Author: Tony Xavier

CAT 2018: How to improve your QA percentile – Part II

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In the first part of this post we covered the first building block to achieve higher scores and percentiles on CAT QA — accuracy. In this post, we will take up the next one — selection. QA is the section that gets the maximum attention of test-takers of all stripes and there is always a litany of frustrations and queries that plagues aspirants — I am good at Math and like Math but my score just does not seem to go up! Should one attempt the long Arithmetic questions? I feel every problem is do-able! I get stuck for long with one problem without realising it I realise there were many problems I could have solved when I analyse the test The answer to all of these questions lies in the way you select questions and the way you navigate between them.

CAT 2018: How to improve your QA percentile – I

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Unlike the other two sections, QA is a section that has a direct link to what you have done in school and college. Most of the topics that are tested on the CAT have also been a part of the school curriculum. This I feel is the biggest roadblock in front of test-takers wanting to achieve higher scores on the CAT Quant irrespective of their relationship with Quant, with high Math scores during X and XII exams not having any direct correlation with ability on the CAT QA.

CAT 2018: Setting the right targets on your way to a 99 percentile

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A few years back, I attended the Chennai convocation function for aspirants who cleared the Company Secretary (CS) exam (a relative of mine had cleared the exam). The Chief Guest was Padmishri awardee T.N.Manoharan, who is a pre-eminent figure in the Banking and Accounting sector in the country with his book being a must-read for all CA aspirants. He was part of the government-appointed team that cleaned up the Satyam mess and paved the way for the transition to Tech Mahindra. His keynote address was leavened with wisdom and had too many punchlines for me to recount here but one of the things he said is spot on when it comes to the way we should deal with success and failure. He said…

How to choose between a HR program and a regular MBA

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I think I have said this in another post — India is probably the only country where people will be willing to shell out more than 20 lakhs for a product and at the same time be willing to accept whatever the seller decides to give them. What am I referring to? When I ask students who have both BM and HR calls from XLRI, what their preference is, or what they would prefer between XL-HR/TISS and IIM-K/MDI, most are very clear the specialization does not matter all that matters is the brand, others start bringing ROI into the picture.

How to prepare for CAT – II

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In the first part of the post on to how to prepare for CAT , we discussed what your practice routines should be like. In this part, we look at how you should approach your practice, how you can get most out of your practice sessions and how you can maximize your potential in fewer iterations.

How to prepare for CAT – I

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We are slowly getting closer to the business end of the CAT 2018 season. Some of you would have joined for classroom programs as early as last June, a lot of you in Jan and I am sure a few are yet to start but all of you know that you have to start your prep with all seriousness. All of you know that it is time to do more than just attend classes, meet your CAT prep mates and go back home. So it is not a surprise that I am getting a lot of queries – how many hours of prep should I be putting in daily to crack CAT 2018? – what should I be doing on a daily basis to crack CAT 2018? – how should I plan my prep for CAT 2018? This post is going to be dedicated to all things related to a prep plan for CAT 2018.

How to improve your Verbal Ability for CAT?

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As discussed in the previous post, the Verbal Ability sections on the CAT and other tests end up testing aspirants’ general command over the language as much as the test-specific practice they have put in. So how does one improve one’s command over the language? How does one improve one’s reading speed? How does one widen the range of one’s vocabulary?