“CAT 2014 – How I Attempted New Pattern Mock CAT 15” by Niraj Prasad

After Gejo from CL Mumbai, let me introduce you to Niraj Prasad from CL Kanpur.

Niraj does not need any introduction to CAT aspirants in eastern UP because most of the IIM entrants, in the last 15 years, from eastern UP have been mentored by Niraj and owe their success to him. However given that Niraj is based in Kanpur students in rest of India were unable to benefit from his expertise. In the last couple of years however CL has used technology to ensure that Niraj’s expertise is available to students across the country via webinars, videos etc.

In the MBA test-prep industry, there are many self-proclaimed experts of QA/DI/EU/RC but very few CAT experts and Niraj is the best. Niraj’s understanding of CAT and other MBA entrances is unparalleled and while the so called experts struggle to get a 95 percentile in their section, Niraj has cleared CAT not once or twice but 15 times. Hence Niraj had to be part of this series of “How I attempted Mock CAT”

Go through the video of Niraj’s attempt of New Pattern Mock CAT 15 and learn from the person who has cleared CAT them maximum number of times. Click here to view video recording of Niraj’s Mock CAT 15 attempt, it is also available in your SIS.

All the best.

44 Comments

  1. Sir,

    I aspire to write CAT 2018. So, I wish to enroll for classroom course at one of non Delhi CL centers. I have decent academics –
    CBSE Xth – 95% XIIth – 80% and B.Tech – 80% .
    Due to unavoidable medical reasond of my father I cannot afford full fees. Could you consider my case and assist me in getting some discount then that would be perfect.

    Regards,
    Shubh

  2. SIR MY PERFORMANCE IS VERY INCONSISTENT,SOMETIMES SCORE HIGH SOMETIMES VERY LOW. THIS IS HAPPENING EVERY TIME. I HAVE GIVEN MORE THAN 20 MOCKS TILL NOW(BOTH CL AND TIME) I REVISE THE PAPERS EVEN ENROLLED FOR SCC. DO THE OLD PAPERS EVERY POSSIBLE THING.RIGHT NOW PERCENTILE PREDICTOR SHOWS 75 PERCENTILE WITH BEST OF 90.99. SHOULD I DROP PREP. THIS AND TRY NEXT YEAR. PLZ REPLY

    • Agrim, persistence is the key. While the mocks are a good picture of how much you’ll score on D-day, I have seen students doing fairly better in the exams than their mock performances. You should consider following our Strategy for CAT’15.

  3. Sir

    attempted 34 with 95 % accuracy in va
    and 17 with 85 – 90 % accuracy in Qa

    total attempt 51/100

    how much can i expect ?

  4. Hi GP sir

    How many question attempts and marks would get a 99+ percentile? What are some tips for last week preparations?

    Thanks
    Sanchit

    • Sanchit, once Mock CAT along revision and relaxation is what you need to do in the last one week.
      For the number of attempts/score, I will be coming out with a post in a couple of days.

  5. Hello GP Sir

    What would be an apt score for a 99+ percentile? Also can I have your email ID to send a detail of my prep and background and discuss the same.

    Thanks

    • Dear Kaushik,

      If you look at the direct relation between the scores and accuracy, you will figure out that higher is your accuracy with an optimal number of attempts, higher goes up your score. However two students with the same raw score will get same percentile.

  7. Hello sir
    I was wondering if you could help me formulate my strategy for the CAT 14 that I have on the 16th.
    My strength is section 2. In the first CL mock I took(Mock 01) ,I was able to get a CL %ile of 96, but my score in section 1 was horrible, at 65%.
    I have been working on section 2 and have managed to get it up to 80%, and aim to get it to 85+ before my exam.
    My question is this: What section do I attempt first? Since I find section 1 tough, should I give it more energy and time and try and score better, or should I make sure that I get 99+ in section 2 by attempting the same first? I can tell that if I attempted section 2 first, I would be able to increase the score from 96 to 99, but at the same time I would be attempting section 1 after having exhausted part of my mental capacity and so I will probably not be able to do exceptionally well in the same.
    I aim to attempt 50+ questions in section 2 and 20 question in section 1.
    Please advise.
    Thank you.

    • Please look at the blog posts ….how I attempted mock by GP & Gejo…they will help you in your strategy.
      if section 2 is your strength please attempt it first probably for 60 mins….move to Section 1 ..attempt for 60 mins and then in the remaining time do whatever you have marked for review.
      All the Best !

        I aim to attempt 50+ questions in section 2 and 20 question in section 1.

      …Don’t understand this line.

      • Thanks. I will try this out in the mock I attempt next.
        Sorry, the “I aim to attempt 50+..” was a typo. I meant that I am planning to attempt 40 or more questions in V & LR, and only 20 in Q & DI

  8. Hello sir,
    My profile is as follows
    class 10 – 88 %
    class 12- 68 %
    b.com – 55 %

    work exp 13 months

    category -SC
    I am scoring about 80 marks in last few mocks

    how much do i need to increase my score to secure a call from IIM A /IIM C ?
    And, what score must one score in a particular section to clear the sectional cut off (75 %ile in case of IIM A and 65 %ile in case of IIM C) ?

    Thank you.

    • Ravi, my estimate is that a raw score of 105-110 will be required by you for a call from IIM A & C. Sectional cut off of 75%ile should be possible at a score of 40-45 marks.

  9. GP Sir
    Is the list of CAT previous year question papers’ exhaustive or should we solve other years’ papers too?

  10. Hi Sir,
    I am scoring around 90-100 in the mock CAT’s. What will this score translate to in the actual CAT?
    Could you also mention some colleges where I have a realistic chance with my score.

    Regards,
    Prathik

    • Prathik, please check the percentile predictor in your SIS to have an idea of what percentile score you can expect in CAT’14. My estimate is 80-85%ile.
      The B school Advisor will suggest the institutes that you can get a call from. Both these features can be accessed via the Exam Corner also.

  11. Sir,
    I have been scoring around 95-110 in my mocks.Generally my score in second section is around 70-75.I can easily solve all the past cat papers Di portions in less than 9 mins time and also didnt face that much difficluty while solving the qa portion from the same.But I am finding it difficult to attempt around 2-3 dis in the mock(as mock standard is tougher than cat) and also I face a lot of difficluties in Quants.Also Sir,I generally finish VA-LR within 80-85 mins.But even after giving 90 mins to QA-DI my score is not improving beyond 40.My cat has fallen on 22nd afternoon slot and I have around 15days in hand and I want to know how shall i proceed with quants revision.Will only revising cat papers be enough and giving mock every day and full analysis of the same?Will the Dis of cat this year be of the same level as the past year papers?Also sir,am targeting MDI Gurgaon and FMS.So what is the minimum marks I need to get to get a call form these(I have 14 months of IT experience) Also Sir,will colleges apart from IIMs check sectional scores before giving a call or do they just see the overall percentile?This is a confusion I have.Please help me Sir .

    • Riya,

      Problem : 70 score in Section 2 but 30 in Section 1
      Target : The top B-School
      Solution : Achieve 60 score in Section 1

      How:

      You need net 20 questions correct in Section 1. So, lets have a plan:

      First 30 minutes:
      Hunt the ‘easy’ QA questions and solve. The questions that you can understood in first read and you were sure of getting to the answer. Leave the rest for later (if you get stuck at any point, leave the rest) – Target about 6+ questions

      Next 20 minutes:
      Pick the DIs that are manageable – I am guessing that you could pick 2. Solve them. (If there is just one DI set which is manageable, solve that in about 15 minutes. If there are 3 manageable, solve 3. Point is, dont force yourself on a DI which is not manageable). Target : 6+.

      That would get to about 12+ questions.

      Now, go back to the quant and try and get the rest 8 in the next 40 minutes.

      The key – first 30 minutes! Pick some of the unproctored Mocks and practise that – Give 30 minutes and see if you can get to about 6 -8 questions. learn the skill of picking questions. If you achieve this, Section 1 would be done.

      Regards
      Gejo

  12. HELLO SIR,

    I just want to know about mdi murshidabad campus and imt gaziabad campus, i am a person with 3.5 year experience write cat this time again. should these college are very good to apply or not.

    plz guide

  13. Sir ,
    I encountered this sum in the test gym but there is no solution uploaded for it. Can you please guide me as to how to approach this sum?
    question : Q.17 ( Section test 16 QA)
    Let T be the set of integers {3, 11, 19, 27, …, 451, 459, 467} and S be a subset of T such that the sum of no two elements of S is 470. The maximum possible number of elements in S is?

    • Total no. of terms
      Since, S is the subset of T we have following pairs of terms whose addition is equals
      to 470.
      467 459 451 443 … … 243 + 3 11 19 27 … … 227 & 235
      Total 29 terms
      S = {maximum possible no. of elements such that sum of no two elements is 470}
      So total 29 + 1 middle element
      Number of such elements are 30

  14. GP sir … when r u gona upload the category wise number of attempts needed to get calls … eagerly waiting for that video … thanx …

    • Shyam, will come out with the video next week but this being the first year of the new pattern there will be a greater range.

  15. GP Sir,

    According to the Latest Rumors CAT will have a negative Marking for unattempted Ques also a caculator will be provided.
    pls throw some light over it.
    And strategies to overcome this.

    regards

  16. hello sir i have passed my class 12 with 46 % and now i am doing b com with optional taxation i am in now 1st year sir mba is my aim can i get good top 20 b schools ?? is thr is ny prob with my class12 % nd scring good marks in cat will help me ?? i will give nmat cmat snap cat ibs exms also plz guide me how to achive a good mba colleges ! plz help me can i get top colleges whn i scre good in mba entrrcne ?? since my cls 12 % is low plz help me

    • Dear Aayush,

      There are certain exams that you’ll be eligible for. Most of the institutes consider the score of the entrance test to give out calls whereas some other institutes look at over-all profile. We would advice you to do well in your graduation as graduation marks are usually more important than the Class 12th marks. You can compensate for your under-performance in class 12th with a good performance in graduation.

      Best regards,
      Team CL

  17. Hello GP Sir,
    I’ve scored 167 (84.87%ile) in CMAT Sep 2014. Can I expect call from XISS HRM? I’ve 3.5 years work ex in IT.
    Thanks in advance.
    Regards,
    Sohan

  19. Hi GP Sir,
    I have some query about MICAT as i am very much concerned about the exam.
    I just wanted to know about the story writing part and the part where we will be given some topics to go against and favor.
    So i just wanted to what should we do if in any case we dont know about the topics. And story part can we write any story depending upon the picture given ?
    Sir please do reply

    • The picture test is called TAT. It is a projective psychological test. Proponents of this technique assert that a person’s responses reveal the way they see the social world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people & objects. This test is based on your observation and presence of mind. This is a psychometric. So just be careful with the words that you use and be positive in your writing….TAT tests along with analysis is available online on many websites..please try one of them to get an idea.

      For the GA question…please go prepared..They are generic topics so practice analyzing things in writing before you go. You will generally be able to express some ideas on the topic.
      in 2014 the topic was ‘It is ethical to sell fairness creams.’ in 2013 the topic was ‘Facebook is leading today’s youth astray.’

  20. GP Sir,
    Is the remaining mock is going to be attempted by you or anybody else ???
    As we are familiar with your strategy, it would be great if you attempt the remaining mocks.

  21. Hello sir,

    Thanks a lot for all the articles and quick tips you provide.They are practical and brilliant to say the least.Sir,my profile is as follows.
    10th-90+
    12th-80+
    Btech(Currently IITB final year) CPI-6+

    I am from the NC-OBC Category.Kindly let me know sir the minimum percentile which would make me eligible for calls from the top IIMs A,B and C.Also,my scores in the past few mocks have been ranging between 90-110.Kindly let me know how much more should I score considering the same difficulty level to get admission into the top IIMs.Thanks again.

    • Rahul, As a NC OBC candidate a score of 97%ile will ensure calls from all IIMs, this will mean a score of around 120 in CAT’14. Since you are already around 100 marks you can make it to the IIMs as in the next few days you can increase your score and I expect CAT to be easier than the Mock CATs.

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