Author: Tony Xavier

How to allocate your time on XAT 2016

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It is a different world altogether when one moves from a CBT with sectional time-limits such as the CAT to a PBT with no sectional time-limits such as the XAT. While on the face of it both with test concepts (not necessarily the same) at a fundamental level they end up testing something very different. A test of competence versus a test of strategy A test with sectional time-limits is primarily a test of competence — how many questions can you answer in 60 minutes? It does not matter if can you solve the section under the given time-limit or if given 10 minutes more you can clear the cut-offs. The moment it becomes a PBT test-takers have to perform more like managers — maximise the return they get from their resources. Many test-takers prefer sectional time-limits since they feel the stress of time and resource management goes out of the window. But the really good ones would know that a PBT with no sectional time-limits gives them more control of the test. For example, …

How to prepare for WAT-GD-PI – I

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Now that the CAT scorecard is out, the time to start preparing for WAT-GD-PI has come. But how does one go about it? It all seems like a vast sea with no beginning and no end. A single post covering all the three — WAT, GD & PI — will be unwieldy to say the least, so I will do a series of posts that will help you kick-start your prep for the second-stage.

XAT 2016: A Prep Plan – Part II

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Back online after the floods here in Chennai! Am not sure how many of my students here are back online. Some of you would have rightly left the city. Hope all of you are safe. Power is back since last night in some areas, while there is still no network. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon and we should be able to start the sessions by next weekend.

The CAT 2015 Mock Test – An Analysis

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It has been a while since the new CAT 2015 software was put up on the IIM-CAT site (I have to admit I have always found the name a bit cheesy :)). I wanted to wait a while to see how test-takers react to the new pattern in the SimCATs before doling out any sort of advice. [space size=”” line=”yes” style=”solid”] [title text=”Running out of steam by the Quant section”] Most of the students I have met have said that by the time they reach the Quant section they are mentally tired. The same would have applied to the Verbal section in the earlier pattern but the Quant section demands more mental energy since you are not entirely choosing between answer options as is the case on Verbal. The best indicators are of course the cut-offs — the Quant cut-off has dropped (marginally) whereas the VA-RC and DI-LR cut-offs have not changed. It is only going to get tougher on test-day. On test day you will need to report an hour or so before your …

CAT Quantitative: How to approach a problem

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One of the things that weighs constantly on CAT test-takers is how they can increase their speed and accuracy. More often than not test-takers discover the right way to solve a problem mid-way through the problem – after they have spent about 2 minutes following one approach. So what is the best way to increase speed and accuracy? Identify the right way to approach a problem before you start solving it. Let us examine how to do this by taking an old SimCAT problem.   Given that f(x) = sec x – tan x. If f(x) = k, then what is the value of cosec x? 1-k/1+k 1+k2/1-k2 1-k2/1+k2 k2/1+k2   Rule # 1: Do not leave this problem thinking — “It is Functions + Trigonometry!“ As we discussed in a previous post, CAT problems are deliberately designed to be seemingly tough or unapproachable! This problem has nothing to do with functions, it is just a fancy way of saying if sec x – tan x = k then cosec x = ? Rule # …

CAT Quantitative – Identifying the topic of the question

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One of the reasons why the CAT seems tough to test-takers is that the questions are deceptively framed. Test-takers tend to expect questions to be neatly classified — areas, topics, concepts — so that the moment they see the problem they know what to do. But the objective of the test is to not to make things so obvious, not to make a question a matter of plugging numbers into to formulas. There are many questions that on the face of it seem to belong to one area but on closer inspection reveal their origins to be in a different area.

CAT Preparation: The Natural Talent Myth

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In the previous post, we discussed the various kinds of baggage that people carry around in their heads about their abilities. The heaviest of this is the one that people have about natural talent or rather the importance that people attribute to it. All of us would have a cousin or a friend or a classmate who could always achieve the same or better result with lesser effort. In fact, my best friend, whom I met during CAT Prep (CAT GD-PI actually) — was one of this sort. During my stint at the IIM and during the course of my professional life I have met a few of those individuals whose abilities fall in the outlier category; people who are in a different category as far as pure aptitude goes.