait?

Taking a gap year for CAT is often a risky choice because of the uncertainty involved. If you wait for another year, there is no guarantee that you will score better than before. Even if you score better, what if the others score better than you? If that happens, there are chances that you will score lower percentile than before. Another risk is that even if you get an interview call from the B-school of your choice, you might have to learn how to explain gap year in MBA interview. There are workarounds to this question, but it is sure to arise in the interview, and you must have a satisfactory answer for the interviewer. Here are some points that you should consider if you plan to take a one-year drop for CAT and other MBA entrance examinations to get into a better B-school.

Prioritize top B-school based on your percentile

After the results of the entrance examinations are out, make an exhaustive list of colleges which will accept you based on your percentile. Narrow down to a list of five or ten top B-school which are likely to accept your application based on your scores. If you get into either of the colleges from your list, then there is no scope to drop a year and apply again next year. If you plan to take a one-year drop for CAT to get into IIMs, make sure that you aim for only the best. Waiting for another year to prepare for MBA entrance examinations only to get into a marginally better college cannot be justified.

Let’s say that you are likely to get into a B-school that usually stands between ranks 11-15 in most rankings. Waiting for another year will be actually worth only if you are able to secure a b-school in the top 5 ranks. As an aspirant, you are likely to be more emotional when deciding on such things. It is, therefore, better to seek advice, ideally from a B-school pass-out.

Economic changes that can affect your prospects

If drastic economic changes take place during the year when you plan to take a drop, it can also affect your chances in top B-schools. For example, during the catastrophic economic meltdown in 2008, many people lost their jobs. Many of them turned towards further education and appeared for MBA entrance examinations. Then, what happened was, that top B-schools started selecting candidates with work experiences, as compared to those without. So, if you are a student, and you don’t have work experience, this is an important consideration that you should bear in mind.

Probable changes in fee structure

The fee structures in the top B-school keeps on changing often. Most of the top B-school increase their tuition fees every year to cover the costs that they incur. Hence, if you plan to take a drop and wait to get into one of the top B-school, this is an important financial consideration you must bear in mind. We had some insights from an IMT, Ghaziabad alumnus, after getting into a conversation about waiting another year to get into a B-school of their choice. He could not get into the B-school of his choice on his first attempt. Hence, decided to take a gap year after graduation. On his second attempt, he got into IMT, Ghaziabad.

When he commenced business studies, the fees to complete business studies at IMT, Ghaziabad was around 10.5 Lac. Whereas, had he gotten into IMT on his first attempt, he would have been able to complete his education in a mere 8 Lac rupees. One might think that as the fees increase, so must the placement packages – however, that is not the case. The average placement packages don’t increase much in comparison with the changing fees. Hence, if finances are a constraint, then you must think about this before taking a one-year drop for CAT and other examinations.

Don’t just prepare for the entrance examinations

If you have decided to take a one-drop for CAT and other examinations, you must plan your activities meticulously. You cannot justify a one-year drop for CAT and MBA, by saying that you were preparing for the entrance examinations. Hence, you must be able to answer the question – How to explain gap year in MBA interview – with efficacy. Most people can easily prepare for the entrance examination within three to four months, even when they have a job. Here are a few things you can do while preparing for the MBA entrance examinations:

Contribute to a social cause of your choice and be an active participant
Apply to short-term online courses from reputed websites
Look for a part-time job, which can help you gain perspective into the subjects in which you want to specialize

There are numerous personal and professional factors which affect the decision whether or not to drop for one year. However, aforementioned are some of the major factors which you must consider before making a decision. Even after considering all the points, if you still decide to take a one-year drop for CAT, then you should plan the year meticulously. For more information to help you plan your drop year, you can also seek the help of experts at Praqtise.

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Normalization – Do you need to answer all questions in CAT exam?

Praqtise — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 13:51:49 +0000

Priyanka and Pankaj are going to appear for the CAT exam. They have completed their BBA from a very good college and have been preparing for over a year. However, Pankaj does not know much about the concept of normalization which is being applied to the results. The following is a conversation between Pankaj and Priyanka:

Pankaj: Hey, how is the preparations going on? CAT exam is now around the corner. I hope you are studying hard.

Priyanka: Of course, I am. I want to get into one of the best MBA colleges in India.

Pankaj: So, have you been taking CAT mock tests?

Priyanka: Yes, I have been taking a CAT mock test every week. I have been consistently achieving over 95 percentile in them. However, I am still sceptical about the scores because these mock tests do not account for normalization.

Pankaj: Yes, that is true. Can you tell me more about normalization? I do not have much idea how it works.

Priyanka: How can you not know? It is one of the most important factors affecting our results!

Just like Pankaj, many students, who seek admissions into the top business schools in India don’t know about normalization and how it affects the CAT results. Read on to find out more.

What is normalization?

Normalization is the process which is applied to the results to ensure fairness and equality in comparison of performances of candidates across the country. Normalization process adjusts for location and scale differences of score distributions across forms. After normalizing the overall score, the next step is to normalize scores across sections. The scaled scores obtained after normalization will then be converted into percentiles. However, authorities do not share the actual method used for normalizing scores. We can still be sure that numerous factors, like locations, difficulty, score, mean, mode, deviation, highest score etc. affect the normalization multiplier.

Praqtice Fact File: The process of normalization is an established practice that has been used to compare scores across multiple exams. It has been adopted in the educational tests being conducted on a wide scale, like Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).

How normalization will affect your CAT exam scores?

Normalizing is a natural outcome in CAT as there are multiple papers for the same exam.. The people who design the question papers are very careful to ensure that you overall difficulty level of all the papers is the same. However, the difficulty level across question papers will vary as a result of the human factor. Normalising helps in comparing the scores objective

Let’s understand this further with an example. Assume that the intelligence and capability distribution of the students in all the slots is the same. Now, the students should score an equal number of marks on average if the level of difficulty across the question papers was equal. However, the actual test results may suggest otherwise. Consider the following test results:

Batch1 average score – 100 and batch2 average score – 110.

As per our assumption, the students in both the batches are equally intelligent and capable, which means that the question paper which batch1 got was more difficult. Hence, for normalising, the marks of all the students in batch1 are multplied by a multiplier, 1.1 in this case, so that the authorities can compare the scores objectively.

This is a very basic example with a very strong assumption that a very high level of difference in the difficulty level of the papers. Hence, in real-life scenarios, the examination authorities would use several other factors and inputs, like the highest score, mean, median, standard deviation, lowest score, etc. to determine the multiplier. However, unless the exam authorities disclose the actual methodology , all we can do is guess.

Should you change your strategy to counter the effect of normalization?

The answer is, no! There is no way to know for certain how the scores of a batch of students will be normalized. Hence, the best you can do is outperform all the students in your batch to counter the effect of normalization. You do not need to change your strategy to tackle the CAT exam to counter the effect of normalization. And you do not have to answer all questions for countering the effect of normalization. Instead of answering more questions, answer the questions more efficiently to better tackle the CAT exam.

Normalization is not an aspect that is within your control. There are is no specific standard for normalization. This means, no one knows what factors will affect the process and to what extent. In such a case, the simplest way to tackle normalization is to perform your personal best. Do not alter the strategy that you have formed for the CAT exam. There is no mantra to counter the effect of normalization, so stick to the game plan that suits you best.

Let us understand this further with an example. Consider that you and your friend appeared for the CAT exam. Both of you took the exam in different slots, different batches, and different geographical locations. Assuming you both scored precisely the same marks, the effect of normalization may change your percentiles. It is possible that despite answering 53 questions correctly while attempting only 53 questions, you may score 99.25 percentiles, while you friend scores 90.25 percentiles.

Conclusion: A Praqtical Look

There is not and there cannot exist an optimum strategy to counter the effects of normalization. The best way to achieve the best score is to outperform yourself every time you take a practice test. Do this and you can forget about normalisation in the CAT exam!

How concerned are you about normalisation? Have you thought about it as a problem that needs your attention? Please tell us in the comments.

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Ideal time versus accuracy ratio in MBA entrance exams

Praqtise — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 15:47:10 +0000

How to decide how much time to dedicate to each question in MBA entrance exams?

Anisha and Sagar, who are very good friends, are preparing for different MBA entrance exams. When taking a break from studies, they like to play a game where they are supposed to burst maximum balloons in minimum time but with a limited number of darts. Sagar usually loses this game. He uses all his darts in the given time but is unable to burst more than ten balloons. However, Anisha is an expert at this game. She plays the game with concentration and patience. She takes sufficient time to decide which balloon to target and when. This is the reason her success rate is always higher than Sagar.

Similarly, in the entrance exams, you should know which question to attempt and how much time to devote to each question.

In MBA entrance exams, time versus accuracy is the classic dilemma faced by many students. Students don’t know how much time to devote to any given question. Hence, the students find themselves confused about the number of questions to attempt within the given time-frame to get the best score. This article we will try to shed light on the practical methods and ideas to help you decide the ideal time versus accuracy ratio that you should maintain while attempting any entrance examination.

Preparing for the Common Admission Test (CAT)

CAT is one of the most difficult entrance exams in India for admission to top B-schools. The CAT exam pattern usually changes each year. According to experts, CAT is no longer a speed-based exam. Earlier, the CAT exam had 160-180 questions which were to be attempted within 2 hours. However, now the CAT question paper has 100 questions which are to be attempted within 3 hours. Despite the sectional restrictions, you have more time per question. Hence, when you are focusing on CAT preparations, focus more on accuracy than trying to attempt all questions. We’ll look the approach to reach your personal ideal time versus accuracy ratio in a while.

Praqtical Fact file: CAT 2016 exam structure

Section	Number of Questions
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	34
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)	32
Quantitative Ability	34

Preparing for other MBA entrance exams

Many top Business Schools conduct their own entrance examinations which have a different format than CAT. Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM) conducts the SNAP, Xavier’s School of Management (XLRI) conducts the XAT, All India Management Aptitude Testing Service conducts the MAT, All India Council for Technical Education conducts the CMAT. Many of the top management schools across India accept scores of these exams. Exams like SNAP, IIFT, and MAT, have more questions to be solved in a shorter period. Thus, here the focus of the students must be more on speed than accuracy. Whereas, in CAT and CMAT, there are a lesser number of questions to be attempted in a longer period. Hence, here the focus of the student can be on accuracy more than speed.

Praqtical fact file: Number of questions and time in different entrance exams

Exam	Number of questions	Duration of exam
CAT	100	3 hours
SNAP	150	2 hours
IIFT	115-135	2 hours
CMAT	100	3 hours
MAT	200	2.5 hours

The ideal time versus accuracy ratio

Stage 1

Understand the MBA entrance exam for which you are going to appear. For example, if you are taking the CAT, understand the CAT syllabus, the pattern and the type of questions the examination. Every exam is different in the way it tests the student. Some exams test your conceptual clarity, while others test your ability to perform well under time constraints. So, get a clear idea about the exam and its pattern.

Stage 2

Prepare thoroughly and revise the syllabus for before taking the exam. Make sure that you are clear about all the concepts in the syllabus.

Stage 3

Test yourself on a regular basis. Appear for mock tests for all the MBA entrance exams. Solve previous year’s papers. When you are solving previous years’ examination papers, take a note of questions you can attempt in the given period. Then verify the number of correct answers. Analyse the ratio of the number of correct answers versus the number of questions attempted.

For example, in CAT, suppose you attempted 70 questions out of 100 in 3 hours. This means you took, on an average, 2.5 minute per question. However, only 50 answers out the 70 attempted, are right. The ratio of your accuracy versus attempted question would come to 0.7 as opposed to 1 if all questions were correct. Had you attempted only the 50 questions which were right, the time per question would have been 3.6 minutes. With an increment of 1.1 minutes (44%), you can increase the possibility of answering more questions correctly. This would also mean losing lesser marks in negative marking schemes.

Stage 4

Give multiple mock exams and test this ratio to see if there is an improvement in scores.

Praqtical Look

The approach mentioned above is just one way of improving performance in the MBA entrance exams. There might be other better ways too. We cannot generalise the ratio for all. Each person has different strategies for different entrance examinations. By analysing the time taken to attempt each question correctly and by trying to reduce the time while maintaining the accuracy, you can perform great in any entrance examination. Try different approaches, and find the one that works best for you.

What are your thoughts on speed and accuracy? Do you have a strategy worked out? Please share with us in the comments.

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What difference can last minute preparations make in CAT Exam?

Praqtise — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 12:28:44 +0000

We did it in school, then why not the CAT exam?

We did not have many thrills during our college days, but one such thrill which we consistently and thoroughly enjoyed involved last minute preparation. The adrenaline rush while constantly looking at the clock, like a metronome, the sweaty palms, the thumping heartbeat, and the untidy t-shirt hanging off your pant waistline. This is not too different from a bungee jump off a mountain of books.

However, after college ended, our last minute preparations seemed to become more and more tabooed. What was once a staple method of gaining the last ounce of confidence before a test became more like a crime. But, is this truly warranted? Do we need to taboo such an obscure sport form?

This is a question which might have bothered many CAT exam takers. Last minute preparation was an important ritual during school exams. We used to study the whole night till the exams started and give a satisfying paper and crawl through the questions to gain the minimum required marks. So, it can be logically concluded that last minute preparations made a lot of difference to us then. But would that also be true in the case of CAT exam?

PRAQTISE Fact File:

Activities	Timeline
Admit Card Download Window	24^th October 2016, 1:00 PM till Exam Day
Test Date	04^th December 2016 (Sunday)
Release of Results	2^nd week of January 2017 (Tentative)

An earthen pot maker never forgets to give the finishing touches to his pot. He knows that a rough and unfinished pot makes it to no one’s home. In the same way, last minute preparation is also important. It can definitely pay off during the CAT exam if done wisely.

Last minute preparation can be in the form of numerous practices, which can act as powerful ways to prepare yourself for what is to come:

Revise – If you revise in the last few days, you will have a chance to get a better look at what you have studied so far. This will allow you to go through your notes and study materials to brush up on the basics from CAT syllabus. Revision will ensure that you have your basics clear, be it mathematical formulae or vocabulary revision. This will give you more confidence with different types of questions.
Practice – Revision is not limited to looking at notes. You might also like to try a few questions based on CAT exam pattern. These can be section or topic-wise in nature. This practice will make you work more on maintaining accuracy and completing the questions in time. By solving questions from all different sections and diverse topics, you can be updated and acquainted with the different types of questions that you can expect.
One last mock test – During the last weeks avoid following your old CAT mock test schedule of taking 2-3 tests a week. Instead of straining yourself, you can take 1-2 tests and analyze them thoroughly. This might be your last chance to understand the areas that you still need to work upon. In this case, the important aspect to understand is that this process needs to be taken in the form of a ritual that cannot be avoided.
Analysis– You can analyze all the previous tests that you have taken, especially the last mock test thoroughly. Such an approach will bring to notice the mistakes that you are committing more often or the areas that need more attention. This will give you a chance to cover up those spots and get ready for the exam.
Test taking strategy– By now you have taken a number of mock tests and know which strategy works best for you. On the basis of that, during last minute preparations, you can finalize your final test taking strategy. Since you would not have the choice to start with your strong section, you should focus more on choosing the right questions to attempt. You can put this strategy to test in the “one last mock test” ritual. You can decide the time you want to spend on each question. A strategy will help you go in with more confidence.

Praqtical look:

Last minute CAT preparation can make a huge difference to your results. It will give you the satisfaction of having done all you could. The most pristine and sacred time during preparation is the last hour before the exam. Use the last hour in the wisest manner possible. Firstly, you should avoid taking up new topics. Neither would you be able to grasp it, nor would you be able to revise your already prepared topics properly. This will mount tremendous stress on you and you might lose out your confidence. It is alright to leave out few topics. Revise, practice, analyze and strategize to make the best of this time. Spend this hour sharpening your battle axe rather than finding the right weapons to use. You shall make it to the top colleges with flying colors. Godspeed!

Let us know your opinion about last minute preparation in the comments below.

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Can you really not compete with someone who has taken CAT exam multiple times?

Praqtise — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 08:59:40 +0000

Mehek is preparing for the 2016 CAT exam. She goes to a coaching centre where she has enrolled for a mock test series. Mehek has made friends with some of her fellow test takers. This is what they were discussing one day after a mock test.

Shubham: “I appeared for CAT last year. I got a decent percentile of 97 but could not make it to any of the IIMs.”

Mehek: “But with such a score you could have got into any other good college”

Shubham: “Yes, but my dream is to study in an IIM.”

Reema: “Shubham, you scored well last year. I got 89%ile last year and 77%ile the year before that. I also want to get into top B-school; and am therefore sitting for the CAT again this year”.

Ayush: “Wow, you guys seem to have a lot of experience in taking CAT exam. I will be giving the exam for the first time this year. What chance do I have against you experienced CAT takers?”

This got Mehek wondering. She is also going to appear for the CAT for the first time. She has many questions in her mind about competing with someone who has taken CAT multiple times.

Over the years, CAT has seen many toppers from different backgrounds. All of them had different preparation styles. Many of them were first time CAT takers, and many were CAT repeaters. What made them win? How much does prior experience in taking CAT matter? Let’s find out.

Facts and figures about the CAT exam

CAT allows students to sit for the exam multiple times without counting the number of attempts. So, every year there are many first time CAT takers and many who have taken it before.

PRAQTISE Fact File

Year	No. of candidates applying for the test	No. of candidates actually taking the test
2016	232,434	–
2015	218,664	1,79,602
2014	196,988	1,67,829
2013	194,516	1,73,714

CAT is an exam that enjoys large number of test takers because the score is valid for many colleges. Not just the IIMs, but many top b-schools in India use the test for selecting students for their business administration programs. The test is conducted every year by one of the IIMs based on a policy of rotation.

PRAQTISE Fact File

CAT Testing Year	CAT Conducting IIM	CAT Testing Agency
2012	IIM Kozhikode	Prometric
2013	IIM Indore	Prometric
2014	IIM Indore	Tata Consultancy Services
2015	IIM Ahmedabad	Tata Consultancy Services

Each year a different IIM sets the CAT question paper and the pattern keeps changing. Last year IIM-A had set the paper, and they introduced a lot of changes in the exam. According to the latest press release, this year IIM-B will be conducting the exam. They have announced that the CAT exam pattern will not change from last year, but the number of presentation of questions may vary.

Would that mean that people taking CAT again this year will have a better chance of cracking it? The answer is they may or may not. It depends on their preparation and practice. But can you beat them? The answer is a big yes!

First attempt: Winners

Despite the pattern change every year there is at least one first time CAT taker who is among the top 20. Last year in CAT 2015, Prateek Bajpai scored 100%ile. This was his first attempt at CAT. He prepared for CAT without coaching but gave lot of mock tests. Similarly, Rajeev Reddy scored 100%ile who was also a first time CAT taker. Amit Warrier was another person from same category who scored 99.94%ile. He says it was all his hard work that helped him in making a mark for himself.

The aspirants need to notice that, CAT exam has always been about testing your concepts and understanding. It all comes down to the effort and confidence of the student. It does not matter if people have taken CAT before or are taking it for the first time. If you have worked on improving yourself, you can win against anyone. Even after CAT during GDPI phase, it’s your practice; confidence and knowledge about current happenings that will help you succeed.

A Praqtical Look

CAT exam has always had a lot to do with competition. The scores and results are relative. So, it’s natural for students to worry about competing against the experienced test takers. However, being a repeat test taker does not necessarily confer you with absolute advantage. You can compete and win against anyone.

Start by calming yourself down. Look at the CAT syllabus and prepare accordingly. Have a CAT preparation strategy. Work out a timetable based on your convenience so that you can cover the course thoroughly. Once done with the syllabus, take up a CAT mock test series. It is important to take these tests because you will get used to taking the test online, your concepts will be refreshed, and you will know where you stand in the competition. Use the enhanced online facilities available for preparation.

So buck up, because as Alexander Graham Bell says, Preparation is the key to success.

Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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CAT exam – Does the rural population have an equal chance as the urban population?

Praqtise — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 09:06:51 +0000

“Do I have to be a city resident to crack CAT exam?”

His tears mixed with the running water in the river, as his sullen form positioned itself near the river bank like a stone. The cool breeze in the mountains of Munnar rustled in his air, while the trees swayed around, almost beckoning him to look at them. But, all he had in his mind was the incident at home, the fight, the screams, the desperation, and the lack of hope.

All of Munnar, his childhood, the beautiful walks across the vast tea fields, the delicacies, all of them seemed to fade away as he started to develop a pulsating hatred for the place. He questioned himself for being born here, a place where one could not live his dreams, where one could not be a part of a much bigger reality. The lack of proper coaching centres in a rural area as this had made him considerably depressed, owing to the fact that he could no longer see himself getting into a top management institute. All the beauty of the place, all of its greenery and all of the people who saw him grow no longer mattered to him.

The lack of proper educational institutions that cater to the needs of MBA aspirants in rural areas is one of the biggest problems that most students face. The low quality of existing educational infrastructure in these areas makes the scenario much worse. For most students from rural regions, CAT exam preparation is a reality that is too daunting even to think about.

It is considered that people who reside in cities have an advantage while preparing for MBA entrance exams. However, there are several elements and cases which point to the fact the rural population can have an equal, if not better chance at cracking the CAT exam. The reason for this is the advent of facilities such as CAT online coaching and online study repositories such as Praqtise.

Some of the main reasons why online coaching has helped students in rural areas to a large extent include the following:

Advances in Technology and Connectivity

Technology, in India, has been growing at a fast pace. The availability of Internet has become easier, with increased accessibility for even those students who stay in rural areas. It is the Government of India’s promise to connect all the villages of India digitally. It has been laying down fibre optic cables to reach even the deepest and most inaccessible parts of the country. Many students who aspire to become MBA graduates have the option to study online. There are many online tutoring websites available. These help students gain increased exposure to everything that is required to prepare for CAT. These websites teach the entire CAT exam syllabus right from the basics. This helps students have better concept clarity.

Online Question Banks and Repositories

In the virtual realm, a student can gain access to an ocean of question banks and study material. Some online coaching classes also offer gamified versions of the syllabus. The learning experience of the student is becomes more interesting and intuitive rather than merely a chore. The results of the tests are stored, overall progress can be seen at the click of a button. They have blogs where they can post doubts and queries regarding questions, exams, colleges and more. All you need is a good internet plan and dedication, elements that students in rural areas have access to.

Self Study

Another option available for students in rural areas is to prepare for the examinations on their own. To some it must be difficult, owing to the perceived lack of guidance that self-study might be associated. However, several studies point to the fact that self-study is one of the best weapons that an individual can wield.

Take the example of Julius Yego, a field athlete from Kenya. He is the one and only player to have learnt how to throw a javelin only by watching YouTube videos. He has many awards including in the

Commonwealth Games of 2014,
the World championship 2015 in Beijing and
Olympics games, 2016 in Rio de Janerio.

If winning medals in international sporting events is something that can be achieved just by watching online videos, why would it be difficult to prepare for CAT exams through self-study? There are numerous online tutorials and question banks for MBA aspirants. Self-study is no longer something to be afraid of.

If your dream is to get into one of the best b-schools in India, nothing can stop you. Surroundings or your background do not matter.

Does the rural population have an equal chance as the urban population in CAT exam? What do you think? Let us know in the comment’s section below.

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[1] Self Created

[2] [3] [4] [5]

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Should you practice only the tough questions for CAT exam?

Praqtise — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 11:19:48 +0000

CAT exam doesn’t have easy questions. Should I even practise them?

Natasha and Pratik were two students from Kolkata, preparing for their CAT exam. They were both engineering students. Pratik used CAT preparation books, and Natasha had got herself enrolled into online CAT coaching classes. They had practised a fair amount of Maths during their engineering and so didn’t find the preparation to be tough.

The strategy that Natasha and Pratik applied to crack CAT preparation was different. Pratik always thought that CAT was a tough exam and to prepare, one had to start by practising tough questions. He thought that if one knew how to answer tough questions, solving easier questions wouldn’t be difficult. Natasha, on the contrary, believed that to gain clarity about a topic, it was necessary to address easy questions first.

Whose strategy is more practical? Should you solve only tough questions or should you also answer easy questions to get your fundamentals right? Let’s find out.

TRENDS…

Before we start discussing which strategy is the better one, let’s look at the trends in the type of questions asked in the CAT question papers.

Year of Examination	Easy	Moderate	Difficult
CAT 2004	23%	39%	38%
CAT 2005	23%	23%	53%
CAT 2006	23%	44%	33%
CAT 2007	21%	56%	23%
CAT 2008	28%	40%	32%

CAT became computerised 2009 onwards, wherein the difficulty level varied with each slot and hence we have not discussed papers since then.

Why is this data helpful for us?

The trends mentioned in the above table clearly show that the percentage of easy questions has remained almost the same over the years. The paper setters play around with the number of moderate and challenging questions.

This data can help us form a strategy for the CAT exam.

What’s the strategy of solving a CAT exam to maximise the CAT score?

The CAT exam pattern is all about refining yourself in every section and having the fortitude to adapt to the exam.

The best methodology to follow is to solve the easy ones on the first go. Address the questions which according to you takes around a minute or so while skipping the other questions. Do remember to mark the questions for review later. Questions set for reviewing should include those which one is confident of cracking but would demand more time to solve. This way, the paper will get divided into three types of questions which are EASY, MODERATE and DIFFICULT. Another benefit of this strategy is that you would have gone through all the questions at least once.

The EASY & MEDIUM would roughly constitute around 25 questions which can be solved with 90% accuracy if you manage time properly.

CAT is an exam which not only tests your intelligence but also your decision-making power. It makes you focus on not only the type of questions you want to attempt but also on the ones that you should not. CAT is not just about choosing which questions to solve, it is also about choosing which questions to leave out.

How does practising easy questions benefit us?

The major advantage of practising easy questions is that it helps in building a strong foundation for the topic. If the foundation of a subject is strong, any type of question can be tackled with ease. It will eventually help a person score well in exams.

As discussed above, around 20 to 25 percent of questions in CAT are of easy to moderate level. A student feels confident once they solve a chunk of the examination paper. It helps reduce anxiety while giving the exam.

Also, some MBA entrance exams like CMAT and SNAP have questions that are fairly easy and do not take long to solve. Practising short and easy questions is thus beneficial for exams which test one’s speed.

How to prepare for CAT?

If your aim is to do very well in CAT, you need to start studying in advance. Also, you need to form and follow a strategy to be able to achieve your objective.

So, how should you go about preparing for CAT?

These are a few pointers that might help you in shaping your preparation for CAT exam.

Spend 1 hour on reading every day. It can either be novels, newspapers, editorials, news, magazines, etc. Reading not only increases your vocabulary but also expands your knowledge.
QA is a critical part, and one needs to reach a standard level of expertise for clearing cut-offs. Practice QA for an hour or two every day and start from topics like average, percentage, time and speed, etc. Slowly progress to more complex topics like numbers, set theory, permutation and combination. While practising QA, your focus should be on being able to solve questions faster, and trying to reach the same answer using 2-3 different approaches.
Spare an hour or so on topics like Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation.
Devote around an hour for the preparation of verbal.
Dedicate around half an hour to memorise multiplication facts, conversion of percentage to numbers and vice versa and formulas.

What according to you is the best way to crack CAT and score well in the exam? If you have strategies of your own which have worked for you, or for anyone else, then let us know in the comments section below. Spread your ideas and help the community.

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Image sources:

Image Source

[1]: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2016/01/15/financial-goals-when-the-going-gets-tough/

[2]: http://digitalmarketingphilippines.com/top-6-content-marketing-trends-to-watch-out-this-2014-infographic/

[3]: http://www.techtimehub.com/cat-exam-preparation-tips/

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CAT Exam- Does solving the quantitative section require you to be an Engineer?

Praqtise — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 12:22:29 +0000

I happen to remember one of my school Alumni meets where I met a lot of my old school chaps. By that time we were on the verge of completing our graduation courses. This event strikes me the most because it was a turning point in the life of many of my friends. We had a discussion about our career plans wherein a majority were intending to pursue MBA. One of the points that were raised by my friend was that CAT exam was a piece of cake for Engineers which wasn’t well received by many. We have a stereotypical way of thinking, but I have my bibliographical evidence which clearly indicated that its converse is true.

We are writing this article to break the cliché among non-engineering students that quantitative section is something they need to fear. Tom Krause, a motivational speaker, quotes it very rightly “Life isn’t about living with problems. Life is about solving problems.”

PRAQTISE FACT FILE: IN CAT 2015, 67590 CANDIDATES WERE FROM OTHER ACADEMIC STREAMS LIKE COMMERCE, SCIENCE, ARTS, HUMANITIES WHO TOOK THE TEST

It is observed that the students who have taken up humanities or commerce after grade 10 have less affinity for mathematics. They develop a fear of mathematics which hinders them from attempting the quantitative section. This fear is just because of a lack of practice and being out of touch with the subject. There are tools and techniques devised to go about this section. We empathise when we see “Quantitative Aptitude” as a mental block amongst non-engineering fellows. If we view Quantitative Ability from a positive outlook, it is just 34% of the whole pool of questions. Let’s work to tackle this part of CAT Exam Syllabus

How to Study quants for CAT Exam?

To begin with, it is very necessary to have some good authors on your shelf such as Mr Arun Sharma, Shakuntala Devi or Savesh Kumar. Books are a source of adequate knowledge and help to penetrate deeper into fundamentals and concepts. Further, we live in a digital era where everything is available on the click.

PRAQTISE provides access to a huge database of e-books, cat study material, CAT mock test series and previous years’ materials. It acts as a virtual tutor and trains students for the CAT Exam. PRAQTISE’s adaptive e-learning modules are a great resource available at students’ disposal.

Simplification of Quantitative section

Well, one can’t escape the quantitative section, but one can tackle it with proper planning and organising to study the quantitative modules. It is not rocket science, just stay calm and exercise a few tips such as:

Keep a note of important formulae, equations, roots or cubes.
Make notes for yourself and break chapters into modules.
To break the monotony keeps rotating modules of quants.
Practice is the thumb rule for success
Develop a rhythm of solving numerical problems and maintain this flow

Areas of Focus for CAT Exam Syllabus

After solving questions regularly, one can clearly identify their strengths and weaknesses. Once identified, one shouldn’t be afraid of their weak areas, in fact, one should try to vex those areas by getting involved in group discussions, meeting your coach regularly for doubts, reading more in those areas. On the other hand, one should also enhance their strengths rather than bargaining for their weaknesses.

A Praqtical Look: “It is all about logic and the solution to any problem is embedded within the problem. It is up to the student to recognise it,” said Mr Sharma in his recent interview with The Hindu. It doesn’t take you to be a mathematical genius to crack quants. Rather, if you are good in verbal, you can make a good aggregate there so there is nothing to worry about.

How do you tackle quantitative section in CAT Exam? Do you have some useful tips/suggestions that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments.

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Image Source:

https://johnphillipthomas.com/independent-research/

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Will High IQ Guarantee Success in MBA Entrance Exams?

Praqtise — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 00:13:12 +0000

Will my IQ solely determine my success in MBA entrance exams?

[“Sheldon: Is that the prototype drive system for the high-G rover?

Howard: No, Bernadette got me a Fitbit so she can track how much I’m exercising….”]

“I wish I had Sheldon’s IQ. I could do such a lot more than engineering.” My 19 year old nephew lamented, pushing me to pause the television for the fifth time.

“Like what?” I replied, trying to contain my impatience as best as I could.

“I don’t know man. I spend such a lot of time studying, someone with Sheldon’s IQ would study half as much as I do and still ace the test. And here I am, struggling to keep up with my class.”

“At least you’re not about to put yourself through a grueling selection process to get into a top college.”

“No. But Sheldon would ace that too.”

My nephew’s stoic response had put me off for that night. I was worried enough already. With every though of that day, a steady whirlpool grew in my stomach, churning all my thoughts into dreadful possibilities. Now to add to that, I had started to worry about Sheldon.

Well not Sheldon Cooper. But the realism of his fictional IQ struck me like a dagger. There had to be people of a higher IQ than mine attempting to crack that exam with me. I had always been an average student. Not exceptionally high grades in school but nothing that my parents had complaints about. What I did have was discipline. I put my heart and soul into preparing for CAT. But now I had started to second guess myself. Was this going to be enough?

How Far Does IQ Take You in Life?

Short for Intelligence Quotient, IQ is a measure of one’s intelligence. A standardised test determines the level of one’s IQ.

PRAQTISE Fact File: On the Stanford-Binet test, a score of over 140 tags you as a genius, while average IQ remains at about a 100. In the past, research has shown that 20% of our life’s success depends on our intelligence.

Researchers still debate on the extent to which IQ influences success in life. Most contemporary thinkers seem to agree that although Intelligence is a crucial component, high IQ by itself does not assure success at work or other aspects of life.

IQ and its relevance to MBA Entrance exams

Intelligence is what determines our ability to understand concepts. A higher IQ equals a better comprehension of ideas which later translates to grades and scores in terms of academics. However the question we are asking is, does IQ decide your eligibility for CAT?

This question can only be answered by someone who has been in and out of this game. We look at some students who aced MBA entrance exams and their take on this subject:

Arup Chaudhari, who cracked the CAT exam for the fifth time in 2011 said that “to crack CAT, you need to be smart, not intelligent.” In an interview then, Chaudhari had said that CAT can easily be cleared if basic concepts are clear. Arup attempted CAT 5 times, and scored above 98 percent in each of his attempts. His 5^th attempt landed him a 99.36 percent in 2010. To ace the test, the trick is to know which questions to attempt, says Arup. To get into a good b-school, you need a good score, and playing smart is the key, thinks Chaudhari.

Verdict: Smartness over IQ

Sumit Patil, aced the CAT exam in 2013 on his first attempt agrees that doing well in CAT takes more than just intelligence. A near perfect performance in the MBA exams, with zero coaching is no easy feat. According to Sumit, CAT is not a very difficult test to crack, only if concepts are clear. While Sumit spent not more than 6-12 hours a week to prepare for MBA entrance exams, he believes that solving more question papers raises your chances of cracking the test. Sumit believes that Intelligence will aid when learning new concepts but practice will highlight the weak areas, that can be worked on and similar mistakes can be avoided.

Verdict: Practice over IQ

Sudipta Banerjee, a graduate from IIM Calcutta, says that IQ is an important aspect when attempting to crack CAT but it is not the only thing that will bring about success. Banerjee too, draws focus on mock tests and the familiarity of the paper pattern that solving mock tests bring about.

Verdict: Practice over IQ

In popular opinion, it has been noticed that most MBA graduates emphasise on having a higher frequency of solving CAT mock tests rather than a higher IQ.

A Praqtical Look: Dedication is more important than IQ in MBA entrance exams

As an answer to this burning question, we think it would be safe to say that a high IQ does not further your chances at cracking CAT any more than an average IQ does. Dedication towards your goal with practice is and will continue to be the answer to your prayers for success. To quote Denis Waitley “The winner’s edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner’s edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success.”

How important is IQ according to you? Should one’s IQ stop them from even trying? Tell us what you think in the comments.

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Acing CAT exam – Do you need to walk in the footsteps of previous toppers?

Praqtise — Sun, 18 Sep 2016 08:23:31 +0000

A tete-e-tete with CAT exam toppers

During a regular interview session after CAT, the interviewer had 5 toppers before him and the question put forward was: “Please tell us about the one thing that you did to achieve this galloping success.”

Topper 1 – “I woke up early in the morning and studied for CAT exam in the absence of daily chaos of routine life.”

Topper 2 – “I started preparing for the CAT exam from mid last year itself. It gave me enough amount of preparation time.”

Topper 3 – “I took the gap from my job to prepare for the MBA exams.”

Topper 4 – “Starting early is a key to success.”

Topper 5 – “I did none of these. I did not join any classes, I studied online. I did not quit my job, but managed studies after office hours. I did not wake up early as I used to study till late at night. And I did not start much in advance.”

Stereotyping doesn’t work when we talk about CAT preparations. Every one of those toppers chose to take their own path to fight the battle. It is not necessary to follow exactly what the earlier topper had done. It is more important to understand your strength and capabilities while keeping in mind the resources around you.

The story in numbers

Most CAT aspirants who aim to top the exam wish to secure admission in IIM Ahmedabad. If we take a look at the figures, the total number of seats allotted through CAT comes to 10,000. In 2015, 1.79 lac people took the CAT exam. Now, to further draw a clearer picture of where the actual competition lies, let’s take a look at the number of seats in the most aspired MBA institute in the nation:

IIM-A only offers 422 seats.

Even if all the IIMs of the country are to be put together the total comes to around 4010 seats. In all probability, we are then looking at 1.79 lac people, a majority of whom vied for roughly 40% of the total number of seats.

This 40% is where all the competition lies.

Cracking CAT is not just about clearing the exam, it is a raging battle for preferably a place in the 32 which requires clear strategizing. We look at whether there is indeed an ideal strategy to follow for your MBA dream.

PRAQTISE Factfile- only about 2% and 5% of the total number of students who appeared for the test could get through IIMs and CAT allied MBA institutes respectively.

The beginnings of the CAT exam journey

The very idea of appearing for CAT exam is not always yours alone. It also does not appear just when you are in the last year of your career. It evolves, just like we do. Getting into that dream institute becomes the goal of our lives. While a lot of us dream of walking through the heavenly gates of IIM, 0thers pray to overcome the mammoth syllabus, just in time. Either way, CAT preparations is not just about perseverance, but it is the technique that you follow that defines your success.

From the instance at the beginning of the article, we are introduced to 5 CAT toppers who employed 5 different preparation strategies. It is in fact true that CAT preparations require great dedication, but does dedication have to follow a certain pattern? The example cited in beginning, of the 5^th topper who did not quit his job, was Prateek Bajpai. Bajpai scored 100 percentile in CAT 2015 in his first attempt itself. While working in Africa, he did not have a CAT Coaching centre to attend. He spent fixed number of hours every day studying from the internet, regularly. Apart from this, the mock tests played a crucial role in his success. Prateek did not start early but he assigned a number of hours per day and followed it diligently.

While a lot of aspirants quit their jobs, and take a sabbatical year to go prepare for the CAT exam, Bajpai juggled both efficiently. Are we saying that Bajpai’s way is better than the others? No. Bajpai stands out as an example in this article because he did not follow the conventional method of preparing for CAT. His understanding of his capabilities coupled with hard work and dedication awarded him the success he deserved.

Plan of Action

Let’s assume that you are a final year student who aspires to secure a seat in IIM Ahmedabad. The only thing standing between you and the gates of IIM-A is the syllabus. It is widely acknowledged that without practice, there remains nothing worthwhile in CAT preparation. Even if you are not a student, but aiming for the top notch B-Schools in the country, the paradigm of the success mantra for CAT still revolves around practice.

To start preparing we need to draw a study schedule. Your study schedule would depend on the number of hours that you can give to preparing for the exam. It is important to note here that there is no ideal number of hours to be given each day, however, self-discipline and commitment is the key.

Once you start preparing for the CAT exam, you automatically get a clear picture of what your strengths and weaknesses are. A lot of aspirants keep journals to make note of their mistakes and weak areas. Solving Mock Test Papers will get you to build on your skill set.

Focus on the resources available around you. We live in a world that is widely functional on technology. The Internet has all the answers that you have been looking for. And one such is Adaptive Learning. Another facet of this technological blessing, adaptive learning makes studying into a process driven by your pace and competency. It is the one solution for individual needs and better understanding of concepts, something that is extremely important for CAT.

Importance of the right approach

PRAQTISE Fact File: Students applying for CAT VS Students appearing for the exam

From the figure above, it is clear that the difference between the applicants and the test takers has grown over the years. While there could be a multitude of reasons, a primary reason for applicants dropping out is the overwhelming syllabus. Hence, understanding which formula works best for you is the key to success.

Since each individual has varying capabilities, drawing a typical way of going about CAT preparation will not work wonders for everyone.

At Praqtise, we cater to today’s competitive generation with online customizable study modules and practice tests. Praqtise provides detailed analyses for a better understanding of areas that you need to work on.

At the end of the day, the success of any project depends on one’s self actualisation. The better you understand your own strengths and limitations, the higher are your chances of finding success.

As Thomas Edison puts it, “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are: Hardwork, Stick-to-itiveness and common sense.”

What road would you follow to become a CAT topper? Let us know in the comments.

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CAT study book

Cat Application over the years

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