All posts tagged: CAT Strategy

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.

How Many Questions Should I Attempt In CAT?

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This is possibly the most frequently asked question among CAT FAQs. Whether the year be 2005, 2009 or 2015 this question has always been THE ONE question to answer and perhaps rightly so. The simplest answer to this question, as I have always told my students, is — as many as you can. It might seem deceptively simple and quick-witted but at the core of it, is that not the task? But since test-takers are at different abilities you might ask – what is a good “as many as I can” that will fetch me a 99 percentile on CAT 2015?   [title text=”What a 99 percentile meant on the past CATs”] CAT 2014 was possibly the easiest CAT ever — getting a 99 meant correctly answering more than 30 questions in each of the two sections. The extent to which the test was easy is reflected in the fact that there were sixteen 100 percentilers last time! In contrast, CAT 2013 was the toughest of the computer-based CATs so far — answering approximately 16 …