In the previous two CATs, the DI/LR section has been quite tricky. The level of difficulty has increased over the past few years. It is possible that this year as well, CAT will follow the same trend and the questions will be very different from what you have been practising in your mocks. So how do you make sure that you make the cut and get that competitive score.
Coming from a business family background, I got exposed to the intricacies of business from a very early age. I ventured into my family business right from the 7th standard. I used to go with my dad for bidding in tenders floated by the government and semi-government departments. Right from an early age, I had tasted the blood of business.
I am a student with a Computer Engineering background, and like most engineers, I was placed as a software developer in a well-known firm. I always wanted to pursue further studies, and the harsh truth hit me that it was difficult to cope up with studies when you're working; since a period of 8 hours during weekdays was dedicated towards "office life."
The date for CAT 2018 (25th November, 2018) has now been disclosed and if you are taking the exam this year, I’m sure you are engulfed with all sorts of doubts and questions about how to make the most of this limited time available. Before I start with this article, I’d like to tell you all that I am no CAT expert. I cannot give you full-proof strategies for achieving that 99.99 or say the coveted 100 percentile. This is just an effort to throw some light on the questions we all cogitate about while prepping.
Is this your last attempt at CAT/XAT or other management exams? If yes, I was in a similar position a year ago. After having failed twice, convincingly, at all the management exams, I decided to make one last attempt. Surprisingly, in my first attempt at CAT in 2013, I scored a decent 96.2 percentile. I still don’t know how. I did not appear for the XAT in 2014 because I was sure I was going to fail miserably if I decided to take it. I was scared partly because of all the puffery around it as being the toughest management entrance exam.
Let me begin with a little brain teaser -
It finally came down to doing a well-settled bank job against an MBA from the prestigious DoMS, IIT Roorkee. And that too during these turbulent times for the Indian market after GST and Demonetisation. However, MBA was a dream in the backburner and I felt it was the time I go for it after having worked for three and a half years in IT and Finance industries. I belong to a middle-class family. My father who worked as a Marketing Manager was the only breadwinner. He was my role-model and had inspired me for so long. The way he established himself in the corporate world while having a rural background had created an everlasting image in my mind and planted seeds for pursuing the MBA.
The MBA entrance exam season is on the brink of getting started. A number of candidates will be fine-tuning their preparation right now, whilst there will be others who would be struggling to kick the inertia out of their systems and start their preparation. Those who fall in the latter group do not let the lazy voice within u tell you, “Be Practical, It’s Too Late”. Run away from those who spread negativity. You may come across acquaintances who may say, “I’m preparing for last one year and it’s not working for me” or “These exams are really difficult to crack, it’s not our cup of tea”. Remember these are the people who don’t plan realistically or have laid-back attitude. The basic syllabus for these exams is roughly the same as Mathematics and English taught in the class VII-X. So, ideally, if your fundamentals are in place then it should take roughly 250 hours of preparation which means just 5 hours for 50 days or 3 hours for some 85 odd days i.e. max 3 months. But you need to be very focused in these 3 months and practice religiously. Also, you need not run after solving more and more questions but rather focus on solving different varieties of questions and remember the method used to solve these questions. There is a need to master the art of solving questions using shortcut techniques.
In the previous two CATs, the DI/LR section has been quite tricky. The level of difficulty has increased over the past few years. It is possible that this year as well, CAT will follow the same trend and the questions will be very different from what you have been practising in your mocks. So how do you make sure that you make the cut and get that competitive score.
Coming from a business family background, I got exposed to the intricacies of business from a very early age. I ventured into my family business right from the 7th standard. I used to go with my dad for bidding in tenders floated by the government and semi-government departments. Right from an early age, I had tasted the blood of business.
I am a student with a Computer Engineering background, and like most engineers, I was placed as a software developer in a well-known firm. I always wanted to pursue further studies, and the harsh truth hit me that it was difficult to cope up with studies when you're working; since a period of 8 hours during weekdays was dedicated towards "office life."
The date for CAT 2018 (25th November, 2018) has now been disclosed and if you are taking the exam this year, I’m sure you are engulfed with all sorts of doubts and questions about how to make the most of this limited time available. Before I start with this article, I’d like to tell you all that I am no CAT expert. I cannot give you full-proof strategies for achieving that 99.99 or say the coveted 100 percentile. This is just an effort to throw some light on the questions we all cogitate about while prepping.
Is this your last attempt at CAT/XAT or other management exams? If yes, I was in a similar position a year ago. After having failed twice, convincingly, at all the management exams, I decided to make one last attempt. Surprisingly, in my first attempt at CAT in 2013, I scored a decent 96.2 percentile. I still don’t know how. I did not appear for the XAT in 2014 because I was sure I was going to fail miserably if I decided to take it. I was scared partly because of all the puffery around it as being the toughest management entrance exam.
Let me begin with a little brain teaser -
It finally came down to doing a well-settled bank job against an MBA from the prestigious DoMS, IIT Roorkee. And that too during these turbulent times for the Indian market after GST and Demonetisation. However, MBA was a dream in the backburner and I felt it was the time I go for it after having worked for three and a half years in IT and Finance industries. I belong to a middle-class family. My father who worked as a Marketing Manager was the only breadwinner. He was my role-model and had inspired me for so long. The way he established himself in the corporate world while having a rural background had created an everlasting image in my mind and planted seeds for pursuing the MBA.
The MBA entrance exam season is on the brink of getting started. A number of candidates will be fine-tuning their preparation right now, whilst there will be others who would be struggling to kick the inertia out of their systems and start their preparation. Those who fall in the latter group do not let the lazy voice within u tell you, “Be Practical, It’s Too Late”. Run away from those who spread negativity. You may come across acquaintances who may say, “I’m preparing for last one year and it’s not working for me” or “These exams are really difficult to crack, it’s not our cup of tea”. Remember these are the people who don’t plan realistically or have laid-back attitude. The basic syllabus for these exams is roughly the same as Mathematics and English taught in the class VII-X. So, ideally, if your fundamentals are in place then it should take roughly 250 hours of preparation which means just 5 hours for 50 days or 3 hours for some 85 odd days i.e. max 3 months. But you need to be very focused in these 3 months and practice religiously. Also, you need not run after solving more and more questions but rather focus on solving different varieties of questions and remember the method used to solve these questions. There is a need to master the art of solving questions using shortcut techniques.
