CAT 2012 Preparation: Avoid the common pitfalls

Before you go on to the CAT Study Material and start giving Mock Tests, here are a few common Pitfalls that you avoid and some basic strategies that will help you get a higher CAT score.

Always Remember, the obvious answer is the Wrong Answer

With the number of questions going down, there are hardly any 'sitter' questions in the recent CATs. The obvious answer (the one you can guess without spending much time on), is likely to be the wrong one, so be careful.

Guess if you can eliminate at least ONE answer

You need to invest some time on all questions, so while you are going through the questions, do NOT become emotionally involved with any of them. And even if you think the questions is outrageously difficult or outright incorrect, just try to eliminate at least one answer, guess and move on if you are not feeling confident about it.

Keep track of the time

Certain questions by their very nature take more time to answer. The first step to better time management is to recognize these questions.

While doing your practice tests, try to become more aware of how much time you have taken to answer a question. You will soon begin to develop an Internal Clock that will help you meet the pacing requirements of the CAT and reduce test anxiety.

Author: MBARENDEZVOUS.COM

CAT 2012: Start Preparation with extra edge!

CAT is an exam that is being taken by approximately 2,30,000 students but only few hundred are lucky enough to get into the Top Ranking Institutes. This is not because they are made up of some different skin and different blood flows into their vessel, it’s just that they have that extra edge in them.

Anyone can have or develop that extra edge in oneself. What’s needed is just a rendezvous with yourself. Ask yourself several questions and answer them as well. Perfect will be to do honest SWOT for each step.

There is no right time to start preparing for any exam. Once you have decided to have a go for CAT, there is no point in waiting for an auspicious moment for the preparation to begin. Start NOW.

Anyone who has completed or is in the final year of his/her bachelor's degree (Any stream: Engineering, medicine, humanities, sciences etc) can take the exam. 50 percent aggregate at the bachelor's level is a must in graduation of any stream for writing CAT exam.

Any exam is tough if you do not prepare. The CAT exam tests the caliber of a person to handle and juggle things by throwing at him/her difficulties that only the best-prepared mind can handle. This is done because this is what is expected by a manager of a company to do, and all CAT aspirants are future managers only. 

In depth reading with holistic approach to achieve mission CAT 2012 will provide that extra edge for the preparation. 

Author: MBARENDEZVOUS.COM

Strategy for CAT 2012

Which section, whether it is English, Quantitative Ability or Data Interpretation, you are going to attempt in the beginning, followed by which section and which in the end. Within these sections, what will be your order of attempting the various types of questions? For example, within the English section, will you do Reading Comprehension first or begin with the Verbal Ability part?

What is your time allocation strategy? How much time do you plan to spend on each of the sections? In particular, do you plan to devote equal time to each section or slightly more time to the section that you are the strongest at?

How will you respond to a differential marking scheme if that is specified? For example, if there are 2 mark and 1 mark questions, do you plan to attempt the 2 mark questions first? (You never know, when the CAT pattern is changed without any notification!)

Do you plan to spend some time at the completion of the exam, cross-checking or verifying some of the answers, especially of those questions that you are not really sure of and have just estimated or guessed the answer?

You must understand that CAT is not impossible to crack. People have done it before and will continue to do it, so why not you? You just need to continue systematic preparation and CAT could be probably one of the easiest tests to crack. 

Author: MBARENDEZVOUS.COM

CAT 2012 Preparation: VA

We may speak excellent English, yet when it comes to written English, many of us tend to flounder. Verbal Ability is an important part of the CAT exam. 

CAT's Verbal Ability section tests basic grammar and your vocabulary through questions on analogies, antonyms/ synonyms, logical sequencing of paragraphs and sentence completion.  This section cannot be mastered in one long cram session or within a scheduled number of days. You need to start small and then pick up fast, until the desire to know the language becomes second nature to you. 

In order to do well in Verbal Ability you need three things, reading, clarity on English grammar basics and building up your vocabulary. It consists of questions which are vocabulary based, English and grammar usage, verbal reasoning and reading comprehension. 

The Vocabulary-based questions of VA can comprise of synonyms & antonyms, fill in the blanks, matching words with their appropriate meanings etc. The grammar usage mostly comprises of questions which test your understanding of grammar. It could be questions where you are asked to spot the section of a sentence that is grammatically incorrect or it could be questions where a part of a sentence in underlined and you are provided with four or five alternative choices. 

You have to select the choice that corrects the error in the underlined part. The verbal reasoning questions could take multiple forms. The most common one is that of rearranging sentences of a paragraph. It could also include paraphrasing what has been said in a paragraph.

This section consists of basic questions of English language. In order to get a decent score in this section, all you need is to be well versed with grammar, words and verbal reasoning. The concepts have to be clear, as well as you should know the right usage of words, sentence construction etc.

Practice, practice and practice for achieving mission CAT 2012. 

Author: MBARENDEZVOUS.COM

CAT 2012: Reading Comprehension in VA & LR

Reading Comprehension is an essential part of Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning Section. No one can even imagine keeping away from reading comprehension because not only for this section but to clear CAT exam with a decent percentile it becomes important to excel in this set of questions.

The Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning section in the Common Admission Test comprises of Reading Comprehension. 

Reading Comprehension is basically to test your understanding. In this section, you will be provided with paragraphs and some following questions. You will have to read and understand the passage before answering the questions that follow. The passage could be of diverse nature, it could be of Economics, or Psychology, or History, or just some piece of information. You should be capable enough to understand the mentioned passage and provide the solution correctly.

You should ensure in your mock tests that you understand the gist of the topic/ passage in the first reading itself. To improve your comprehension, you must read a variety of topics and keep increasing your repertoire of knowledge. 

Hurry up and go for practice sessions to achieve mission CAT 2012.

Author: MBARENDEZVOUS.COM