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How to crack XAT Decision Making – Part I

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One of the most tedious and inscrutable sections that you will find across all management entrance tests, Decision Making has been the nemesis of many a XAT-aspirant. A lot of factors contribute towards DM possibly being the biggest stumbling block on the XAT. But none is bigger than the fact the amount of time any test-taker would have spent preparing for DM when compared to any other section is minuscule. This coupled with the dislike and unease most aspirants have towards reading and the extremely subjective nature of questions ensures that DM ends up becoming the deal-breaker as far as the XAT is concerned.  Read More

How to prepare for the XAT

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A curious phenomenon repeats itself year after year when the results of the CAT and the XAT come out – there is little overlap between the students who crack CAT and those who crack XAT. In other words, a largely different set of test-takers ends up cracking each test.

Why is this so? It is almost like one of the GMAT CR question types – which of the following provides the best explanation for the phenomenon described above? 

The answer(s) to this question will also hold the key to know how to prepare to ace the XAT! Read More

10 Things To Execute On CAT Day

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Unlike international tests like the GMAT or the GRE, the CAT is not a standardized test, there can be — new question types, fluctuation in difficulty levels, more questions than expected from a particular area. Given this, it is imperative that you go into the test with a few pointers both to manage the uncertainty as well as to ensure that you optimise your performance during 180 minutes. Read More

Are you ready for a real test?

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From very early on in our lives we are exposed (or subjected) to this word called TEST. As we enter the higher grades the importance that TESTS play or are supposed to play in our lives steadily increases. If we look back, for most of us, tests have always been part of a trinity, they have always been concomitant with two other things —  fear and prayer.

At some point of time all of us when faced with a test (including yours truly) have felt at the least a sliver of fear running through our bodies prior to a test and even most unbelieving of us have muttered a tiny little prayer under our breaths. Read More

How to manage your 180 minutes

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We have reached the last stretch now. We have done enough concepts, practice & strategy. We have now crossed an invisible frontier, we have moved from the general to the specific, from what is outside of you to what is inside of you, to that space between your ears.

Those who have taken the CAT before will attest that how well you manage your 180 minutes, how well you react to tough set or a section, how well you are able to execute Plan A or switch to Plan B, everything, depends on how well you manage the space between your ears.

So let’s take it section by section, let’s look at each of the 60 minutes, let’s look at what you need to do right, what you need to watch out for and most importantly what can go wrong. Read More

How tough was the DI-LR on CAT 2017 Slot 1 ?

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After doing two posts on Slot 2 of CAT 2017, I kind of felt in the groove to take a shot at Slot 1 as well. Was it really that tough? If one of my best friends and a beast far as cracking the CAT  is concerned did not attempt all questions as is usually the case — how many can a test-taker currently scoring around 90 percentile in the SimCATs realistically attempt? How should he or she have gone about analyzing the section, in what order should the sets have been attempted? I thought I will take up these questions in this blog post so that many fears can be laid to rest. Read More

How to crack the DI-LR section of the CAT – I

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Just like I keep getting queries on how to increase RC accuracy, despite the Last Mile To CAT sessions, I keep getting queries around the DI-LR section as well.

Given the great response that the RC posts got, I thought I’ll dive really deep down into the DI-LR sets of CAT 2017 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. Read More