“When you really get technique.. there is no strength that will stop you”- Caio Terra (Jujutsu World Champion)
With few days to go for the most important phase of my life to begin, I decided to take a few hours out to reminisce my CAT journey. The first (cynical) thought that popped up was why did it take me two attempts to crack the exam. While cracking the CAT in how many ever attempts is a great achievement, I still wanted an answer to this question. After some time, I realized that the answer to this question was a single word:
Technique.
In CAT 2018, I followed Iron Man’s advice: “
I have a plan.. ATTACK!”. All I did during my preparation time was constantly work out as many problems as possible. I bought all the best books out there, worked them out from cover to cover (Almost). I also worked out many mock exams and was scoring decent percentiles. But again, I was blindly doing the exams without spending anytime on analyzing them. I managed to cross the 95-percentile mark, but that was not sufficient.
Fast forward to October 2019. With 2 months to go for the exams, I had barely started scratching the surface. I realized two things: I do not have enough time to work out too many questions and most importantly,
I do not have to work out so many questions. I decided to focus on learning as many effective techniques as possible and implement them as accurately as possible. Through this series, I attempt to cover a
few techniques which helped me cross the magical 99 percentile mark in CAT-2019.
I would like to start with LRDI first. This is because LRDI is the only paper where attempting even 50% of the questions is considered stellar and there is a lot of scope to use techniques. I would be applying the techniques to actual questions, in order to explain them better
1.
Importance of choosing the order of applying clues:
Here are three clues from a question (Question to arrange people in a 7 storey apartment):
- There are exactly three people living between E and F (1st clue)
- B lives on the 3rd floor (3rd clue)
- C lives on 5th or 3rd floor (6th clue)
Being used to solving problems in a sequential manner,
I used to try to fit in clues into the answer in the same given order. This is exactly what the examiner wants us to do and hence something
you should not be doing!
In this question, the first clue is what I call an
indirect clue, the third a
direct clue and the sixth clue a
connected direct clue.
You should start with the third clue, move onto the sixth clue and finally to the first clue. This would give you the positions of B, C and E/F (E/F can only fit into 2 or 7, since there is no other combination which accommodates the three people condition).
The same could have been solved with using the clues in the given order, but it would take an inordinately high amount of time, which is something you cannot afford to lose in the exam!
2. Using answers to solve the questions:
Yes, you read that right. Below is a combination of clues and a question (Need to match Vest numbers with running rank for 7 sprinters):
- The square of the lowest total of vest number and rank is 16 and occurs only once
- The winner’s vest number exceeds that of the first runner up
Question 1: Winner’s Vest number- (a) 3 (b) 6 (c) 1 (d) 5
Question 2: Runner up’s vest number- (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 3
From the first clue, it can be inferred that the total of vest number and rank is 4, which can be obtained from 3 possible combinations- (1,3) (3,1) (2,2).
Using the options from the 2nd question, it can be deduced that there is
no option for Vest number 2, hence the combination of (2,2) is ruled out.
Therefore, the third option is ruled out. It can also be concluded that the runner up’s vest number is >=3, which would also imply that the winner’s vest number is >=4 (Refer 2nd clue)
With the option of (1,3) negated, it can be concluded that the combination of (3,1) is correct. In question 1, we can also rule out option (a) and (c) (<=3). In question 2, we can also rule out options (a) and (b) (>=6, which is the highest possible number for Vest 1).
These valuable pieces of information would help you solve the rest of the problem in minimal time.
3. Selection of questions:
Since solving 4 sets out of the 8 sets ensures a 99 percentile, the problem of
selecting the right questions assumes pronounced importance.
While the LRDI paper is highly unpredictable, there is still a
method to the madness. Question types such as Venn diagrams, Competition questions, Relative marking questions have appeared frequently. While there is no guarantee that this pattern would continue, the possibility of having a “friendly” LRDI question is something worth fighting for.
Also, if you find yourself unable to see a way (not the answer) to solve a problem within 2-3 minutes, its probably
time to move on.
Conclusion: You need to listen to Captain America before getting to Iron Man (i.e.)
You need to master the techniques which will “Stay with you till the end of the line” (Captain America) before you “Attack” (Iron Man) the CAT exam.
P.S: This is part of a series of articles I will be writing across the different subjects, do look out for subsequent articles. I have also
written my D-day story with Inside IIM, consider giving it a read!
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