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Live One-to-One Online CAT Classes by IIM Al
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CAT Strategy
Second/ Repeat Attempt Second/ Repeat Attempt to CAT is important to most students as
it might be the last attempt.
Also another failed attempt on the CAT will result in the loss of
one more year
CAT and other similar exams like XAT,FMS etc are known for
changing patterns and differing levels of difficulty every year.
CAT Preparation requires hard work, meticulous planning and
systematic implementation
A correct mix of theory and concepts, practice, simulated testing
and detailed analysis Two Sins while CAT Preparation
A lot of people jump straight into problem solving and finding
shortcuts to do commonly occurring problems.
Jump into exercise based preparation without getting the
fundamentals right Before starting preparations for writing CAT for the nth time,
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What I Did Wrong? I Did not read any philosophy books, novels for Reading
Comprehension practice. I Did not prepare any dictionary / list for vocabulary.
I Did not try any method for speed-reading.
Had totally bogus Moc - CAT scores 6, 9 etc, never did post-analysis of
questions and later stopped giving them altogether, as they were
wasting my time and hurting my confidence. Skipped trigonometry, coordinate geometry, games and tournaments
and any topic that I couldnt grasp on the first two tries or anything that
would not go in my long term memory.
Did not do much arithmetic series and logarithm. Because most of them
would require the application of some special magic-move, which wontgo my long term memory.
Skipped most of quant/LR threads & discussions on online forums (Well
most of their sums go above my head anyways.)
Cant do much speed-maths or mental calculation of percentages for
DI/Quant.
Dont know squares upto 50.www.spanedea.com
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Count your Sins
Low Mental abilityBrain has lost that ability tograsp, analyze or calculate things quickly without
calculator
Weak FundamentalsBrain has lost hold of basic
fundamentals used in CAT Verbal & Quant Sections; it
is accustomed to analyze complex problems
Time Management Solving questions within the
time limit to get maximum percentile.
PracticeNot able to do much practice on sample
Questions Especially student is not able to practice on
& score at highest level of difficulty within 3 min.
Screening of errors - Understanding why the answer
choice was wrong, making list of all the errors & doing
practice so that this errors are not repeated againwww.spanedea.com
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Few Questions to ask Do I have mental stamina to work efficiency during
strenuous 140 mins (2.5 hours)?
Do I have approach/strategy for solving any type of
question in less than 2 min (whatever the level ofdifficulty)?
Are math fundamentals, grammar basics &
vocabulary list up to the mark to score 99+percentilein CAT?
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The Secret Key The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do
all problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the
score
Most important - knowing when to let go.
You have to quit and move if you are not able toanswer a question within the upper time limit.
Remember to take each question by itself. Don't worry
about the grand scheme, just one question at a time
Do not give up: CAT is a very logical exam and if youare good with logic you should be able to do
reasonably well.
Focus on the basics if you are not improving. Define
your weak areas and work on them. www.spanedea.com
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MAD over CAT The CAT is a tough test. The CAT will humble you and bring you
down to your knees.
With enough practice and right guidance, you can beat it!
The key to success is training your mind to think differently and
act differently
Get acquainted with both the content and the length of the
test.
CAT is not rocket science, it just requires a lot of discipline
There are no shortcuts
Identify your weaknesses and then reviewing materials/doingpractice problems to fill those gaps
Focus on the problem types you're having issues with
TRUST YOURSELF. You are smarter than you think.
All of the knowledge is inside of you. You just need to discover
how to pull it out and apply it on test day!Fo
ranaverageIQstudent,
thepathisnotea
sy,butwho
sa
idanythingisimpossible-it
justtakesthat
littlemuch
longer.
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7 Point Strategy Mental Ability Improve mental ability, improve mental
responses, practice mental exercises and calculations daily.
Clear Basic fundamentals Through understanding of
principles through different books
Time Management Solving Practice problems with
timer, not more than 3 min for any question regardless of
difficulty level ( 4 questions 12 mins)
SWOT Analysis Know different type of questions in & do
SWOT on those types. More practice on weak areas.
Error Log - Error log will help you to know weak areas. Strategyto solve each type of question within 3 min
Process of Elimination Understand & Practice Process of
Elimination on different question types
Practice No alternative to practice. it is very important to
practice higher difficulty level questions for time management; tryto solve every question within 3 min
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Start Fresh @ CAT
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Analyze, Understand & Plan the
preparation Preparing for the exam
3 levels of preparation required to crack the CAT.
Knowledge
Exam Strategy
Confidence and Performance under pressure
3 Steps to ACE CAT Step-1 Learn all about CAT
Step-2 Do Self Analysis for CAT
Step-3 Execution: Mastering your strengths and improving on your
Weaknesses
Study Plan
Never Prioritize topics study all
What is prepared & what needs to be learned
Time Management
Set accomplishable goals
Stick to your plan
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8 important steps for CAT Prep
Identify where you stand
Build the Foundation - build the basics |
Revise the fundamentals
Study Plan and Time Management Sectional Tests and Exercises
Start acing mocks
Evaluation and analysis Know your strengths, work on your
weaknesses
Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture
Shortcuts and strategies www.spanedea.com
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Identify where you stand
Where to start?
The ideal way to start preparing for any exam is
by taking a diagnostic test
Diagnostic test should ideally be of similar type as
the previous CAT exam.
You may take the test online/offline.
Detailed analysis on the results
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Build the Foundation - Revise the
fundamentals
Understand and Develop basic concepts tested inthe CAT
Understand different types of questions asked in
each section
Gauge your understanding by solving questions
for each Concept
Attempt extra practice problems on each concept
to go to Pro Level. Finally, move on to actual past CAT questions
to develop the CAT mindset
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Study Plan and Time
Management
Time is precious, while everyone has the sameamount of time, only those who manage it well
crack the CAT.
Budget your time Create a study plan to
manage the time effectively and efficiently.
Give plenty of time for each task and concept
Use a calendar to set specific deadlines.
Dont get nervous over deadlines; stay calm andkeep on track.
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Sectional Tests and exercises
Start taking sectional tests and time basedexercises.
At least 2-3 concept or sectional tests a week
See where you stand and measure
improvement.
Analyze the tests in detail to check:
Where have you gone wrong?
Why have you gone wrong? Solutions to questions that you did not attempt to
identify the ones that you could have attempted.
Analyze your performance after every test you
take. www.spanedea.com
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Start acing mocks
Start taking mocks once every week to frame afull proof strategy.
Gauge your performance weakness and
strengths
Mock scores will also help you identify your aim
and strategy for the last few months before CAT
Start your mocks even if you have not completed
the chapters
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Evaluation and analysis
All the tests taken must be evaluated properlyand analysed.
Have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests
that you take
Track your performance section wise and concept
wise
Create a flowchart which will help you know
where you stand and how much improvement youneed in every section.
Analysis should include your attempted, non-
attempted questions. Silly mistakes and guess
work attempts. www.spanedea.com
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Know your strengths, work on
your weaknesses Discover the areas, where you are strong and where there is a room for
improvement
Capitalize on your strengths and get rid of your weaknesses.
Challenge yourself by re-practicing problems in weak areas
Make stronger area into the strongest and work towards improving the
weaker sections. Always keep yourself motivated; do not stress yourself, by studying all
the time.
Over dosage often, as they say kills.
How to find your strength & weaknesses Simply pickup a past years
CAT exam papers1. Attempt as many questions as you can without putting the time limit in one
2. Attempt which ever you are confident of, don't make any blind guess for any
of the questions and make calculated guess
3. Check your answers and attempts.
4. Write down your overall score, along with sectional score
5. Repeat step 1-4 for 4 more past year CAT paper www.spanedea.com
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Accuracy and speed: the perfect
mixture
CAT is not about solving 60 questions in 140minutes.
It is about solving 40 to 45 questions with 85 to90 percent accuracy.
Attempting all the questions is not the mark ofyour achievement in CAT
Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among 99+percentile
Focusing on accuracy may lead to spending morethan average time on the questions
Spending more time on one problem could causepanic towards the end of the exam.
An optimum mix of both accuracy and speed iswww.spanedea.com
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Shortcuts and strategies
Try to find strategies and shortcuts for differentsections and concepts.
Increase your speed, improve your accuracy and
reduce time per question.
Collective studies with your friends and exchange
ideas and shortcuts with each other.
A common pitfall is learning the tricks without
understanding them. Best solution is to derive and develop tricks
yourself from the basic principles.
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Time Management during exam Practice the element of TIME in problem solving Most problems in management institute exams do not require
knowledge of rocket science.
These exams are about
Skill and knowledge
Ability to manage time in the most efficient manner.
How to solve problems in minimum time
Focus on 2 more questions and get proficient in them -:
a) How much time will it take me to solve this problem?
b) Compared to the problems that I have seen what level ofdifficulty do I think this problem lies in?
Important for candidate to decide
Which questions to attempt and which questions to leave
In which order - which might very well end up being the most
important thing esp. in exams where time is the crunch.FACT-double
thetimegiventoacan
didatein
exams,most
ofthecandidateswillsc
ore90%+
m
arks.
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Plan your answering strategy These are few points you must plan out before taking
the CAT-:
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 and1mark questions, do you plan to attempt the 2 mark
questions first?
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 surewww.spanedea.com
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Find your strategy - Experiment:
Till you have found a rhythm/strategy keepchanging things
The target number of questions you want to
attempt,
The time you spend on each section etc.
This kind of experimentation will prepare you
for any surprise that you may find on D-Day
Perfect the optimum CAT-solving strategy
Strikes the right balance between speed and
accuracy,
Ensure that you clear all cut-offs and as wellwww.spanedea.com
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Attention : Interviews and
GD/WAT Start preparing for the interviews and GDs from beginning Candidate needs to show that he/she has a well rounded
personality in complete admission process
Start orienting on this aspect six months before even applying to
the b-schools.
Know and Understand different question asked in interviews
Pick up a hobby,
Project something to be your hobby in an interview,
Good understanding of history, personal association, ground
details, rules, current news items related to it and finally yourviews on its future etc
For GD/WAT preparation,
Keep updated on General Knowledge/ General Affairs
Get a taste of the real thing
Preparing in groups of friends for GD/Essays is a good ideawww.spanedea.com
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Current Affairs General Knowledge
Interview/GD/WAT Essays requires that yoube aware of your surrounding and current
affairs.
Read at least one good newspaper daily anda weekly magazine on current affairs (and 1
business magazine preferably) regularly.
Most publications from same media houses
would be a bit biased in some respectA variety of views from different media houses
would strengthen your knowledge of the
subject and help you especially in GD/WAT
Essay www.spanedea.com
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Train Your brain Entire CAT evaluation (including GD/WAT/PI) is designed for
people who can work for longer periods of time without breaks
Train your brain for working effectively and efficiently for longer
periods of time
Build Mental stamina
Mental fatigue is real and it tends to snowball
At end of a exam, mental fatigue will cause him/her to think
more slowly, it will force you to re-read or re-calculate,
Spending longer on each question will only serve to fatigue
you even more.
Mental stamina is required to perform efficiently and to get a
good score
If you need to warm-up for an hour before beginning to be able to
concentrate and study productively, now is the time to break that
habit. You need to be able to start concentratin almost immediatel
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Work life balance
Keep yourselves distressed
Balance your work/study with preparation.
Be genuine to yourself and spend time every day
regularly in a systematic manner
Take it slow and do not garble all the information.
Work your way through different types of
problems and keep track of your performance in
every possible area Its about You and you know better about
yourself; device a strategy that works for you
Keep fine tuning the strategy, until you get better
results www.spanedea.com
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Final Words CAT is a tough exam and you need to train your brain
for it.
The key to success is training your mind to think
differently.
Get acquainted with both the content and the length ofthe test.
CAT is not rocket science; it just requires a lot of
discipline.
CAT is a very logical exam and if you are good withlogic you should be able to do reasonably well.
The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do
all problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the
score
www.spanedea.com
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About SPANEDEA
Every learner is unique, and so is every learning situation! SPANEDEA is an interactive learning platform through live
video and audio and a virtual blackboard
Founded in 2011 by IIM Bangalore 1998 batch alumni
Sanjay Bhadra, Nitin Bansal and Rajat Sharma
Based in Mumbai, India
Get more information at: http://www.spanedea.com/CAT
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Why Learn Online Customized learning from the convenience of their location.
Sessions/course customized to particular students need
Convenience - Convenient timing Comfort - At the comfort of your place, Spend less time on
traveling and more time to learn
Teachers personalized teaching -1on1 live teaching throughinternet,
Modular course content ebooks, interactive and customizedcontent/ courses
Qualitybest quality teachers Availabilityqualified teacher available all the time
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Benefits to students Choice
chose teachers, select courses,
Precisionexactly what is required, instead of needless 'full' Personalizationmy weaknesses at my pace, customize your
own course
Doubt clearing
interactive discussion required for doubt
clearing
Tutor provides comfort provides the invaluable hand-holding
Sufficient practice
pre and post session quizzes, full exams
More focus on concepts concept building
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www.spanedea.com
For more information on CAT - http://www.spanedea.com/CATOpenedex India Pvt. Ltd., 703, C-Wing, Mangalya, Andheri (E), Mumbai-400059, India
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