Author: Tony Xavier
Why your actual abilities might not be as good as you think they are
The purpose of this site has been to examine the problems that students keep bringing back to me over the years, and as the important ones get addressed I keep getting other questions that depending on how one looks at it are either simple or hide more than they reveal to the casual observer. One such conundrum is this one, a paraphrase of a problem that I have answered in many comments: I do not know what happens to me during the test — I do pathetically, sometimes I am even ashamed to mention how much I score — but when I sit after the test, I find that I can answer all questions easily. How do I deal with this nervousness, how do I tackle this? You are looking in the wrong mirror — your post-test performance does not really count The biggest thing test-takers discount is that they are solving the whole paper for the second time! When you read it for a second time You completely and conveniently ignore the fact that …
How to crack the DI-LR section of the CAT – II
In the previous post, we took up 6 of the 8 sets from the DI-LR section CAT 2017 Slot 2 and took a call on which ones solve and also looked at the best way of solving the same. In this post, we will look at the remaining two sets and also what is making the DI-LR sections on recent CATs unique.
How to crack the DI-LR section of the CAT – I
Just like I keep getting queries on how to increase RC accuracy, despite the Masterclasses and the Last Mile To CAT sessions, I keep getting queries around the DI-LR section as well. In this series of series of posts I’ll dive really deep down into actual CAT DI-LR sets and see if I can come up with some kernel of truth beyond just the solving of the set that can help aspirants approach the solving of the sets better.
How to solve a DI-LR Set
When it comes to aptitude tests, there has always been one tricky question — can some things truly be taught? This was the basis of an iconic lawsuit in the test prep industry between the College Board, which owns the SAT and Stanley Kaplan. The founder of one of the first test prep companies in the world, who first taught a student in the year 1946! “To say you can’t improve scores is to say you can’t improve students, and I disagree with that,” said Kaplan in an interview with The New York Times DI-LR is one section where this question becomes moot all over again. Isn’t it pure logic? How can that be taught? This much is true — it is the most representative aptitude test question type — pure skill — where knowledge is important but takes a back seat to logic. I always feel the perfect analogy is with sports. Can you play without any sporting talent? No. Can you get better without a coach? No. What the coach will teach you …
The real reason why your QA scores are below par
While the previous three posts on Accuracy, Selection, and Speed are more than comprehensive in terms of what is needed to push your score north, I still keep getting messages from students who are unable to come to terms with QA. They say they have done concepts and enough practice as well, but none of it seems to be pushing the scores up, and the confidence levels are pretty low. It was only a few years ago, that I figured out the core issue with these students when I was sitting with one — he was preparing for the GMAT and had a decent amount of work-ex and by the time I had met him, he was already through with two attempts spread over two years with sub-par scores. He was willing to put in another attempt and a year more if required to get a par score. I gave him some broad guidelines and assigned a personal mentor to him, and met with him regularly to discuss overall prep strategy, some specific pointers, and …
How to increase your accuracy on RC – 3
In the previous two posts, RC-1 and RC-2, we discussed 3 RCs from CAT 2017 Slot – 2 and executed a specific strategy — paragraph to questions — to solve CAT RCs that will increase your accuracy. In this final post of this series, we will solve the two remaining passages and fine-tune the methods discussed so far.
How to increase your accuracy on RC – 2
In the previous post, we discussed a strategy to approach RCs and solved an actual passage from CAT 2017 Slot 2. In this post, we will take up a few more passages from the same slot and execute the strategy.
How to increase your accuracy on RC – 1
So much weight does RC have on the CAT, so many are the difficulties faced by test-takers and so frequent are the queries that I receive about RC, that I thought that it will be best to devote a series of posts to cracking Reading Comprehension.
How to improve your QA percentile – Part III
In the previous two posts, we took a look at the first two building blocks to increase your score and percentile on CAT Quant — Accuracy & Question Selection. In this post, we will look at the third building block — Speed.
The CAT Writer 