1. Clear with the basics: Getting the basics right does not mean only the formulas but basic calculation like adding/ subtracting 3 to 5-digit numbers, multiplying two/three-digit numbers, remembering squares, cubes, etc. This activity will increase your speed and will help you in the LRDI section too. Do this for at least half an hour for a month when you start your preparation.
2. Do not rush, go easy: Start with easy questions and do not dive into advanced problems in the beginning. Practice easy questions, build confidence, and be clear with your basics. Also, many students become impatient and start to look at a solution without even giving a second try. Please do not fall into this trap!
3. Practice and revision: “The only way to learn mathematics is to learn mathematics is to do mathematics.”
Merely knowing formulas won’t help you need to keep practicing to understand various concepts. I found TIME quant material to be great for practice. It involved the basic formulas of every topic and questions segregated according to the difficulty level. TIME also provided separate books for OMETs (Other Management Entrance exams). Taking sectional mocks will also help in practicing various questions under the time constraint. I used to practice Quant towards the end of the day after doing verbal and DILR because in CAT also this will be the last section in the series. Revision is also a must-do, so make a habit of revising the concepts again and again once a week.
4. Group study: Studying in a group will help you a lot. It will cover a variety of questions, promote healthy competition, help in covering different methods for a single problem. Fortunately, I had two friends who were also very serious for CAT preparation with whom I used to discuss. I practiced questions from Iquanta, a Facebook group, where students from all over India post various doubts related to CAT. Whenever I got free time, I used to open Facebook, start solving the questions mentally, and take screenshots of the difficult questions, to solve them later.
5. Try to do calculations mentally: When you have completed the beginner and intermediate level concepts, then it is all about how to do calculations quickly. Time taken to solve questions becomes the crucial factor in scoring well in exams like NMAT and SNAP, where you get one minute per question. Sometimes the problem may not be that simple but try to solve at least 1-2 starting steps of solution mentally and further improve on this habit. In the SNAP exam, I have solved most of the questions without even touching the pen with the paper.
6. Start finding patterns and your methods to solve the question: “Mathematics is all about creativity and seeing a pattern in numbers” – My Mentor
It may sound trivial but it is true. With lots of practice and hard work, you will reach a point when you begin to find easy and fast methods to solve questions and see patterns in numbers. It will also help you to solve complete the series questions asked in OMETs. Once you have reached this stage, you have attained Nirvana. Some basic examples are:
Q- Find 42.5% of 80
Method #1
(42.5/100) * 80 (The traditional way)
Method #2
Calculating 40% of 80 first then adding it to 2.5% of 80
[(40/100) * 80] + [(2.5/100) * 80]
Method #3
Converting it into fraction equivalent
(17/40) * 80
Easy-Pizzy. Isn’t it?
7. Do not overwhelm yourself: While preparing for the quant section, you will find many resources and online platforms to solve more questions. I know it gets to the nerves because you want to solve every problem that you find challenging. However, CAT is not about attempting every question right but is about finding the easy ones first. My advice is to look for quality instead of quantity because the opposite will do more harm than good.
Also, if possible, watch Shakuntala Devi - Our Indian computer - film that will motivate you to crunch more numbers. Keep your mind calm, control your anxiety, and be relaxed while giving any exam. Believe in yourself because if I can do it, you can do it too :)
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment box.
***
Also Recommended For You:
CAT Tricks By A 99.97%er - Series 1 On Quant | Nikhil Kedia, IIM Ahmedabad
How I Aced CAT 2019 QA After A Failed Attempt In CAT 2017 | Anushka Singh
5 Pro Tips To Bag 99+ Percentile In Quantitative Ability In CAT
Comments
051 Prachi Pandey
I have fear of maths and cant find correct logic or approach to start a question..I have started preparing for cat in july and now it's end of August..i am not able to do quant at all.. kindly give suggestions from where should i start .. after preparing near about 2months..it all seems l have done nothing...zero result.. kindly help ..
24 Aug 2020, 05.13 PMEdited
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Hi Prachi, My suggestion to you would be to go with the easy topic first. Arithmetic is relatively easy than the other topics. Grasp the basic formulas first and try out questions which you are most comfortable with. By doing this you will gather confidence and then go to the depth by practicing variety of questions under the same topic. Once you begin to get answers right, it will motivate you and your fear of math will start to disappear. Hope this helps you!
24 Aug 2020, 11.46 PM |
Pranshu garg
Great insights !! Hope this helps a bunch of CAT aspirants.
24 Aug 2020, 11.15 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Glad you liked it!
24 Aug 2020, 11.37 PM |
Rekha Jhamb
Very well written!
27 Aug 2020, 09.48 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Thank you!
29 Aug 2020, 08.38 AM |
Ketan Sharma
An Average MBA Aspirant. Trying hard to get into a top-rated MBA college, to start my career as an MBA.
Excellent article for aspirants. Great work Jatin ?? #scmhrdxp
28 Aug 2020, 09.12 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Glad you liked it!
29 Aug 2020, 08.40 AM |
Aparna Dhar
Apt article for aspirants who have a fear of quants. Well done Jatin.
28 Aug 2020, 10.32 PM
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Thank you!
29 Aug 2020, 08.41 AM |
Sanskar Chopra
Great Work buddy✌️
29 Aug 2020, 11.00 AM
+Read Replies (1)
Jatin Jhamb
By Jatin Jhamb SCMHRD (2020-2022) SNAP: 99.70, NMAT: 213, XAT: 97.98
Thank you!
29 Aug 2020, 11.20 AM |