CATwalk....!

SNAP Analysis & Cut-Offs

2010-12-20T08:42:00.000-08:00

Overall an easy test, with 150 questions to be attempted in 120 minutes; i.e. AQAM – A Question A Minute Test. Except for some idioms and maxims in verbal section, there weren’t any question that could not be attempted – save for time. A student attempting 120+ Questions with 140+ Marks attempted for with a fair degree of accuracy (i.e. 85% - including for GK & Verbal) should surely expect call from SIBM Pune.

One small RC passage with 5 questions, with many sitters in verbal section on punctuations, and prepositional usages. There weren’t questions which required one to spend time, though being a well-read person did surely have its rewards in the section.

Quantitative section wasn’t time consuming either, rather there were many sitters, requiring a quick comprehension of the question and immediate response – more on TWIT line!

Reasoning section was easy to solve, but did require careful handling of questions. Unnecessary hurry might have landed a person in trouble.

GK section was largely drawn from the events in 2010, and till as recent as October 2010. Regular reading of newspapers was amply rewarded, as even if a student did not know the exact answer – one could surely eliminate other options.

Ideally, one could attempt 30+ Questions in 30 Minutes in Verbal, 35+ Questions in 35 Minutes in Quants, 25+ Questions in 35 Minutes in Reasoning, and 25+ Questions in GK in 20 Minutes. Cut-off for various institutes under SNAP can be expected to be as follows:

SIBM, Pune: 114
SCMHRD: 107+
SIBM, Bangalore: 103+
SIIB, Int. Bus.: 99+
SITM: 88+
SIOM, Nasik: 85+
SCIT, MBA-IT: 75+
SIIB, Agr. Bus.: 60+
SIMC/ SICSR/Other: 60+

FMS: Analysis & Cut-Off Scores

2010-12-06T21:46:00.000-08:00

Quite on an expected pattern, and as announced by FMS – the test had 4 sections of 50 questions each on Verbal, RC, Quants, DI-LR. The test was surely easier than the last year, with many questions, particularly in Verbal section, repeated from the previous year papers.

Based on feedbacks received, many students have attempted between 100 & 135 questions. Given the ease with which students attempted the test, and the nature of the test; the cut-off for the test shall surely be higher than the last year.

Section / Ideal Time / Possible Attempts / Good Score / Sectional Cut-Off

Verbal Ability / 25 Minutes / 30 Attempts / 80+ (22 Correct) / 50+

Reading Compre. / 30/35 Minutes / 30 Attempts / 70+ (20 Correct) / 40+

Quant. Ability / 35/30 Minutes / 30 Attempts / 90+ (24 Correct) / 50+

DI-LR / 30/35 Minutes / 30 Attempts / 80+ (22 Correct) / 45+

Sectional Cut-Offs in case of FMS would really be low, since it is normally pegged at score corresponding to sectional 50%-ile. Sectional scores adding up to 320+, the expected overall cut-off can, in no case be higher than 350.

2010-11-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

IIFT:

The IIFT 2010 question paper was quite as expected. The paper was lengthy but quite doable. The question paper had 135 questions divided into four sections. Each question had four options and the extent of the negative marking was 1/3rd of the marks allotted to the question. The break-up of the sections was under:

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation (35 marks) – 35 questions
Quantitative Ability (30 marks) – 30 questions
General Awareness (12 marks) – 30 questions
English (23 marks) – 40 questions
 Part–1 (10.5 marks) RC – 15 questions
 Part–2 (12.5 marks) EU – 25 questions
Total (100 marks) – 135 questions

Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation

The LRDI section was a mix of simple LR and difficult DI. The calculations involved in DI were very cumbersome. 35 minutes for the section would have been the ideal time, which would have allowed answering close to 20 questions comfortably. Given 70% accuracy, cut-off can be said to be 12+

Quantitative Ability

There were around 10 -12 doable questions in the QA section. Giving 30 minutes to the section, and attempting about 16 questions would be a fair estimate for an IIFT call. Going by 70% accuracy again, cut-off works out to 9+

General Awareness

Anything under the sun section was definitely tougher than that of IIFT 2009. The questions were from diverse topics. About 18 attempts in 15 minutes, with 50% accuracy should get a student 2.4+ marks.

English

The overall difficulty level of the English section was higher as compared to the previous year. In the RC sub-section, there were four passages. The first two passages were doable. Questions in passages 3 and 4 were vague and some of the questions were out of the scope of the passage.

In the EU sub-section, some questions were easy like the para-jumbles and grammar. One question based on analogy was vague. A smart student would have selectively picked the easier questions and left the difficult and vague ones.

With 40 minutes available for this section, student can go for more than 25 attempts in this section with about 8 in RC sub-section. Going by 60% accuracy, the cut-off score should work out to 8.4+ marks.

The overall cut-off for getting a call from IIFT Delhi should be around 32+ marks.

CAT-2010: 14th Nov. Slots & 15-Nov (Slot-1)

2010-11-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

CAT-2010: 14-Nov. (Slot-1)

· Comparatively easier slot
· Ideally overall attempts of 46+ should place student in quite a competitive position, a safe bet would be 50+ for the top B-Schools
· All three sections were easy to moderate, with a couple of tough questions in DI-LR and Quants sections.
· In DI-LR section, though lengthy, one could have attempted up to 17 question by judicious selection of questions.
· 17 attempts in Quants too were quite feasible, while one could have attempted up to 18 questions in Verbal section.

CAT-2010: 14-Nov (Slot-2)

· Slightly tougher slot than the other two in this post, but quite doable.
· Papers now are maintaining consistency in types and number of questions of each type.
· Also the difficulty level of various sections vis-à-vis slots is remarkably consistent.
· Attempts up to 43+ should position a student well, while 46+ should place one in a strong position.

CAT-2010: 15-Nov. (Slot-1)

· Relatively easier slot, with DI-LR continuing to be very lengthy. One could safely have attempted 15+ questions in this section.
· Verbal section was moderate with all the variety of questions thrown in. Safe attempts would be 17+ in this section.
· Quants section was moderate with a few tough questions and rest sitters. Some students have suggested that a question on functions was wrong. Safe attempts, given the few tough questions, should be 16+.
· Overall attempts of 44+ can be considered good, with 48+ in the safe regime.

Note: Estimates are based on minimum 85% accuracy in Quants & DI-LR sections and Minimum 70% accuracy in Verbal Section.

CAT-2010: 9th Nov. (Slot-2) & 10th Nov. (Slot-1)

2010-11-10T03:54:00.001-08:00

CAT-2010 once again changed its colors with DI-LR section back to being its usual easier and lengthy stuff. Many DI-LR sets were thrown in with a lot of irrelevant data, and direct questions based on a part of data with some calculation. A good dose of Analytical Reasoning questions, interspersed with a few data based questions. 16+ attempts highly feasible.

Quants section continued to be on the same line – a few tricks & traps with many sitters and some really good questions. If one exercises good judgement, and does not get into the tough ones, one can attempt up to 15 questions safely.

Verbal section has moved up a notch on difficulty level, with RCs with more inference based questions than direct ones. Safe number of attempts for the top B-Schools would be 17+.

CAT-2010: 8th & 9th November (Slot-1)

2010-11-09T01:37:00.001-08:00

Trend continued on 8th and then on 9th – Difficult & Lengthy DI-LR Section, with easier quants section and moderately difficult verbal section.

In both these slots, verbal section wasn’t all that easy as was presented in previous slots – RCs were difficult to comprehend and questions largely inferential. Vocabulary based questions too demanded good deal of understanding and word power – as context was not sufficient to arrive at the answer. 17+ attempts in verbal would be safe bet. Quantitative section had many direct questions, thrown in with a few tricky ones. If a student has a good eye for questions, one can safely attempt up to 16 questions. LR-DI section was surely the toughest and lengthiest section – a few students have even stated the answer not being in option choices for a couple of questions. While 12+ attempts in this section should see a student scrap through sectional cut-off, overall attempts should be more than 47+.

While number of attempts shall always be subjected to accuracy to give you raw score, all the analysis on his site are based on assuming a fair accuracy of 80+% in Quantitative and DI-LR sections and 70+% in verbal section.

CAT-2010: 7th November (Slot-1)

2010-11-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a very happy Diwali & a Successful year ahead!

After two days’ break, the CAT has resumed, with a surprise – Difficult + Lengthy DI-LR Section as compared to all the previous slots. While Verbal maintained consistency, Quants was slightly easier. Going by the reviews available, and response of students having taken the test in this slot, about 12+ attempts in DI-LR section, 15+ in Quants, and 17+ in Verbal should place a student competitively. While one should have attempted overall 46+ with fair accuracy for being a serious contender for the top B-Schools.

CAT-2010: Slot-2: 3rd November & Slot-1: 4th November

2010-11-04T02:17:00.000-07:00

CAT-2010: 3rd November (Slot-2)

Almost the similar paper as the morning slot.
A few questions repeated from the morning slot in this slot.
DI-LR section was a notch less tedious than the morning slot.
While exceptional attempts up to 60 are registered too, 50+ attempts would place a student in serious reckoning.

CAT-2010: 4th November (Slot-1)

While the pattern was maintained much similar to the previous slots – a major deviation in this slot was the difficulty level of verbal section.
Verbal section was tough with many close options – RC questions weren’t direct, they were inferential.
Quants section had an ideal mix of sitters and tricky ones.
DI-LR continued to be easy but lengthy.
Ideally a serious contender should have attempted 47+ questions.

CAT-2010: 3rd November (Slot-1)

2010-11-03T03:17:00.000-07:00

CAT-2010: 3rd November (Slot-1)

The test was on familiar pattern without any deviations from the expected lines
Para-Completion was back
RC with manageable questions, and comprehensible passages
3 questions on word usage, 1 on Sentence Completion, 1 on Sentence Correction, 1 on Homonyms-Homophones, 9 RC Questions, 3 Para-Jumble, 2 Para Completion.
Quants moved back to little easier domain, except a couple of tricks and traps
DI-LR continued to be moderate but lengthy, except for one set, which was largely unsolvable
While 50+ attempts would place a student in good reckoning, exceptional attempts up to 59 are also registered in this slot.

CAT-2010: 31st October Dossier

2010-11-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

CAT-2010 – 31st October (Slot-1)

Verbal Section was of average difficulty, with consistency being maintained in types of questions and difficulty levels. While attempts up to 15+ are registered, ideally one aspiring to 99.0+ %-ile must attempt 17+ questions in this section
Quants section was observed of above average difficulty, with a good mix of sitters and tricky question. Students who can identify tricky ones, can attempt up to 16+ questions.
LR/DI sections continued to be easy and doable, barring the fact that some caselets were time consuming. A student can safely attempt up to 17 questions; making total of 50 attempts.
Assuming 80% accuracy with 50 attempts, a raw score of 36.66 should surely put a student in serious contest.

CAT-2010 – 31st October (Slot-2)

A deviation from earlier slots – test in this slot was certainly little more difficult than all the previous slots.
Verbal section was tougher than earlier sections, and surprisingly Para-Completion questions were absent from the test. Ideal attempts could be 15+
Quants section followed similar pattern with questions demanding unique applications and concepts. Was trickier than earlier slots. One could attempt up to 14+ questions with comfortable accuracy.
DI-Reasoning Section was easier than the other two sections, with time consuming caselets. Attempts of 13+ can be considered ideal.

CAT-2010 on 29 & 30, October

2010-10-31T00:49:00.001-07:00

CAT, this year, has been maintaining the tredn set last year - increasing difficulty level marginally with every passing day. While the DI & LR section continues to be an easy take for the students, Quants is slowly becoming little more challenging.

The composition of the test is expectedly similar to what was presented on the day-1, and is expected to continue on the same pattern. The only difference seen is RC passages with eaither 3, 3, 3 questions or 4, 3, 2 questions.

Many questions in quants section are modelled on questions in previous year CAT papers (Once again confirming our expectation!). Students would do well to solve all the previous year papers.

RC passages are though little difficult to comprehend, the directness of questions is amazing.

Feel of CAT-2010 (First Slot)

2010-10-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

The CAT is out of the bag – the first day of CAT-2010 passed without any major technical glitch unlike they were ubiquitous last year. The test was taken by close to 5000 students in the first slot on Day – 1.

The test consisted of three sections with 20 questions each, as earlier declared by IIMs. While sections were not demarcated, questions from same section were clubbed together. In an innovation, RC passages had the facility to highlight the text – giving a feel of paper based test – as one could underline text in paper based test.

While DI & LR section was the easiest, Verbal section seems to have been trickiest.

The test largely confirmed to the expectations of the author of this post –

· Easy to moderate,
· With greater emphasis on DI, and less on DC
· With presence of Para-Jumble & Para Completion, absence of Para Summary questions
· With average length of RC passages
· With less stress on algebraic math and more on number system

In verbal section, questions were on normal pattern with Jumbled Paragraph, Paragraph Completion, RC of average length, two questions on word usage, and one on grammar. Para-Jumble & Para Completion would surely have made the test trickier, while RCs gave some respite with certain direct questions. Ideally, an IIM call aspirants should have attempted 18+ questions.

Quantitative section was moderate with good stress on TWIT type questions, though a few were based on theorems and postulates. Most questions required common sense, and just a thought to solve. A good student should have attempted 15+ questions comfortably.

DI & LR section was easiest with stress on Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency & Analytical Reasoning. As was often suggested in various classes and during various discussions in FuturiSM, Data Construction was conspicuous by its absence. Given the conventional question types appearing in the test, idealattempts would be 17+.

Disclaimer: The author of this post has not taken CAT in this slot. The attempts are based on judicious compilation and assessment of various students’ opinion and information available on internet.

Run-Up to CAT-2010!

2010-10-08T02:46:00.000-07:00

Dear Folks!
CAT reveals its intriguing character consistently. What may you expect from this year's CAT!
In online versions, the tests are less likely to be as difficult as CAT-2004 to CAT-2007 or say, XAT-2005 to XAT-2009 or say IIFT-2006. But at the same time, it would be presumptious to believe that it would be easy - like say CAT-2009 or other online exams. In all likelyhood, IIMs would like to maintain their USP for CAT - surprise!
If we ponder on the surprise elements -

It would surely be better managed than in its previous 'Avatar' last year!
There shall be fewer questions repeated across test slots - also repeated questions (as they say!) will only be there to equate difficulty level of various tests!
Normalization of scores would not be resorted to, in order to ensure fair weight to CAT scores vis-a-vis other selection parameters.
'End Test' button on screen would be conveniently distanced from other buttons to prevent accidental end of the test.

There may be other surprises to -

In DI-Reasoning section, more analytical reasoning and data interpretation based questions should come instead of Data Construction type of questions. This, since in paper based tests, it is easier for students to, say, fill an incomplete table than to reproduce entire table and then try filling it.
IIMs may finally decide either to stick to contemporary English Usage, or the text book grammar to be checked and structure questions accordingly. (I believe, contemporary English Usage is more likely, if at all!)
In quants section, stress may shift from algebraic math to reasoning; in other words, more stress to, say, number system and questions based analysis than on knowing specific concepts, formulae or derivation methods.

For a student, key to performance would remain on - how well one is able to comprehend a question and respond accordingly. Judging a question on its merit and devoting time that respective question deserves is what students should focus on. Taking more mocks, and thoroughly analysing each one of them is parhaps the best strategy for this year. Also, since there are only 20 questions in each section, do not risk avoiding any chapter or or particular type of questions completely. What if you may find a question or two from the same?

CAT-2009 Results: Interminable Delay

2010-02-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

Hi All!
With CAT-2009, all the management aspirants learned a few very important management lesson even before going through the rigors of two years at one of the top B-Schools: Procrastination. A very important management tool to hide one's inefficiencies and inaccuracies behind. Just do not allow anyone peep into the veil of secrecy around your activities, and you can surely make a show of working hard [behind the veil]. While surely acknowledging the enormity of task at hand, and while giving due credit to IIMs for sorting out maladies that were noticed in conduct of CAT, one cannot stop wondering why ONLINE test should take so long for results to be declared.
Expecting that between 8th December and 30th January, in 52 days to be precise, IIMs would have been able to work out a formula to equate or normalize scores of various slots; besides of course dealing with GoI directives and attending to all the media queries (If they did care about all the hullabaloo!!!). As is said, multi-tasking is one of the most important traits of managers, IIMs surely would not have failed at that, and would have been able to work on a few fronts simultaneously. And if the formula is readied by January 31, even the earliest computers will not have taken more than say, 2 days (I do believe this to be an upper bound) to merge the data of 6000+ students with earlier data of 200000+.
Another management lesson to be learnt: You must go incommunicado, till you have a plausible solution (read explanation!) to the problems faced (read blunders made). As long as you do not communicate, no one will have a problem with what you say or what you do!
There is more to learn: Remember when GoI demanded enquiry into CAT fiasco, IIMs came out with a long 'To Do' list. It helped! GoI gave up! If you are confused, do not allow anyone else to think with clarity. Of course, your solutions should be so detailed and complex that it should discourage others from peeping into them. Thus, even if you do not solve the riddle, there would not be a question raised.
Finally, if you are in a monopolistic situation, enjoy it thoroughly. Make a show of things being extremely difficult, of your being conscientious, and of your not enjoying the monopoly!

CAT-2009: What Was The Big Deal?

2009-12-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

The Big CAT has finally been belled by the Mouse!
In this last one week, CAT has made many funny headlines. It has because a cause of uproar from Indian Parliament to the Confines of Drawingrooms across the country. various coaching institutes have written Open letters to IIMs, championing the cause of students! Blogs are flooded with a call for re-test, discussions rampant with critiques of IIMs!!
While I agree with almost everything said by everyone, let us take it fair and straight - What is done, is done. IIMs are not going to scrap the test or retake for anyone whose test was not hampered by any technical glitches. While accepting the fact that teething troubles in a venture of such measure should only be expected; the scale of mismanagement has left a lot to be desired on part of IIMs and Prometric.
At the same time, when less than 1% applicants are admitted by IIMs, technical glitches for anything more than 0.1% of students should be unacceptable. But with all the prejudices held by authority that be at IIMs, and 'the disdain for everyone in society till one is in IIMs' that administration at IIMs carry; do we expect IIMs to rethink the process?!?! Do we expect that IIMs would do what XLRI boldly did a few years ago - scrap the online test and hold paper-based instead!
Now if we let that be the case, and move on from here on; what do we expect from CAT that was not to be. We do not know how IIMs are going to equate scores from two different slots. Perhaps, they are yet do devise a formula that can be defended (Note: Not a formula that is just!). Reason enough for not declaring what score test-takers have obtained in an online test! Reason enough to schedule results exactly 45 days after the last of the students takes an online test! Reason enough not to declare in advance weightage to be given to academics, work-experience, test, and GD-PI. Well, the trial-and-error run continues after selection of 47 batches for IIMs.
Yet, students have taken CAT. Students are wondering what attempts would be good. Students are worried what score would fetch them an IIM call. Here is my take: Assuming +6, -2 for a correct and wrong attempt respectively, a score of 228 would place a student safely above vagaries of IIM Directors. Score of 228 should almost mean 99.5+ percentile. [50 attempts with 80% accuracy]
Score of 198 to 228 [45 attempts with 80% accuracy] can fetch a call depending upon how IIMs decide to equate scores of different slots.
Score of 162 [40 attempts with 75% accuracy] should come close to 95%-ile and a score of 120 [35 attempts with 75% accuracy] should earn a student almost 90%-ile.
While a careful analysis has gone into coming to this estimate, depending upon my students' reviews; I , of course, do not have a solid explanation - I presumably do not have questions and answers from the test!

Great Results from FuturiSM!!!.... Once Again We Delivered Future to Present...

2008-01-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

Folks....

It's a celebration times at FuturiSM!!!

CAT-07 results are out... and FuturiSM has once again proved itself to be the best Education Solution Provider in the city of Surat.

3 of 9 IIM Call Getters from the City are FuturiSM Students - Futurists.... Congratulations Anup Maheshwari, Arpit Solanki, & Neeraj Meena!!!!!

All India MAT Topper with 800/800 is a Futurist - Congratulations Kishor Sharma!!!

Friends, FuturiSM this year had 31 students appearing in CAT-2007. The results of 24 are known so far...

And of 24 students:-

6 have scored more than 96%-ile
10 have scored more than 90%-ile
Congratilations Parth Agrawal for Scoring 96%-ile, highest ever for CKPCET students

99.84%-ile, 99.40%-ile, 98.20%-ile, 97.28%-ile, 96.76%-ile, 96.00%-ile...

FuturiSM Welcomes you all to the "Achievers Zone: FuturiSM"!

CAT-2007: What to Expect in CAT-07?

2007-10-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

Folks,

Once again I am back with my gut feelings about CAT... the upcoming CAT-07 on 18th November 2007.

As is well known fact that CAT-07 is once again going to be for 150 minutes, and most expectedly with 75 to 90 questions. (Don't you see the CAT likening to GMAT - Increased time frame, fewer questions, easy quants and difficult verbal......)

Once again IIM-A has already given out minimum cut-off scores in each section, as in 2006. IIM-C has joined the club by announcing minimum cut-offs for various sections, though differential, unlike IIM-A.

As my observation for years suggest, when there were no pre-decided cut-offs and CAT was becoming tougher every year i.e. up till CAT-2005 - cut-off in quants section was going down with each passing year. In CAT-2005 it being as low as 7 for IIMs. This translated in just about 14 percent of the sectional marks. In earlier years too the quants cut-off had been just about 9-12. Since last CAT, IIM-A has made 25% score in each section a must and 33.33 % overall. In CAT-2004, overall cut-off was just about 48, and in CAT-2005 it was about 44. Once again 32% and less than 30% respectively.

I believe you understand why all these discussion became necessary here. This amply explains why the quants and DI sections were easier last year. Can they be any different this year? I doubt....!

Why then verbal section was tough last year? Well... I would ask you a question to answer this question... Was it tough? Or was it ambiguous? I believe it was ambiguous more than it was tough. I am still not convinced of a few answers given by IIMs in their published keys. Probably nobody is....

Well, as for sections....

Verbal: Fact, Inference and Judgements can surely be expected. But remember to read definitions well. They may just play a trick by altering the definition of these terms. RC and paragraph completion must also be there. Para-jumbles may just make a comeback, or it may be grammar that makes re-entry in CAT.

Quants: I believe the emphasis on arithmetic is only to continue, with Geometry getting little more or at least equivalent weightage as Algebra.

DI & Logic: For long, in fact, IIMs have done away with Data nterpretation. The emphasis in recent years have been more on analytical reasoning and data construction. The trend is here to stay.

Friends, I believe CAT is being divergent from other examinations. While focussing on CAT, which you must, do not loose sight of other examinations. Do not overlook old rules of the game, for still many a games are played by old rule book. I am refering to CATability test series of FuturiSM.

Wishing you all the Best of You....

CAT-06: My - bid for 100 percentile, Experience, Expected Cut-offs

2006-11-20T01:38:00.000-08:00

Friends,CAT this year was a mild surprise, not a jolt... few changes made to the pattern for the sake of changes... like 5 options per question, which logically brought down negative marks to 1/4 of the marks allotted to the question. 4 marks per question, was more for a bigger spread between consecutive students than anything else.

DI section was easier than last year, but yet was very much analytical. Students who focussed more on comprehension of data before solving a question definitely benefitted. In 50 minutes, one could safely have gone for 15-17 attempts with 80% accuracy, fetching 45-48 marks in the section.

Verbal section was really what can be called a tough nut to crack... Options were close, many questions required two readings, mainly difficult to comprehend, and options difficult to differentiate. On the other hand time was definitely not a constraint, as has been in past. One had sufficient time to read, re-read, comprehend and answer... 17-18 attempts with about 66% accuracy was very much possible. This would have brought 40+ marks.

Quantitative, unlike last year, was very easy. Questions were straight forward, and do-able. In 50 minues, one could have attempted 20 questions with 85% accuracy, fetching 65 marks very comfortably.This would mean that total of 140 in the test was very much achievable, though the cut-offs are going to be much less. Though various institutes are putting cut-off for IIM call between 92-110, my bet would be not less than 120.

Also at 120, the percentile score should be about 98.7, at 100 about 96, at 90 about 92, at 75 about 85.I may be thinking of higher cut-off because of relatively better performance of FuturiSTs...!!!Well friends... wishing you all the very best of YOU for the upcoming examinations...

As for my tryst with CAT, I have attempted 72 questions and would be getting something like 220-230 marks out of possible 300. This definitely puts me very close to achieving 100 percentile in CAT. rest we shall come to know on 2nd january, 2007.

As I saw the paper, 75 questions... 150 minutes... each question carrying 4 marks with negative of 1 mark per wrong attempts... it did got me thinking... expecting something difficult. Well, on the signal to start, I thought would go through the pages once, so as to judge the paper well and decide on which section to emphasis more. The first section - DI looked comfortable, in Verbal Ability read instruction regarding completion of paragraph and felt good about it, so LR questions Fact/Inference/udgement and was little surprised but undeterred, and finally saw Quants... read a couple of questions and felt comfortable. This took about two minutes.

Decided that none of the section was undoable, and hence will give equal importance to each section and equal time too. Then I started with my DI section. For a flip second, I thought whether I should take verbal section first. Then I thought either way, if I should to score 100 percentile, I ought to be comfortable with everything.

I started with DI section. I could not solve the first set about team formation well, spent 10 minutes, switched to second set about class X students' marks. Solved second set in 10 minutes sharp. Could solve third set of Erdos too in 10 minutes with exception of 1 question. The fourth set of shares was easy and could solve completely in another 8-9 minutes. Final set in DI about fuel and toll cost was time consuming. Yet did something and left it after 10 minutes. Spent about 53 minutes on DI (including 2 minutes for assessment of the test.). Felt the section to be easy barring one set - the final one. Attempts: 21.

Then switched to Verbal. Completed the section in exactly 50 minutes, leaving me 47 minutes for Quants section. Verbal was tough, the options were close, questions were incomprehendible at first reading. But since time was not a constraint, could read many questions twice, a passage twice and ensured good accuracy. When I reached questions on LR - Facts, Inference, Judgement - was surprised with the difficulty level of questions. But, had sufficient time to read every sentence twice and attempt the answer. Attempts: 24

When I reached my Quants section, I had 47 minutes to complete the section. Went through the section very smoothly, without any hitches... could solve a couple of questions with two different approaches too... moved on carefully yet continuously... did 23 questions in 34 minutes, leaving me 13 minutes to review my paper.

Went back to DI, studied first set again and got it right this time, was overlooking one fact that L and N cannot be together. Went to toll and fuel cost problem, and corrected 2 questions there. taking my attempts in DI to 24. Went to Quants and went for wild guess for 1 question taking my tootal attempts to 72.

My scores in three sections, as I evaluate now should be: 81, 86 & 60 respectively... totalling 227... it seems, my dream of scoring 100 percentile is close to realisation...

My learning from CAT:

Must invest 2 minutes to assess the test before starting, so that you can plan out your approach well.
Must not be deterred by anything, maintain cool and move through the test continuously.
Must not get bogged down by any question... if time that we can allote to a question or a set is over - move on.
Be prepared for the variety... be prepared for tough as well easy exams...
One may move slowly, but move surely.

My Expectations of Cut-offs:

IIMs: 120+
SP Jain, MDI, NITIE: 100+
IMT: 95+
TAPMI, Nirma, IMI: 88+
LBS, UBS, KJSomaiya, Wellingkars: 80

I am definitely citing higher cut-offs than all others. If we go logically...

Test being easier than 2005, would definitely add 5 marks to cut-offs of 45 last year.
Additional half an hour should add 5 more marks to cut-off.
Reduction in negative from 1/3 to 1/4 should add about 2 more marks to cut-off.
These would take cut-off to 57 out of 150 as in last year, and 114 out of 300 this year.
Add to this, increased population of CAT aspirants, and estimate of 120 being cut-off is definitely not on higher side.

Well, it surely was a great experience...

CAT-2006 (CAT-06) Pattern… What it May be Like?

2006-10-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Folks!

Here are few prognosis of what CAT-2006 may look like –

1. No Change: It may actually entail no change from CAT-05, except for the time frame. As we all know that cut-off for IIM Calls was about 44-45 last year, with a huge number of IIM Call-getters between 44 & 50. This actually made CAT less relevant in second stage of selection process, as the performance in written test was not much differentiable. With increase in time frame, we can safely assume that this range of 44 to 50 would be widened to say about 50 to 65, affording more weightage to CAT performance even at second stage; as only cumulative performance is taken into consideration.

2. Change in Number of Questions: IIMs may increase the number of questions while maintaining difficulty level much the same as last year. Though, this seems less likely, if it happens, it will offer more choices to students and actually make test a bit easier. Also increased time limit would ease pressure to some extent.

3. Increase in Difficulty Level of Questions: IIMs may maintain the number of questions same as last year and increase the difficulty level of questions. More likely to happen, this would further tilt balance in favour of more logical and analytical minds. This would also bring out some new structure of questions – particularly in verbal section – requiring better comprehension, and greater reasoning ability.

4. Increase in difficulty level may extend the differential marking system to include even 3 marks questions or to making some questions compulsory. Making questions compulsory in a sense that not attempting such questions would earn greater negative marking than even getting them wrong would.

5. If we analyze the changing pattern of CAT over the years, few things become very apparent –
· Ability to deal with pressure is a key ability which is being tested more and more with every passing CAT.
· Time management and strategy have become singularly most important aspects of successful attempt at CAT.
· DI-Reasoning section has not only increased in difficulty, it now seeks organizational and decision making skills more than row calculations. Ability to deal with huge amount of obscure data, and ability to make sense out of it - is what is key to performance in this section. Remember tables with some missing values, or finding the range of value and answering maximum or minimum values…
· Verbal section too has over the years moved away from bare memorizing word-lists to more analytical and logical question types. Questions on contextual usage, on para-jumbling, on paragraph summary, on paragraph completion… don’t all these require very good understanding of language and a good deal of logical reasoning ability?
· Quants section has also scaled few notches on difficulty ladder. In good old days, knowledge of concepts and formulas was sufficient answer many questions correctly, whereas today what is required is the ability to apply this knowledge to various situations and conditions. This again requires very good analytical skills to be able to solve good number of questions in CAT.

Whatever the CAT may be like, one who would be able to bell this CAT would be the one who does not approach CAT with any preconceived notion of how it is going to be.

My Strategy for CAT-2006 (CAT-06)

2006-10-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Folks!

It's exactly 32 days to CAT-2006, and I am thinking of my strategy for the upcoming CAT Exam.

I have, of course, prepared a strategy for this year…

The first thing, I am continuously thinking that I can make it… I am working on my attitude… telling myself… that it’s there in me. I need to believe in myself that it’s not impossible for me… and that I was too close last year itself… Everyday I am day-dreaming of what I would feel like seeing my score-card mentioning 100 percentile… everyday I am making plans to prepare my post to this blog once I receive 100 percentile…

The next big thing that I am doing for this year’s CAT is of course working on my comprehension of difficult texts… haven’t yet been able to forget “Derrida”… I know, a very good comprehension is my key to performing not only in verbal section, but even Quants and DI sections. This year, I have read about five novels and one classic, have made it a habit to read ‘Speaking Tree’ in The Times of India, am writing some précis, reading some of the difficult texts twice or may be even thrice… - This helps me understand how big or small is the gap in my comprehension…. By the way, haven’t I been prophesying all these to my students? Then shouldn’t I too must observe a strict discipline in my pursuit of realizing my dream? Also I understand, that my ability in quants section affords me certain logical and analytical thought process. So I must identify question types in verbal section which require logical thought process… Here, I have shortlisted questions on Para-Jumble, Paragraph Completion, Contextual usage of words, and Reading Comprehension… Up goes grammar questions… and may be even multiple usage of words too… Also I have decided to give about 55 minutes to verbal section, as I have decided not to be defensive in CAT… Not to give more time to my favourite section… but to one where I can get maximum trade-off… Though Quants is my favourite section, I must target a score of at least 30 in verbal section…

For Quants too, I d have thought of some kind of strategy – that I must not be required to read any question second time. Most students waste time in multiple readings of questions in CAT, instead I would focus on complete comprehension the first time I read a question – Though this has been my style for many years, nevertheless. Secondly I would ensure that I read all the questions in allotted 50 minutes to the section. Also I have decided to fix a time limit for 1 mark questions depending upon the number of 1 mark questions. When we do not fix time limit as such, we end up spending lot of time on 1 mark questions which do not offer a good trade-off. Quants doesn’t worry me much… but still, IIMs can surprise anybody and everybody…

When it comes to DI and Reasoning questions, once again similar time division online of quants section will have to be done. But I must be choosy about the sets that I choose among two marks questions… they can make or break my dream…

Finally, I am not going to take any question or question-set as a challenge to my competency, neither am I going to mismanage my time. Though I understand that I will have to be flexible in my time allocation to various sections… that part I leave to CAT – as in I would vary time depending on how am I moving through the exam…

CAT-06 is gonna be my day...

My Experiences with CAT-2005 (CAT-05)

2006-10-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Reported at 10:30, the test was to start at 11:00. This half an hour passed as an eternity since was never habituated to sit idle for so long. Nevertheless, found something that could be done - see through the cover page and identify how many questions, sections are there in the test. Could very well make out that the test had three sections of 50 marks each with 30 questions each - 10 of which should be 1 mark questions, and 20 of two marks questions. This also sent a shiver down the body as only 90 questions definitely meant a tougher test - but then the thought came - would it not make it easier for me to score 100 percentile? And the fears were cast aside. I decided that I would not give more than 12 minutes to 1 mark questions in each section, and that I must get all of them done and done right – if I were to score 100 percentile.

Still I had 15 minutes to kill, and then set out to carry out another of my pass-time activity - face reading of people around me. The girl next to me seemed average or may be good with little short on confidence. Some seemed unnecessarily very hyper active, some seemed tense. But one lady in far corner caught my attention as she seemed very certain of herself and determined. Well, the safest part of face reading in such circumstances is that you never get to verify your inferences, and so you can always feel you were right.

I set my watch to 11:00, and pulled out the key so that when the invigilater signals, I can push the key back in position and start my watch.

And the supervisor signaled the test to start. And I immediately started with Quants section as that being my forte, I could solve 9 questions in about 12 minutes, and was through with 1 mark questions in this section. But Alas! I forgot to start my watch at the signal to start the test. And I didn’t know exact time that I took for the section. This mistake was sure to cause me lot of anxiety through the test.

Then I continued with the test in sequential order till I came to the passage on “Derrida”, and yes it was this passage that cost me my dream of 100 percentile. I started reading the passage, and made the mistake of not taking pause after reading a couple of sentences. A must pause that I suggest all my students was ignored by me out of my overconfidence in comprehension. I read about one-third of the passage without understanding much and thought of leaving that passage. And I made another mistake – took it as a challenge. Another mistake that I often warn my students against. I forgot that IIMs can surprise anybody and everybody. I took that passage as a test of my comprehension, and continued reading that and answering questions. It took me about full 10 minutes to do that passage, and got 1 right and 3 wrongs in the passage. 10 minutes and ZERO marks, and up went my dream of scoring 100 percentile.

DI and reasoning section was once again cool, owing to my comprehension of language, analytical skills and calculation speed.

My reading speed is no great, say 280-300 words per minute; but it’s my comprehension that always keeps me in good stead. It is this comprehending ability that ensures that I never have to read a maths question second time. Also analyzing DI and reasoning questions becomes much easy. Good comprehension saves a lot of time in CAT.

My phenomenal calculation speed is also an ability that helps me in such exams. Though CAT is continuously moving away from sheer calculation speed towards intelligent approaches; it is this ability that makes me comfortable with numbers, and helps me deal with multitude of information mentally – without the need for writing down everything. This helped me save much time in CAT.

While these were at the core of my ability to score 100 percentile, my undoing was to rely heavily on my competency, and mismanagement of my time.

Final results were 99.97 percentile in CAT-05, with 99.98 percentile in Quants, 98.74 percentile in DI-Logic, and 98.47 percentile in Verbal. Let alone for "Derrida", my 100 percentile dream would have come true...

This year, am again going for CAT, to realize my dream of getting 100 percentile.

Yes, I would like to mention one fact here that, though I am applying for CAT, am not marking any program in the application form so that I do not get a call at the expense of a genuine applicant.