This article by Gejo is a must read and the video a must view for anyone who is serious about CAT and other MBA entrances. It beautifully illustrates how a systematic and a planned test taking process can help you maximse on your strengths and to minimise on your weakness.
Gejo clearly demonstrate that you need not be excellent in all areas to do well in MBA entrances. For those of you who have gone through the my videos of Mock CAT 7, 10 and 13 will find similarities in the way we take the paper. For example both of first first plan (scan the paper, allocate time limits etc) and then implement (attempt), we avoid questions types that we are not comfortable with, use SQC techniques, are usually quick in leaving question, continuously assess our performance and also make mistakes while attempting the paper. While there are similarities in our approach there are significant dissimilarities in our choice of questions for example, while I prefer Arithmetic Gejo avoids it.
Click here to view video recording of Gejo’s Mock CAT 13 attempt, it is also available in your SIS and stay tuned in for similar videos (and write ups ) by other CL faculty.
Over to Gejo.
GP
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The three hats perspective
I don’t know how long-posts are received. Normally, people don’t read long-posts. But then, for you, this post may well be the game changer. Yes, this could be a false claim. Problem is – you won’t know whether it is actually worth a read unless you actually read it! So, don’t be lazy… Read on.
When I take a test, there are voices in my head which talks to each other. Yes, you heard it right! Before you make any unwarranted conclusion, let me clarify the same.
I believe that one needs to wear three different ‘hats’ while taking the CAT.
| HAT | Key Results Area |
| CEO Hat | Responsible for the overall management of the test
|
| Area Manager Hat | 5 Area Managers – QA, DI, LR, RC, EU who is responsible for maximizing score in the respective area
|
| Worker Hat | Responsible for getting the answer correct.
|
There is one thing that is crucial: THE WORKER HAT IS THE KEY! The marks are going to come from the questions you solve.
However, only a ‘worker’ cannot get you the final score. You need to wear the other hats.
I keep changing the hats during the test. Once the mock is done, I will analyze to figure out which cap didn’t do its job really well – Which were my weak caps?
This helps me to fine-tune my strategy for the next mock.
Let’s now look at Proc-Mock-13 in action: I recorded my attempt and I went through the recording again and saw what transpired. The following is that story.
First things first – I need to set some targets.
| Section | Attempts | Accuracy | Time |
| QA + DI | 30+ | 90+% | 80 minutes |
| VA + LR | 30+ | 90+% | 80 minutes |
10 minutes – buffer
I went through the complete paper and got an idea of the break-up of the areas.
Section 1: DI – 5 sets with 17 Questions, QA – 33 Questions
Section 2: LR – 3 sets with 10 Questions, RC – 4 passages with 20 questions, EU – 20 Questions.
CEO HAT Decisions made:
- Allocated 80 minutes to each section and decided to use the last 10 minutes based on how the test goes.
- Decided to start with Section 2. This was in fact pre-decided – logic is simple: there are two big chunks (RC & LR) in Section 2. I do not want to take that pressure of trying to solve RC and LR in the second half of the test.
- The order in which in I will attack Section 2 was clear – EU first, then LR (sets that I am sure of), then RC. If there is any time left (which is almost never the case), I will decide based on the situation.
Plan Given by CEO for Section 2:
| First 25 Minutes | Next 20 Minutes | Next 35 Minutes |
| Try and attempt all EU questions | Solve LR | Solve RC |
| Around 15 Questions | Around 8 Questions | Around 10 Questions |
[This was based on this specific test since there were 3 LRs and 4 RCs.]
I follow a simple rule in VA – “I will never mark if I am sure that I am not sure.”
TARGET:
25 Minutes | 15 Questions
This is always a very ambitious plan! A wishful thinking most of the time – but then, my CEO gives pretty high targets. CEO normally plans a buffer of 5 minutes.
It took me close to 33 minutes to get pass this area. Though, now I feel that I took a little extra time in some of the questions. I could have saved 4-5 minutes. That could in turn mean one more LR or RC set – that’s 3 more questions. Will it be a costly? Only time will tell.
Here’s the summary of EU:
I started from Q51 and moved on to Q100 in that order and, picked and solved EU questions. Following is the summary:
There were no questions on Grammar – which was the real reason as to why my attempt was high in EU. Almost always, I am not very sure of the answer when it comes to questions based on Grammar.
- Qns 51, 52, 53, 80, 81 were on Sentence Completion.
These 5 questions did have pretty tough words – maelstrom, plebeian, esoteric, soporific, imprimatur, insidious, sedulous.
However, using ‘guess – elimination’ technique coupled with some knowledge, I could knock off 4 questions out of 5 ( I left Qn 81)
- Qns 95, 96, 100 – Homophones
Though in many cases I was not sure of the meaning of the words, I could manage it with less trouble. Key: eliminating options.
- Qns 54 & 55 were Para-jumbles | Qns 96 & 97 Para-Jumbles (Odd man out)
I felt that these questions were manageable except for one question – on Mohiniattam. I just couldn’t eliminate. By using basic application of ‘connection – elimination’ technique I could solve the other questions. I solved 3 out of 4.
- Qns 56, 61, 82, 83, 84, 93, 94 – Summary/Critical Reasoning Questions/Para Completion
While, I normally enjoy solving these questions and answer them without much sweat, I found 3 questions to be speed breakers (56, 82, 83). I let 1 go as I was not really sure of the answer: Q 56 – (Fact is, even after looking at the answers, I am still not sure of that one!)
All in all, thanks to no Grammar, I could solve all questions except 3.
SUMMARY – EU
| TARGET | ACHIEVEMENT |
| 25 Minutes | 15 Questions | 33 Minutes | 16 Questions |
Since the allotted time was overshot, time for CEO HAT
- Time was over shot but the number of attempts was not bad.
- The other areas now have less time – Will need to manage within 80 minutes
- Need to make adjustments to handle the rest in 45 minutes
- RC requires at least 30-35 minutes. Plus, the 5 questions per RC may work to the advantage.
- Instead of trying for all 3 sets of LR, try and solve 2: that gives around 7-8 minutes per LR, which is little stiff but manageable.
Revised Allotment
| Next 15 Minutes | Next 35 Minutes |
| Solve 2 LR sets | Solve RC |
| Attempt all 6 questions | 10+ Questions |
I always pity the LR Area Manager. He has the toughest task – (1) You have to be sure which sets you want to solve and (2) You can’t be sure of any set unless you solve them! – A typical ‘chicken-egg’ story.
There were 3 sets:
Set 1 – 57 to 60. This set was a scheduling problem
Set 2 – 67 to 70. Questions on distribution
Set 3 – 90 to 92. Minesweeper game
[This, I had got an idea in the first 35 minutes itself. While I was doing the EU questions, I paused whenever there was an LR set to have a quick look and made a note of the above separately on the sheet of paper]
One, I was really happy to see the Minesweeper game. I knew the rules; I had played the game on my computer. I was sure I will attempt Set 3.
Between Set 1 and Set 2, I decided to go for Set 2 since the data didn’t seem too complicated.
I was sure that I will overshoot the time; however DI Set 2 came as a pleasant surprise.
Set 2: I solved by SQC technique – in fact, I got all three answers without much effort. Became a little brave, applied SQC, got all 3! What was great was that it took me just 5 minutes to solve this set.
Set 3: I first ‘played the game’ and filled in the boxes. Then I solved the first two questions pretty easily. I left the last one. However, looking back, I could have solved that one too. I misread the question, got confused and left it. It was a bad miss.
Net, out of the 10 questions presented, I solved 5. Not really proud of this. But on the brighter side, the really good news was that in 12 minutes I could finish off 2 LRs – this is one of those rare occurrences.
SUMMARY – LR
| REVISED TARGET | ACHIEVEMENT |
| 15 Minutes | 6 Questions | 12 Minutes | 5 Questions |
- So far in this section, around 45 minutes was spent and knocked off 22 questions. Not bad!
- Continue as planned – RC time! All the best…
There is an old saying – “If your RC is good, life is good!” [No, it is a sentence that I cooked up. But the fact is: it is true.]
There were 5 questions in each of the 4 RC passages – a gift, I thought.
I had made a note of the following while doing EU:
| Qns | Topic | Size | No. of Questions |
| 62 – 66 | Literature | Short | 5 |
| 70 – 74 | Something about teaching | Long | 5 |
| 75 – 79 | Something about innovations & imitations in an organization | Not short.. not long | 5 |
| 85 – 89 | Something about science.. looked tough to read | Long | 5 |
Since I had 35 minutes with me, I felt I might not be able to solve all the RCs.
- Targeted to solve 3.
- Decided to leave out the last passage. [This was done without any idea as to whether that was the best decision! But then, decisions need to be taken.]
This is what I do for every passage:
Read the passage completely à Gather the main idea à Understand author’s position on the topic à Solve the questions à If the question can be answered using the things that I gathered, solve them à If not, go back to the passage and solve à If I am confused, I will leave the question unanswered.
Passage 1: 62 – 66: Montana Scalp
I solved four questions out of the five questions – It took me about 10 minutes with this passage. For almost all the questions, I had to go back and hunt information from the passage.
Reading & Comprehending the Passage: 5 minutes
Solving the Questions: 5 Minutes
Total 10 Minutes
Attempt: 4 Questions
Passage 2: 70 to 74: ‘Space’ while teaching
Though this passage was lengthy, it was a fun read. In fact, I did enjoy reading this passage. I could solve all the questions.
Reading & Comprehending the Passage: 7 minutes
Solving the Questions: 3 Minutes
Total 10 Minutes
Attempt: 5 Questions
Passage 3: 75 to 79: Innovation & Imitation
In this passage I left one question, solved four.
Reading & Comprehending the Passage: 4 minutes
Solving the Questions: 4 Minutes
Total 8 Minutes
Attempt: 4 Questions
The ‘CEO allotted time’ was 80 minutes. That meant, I had 4 more minutes left – too less a time for solving LR; too less a time for solving an RC passage; not much help in going back to EU since the questions I had left out were confusing ones – something I thought I cannot solve.
Time to make a quick decision:
- Should I spent extra 3-4 minutes and solve one more RC or LR
- or is there something else that I can do
Area Manager VA’s extra 4 minutes has proven to be costly.
What’s done is done; need to move on. Borrowing time allotted to Section 1 is never a good idea. Two wrongs will not make a right. Also, I did have the 10 minutes buffer in case I need to come back to this section.
This is what I decided – I will go through the questions of the last passage and see if there are some questions that I could solve within 3 minutes.
I found two questions which were not inference based ones – (1) Tone of the passage and (2) Profession of Author. I scanned and skimmed the passage (something that I usually don’t do) and solved the two questions.
SUMMARY – RC
| TARGET | ACHIEVEMENT |
| 35 Minutes | 10 Questions | 35 Minutes | 15 Questions |
SECTION 1 SUMMARY:
| EU | LR | RC | TOTAL | |
| PLANNED | 15 | 8 | 10 | 30+ |
| ACHIEVED | 16 | 5 | 15 | 36 |
My take:I was both happy and not happy with the attempts. Not happy because on hindsight, I did feel that this mock was tailor-made to my strengths. I could have touched the magic 40 attempts – a rare occurrence, by the way. An opportunity was given and I missed it. Happy because things could have gone really bad. I could still manage 36 attempts.The reasons:
(1) 3-4 extra attempts in EU: Main reason – No question on Grammar.
(2) 5 extra questions in RC: This was because of 20 RC questions – 1 extra question in each RC passage coupled with a bit of luck with the last passage.
(3) SQC technique helped in one LR. I knew the Minesweeper game and so could straight away attack the LR set. This helped in saving time – gave me time to add additional 3 questions to the kitty.
- After a reasonably good show in Section 2, there was no time to relax – I needed to achieve good score in both the section.
- In the very beginning, I had already figured out that there were 17 DI questions (5 sets) and 33 Quant questions. I needed to get to 30+ attempts. The sound of 5 sets of DI was scary.
- I know my strengths & my weakness in Quant. Here’s how it looks:
| Area | Strength meter | Remarks |
| Numbers | 4 Star | I don’t get scared with even the ‘toughest looking’ question (I may not be able to solve every question). Most of my concepts in number theory are pretty strong. I have the confidence that I can work my way through.By the way, I treat questions on functions (sequence) and Diophantine equations (equations with integral solution) as number theory questions. [Many regard this as a part of algebra] |
| Modern Math | 4 Star | Permutations, Combinations & Probability are things that I ‘love’. I know how to start, how to maneuver myself in tricky questions.I do have a problem with Maxima-Minima Set theory questions – It can be confusing most of the times. |
| Algebra | 3 Star | I know most of the concepts. I am good with graphs which helps me most of the times.The tool that I know how to use is SQC techniques – I know when it can work, when it cannot. |
| Geometry | 2 Star | Problem! Though I can handle ‘simple’ questions. If it is too confusing, I get scared!Though, I always try and use SQC techniques to handle the questions that I cannot solve using conventional methods |
| Arithmetic | 2 Star | This is actually pretty strange. Most of my peers find Arithmetic the ‘easiest’ in Math – but not me. I take time in understanding the question; I need to create good diagrams; I have to solve it systematically. |
Now that you know where I stand, if you want to beat me, then this is the paper you have to create: Questions loaded with Arithmetic & Geometry.
But the good news for me (bad news for many) is that CAT so far has given a significant weightage to Numbers and Algebra.
Plan Given by CEO for Section 1:
| First 35 Minutes | Next 20 Minutes | Next 25 Minutes |
| Try and attempt QA questions that I can solve without much effort | Solve the DIs that are not really difficult | Solve the second round QA questions and DI |
| Around 15 Questions | Around 8 Questions | Around 6 Questions |
[This was based on this specific test since there were 32 QAs and 18 DIs.]
- I was really worried about the DI sets. 5 DI sets – that’s too many. I know how tricky DI can get. But, one thing was sure – just because there are 5 DI sets does not mean I will break my head and try and solve everything. I will only solve those DI sets that I think I can solve.
While solving Math, somehow I don’t keep a track of time. I am aware of this. So, I have to be doubly careful in picking the right question and in letting the wrong ones go.
This is how the first round went:
| Qn | Area | Looked… | When I read… | Did I solve in Round 1? |
| 1 | Numbers | Scary | Felt I could manage using options but would take some time to read | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 2 | Arithmetic | Manageable | Found it to be confusing | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 3 | Algebra | Easy | Realized it will take time. | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 4 | Geometry | Easy | found that it is easy to solve | Yes, Solved it by eliminating options – SQC |
| 5 | Set Theory | No idea! | Decided to leave it for later | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 10 | Functions | Manageable | Tried to apply SQC, but realized I will need time to understand the question. | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 11 | Numbers | Manageable | Right away knew that SQC will work | Yes, solved using SQC technique |
| 12 | DS – Number | Easy | Found it to be pretty easy | Solved it using Math |
| 13 | Algebra | Scary | Realized it will take time to solve | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 14 | Geometry | Manageable | found it to be a straightforward question | Yes, solved by applying basic Math |
| 15 | Geometry + Algebra | Manageable | found it to be a straightforward question | Yes, drew graph and solved by applying basic Math |
| 16 | Algebra | Manageable | knew the concepts to handle the question | Yes, solved by applying basic Math |
| 21 | Arithmetic | Manageable | got slightly confused… needed time to understand the question better | No, Left it for Round 2 |
| 22 | Algebra | Manageable | figured that basic Math concepts would help solving the question | Yes, solved by applying basic Math |
| 23 | Numbers | Was not really sure | This was based on Diophantine equations. I had an internal fight as to solve it later or now. Decided to go ahead by eliminating options. | Yes, looked at each option, used SQC technique and solved the question. |
| 24 | Probability | Manageable (mostly because of my ‘ego’ – how can I not solve Modern Math!) | Knew it was not a straightforward question; But still wanted to solve it. Spent some time on this one and figured I can’t move ahead – left it half way | No, almost certain that I won’t be able to solve it. Left it for good! |
| 25 | AP | Manageable | Have seen similar questions and knew that by applying basic Math, I should be able to reach the answer. | Yes, used basic formula and solved it.[Though, while doing analysis, I felt that it could have solved it much faster by applying SQC – by putting n = 1] |
| 26 | Functions | Scary | Felt that SQC technique would probably help. Was not sure though. But still went ahead with it. Thankfully, it did work. | Yes, solved using SQC technique. |
| 27 | Minima | Little Scary | Felt that SQC technique would help. Played around it for a while. Even SQC didn’t help here! So, left it. | No, left the question for good. |
| 31 | Probability | Tricky | I had already left one Modern Math question – ‘Ego’ was playing games with my head. I had to solve this one. I used logic to solve it. | Yes, I solved it using logic.[I am still not sure whether my logic is correct, even though the answer was correct! This could be a fluke]I should have left this question alone. |
| 32 | Minima | Manageable | Not too many data – so felt I should give it a try. Realized it was an easy one (when you get the logic). Solved it. | Yes, solved using logic. |
| 33 | Function | Little Scary | “Ek SQC try tho banta hain” – that’s mostly what I normally do with functions question.Pushed n = 1 and voila! I got the answer. | Yes, solved using SQC technique |
| 34 | Arithmetic | Easy | Was really surprised to see the question – it was really easy. I had to read the question again just to be sure if there were any tricks.No! nothing – it was a very simple question. | Yes, solved using basic Math.This question was a gift. |
| 35 | Numbers | Easy | I knew concepts of base system – So it was manageable. Used SQC and solved it | Yes, solved using SQC technique |
| 36 | Algebra – Inequality | Manageable | In one glance, I knew I had to apply SQC. Applied the same and got the answer. | Yes, solved using SQC technique |
| 40 | Arithmetic + Numbers | Manageable | Didn’t really understand the key sentence. So left it for later | No, Left it for round 2 |
| 41 | Combinations | Little Scary | Another ‘Ego’ fight! Used logic and handled the question. It is a tricky question – one that requires a good understanding of P & C. P & C is my strength – so could handle it. | Yes, solved using logic |
| 42 | Geometry | Scary | One cannot simply let scary looking questions go. The fact that this question looked scary was because of 5 circles kept in a certain manner. Tried with drawing some lines and little SQC technique – got the answer. | Yes, solved with a little help of SQC |
| 43 | Arithmetic + Geometry | Scary | Didn’t get any clue while reading the question. Left it for later | No, left it for round 2 |
| 44 | ||||
| 49 | Algebra | Manageable | I am comfortable with graphs. Used graph to understand what needs to be done and solved the question. | Yes, using graph |
| 50 | Geometry + Numbers | Manageable | Used SQC technique – wrote down some values and solved the question. | Yes, using SQC technique. |
SUMMARY – QA Round 1
PLANNED : 35 Minutes | 15 Questions
ACHIEVED : 40 Minutes | 18 Questions
Let me give you an idea on how I got there –
the method that I deployed to solve questions.
For almost half the questions I solved, I used SQC techniques. I don’t know whether you have started applying these methods to answer questions. It worked for me really well in this mock.
17 DI questions is a scary proposition. While going through the QA questions, I had paused to look at the DI questions whenever I saw them – it was scary! My take was – one DI set looked comfortable; another DI looked manageable. 3 DI sets looked really bad – I was almost certain that from DI there is not much I can take. If can do about 8, it would be awesome. QA had to be good, it did go reasonable well – thanks to some SQC and a bit of luck.
Revised Plan:
| Next 20 Minutes | Last 20 Minutes |
| Solve 2 DIs | Solve the second round QA + DI |
| Around 6 Questions | Around 6 Questions |
Area Manager – DI has a big crib: This should be called TI – Torture Interpretation. Seems to be, anything goes in DI. It can be a Quant question disguised as DI. For instance, there could be a Time Speed Distance problem where the speed of Amit, Raghav and Sumeet is presented in a bar chart!
But then my CEO gave a gyaan, “Don’t worry, if it’s a problem for you, it’s a problem for all – it’s a relative test. Don’t feel bad if you can’t solve all DI sets. If you can solve 1, solve 1; if you can solve 2, solve 2; don’t attack problems that you can’t solve just to prove a point. We are in this together. We are all the same person. We will all go to the IIM together!”
“Okay, boss! Thanks for the wonderful advise. Let me get back to the story”
Like I said, while I was doing QA, I had paused to have a look at the DI sets and this is what I felt
| Qns | # of Qns | First Look & my thoughts.. | Decisions |
| 6 to 9 | 4 | There were 2 bar charts and nothing else. This was great. There were no additional data to work with. | Have to solve |
| 17 to 20 | 4 | Two table with additional information given. It didn’t look that difficult. But once I read a few lines, I figured it’s a tricky one. | Looked very tricky. Should leave it for Round 3. |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | One bar chart and a pie chart with additional data. What was scary was the fact that questions asked ‘minimum’ and ‘maximum’. It looked really challenging. | Not now! May be never. |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | Set of data given without any chart. It was about PIN codes and how the codes are used to decide the rate. | Could try |
| 45 to 48 | 4 | Very deceptive question. When I went through it knew I won’t be able to solve it | Never! |
[I felt that I should give a special gift to the person who set these questions.]
Finally decided I will solve 2 sets – 6to9 and 37to39
DI Set: 6 to 9
This turned out to be an easy one – all I needed was to get the initial logic.
Time Taken: 5 Minutes
Questions Answered: 4 Questions
DI Set 37 to 39:
It was not difficult. I used a bit of SQC techniques and handled the 3 questions.
Time Taken: 7 Minutes
Questions Answered: 3 Questions
Decided to stop – as I felt there is no point fighting with the tough DI sets as of now.
SUMMARY-DI Round 1:
PLANNED : 20 Minutes | 6 Questions
ACHIEVED : 12 Minutes | 7 Questions
Time to go back to QA Round 2
This is how it went:
| Qn | Area | Did I solve in R1? | Did I solve in R2? |
| 1 | Numbers | No, Left it for Round 2 | Yes – I used SQC technique. Eliminated options and solved the question |
| 2 | Arithmetic | No, Left it for Round 2 | NO:I tried for a while but was not going anywhere. Left it for R3 |
| 3 | Algebra | No, Left it for Round 2 | No, since I had tried this question for a while in R1, I left it for R3 |
| 5 | Set Theory | No, Left it for Round 2 | Yes, used venn diagrams and solve it. |
| 10 | Functions | No, Left it for Round 2 | Yes, took time to understand the question and solved it. |
| 13 | Algebra | No, Left it for Round 2 | Yes, fought with question; got confused; fought again and somehow got the answer.[In fact, though I got the answer correct, I had missed a negative value of the root. Not good!] |
| 21 | Arithmetic | No, Left it for Round 2 | No, left it for Round 3 |
| 24 | Probability | No, almost certain that I won’t be able to solve it. Left it for good! | |
| 27 | Minima | No, left the question for good. | |
| 40 | Arithmetic + Numbers | No, Left it for round 2 | No left it for R3 |
| 43 | Arithmetic + Geometry | No, left it for round 2 | No:Drew the diagram and realized I am not capable of solving the question. |
| 44 |
I could knock off 4 questions in 15 minutes.
No of Questions attempted: 29
Now panic time!
It seems like CEO, Area Managers are all on a leave and everything is left to the worker. [Our Torture Manager, sorry, DI Manager’s mobile is switched off and not traceable]
To be able to get to 35, I needed 5 more with absolutely no idea where it will come from. On the bright side, I had 24 minutes.
What happened next was mayhem, I was running up and down; tried some DI sets, failed… tried some more Quant questions…failed..
Here’s how it went
ANSWERED : 1 QUESTION [Q28]
One DI question done from one set! Left the rest
ANSWERED : 1 QUESTION [Q40]
ANSWERED : 1 QUESTION [Q21]
ANSWERED : 1 QUESTION [Q3]
In the last 20 minutes, I solved 4 more questions.
I kind of realized – This is it! I cannot solve any more questions. I even thought of going to Section 2, but then gave up that idea.
Waited for timer to reach 0
SECTION 1 SUMMARY:
| QA | DI | TOTAL | |
| PLANNED | Around 20 | Around 10 | 30+ |
| ACHIEVED | 26 | 8 | 34 |
My take:Normally, my attempt will be just above 30. Even though I had left 9 DI questions, I could still manage a good attempt, though I felt that I had time towards the end and I should have better handled the last 20 minutes instead of going on a panic mode. Also, I could have tried to solve the LR or RC to get to get to the magic 40 number in Section 2 – then fatigue took control.Fact is though, QA saved my day! Also, within QA, close to 10 questions I had solved using SQC techniques. If I had only used conventional methods of solving, I would have solved around 16 QA questions and my total attempts would have been around 25.
Second, my weak areas: Arithmetic, as usual, caused me problems in a few questions. However, my other weak area, Geometry, did not trouble me much in this mock.
Thankfully, the tough questions in this paper came in the areas which were my strength – Numbers and Modern Math.
OVERALL SUMMARY:
| SECTION 1 | SECTION 2 | TOTAL | |
| PLANNED | 30+ | 30+ | Around 65 |
| ACHIEVED | 36 | 34 | 70 |
Let me leave you with this question: Which are your weak ‘hats’ in Proc Mock 13?
Gejo Sreenivasan
Mentor – Career Launcher
hi sir…i am appearing for the nmat going to happen on 3rd december…the last scores that i gained in cl nmat mock was 141…can you please help me devise a good strategy for it as mne is not really working…
Hanisha, please call me at 9811155160 in the evening to discuss.
Hi! What is SQC?
Dolly, Smart Quant Cracker is a set of techniques to solve QA questions using common sense and logic.
Sir,my LR part is dusatrous and in RC part also I m lacking accuracy. EU is good for me.Sir,suggest me some way to touch atleast 90 percentile in sec2.My exam is on 22.
Atleast 1 RC & 1 LR will be attemptable….make sure you find it….With EU that should be enough
LR in CAT most probably be easier than your mocks….so don’t be scared of it
All the Best!
sir,
can u give me a rough idea what would be the similarity in level of cat 2014 nd mock 13 in all areas i.e quant,di,va,lr,rc.i mean is this is mock is sufficient to gain a rough idea regarding the level of cat 2014.
CAT 2014 sample paper on the website is extremely simple.They have also stated that this is not a true reflection of the difficulty level.
Our expectation is would probably be slightly easier than CAT’13 because number of questions have increased.
By that comparison it would also mean that it would be slightly easier than Mock 13
Sir,
In cat 2014 a score in between 85 – 90,with approx 80% accuracy,how much percentile will i expect.kindly let me know sir your prediction about actual CAT.
Naveen,
My take would be about 80 – 85 percentile.
If you can jump the score by about 15 – 20, then you will hit 90 percentile. Focus on getting your accuracy closer to 90-95%.
Sir,
In the CL mocks that v are attempting have DI that is more logic based than calculation based.
In Cat what can we expect? More of calculation based DI or logic based DI?
Aman, my expectation is that at least 1 out of 4 DI sets will be calculation oriented and at least 2 will be logic oriented. The fourth could be of either type but is more likely to be logical.
sir can u give me a rough idea what would be the level of cat 2014 as compare to the level of this mock 13? i mean is this mock is sufficient to make a rough idea about the level of cat 2014.
also sir plz give idea about all areas i.e quant,di,va,lr,rc..
Aseem,
One can never be sure of the future CAT! But we could compare with the past CATs – that should give a reasonably good idea.
The level of the Mock 13 would be slightly on the higher side than the past CATs across all areas. So, it is a good indicator.
QA – the complexity comes from logic than Math – this mock questions are similar to those
DI – I felt that the DI was slightly on the higher difficulty side
EU – very similar to CAT
LR – slightly on the higher difficulty side
RC – at par with CAT
Regards
Sir, I face problem in selecting questions in QA. As the fundamental concepts are clear to me , at first instance almost all QA questions(except 5 to 6) seems to be attempted but many a times I get stuck in middle and waste around 30 to 40 minutes time out of 90
It is late asking you this now as CAT is near ( I have my slot on 22nd and I am a working professional too. So I really have a very less time). But, still If you can suggest something to follow for the last few days left…
Sanu,
When you get stuck, leave that question for later! Yes, we all do that – the first glance deception. It sounds easy in the first glance but when we try to solve, we realize its not so easy. The key is – leave it and dont get stuck. Come back later if you can.
The idea is that the first 30 – 35 minutes in Section 1, must be about maximizing marks in QA questions. Marks/minute should be high – so learn this. Use some of the unsolved unproctored mocks and practise this – 30 minutes challenge.
regards
Sir what would be an average attempt in each section to score 90-95%ile ?
And the number of questions have gone up by 60% and the time has increased just by 35-40% , then are we expecting the difficulty level of the questions to drop slightly in this new pattern?
90% – about 110+
95% – about 140+
One cannot say anything about the difficulty level of the CAT. It will be more or less similar to CAT 2004-2008
sir,
my Quant /Di sec is weak in comparison to my va/lr.Is there any other way than 20 attempts each section to get a 90 percentile..what if i increase the number of attempts in va/lr will i be able to make it to 90?
My aim is fore or lbsim
plz guide sir
Krishi,
You need about 110-120 to get to 90 percentile.
So, you could solve 30 accurately from section 2 – that’s 90 marks and the remaining 20-30 from Section 1, thats 10 questions. Your percentile in Section 1 will be poor, but your overall percentile would cross 90 percentile. Now, some schools have sectional cut-offs, some don’t.
I leave it to your best judgement to how to want to play it.
Regards
Hello sir,
Only you can help me in this case,
i’ve made a strategy to solve the second section, which is given below:
8 questions of RC with 75% accuracy (my weak section)
12 question of LR with 90% accuracy
2-4 questions of Vocab and grammar with 50% accuracy (my weakest portion)
my aim to attempt at least 28-30 question from this section to maintain good percentile but now my main problem is paracompletion and because here my accuracy is not more than 20% with consuming high time.In case of vocab please tell me in this crucial time how can i make myself to attempt atleast 1-2 question of this.
So my problem is how to take care of PC and Vocab to achieve my target.
And if there is any need of alteration in strategy then please notify me.
Dear Yogesh,
Your strategy doesn’t take Para Jumbles in consideration. Para jumbles come regularly in the CAT. Also, you can work on some grammar topics such as Modifiers, Parallelism to increase your attempts as well as accuracy in the grammar part. Also, there might be questions on critical reasoning on areas such as finding the assumption, strengthening the argument etc, you can target these questions to increase your attempts in VA/LR
Go through the fundamentals of para-completion. Even if that doesn’t help, avoid attempting questions from para completion. Vocab is usage based, try to eliminate options in such questions. All the best!
Best regards,
Team CL
Sir,
Which of the mocks should be given preference for revision of QA and RC in these last 10-12 days?
I have no specific preference.
You could look at the last 5 Mocks
Dear Gejo,
As the mock made available on the IIMCAT website sheds some light.It still keeps us in darkness.
Certain things pertaining to the negative marks and the number of options in the questions.I noticed that a couple of quant questions were having 5 options while others had 4.
A line also reads in the instruction that RC will be in blocks of 4 questions.So can we deduce that there will be at most 5 RC’s?
Also,while going through old cat papers 1990-1999 period I realised that quant was at much nimble level.Do you foresee whether this year’s cat will be on the same line as the coveted 90’s?
Yes, the test posted has not really helped! I am guessing that there would be 4 RCs with 4 questions each. And I dont think CAT will go back to the 90s. 90s had a different challenge even though the questions were not that difficult – 200 questions in 120 minutes!! That has changed in the CAT, it is no longer a speed based test as it used to be. S
sir,
m weak in QA/DI do well in va/lr how to get a 90 percentile? Is dere any other approach other than 20 questions in each section..if i increase my attempts in va/lr and attempt less in QA/DI will i still be able to reach a 90? please guide sir
Dear Karishma,
You can get a 90 percentile by maximizing your performance in VA/LR. On basis of overall percentile and your category, you may be able to get calls from institutes which do not consider sectional cut-offs. For QA/DI, identify your strong areas and attempt questions from those areas. All the best!
Best regards,
Team CL
hello sir,
i have been scoring around 80 – 90 marks in maximum of the mocks but now I am struck at these marks. I am not able to increase my score and my confidence is going down . Now because of this my score in mocks is also going very down . I have reached min to 40 score. I am regular with revising my basic concepts and doing analysis. But my performance is becoming worse with every mock i give.
Could you please suggest something that can help me.
Priya,
Create a test taking plan. You cannot improve knowledge now. What you can ensure is that you solve all the questions that you can solve. Take ques from the videos posted – work out a plan and execute the same.
Regards
Dear Sir
Can you please discuss the technique of solving question type “choosing the option that best capture the essence of text”. As many times options are too close and confusing.
Thank You
Dear Deepak,
The question is asking you to decipher the main idea of the passage. In such cases, except for one option, rest of them would not match either the tone, theme or scope of the passage. Even if any option (apart from the one that is correct) does that, then it would not be essentially capturing the complete gist of the passage. Any option that doesn’t summarize the claim of the author would be an incorrect option.
For figuring out the claim, please refer either to the first or the last paragraph of the passage. While doing this, just take cognizance, whether the rest of the paragraphs support either the first or the last paragraph. IF yes, then that becomes the main idea of the passage.
Hope this helps.
TeamCL
Hi Sir,
I was scoring in the range of 70s and 80s in the first few proc mocks and then my scores got reduced to 50s and 60s as i couldn’t balance my work and preparations.Now i hav been giving my 100 % on preparations for 10 days and i managed to score 103 in proc mock 17. i dont think i can improve my accuracy level to more 80 percent. How much score will i hav to score in CAT 2014 to ensure 95 percentile?
thanks in advance for ur reply
Dhanapal, a score of 120 should get you a 95%ile in CAT’14. Score of 103 in Mock 17 is good, continue with your current preparation plan and you will achieve your target.
Sir, is it true that a person with a LOWER net score and a LOWER number of mistakes would get a higher percentile than a person who got a HIGHER net score but a HIGHER number of mistakes?
For example, in section 2:
Person A: net score 81, 8 wrong attempts
Person B: net score 74, 5 wrong attempts
Is it possible that B might get a higher section 2 percentile than A?
This is a very important doubt that I’ve had for a long time…could you please inform regarding this?
Shreehari, higher the net score higher is the percentile.
sir what must be the total attempt in actual one to get more than 99 + and minimum in both section to clear top iims cut off
Shank, an overall net score of 140 should give a 99%ile and a sectional score of 55 should be sufficient to clear the sectional cutoffs.
hi sir
i have confusion regarding two options: cannot be determined and none of the above.what is the basic difference between the two
Dev,
Cannot be determined – We cannot get a unique value or the data given is insufficient
None of the above – None of the options A, B, C is correct. Answer is something else (including cannot be determined, if it is not already mentioned)
Regards
Greetings Sir,
i had a query in particular and in general :
1. General : If we had a case of upward parabola and two conditions say value of f(0) and f(1) are given , then can we assume eq. as x^2+bx+c and solve instead of ax^2+bx+c or we have to assume data insufficent.
2. Particular :In Q16 of CL Mock 13, i assume eq as -x^2+bx+c and solve for 2 values i.e. f(2)=0 and value of f(0) that was was given. However my answer is not matching. Also, i can recall i had seen using x^2+bx+c for solving 2 conditions based question in some other mock. Please advise what m i missing here ?
Regards
Vaibhav Gupta
Vaibhav,
When someone says the roots of a quadratic function is 1 and 2, all that it means is that for x = 1 or x = 2, the equation becomes equal to zero.
While we think there is just one equation (x – 1)(x – 2) = 0. There can be infinite cases:
2(x – 1)(x – 2) = 0
5(x – 1)(x – 2) = 0
-3(x – 1)(x – 2) = 0
In all the above cases roots are x = 1 and x = 2.
So, the correct way is to say the quadratic function is f(x) = a(x – 1)(x – 2)
Regards
Thanks for your response sir. I had 2 more queries
1. If we have an equation like 4x+6y=1 , how to proceed with finding number of solutions ??
2. CAT IIM website has still not clarified on quantum of -ve marking. It seems like a trivial issue but they haven’t declared it yet . What is your take on this? Why so much delay in confirming this ??
Regards
Vaibhav
the eq in above query was 4x+6y<=2000
If x and y are integers, these kind of equations are called Diophantine equations.
4x + 6y <= 2000 2x + 3y <= 1000 2x <= 1000 - 3y x <= 500 - 3y/2 y has to be a multiple of 2 for x to be integer. You see an AP there. It will jump by 2 and you will see x falling by 3 (another AP). You can equation x = 500 - 3y/2 to check the boundary. egards
Vaibhav,
If the number of options is 5, then negative would be 1/4th ; if it is 4, then negative would be 1/3rd.
Its something that I really dont care much. As far as I am concerned, accuracy should be as close to 100% as possible irrespective of the negative marking scheme.
Regards
Hello Sir! The SQC video link you shared with me was of tremendous use…it genuinely increased my confidence in tackling Quant. Could you please share that PDF link as well which you were referring to? It would be of great help!
Shreehari,
Are you referring to the question set of the SQC?
If so, let me see what I can do.
Regards
Yes Sir! The SQC question set
Dear sir,
Am surprised why the recent mocks are tougher than real CAT especially in QA. Are you predicting a tougher paper this time? If so, then what must be the strategy now?
Guru,
Before I answer your query, let’s address “tougher than real CAT”.
When you look at the previous CAT papers, you will find a significant questions manageable. Now, that’s not because the paper was easy, but because of the fact that all the CAT prep program (through various resources) have given you input as to how to handle these questions. For instance, someone who took CAT 2001 would have found CAT 2001 tough. But now, when you look at that paper, you will not find it that tough because the concepts used in the questions has been ‘taught’.
What mock does is not create ‘tough’ questions, but create a reasonable number of questions (just like the CAT) that you would encounter for the first time (though the concept used would be something that you would know).
So, I am not predicting a ‘tougher’ paper, I am just predicting the ‘usual’ CAT wherein you will have to use logic (along with knowledge) to handle questions. The strategy does not change. Keep things simple. Have a broad plan with regards to time allocation – don’t be bothered by how a question ‘looks’ – read and then decide how to proceed.
Regards
Gejo
Thank you sir… will revise tougher questions now…
sir i am facing problems in my sis account .. i know this is not the ri8 place to mention these types of things.. but i have mailed @cl support.com and got no response from there …. my additional mock 10 and additional mock 2 got submitted in the middle of the paper .. i want those two tests back as those tests will help me to revise the old mocks in a more convenient way .. please do look into this .. my cl id is10085205 …. thanks
Shyam, apologise for the delay, hope the problem has been resolved, if not please email your details to me at gp@careerlauncher.com
Hello Gejo Sir,
Thank you for your walk-through videos. It is very helpful.:)
Gejo sir,
I love the SQC method and fortunately I am able to crack many questions using the same however I tend to devote a lot of time to it leading to an attempt of 25 questions mostly. Any suggestion as to how I can tackle this situation?
Also, in your analysis it is that one should devote 5 mins to reading RC and 5 mins to solving questions i.e 10 mins for an RC passage. It would mean 50 mins to RC. Wouldn’t it be too costly?
Shashwat,
1. So long ass you are able to get almost all the 25 attempts correct, it would be okay. Now, if you need to get to 30-35 levels, you should be able to tackle questions that you have not encountered yet. Questions that you see for the first time. That would add another 5.
2. Normally, I take about 8-9 minutes per passage with 4 questions. So, in about 35 minutes, I am able to attack 4 passages with about 12-15 questions. So, I guess thats okay. Increasing the speed of reading is futile because I need to read at the pace that I can comprehend.
Regards
Hello Gejo sir,
My 10th score-90+
12th Score-80+
CPI(Currently final year IITB)-6+
I am NC-OBC candidate.My scores in Mocks have been varying between 90 and 110. Kindly let me know sir your prediction about the actual CAT relative to CL Mocks and the expected score and minimum percentile I need to acquire to get into the top IIMs.
Thanks a lot sir.Your methodologies are really awesome and I am trying hard to apply the 3 hat technique.
Rahul,
My prediction is a score about 90%ile. That should be good enough for an NC-OBC candidate. However, I feel that you must try and add 20 more marks. Msotly you can get there if you make lesser mistakes that what you are doing already.
Regards
Hi Gejo sir ,
I usually take 3 to 4 min in solving a parajumble question irrespective of the fact whether i get it right , wrong or waste my time and then leave . Is their any solution to this problem ?? I mean how can I leave them fast without wasting so much time on them ??
Another thing : Can you suggest me on how to increase my speed in parajumbles ??
I generally read a sentence again and again . Is it necessary to read sentence again and again or is it possible to solve a parajumble by reading each sentence only once .
kindly reply soon as the time is short .
thanks in advance
regards ,
Rahul
In your question lies the solution. You are reading the sentence again and again. Hence the extra time. At max 2 reads – that’s what you need to practice.
There are no specific rules as to how to handle PJ, but this what I do.
I carefully read each sentence independently the first time. Analyze if that sentence require any support. By that I mean words like – although, but, this, these, then etc.
Look at which sentences are connected in which order. Look at the options eliminate. Then for the options left, continue the process.
Just slow down the first time you read each sentence. Pause a bit after reading one sentence and do a quick analysis. That will help you solve in about couple of minutes. Get there first. Then, try and reduce the time. But I guess I will be happy with 2 minutes to handle PJ.
Sir ,
My query was with respect to the question on paracompletion given on this link
i.imgur.com/PE6Z4PL.png?1
The right answer is option 4 which has the pronoun ” these ” with no object in the previous line . The object is in the previous to previous line . Is it solution correct . kindly explain
Hi Rahul,
I cant see the image – mail the question to me @ gejo@careerlauncher.com
I shall have a look at it.
Regards
Hi Gejo sir ,
I have a doubt regarding solving parajumbles and paracompletion.
suppose there is a pronoun ” these ” in nth line . Now the pronoun ” these ” will obviously refer to an object . Now is it a grammer rule which states that the referred object can only be in the (n-1)th line . Or can the referred object be in any line from 0 to (n-1).
Kindly answer this question as it will help me solve parajumbles and paracompletion.
regards,
Rahul
As far I know, there is no such strict rules.
It can even refer to n+1 lines:
Example: “Consider these two situations….. (1),…..(2)…’
Or it can refer to everything mentioned from 0 to n-1.
“These arguments prove…..”
Best is you avoid using grammar as a tool to handle PJ unless you are very strong in grammar.
Stick to logic – it seldom fails.
Hi Gejo sir,
In quant section of Mock 11, there was a problem that says
Quadratic Equation ax2+bx+c=0 has 3+sq.root(4) has one root,
what is the sum of the roots of the equation?
Answer says, it is CBD, but as the roots are real so they must be conjugate surds. They must be 3+sq.root(4) and 3-sq.root(4)
so the sum would come 8
If a , b and c are rational numbers, then the roots would be complex conjugates.
If they are allowed to irrational, then anything goes! For instance:
One root can be 4 + sqrt(3) and the other can be 0.
The equation becomes:
x(x – 4 – sqrt(3)) = 0
x^2 – (4+sqrt(3)) = 0.
I am guessing that the question did not specify quadratic equation. Would have given an equation ax^2 + bx + c = 0 without specifying whetere a, b c are rational or irrational. In fact a= 0 too! (If not specified as quadratic!)
Hi Gejo,
I seem to be having a most awkward problem.
I have joined test series of 2 coaching institutes, one of them being CL. Now what I have noticed is that my scores and percentiles are consistently high (92-97) when I appear for mocks of the other institute, but shamefully low when I appear for CL mocks. I do tend to get a higher absolute score in the second section (80+) but have never crossed even 50 in QA. Having scored 26 in QA tonight (91 in VA) (Mock 16) has been absolutely shattering. I really fail to grasp as to why is there this discrepancy in terms of scores and percentiles when I appear for tests of different institutes. (The number of test takers beign approximately the same).
WIth 15 days left for CAT, what would you advice? How do I maximize my score in QA? Where particularly do I lag?
Best,
Raghav
Hi Raghav,
I may sound biased. So here’s the disclaimer- I will leave it to as to whether you want to go with what I am saying:
This the the issue at hand: While one institute is telling you that you are doing okay in Section 1, CL is telling you that there is something wrong that you are doing in Section 1. Whether you should listen to what CL Mock has revealed to you would depends on the fact as to whether CL Mocks are a true reflection of the CAT. So. let’s address that first:
You haven’t mentioned as to which is the other institute, but since you have mentioned the test takers are approximately same, I am guessing TIME.
The biggest issue when it comes to TIME Mocks are – its more like a IITJEE exam wherein ‘knowledge’ is given prominence. It is all about how complexities in a question are created. Complexities in TIME mocks are mostly based on added complexities in ‘Mathematics’ while in CL Mocks you will find mainly complexities created on ‘logic’. That’s the key difference. So, if someone who is ‘good’ in Quant can manage a difficult TIME Mock question, CL Mock throws in the challenge of logic. Knoweldge is important, but there is ‘hidden puzzle’ too. In most of the cases, when you look at the explanatory answers in CL Mocks, you will go “OH! How did I miss that!”.
The question is – are CAT questions knowledge based or logic based. Now, if you look at the past CAT questions, you will see that the complexities is more on logic – deceptive question making.
Secondly, like the CAT, CL mock presents questions on various difficult level, wherein selection becomes important. Bottomline, if you are getting low marks in CL Mocks, chances are the same will happen in the CAT.
So, that’s what you need to work on – do you have disciplined plan while attempting the Mock. Analyse every single mocks that you take – identify as to which ‘HAT’ is causing the problem in Quant – Are you not selecting the questions? Are you missing out on easy ones? Are you wasting time on some question? Learn and take the next CL Mock. Your score will improve.
Regards
Hi Sir,
I am good at Quant, I am able to attempt on an average 26 questions in QA and DI with almost 20 correct. till now my best attempt is 30 with 24 correct. I am improving in this section and hoping %tile for section 1 to be 99+ (I previously gave cat 2 times and i got 95+).
The problem comes in section 2. where I am able to attempt on an average 25 with only 15 correct. Here 6-7 questions are of LR with 100% accuracy.
My question to u is :
1. What should be the number of attempts and correct in order to clear the cutoff for section 2? (I am an NC OBC and last year i was not able to clear cutoff in section 2 though my overall %tile was more than 85)
2. Is it reasonable to give as much as 40 mins time to LR in my case to solve 15/15 questions (since there will be 2 scenarios for me – either i will solve it with 100% accuracy or i will not be able to solve it and leave the set).
Target 30 attempt with great accuracy. The bare minimum though is 25. Your issue is accuracy – If you are saying you are getting all the LR correct, that would mean, from the remaining 18 questions you are only getting 8 correct – that’s an accuracy less than 50%. You really need to work on at least VA. Go back to the drawing board get RCs, PJ, PC etc. in place – things that do not require ‘knowledge’.
Also, dont mark anything that you are not sure. At least get everything correct.
In the CAT, have a look at the LR – if you think you can solve all 15, then give it 40 minutes. But I guess, that would be a rare scenario. If it happens, great. But you need have to contingency plan. So work on the areas that I told you.
Regards
sir
there is a mentioning in the iim site that we will be provided with pen and paper for rough wrk..nw wil it b a sheet or sheets?
Karishma,
They have mentioned sheets. My take is you will get 8 sheets.
How should we go about preparing for IIFT ? I have my cat on 22nd Nov
Any special topics which needs to be prepared ?
Rahul,
IIFT would be a bit of speed game. Around 120 questions in 120 minutes. Almost all the areas are similar to that of CAT.
LR – you could find some other types of LR as well (coding, input/output etc.) Ensure that you solve these type of questions also.
RC – slightly longer ones
VA – In addition to the standard ones you will also find some direct vocab questions.
QA – more or less like CAT
DI – Most of them would be calculation intensive. So do a bit of practice with calculation intensive DIs.
Then you have GK! That will trouble.
Otherwise its about changing the strategy since it will be bit of a speed game.
My CAT is on 22nd Nov Morning Slot.
How should I go about preparing for IIFT and CAT?
Any specfic things which should be prepared for IIFT?
Sir Please provide some pointers for this .
Gejo Sir,
It was great fun and a refreshing read to go through this article just after finishing the test 😀
It also gave me few pointers as to how to tweak my own approach for the upcoming tests 🙂
Thank you and have a great day
Great Parveen.
Now lets hit the 99+%ile.
Hi gejo sir,
This was really a wonderful session, 3 hat concept was awesome gave a lot of ideas to tackle , but this time in CAT we have penalties for Questions which are Viewed and not answered , so do you have any strategy for this Sir, because i will always scan Questions first and then go for that , because of this new rule in CAT 2014, How it is going to impact Sir?
This is how I look at it.
I cannot avoid looking at all the questions. And I can only solve those that I can solve. I am going to leave some questions. I will make a few mistakes too. So, I am going to get the penalty score!
Now, I only only tweak a bit if the penatly for unattempted > penalty for attempted. In this case, I will force a guess. Since leaving it will mean lesser marks.
If penalty for unattempted < penalty for attempted, then nothing changes. I just hope I can solve more questions.
Sir,
Could you elaborate more on this “view and penalty” system? Confused!
I just saw the mock CAT that was given in IIMCAT website. It says 0 marks for question unattampted. So, I guess as of now we neednt worry about the same.
Hello Sir sorry this is a bit off d topic but equally concerning for me..there is some problem which I am facing with test gym while giving rc test I am getting the following error msg when clicking on any of the levels “this adaptive engine is unable to return any more questions of your level” and I have given only around 30 tests in RC altogether…..Sir kindly look into it …as I am planning to give as many test as possible …… Thank u sir
Will get the concerned person address your problem.
Regards
sir,
In one mock I score 150+,in another 120+.Sir there is no consistency in my scores.And this is giving that extra bit of tension while appearing another mock.What to do sir??how to get consistent with a few days to go??
please help!!
Ravi,
Well, you need to analyse as to why such a thing is happening. It may be due to the mix of questions. It may be because of some other factor. Sit on the analysis, get to know the real problem. Often, identifying the problem is 80% of the problem solved!
Dont worry – spend time on analysis and understand the issue and work on it.
regards
sir can we apply sqc in these type of questions..reply with solution..
two real no. x and y satisfies the equation.
x^3y^2=864
x/y(x+y^4)=66
how many ordered pairs of(x,y) are possible..?
The question asks number of solutions – so you will find applying SQC little difficult in this case. You will have to do with good old Math.
What are the options?
Because I can see one solution.
x^3y^2=864
864 = 4 x 216 = 2^2 x 6^3
So if x = 6 and y = 2
Then if you check for x/y(x+y^4)=66, it will satisfy.
Now since it is given as real numbers, I am not too sure. So, that’s where SQC stops in this case. Unless I can do something with options.
hello sir
my quant score is not able to increase. time is not left for the DI because sometimes calculation are very lengthy.
i have heard that in actual cat paper verbal section is tough and quant a little easy as compared to mocks , is it true.
there are no video analysis for the new unproc. mock. and there is sometimes a problem with the solution ,also.
and i facing lot of problem in my sis account related to solution.
and today, i started with the mock 15 but it automatically got submitted with my score 0 and could not attempt it.
Ayushi,
1. When you say there is no time left for DI – You are kind of blaming the time when in fact it is you who have created such a situation! You will have time left for DI, if you take the QA questions in Rounds and not try and solve everything in the first go itself. You will get an idea on how that is done by looking at the videos of mine and GPs attempt of paper. You will have to of course tweak the same based on your strength. Also, some DI will be tough some will be manageable – the key is to solve all the manageable DIs.
2. No one can predict the exact difficulty level of the CAT. If you look at the past CATs, you will find the mocks are at par in terms of difficulty level. In fact it gives a mix of various possibilities.
3. Will get you problem with SiS addressed.
Regards
Sir ,
My Profile is
10th – 91.42
12th – 89.40
B.Tech(2013 pass out) – 69.80
Experience – 13 mnths (IT , as on today)
I know its dificult to predict but how would you assume the difficulty of the actual CAT 2014 paper as compared to CL Mocks?
What would you suggest to be the number of attempts in QA with 80% + accuracy to get a 95+ percentile?(My VALR is very strong..last three procmocs , i scored 98 ,97 and 98 marks but QA marks are 51,45 and 40)
I have stepped up my preps a notch and am just concentrating on NUMBERS , ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY and DI from QUANT.Please suggest whether its a good idea to do so.
Also what are the acutal sectional cut offs considered while callin students for IIM-B , IIM-C , IIM-L ,IIM – I , SPJAIN ,MDI ,FMS(with regards to my academic profile)?
Please do answer all queries Sir.
Regards ,
Binay.
Binay,
You have a good profile – so if you hit good percentile, IIMs will give you a call.
Let me give a ‘safe’ estimate erring on the higher side.
To get to 95%ile+ in section 1 – You net marks should be in the range of 45% – 50%.
With 80% accuracy, you need 65% attempt – 32 Questions Attempt!
What you should do rather is get your accuracy to 90% – then the attempt required is 27 Questions. This is more manageable. Even better, to get a net score of 45%, with 95% accuracy you need 25 Questions attempt. That’s getting just 1 or 2 wrong.
So, thats how to look at Section 1 – if you cant attempt 30+ questions, attempt 25 and get almost everything correct.
Regards
Thanks Sir for giving me the rough estimate.
I wanted to know the sectional cutoff as well (IIM – C ,L , I ,FMS , SPJAIN and MDI).Please tell for each of the b-schools individually(the percentile beyond which people get calls , not merely eligible percentile).
And would you agree to me that CAT 2014 will be of the same dificulty level as Procmocs?
Regards .
With regards to IIM C, L, I – they have specified a process wherein the CAT percentile is considered along with marks for other parameters. Going by the past, you need to hit 97+ percentile in each of the section to be sure!
You can have a look at IIM Cs mark allocation here – https://programslive.iimcal.ac.in/admission-procedure-domestic-candidates
They say min 85%ile + in each section, but I doubt anyone with less than 95%ile in each section getting calls.
FMS – 98.2%ile last year. SP Jain – 95%+ (they give weightage to profile). So bottomline – Hit 97+ile in each section with 99%ile+ overall – then you can be sure.
Whether or not CAT 2014 will be exactly the same difficulty level is anyone’s guess. But given that Proc Mocks exposes to various levels of difficulty and various mix of question – it sure is a great indicator of where you stand with regards to the CAT. The True Percentile Predictor has been very accurate in the last year – so chances are it will be accurate this year – unless of course someone really messes up CAT.
Regards
Hello Gejo sir,
I have my CAT on 16 th November.
I majorly have 2 questions ,1 a very basic one and another which is specifically in my case(I believe).
1- Since there are approx. 20 days to the Day, can you guide me , how I should break down this period available to enhance my preparations and thus my chances for getting a score that is needed to get in the top notch b schools?
2- I have am doing well in my attempts for LR QA and DI, decent at EU and RCs, Problem is time management for these. So how shuld I go about in breaking the normal exam duration of 170 minutes for maximizing the correct attempts needed for say 90-95 %ile?
Vivek,
1. In last 20 days, you cannot add more knowledge – you can only fine tune the things that you have learned. So, it must be about ‘purposeful’ test taking. Take mock – analyze. Analyse based on every ‘hat’ as I have discussed. And see which one to fine tune.
Also since we know that whatever happens LR, RC and DI would be there – keep solving these everyday.
2. In the article I have mentioned, I have mentioned how I break the 170 minutes. You could follow that. The key is about, keeping an eye on the time after every milestone. Let me explain. For instance in Section 2
Milestone 1 – After doing EU
Milestone 2 – After doing LRs
Milestone 3 – After doing RCs.
An eye on the time helps you make course correction.
Regards
Sir , Your video was invaluable.
Now during the last few days….. the struggle that I am facing knowing too much and applying too little at the time of exam.
With your video , we get a very good specifics of how certain concepts need to be applied in order solve a particular (kind of) problem .
We simply request to please upload a few more proc or even unprock Mocks so that we get exposed to as many type of questions as possible and the optimized methods to solve them in exam environment.
watching these videos and internalizing the methods can be last prep in these 20 days I beleive.
Akash,
Will try to do. There’s a video on RC which will be put up soon. I am currently working on a video on application of SQC in Mocks.
Regards
Hi gejo,
I have been consistently scoring more than 95 percentile in VA section in the mocks. But in QA I languish between 70-80 percentile. I am pretty comfortable with DI( both logical and calculational). But it is the QA part which scares me. And when I analyse the mocks and attempt the QA questions I am able to solve them easily. Please guide on how to approach the exam to score overall 99 percentile in cat. My last 3 VA scores- 83, 87 and 103. My last 3 quant scores- 31, 18, 26. Cat percentile predictor- 98.26.Thanks.
Divay,
I guess if you can solve the questions during the test, you can solve the questions during the test! So, the question is – what is that you are NOT doing during the test that you ARE doing during the analysis. Most of the time, the problem is – skipping a question without reading it. Roughly Look at Section 1 like this:
First 35 minutes : set a target of 12+ questions (QA)
Next 15 minutes : set a target of 6 questions (2 DI sets)
Next 20 minutes : set a target of 5 questions (QA Round 2)
Next 20 minutes : set a target of 5 questions (DI + QA)
The key is first 35 minutes: Imagine first 15 overs of cricket. Yoou need to get scores. If you can get it right, you will start hitting high scores.
Regards
hello sir! Could you learn me where I could learn these SQC techniques that you referred to? Is it available only via Smart CAT Cracker?
Shreehari,
We had conducted SQC sessions across India.
Here’s the video link to the e-SQC session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9vOX8v0TtA
It will be of help.
Regards
Sir,
Nowadays, this website is not allowing me to copy/paste the text, by which I am unable to post long rc passage & other similar doubts. It requires me to the type whole text in the comment box, & then post. I remember, earlier I can copy/paste the text. Please do something sir.
Regards.
Abhilesh,
Option 1. You can mention the relevant question no.
Option 2. Take a screen shot – use the ‘Prt Sc Sys Rq’ button facility in your computer.
Regards
Thanks for the information sir.
Gejo Sir,
I have a doubt:
Below are given four sentences, out of these, three sentences need to be arranged in a logical order, choose the one that does not fit the sequence.
A. The moment an ancient site is discovered, its physical condition immediately begins to deteriorate.
B. High tech copies of ancient archaeological sites are needed to help preserve it.
C. Every dig removes a layer of the archaeological record that can never be replaced, and once humans are allowed to visit, with their hot breath & sweat & backpacks, walls start crumbling.
D. The thing to understand about archaeology is that it’s a science of destruction.
Answer is B, due to opposite tone in other three sentences, but sir, it could be D also, as in D their is different subject mention of about archaeology & its theoretical understanding, which is not mentioned in other sentences, as they discussed about deterioration of ancient site. ALSO sir, B could work as a remedy for sentences A & C.
Please help.
Regards.
Abhilesh,
D is not a different subject.
The thing to understand about archaeology is that it’s a science of destruction.
It mentions what archaeology is.
A articulates it – The moment an ancient site is discovered, its physical condition immediately begins to deteriorate.
C also does the same – . Every dig removes a layer of the archaeological record that can never be replaced, and once humans are allowed to visit, with their hot breath & sweat & backpacks, walls start crumbling.
B is indeed out of place – If B is a part of the sentence, B will immediately follow which one? what is the ‘it’ that B is saying.
D has a much better connect.
regards
Sir,
But, the process which is discussed in C, I am not getting the very similar discussion in D, as it talks about archaeology & its science & in C, some discussion of deterioration of ancient site is there. I think sir, B could work as a solution or remedy for the happenings which are discussed in A & C, & it can follow C, & the word ‘it’ can be used for the ancient site, which is introduced in A.
Please reply.
Regards.
That solution proposed is a specific one which is not addressed in the rest. The rest of thee three is dealing with the problems – one states it and the other two describes it. The solution must be a part of the paragraph somewhere – just that it is kind of addressing a specific solution to a specific problem. The rest of the addressing a much broader problem.
ok sir.. I understand it now, thankyou sir..:)
Gejo sir,
I always miss out the easy questions in quant section due to which my attempts are very low(around 15). Therefore,although my VALR section attempts are around 25,my overall score is still less.I have tried different strategies but still struggling with quant and DI..I usually devote equal time to both the sections..please suggest how can I increase my quant score..
Shagun,
Question is – It was there! Why did I miss easy question?
Did I not spot it? Did I not read it? Did I leave it because it was from one of ‘weak’ area? Did I not spend just enough time trying it? Did I got stuck in some other question that I did not have time?
You figure out the problem, your problem is solved!
That’s the answer you need to find. Why you didnt spot the easy questions?
Regards
Sir,
In this mock I got a net score of 132.
VALR: 39 attempts 32 correct
QADI: 29 attempts 18 correct
As you must have noticed, I got a lot of questions wrong. On retrospection, I realise I could have scored an easy 150.
I did a lot of silly mistakes in Quant. How to avoid this?
Also, is it advisable to start your quant section with the last 25 questions and then move on to the other 25?
This is because I find that my Round 1 generally exceeds the allotted time and I panic, move on to round 2 and start attempting DI. On analysis I find that the last 8-9 left out questions had sitters…..
Payel,
The problem starts -> Leaving out sitters. The real question to be asked is why you leave them out? I am sure that happened because you really didnt read that question. You gave a look, felt difficult and then left it.
So, what you now doing is fighting with the difficult ones (there are limited sitters in the paper!). and then when the answers stop coming… you spend more time… time runs.. panic…
You need to keep it simple:
It does not mater which order you pick, so long as you pick the ‘right’ questions.
R1: Start from Q1 to Q50 (or Q50 to Q1) whichever makes you comfortable – Pick the ones that you can solve (after reading the question completely). If you get stuck leave it for later (this is the key). Also, write down on your rough sheet the first impression of DI
You should be able to touch about 10 – 12 (sometimes even 15+) questions in this round in about 35-40 minutes.
R2 : Pick the easy DIs solve
R3: Pick the other Quant
R4: If you have time, pick the difficult DI
When you solve a question, focus on solving – dont worry about anything else. That way you will have better accuracy.
Regards
Sir,
Thank you.
Can you give an estimate of the average number of sitters in a CAT level paper?
Coming from an economics background, I am really worried about Section 1.
Payel,
If you look at the past CATs – About 20% of the questions would be ‘sitters’. That would be about 7-8 in 35. You can, by using SQC, get about 3- 4 more. So in Round 1, your target is to get past at least 10 questions.
Regards
Sir,
Thank you.
Sir i have some questions…
1. what is the point in setting target in terms of no of attempts if question is to be solved on its merit?i think if i couldnt solve those no of question it will create more pressure.
2. I cant get out quickly of the question which should be left.how can i check this in these <20 days?
Nilesh,
1.
Let me make an analogy:
Imagine cricket – You have to play on the merit of each ball. But you still need to set a target. They access the progress and make the correct course of action. If the pitch, then you revise the target.
That’s the same in your Mock – you must access your progress, set rough targets but when you are solving a question – forget everything and focus on the question. Which is why I mentioned that you need to wear different hats. Be systematic. If you dont like setting intermediate target – then do set targets. However, do have an eye on the time – Let the focus of the other hat be that – alloting time based on your progress.
2.
Well, the problem is not with knowledge right – its more with how you are taking a decision. What is the point in solving a question when its going nowhere or when it is taking significantly more time than you anticipated. You have to tell yourself – “Times up, lets come back to this question later.” You need to wear one more ‘hat’ in the paper. You dont need 20 days to change this. You can do this in 1 day. So, in your next two mock try it. You may not get t right the first time. I am sure your attempts will increase.
Regards
Hi
Every time i write Mock i get the feeling that all the questions in Gym ,book and sheets are concept based,whereas when it comes to Mocks all seems to be trick based or there is always some twister
ex. algebra question will always be like how many possible values
exist or number of values for some pair
Isn’t that true?
Prateek,
I will have to say No.
Its not that the questions in the Mocks are ‘different’ as compared to ones you see in the book or test gym. In fact in the test gym, you will encounter lot of questions which were asked in past years Mocks. Yes, you will a few ones which you would have ‘seen’ for the first time – with new twists. These twists, however, is based on the very same concepts that are in the books. Because we give a sense of greater importance to Mock, these twists get magnified. That’s about it.
Like they say in Cricket, play each ball on its merit…
Regards
Hello Gejo
The post was Nice .
Present QA Attempt 20-22(3 wrong), VA attempt 27(3-4 wrong)
1. In these last days , how to sharpen my worker hat more .?
2. I have this very strange problem , that In QA I do more questions in R2 than in R1. In R1 am not sure of many questions so I have to leave them for R2..I dont know, algebra ,numbers and geometry are my fav. but still I am not able to do those in ROUND 1 Due to this I am not able to do those challenging questions which were doable .
Kindly help me with both the issues .? target attempt in QA is 30+ and same for VA
Koustav,
You need about 10 more questions from QA-DI to hit 30+. I do not know about your case, but the reason why someone leaves a question is largely based on ‘how it looks’ and worries whether attempting a question is a waste of time.
Your target in R1 (to get to 30+) is to hit 15 questions out of 35 in Quant – in about 35 minutes. Make that decision after ‘reading’ – by reading I mean, reading with the objective of solving (and not deciding whether to solve). That way, you will get about 2 to 3 more questions. I do not know whether you apply SQC techniques – it comes really handy. Using SQC techniques, you could add 5 more to the kitty.
In the last leg, you have to sharpen these skills – take section test of QA (this can be from the books, testgym or past CATs). Hone your R1 skills. Put a target of 35 minutes and work towards getting 15+ questions.
Regards
Greetings Sir,
I am in a very weird position. I took a decision of not going for my joining an IT firm( call it gut feel- IT was never my career choice), and decided to self-study for the various Management exams. It turned out to be not a very fruitful journey ( Not because of focus, but due to few recurring problems or circumstances. Ah, what a cliche!! I do not want to make any excuses. ). Though, after all these months I have gained a decent hold on to the VA and LR section. I am good in arithmetic, Decent in Geometry(Kudos to your recent session), Average in DI and ‘BAD’ in Algebra and Numbers?. I have been going through ‘sine-curve’ periods in terms of confidence. What should i do in these last few grace-saving days?. Could you help me out with respect to the specific topics(and sub-topics) in Numbers and Algebra which could help me atleast clear the cutoff of section1. Please help Sir.
Ankit,
Here’s how you handle Numbers:
Numbers is a really vast area with a possibility of ‘million’ questions! Every time you see a number based question, you would have seen it for the first time. The key in Numbers is – how do I take the first step. Finally, you will see that only these concepts are used in most of the questions : Odd/Even, Factors/Multiples, Remainder.
The trickiest areas in numbers are Diophantine equations – equations with integral solutions : eg: How many values of x, y, < 100 where x, y are natural numbers is 4x + 7 y = 122. Learn how to solve these kind of equations. Algebra: Hone your SQC skill in Algebra. Practice Algebra questions and try and solve using 'hook-or-crook'. Knowing graphs of various functions helps. Quadratic, Modulus, integer function, circle etc. Learn that, if you haven't already. You must get a handle of these two areas - you have seen in the past CAT papers a significant number of questions from these two areas. Well, we cannot predict this years CAT, but my gut feel is that the same will continue. So everyday, work on these areas. Regards
Thanks a lot for the advice sir!!
I tend to have this particular problem with remainder of a number when divided by 10^n + or -1….questions like-
Find the remainder when 123,123,….(upto 200 digits) is divided by 999 etc..and the logic involved in finding the last 2 digits of a number.
These are based on simple concepts – mostly patterns. Just have a look at the books or get help from a mentor at your nearest CL centre. It can easily sorted out.
Greetings Sir,
I know this is like the heights of Being late in asking for a strategy, But I am in great need of a decent strategy to crack the quantitative part of the paper. I am pretty good in the arithmetic portion, I have started to gain a decent(80-90%) accuracy in the geometry part(Courtesy to the SQC techniques), I have this fear of algebra and numbers. I would say- I am pretty good with the DI part (But then as you said it can be unpredictable.). What can I do in the last few days?. What specific topics (and sub-topics) should I prepare( From numbers and Algebra)?. Please help Sir.
I think I have answered your query. If not please let me know.
Hello Sir,
Could you please provide some insight on how to use the bookmark feature while taking tests?
Should we bookmark all the R2 Q.A questions? Should we bookmark the LR/RC/DI sets which ought to be attempted? Should we bookmark the R3 questions which should not be attempted?
I would really like to know how to use the bookmark feature to my advantage. I presume, bookmark feature comes under the CEO hat.
Thanks and regards,
Bharat
Bharat,
Mark for review :
1. Mark DI/LR/RC for review (also note in your rough sheet your first impression of each)
2. Mark questions you DID NOT read for review
3. Mark questions you solved… got stuck and want to come back… for review
4. If you are sure you will not be able to solve something even after trying, dont mark for review..
Yup, CEO HAT!
sir i have the xam on 22 nd november can u please suggest me what must be minimum attempt to clear cut off of fms and lower iims in QA&DI section and how much total overall.Good in VA&LR can attempt around 35-45 manageable.
Rishu, to be sure of a final call from FMS and IIM L, I, K & S one should have 99%ile which should be possible at an overall score of 140. The new IIMs should be possible at 97.5%ile or an estimated raw score of 130. FMS does not have sectional cutoffs but for the IIMs you should have at least 85%ile in each section which should be possible at a sectional score of 50 marks but suggest that you ensure at least 55 in each section.
sir than what must be my total attempts.
Rishu, this is a function of your accuracy. The score suggested by me assumes +3 for a correct answer and -1 for an incorrect one.
sir than attempt around 50-55 is sufficient for 99% percentile with 3-4 wrong
Rishu, yes this should be fine.
Sir,
I loved your description or rather methodology for taking the Proc mock 13.In my attempts of the various mocks I have discovered an inevitable truth that although I am a maths graduate but my verbal skills are my shinning armour.
In the last 2-3 mocks i changed my approach.
My initial take was to attempt my test starting with Verbal ( stronger) and ending with Quant( my achilles heel) with LR positioned well within the quant section after tackling DI.This method had its ups and downs.So, i decided to do an adjustment.
I marked all the questions i would want to attempt in quant in the first 5-8 mins and then go for VA but still keep LR with the Quant Section.This did reach it’s fruition but as usual with the increase in the level of DI & LR my strategy became more like a double-edged sword.
Anyhow, as a manager you do not give up.But realistically you know the outcome with the data available at present.I might not be in a position to crack the CAT( that’s what i told myself,after all it’s better to be pragmatic than to live in denial).
But, something beautiful came about my third strategy method.
I decided to keep VA & LR for the very end.I started my paper with Quant.My attempts were a frugal 14-17 with DI. with an accuracy of 55%-75%.
Now the time kept for the Section 1 was 80 mins.
For verbal i would keep 90 mins ideally +/-5 depending if i took my time in quant.
Yesterday i sat down with an unproc mock.
My score in Quant+DI was 23 ( 17 attempts;10 C 7 W)
My score in VA+LR was 99( 33 Attempts; 33 C 0 W)
This has given me a boost.Knowing that most candidates value their interest in quant and use VA +LR just to clear the cut off.I thought i could be on the opposite side of the CAT spectrum.
i.e use Quant+DI too meet my cut off
VA+LR to boost my score.
Now I have realised my strength in quant is NS+Algebra these are the only topics that interest me to the fact that i end up doing well in them.But, post mock analysis tell me i end up missing out on these questions and get bogged down at times with difficult questions from other areas such as geometry +arithmetic.
Knowing that the days are numbered.Should i take the time in beginning to identify my set of questions in quant which i should attempt?
What would be the score necessary in quant to meet the cut off?
Also i am in a bit of dilemma the level of DI in the mock cat is at an unsurmountable level.I am not complaining i understand the reason for the institute in doing so.But, as per gp’s advise i started with DI sets from CAT(official papers) the one’s i have solved till know are not even 1/10th of the level of the one’s in the mock.
Is the level in actual CAT which is likely going to be set by IIM more in line with the DI’s & LR in the past CAT papers( excusing that repeats are always welcomed )?
Thanks & Regards
Abheek
Hi Abheek,
That’s a long post 🙂
Let me tell you what I gathered from your post:
1. Your section 2 is not a problem.
2. The worrying factor in Section 1 is your accuracy. 10 correct out of 17 is a serious serious issue. If you can tackle that, then you are through.
I found one problem with your approach – taking 5 to 8 minutes to mark the questions on QA that you will solve is a bad idea. You are essentially making the decision based on ‘look’. What will happen is this – you will mark to solve ‘easy looking – difficult question’ and you will not mark to solve ‘difficult looking – easy question’. Then, when you get to solve you will waste time in many question, force an answer and get it wrong.
Always decide after reading the question. So, my suggestion is that you avoid doing it.
Keep it simple:
Section 2 plan for you:
1. Scan – get an idea of how many DI & hoe many Quant
2. Start solving from Q1 and go till Q50 by picking questions for Round 1 –> read the question –> decide to solve –> solve. If you get stuck anywhere, leave it for later. When you encouter a DI, have look at it and make a note of it (whether you feel can solve it or not).
When you touch Q50, you must have done about 10-12 questions (if you can touch 15+, it will be awesome).
3. Go to the DIs that you think you can solve –> Solve the easy one (this could be 1 or may be 2 sets)
4. Get back to Quant Round 2 –> Try to solve the ones that you left, not read completely. Leave if you get stuck.
5. Get to DI. See if you can knock off one more set. If you can, solve it. If you cant try and fight with Quant.
Stop with the time hits 80 minutes.
Regards
Thanks for the reply Gejo. Much appreciated
For the next mock i will be keeping a rough estimate of close to 20 attempts with 90+% accuracy.if all goes accordingly i will try to raise the bar to 25.But, i have to remind you that i doubt sincerely that my attempt in quant would overshoot 30 or more.So is it better to have 25 or less attempts with 100 % accuracy or close to it in quant?
Thanks & Regards
Yes Abheek. 25 attempt with awesome accuracy is where you should reach. It will get you percentiles needed for at least some of the IIMs. This is how you can get there…
35 minutes….. 10 questions (QA Round 1)
15 minutes…… 6 questions (DI Round 1)
20 minutes…… 5 questions (QA Round 2)
20 minutes….. 5 questions (DI ROund 2/QA Round3)
Be disciplined while taking the test, dont be afraid of scary looking question, be quick on quitting when you know the question is not going anywhere, use whatever techniques – conventional and unconventional ones to get to the answer.
Regards
Sir you are very good at applying SQC techniques. if I could apply SQC in LR and DI set as you did lot of my time would be saved. Also, the “conventional” method of solving QA gets me to total attempts of around 25 in QADI section. I have attended your and GP sir’s SQC workshop and would like to increase my attempts in these methods. Any tips for that?
Also, in EU section I am not comfortable in Grammar, Commonly confusable and Word usage. I leave those. That leaves me to solve an extra LR or an RC. Depending on my strength I generally go for LR but fail miserably in 1-2 sets.
how should I reduce risks and dependency on LR and still increase my attempts in VALR section?
Ankur,
Question 1:
There are two ways you can improve your attempts in QA:
1. Make at least 2 areas really really strong – so that you can attack Level 3 questions in those areas using conventional methods
2. Use SQC – answering questions using knowledge that you possess.
The only way to get SQC going is to be confident about SQC. Its not that you cannot apply SQC. Its just that you are not confident about applying SQC. In a test situation, you won’t do things that you are not confident about. So, if you still want to give a shot to SQC, then you take all the past mocks – force yourself to answer questions using SQC. Decide to apply the technique in next mock and apply.
It can get you 3 – 5 more questions, getting your score close to about 30.
Question 2:
In EU, mark only if you are sure of the answer. If you simply increase the attempts in EU, all that you are doing is getting negative marks. Worse, it will give you a false sense of confidence – that you have a lot of attempts so you dont need that extra LR or RC set. This will turn out to be disastrous. So, keep it simple – if Grammar is not your strength, so be bit. In the next 3 – 4 days, work on it. There is a method in which you can solve Grammar questions. By identifying errors. – Subject verb agreement, Modifiers, Comparisons, Parallelism, Idioms. Go through your books ones, learn about this error. While solving use elimination – this could probably get you 1 or 2 additional attempts. But by and large, you will have to go with your current situation.
Regards
Sir,
I just want a suggestion from your side.
Mah quants is really poor and m strong in RC and DI.
I am really scare of LR and I am ok with VA.
I am aiming for 90%tile and mah strategy is to leave quants section in full except SQC question.
Wil it work out for me???
Vishal,
Its never good to have a pre-decided plan that says you will leave somethings out.
Your strategy will work if there are significant number of DI questions (15+) and you are able to crack almost all of them. There is that risk element in your plan – when DI is really tough; when there are not many DI questions etc; when there are not many ‘SQCable’ Quant questions.
If 90+ percentile is your target – then, you need to hit about 20+ questions which I believe is possible.
My suggestion – fight with Math for the rest of the days.
Regards
Gejo
Hi Gejo,
Thanks for quick revert. I am fighting with quants from Feb 14′ onwards but still not able to have a good command over it. As far as I know myself. I am not sure of attempting quants irrespective of my long practice.
I have given all mock and have seen that atleast 12+ DI question and 10+ SQC quants.
If I am able to do this 20+ then I should move on with this.
Pls suggest???
Vishal,
Its a question of being ‘brave’ and implementing things you have learned. While taking the test, just focus on the question and handle them. You cant put in more knowledge now. You have to use whatever you have to cross 25+ questions in Section 1. You can, believe in that… practice… analyze…practice…analyze…and you will hit the mark.
Gejo, Thanks a lot for the innovative post. I reckon ‘Hat strategy’ makes us active while taking mock and keeps very much engrossed in the process. Really innovative.
1) Do you always solve in the same order of sections (EU,LR,RC…) or does it differ in each mock. How important it is
2) Slightly off-topic but very much relevant : What is your take on accuracy v/s raw score? Which one to focus in CAT 2014 and what is the minimum accuracy we should target?
Guru,
1. In my case, I always start with EU. For RC, I have to give about 35 minutes. RC is something that I am comfortable with – unless it is a really really tough one. I cannot trust LR. So, its almost always – EU –> LR –> RC for me. You need to figure your best order.
2. Well, IIMs have not explicitly mentioned negative marking. But it is fair to go with 1/3rd negative marking for 4 options and 1/4th negative marking for 5 options. Be that as it may, accuracy is really important –
50% accuracy means 50% of the time you were marking wrong answer. With negative marking 66% of the time got wasted
70% accuracy – 40% of the time got wasted
75% accuracy – 33% of the time got wasted
80% accuracy – 26% of the time got wasted (that’s a good 45 minutes)
85% accuracy – 20% of the time got wasted
90% accuracy – 13% of the time got wasted
95% accuracy – 6% of the time got wasted.
Question is – how much time you want to waste? I am thinking – I cant afford anything more than 10%! So 90%+ accuracy.
Thanks Gejo. Very informative
Sir just out of curiosity, were all the attempts correct? If not can we get to know the total net score?
Tejas, almost all attempts were correct.
I did not mark the ones that I was not sure of.
Thanks for the analysis but sir can you also upload the the video for the Mock 13 just as GP sir did for precious Mocks . That would be great.
Kamal, the video will be uploaded by tomorrow.
Sir who sets CL mocks, does it keep on changing or is there like a central committee?
Dexter, there is a central committee but questions are contributed by a large number of people.
Sir what should be the ideal no. of questions that one should attempt to score more than 90+ and with what accuracy .
what should be the strategy for the last lap of CAT.
Thank you in advance.
Arun,
You can go with this benchmark:
To get 99%+ overall – 30+ attempts each in the sections
To get 95%+ overall – 25+ attempts each in the sections
To get 90%+ overall – 20+ attempts each in the sections
In the last lap of the CAT, my advise is this : You have to fine tune your CEO and Area Managers – Are they playing their roles well? Are you able to manage the time well? Are you attempting all the questions that you are attempting. With regard to ‘Worker’ – how good is your accuracy?
Take mock – Immediately after that write down what each role did in the 170 minutes – Analyse each of the roles thoroughly. Take learning and then give the next mock.
I would also suggest that you solve RC- DI- LR- every day from previous CAT papers. FIne tune your SQC technique in Quant by forcing yourself to answer questions (after the mock, while analysing).
This would help you.
Amazing post Sir 🙂
My weakest hat will be my Worker Hat which makes silly errors (like 3+3=9) When I go through the solutions,sometimes my Area Manager does feel like slapping the Worker at least once! ( I know too intense!).
Realized my weakest point is not being disciplined enough while solving a questions.
Thanks a lot once again and Happy Diwali to the whole CL family. 🙂
Saurabh,
So long as your ‘Worker’ is able to maintain around 95% accuracy, it is great – anything less than 90% accuracy is a concern. Give a good dose to your ‘worker’ and ensure that in the next mock he is disciplined.
Reassure him, he will do a good job next time 🙂
Regards
Gejo Sir,
Is your video recording of this mock, is also going to be available on our SIS Id..?
Regards.
Abhilesh, the video recording will be uploaded tomorrow.
Hello Gejo Sir, Lately I’ve been realising that I’ll be an entrepreneur after doing MBA, so why don’t I apply the skills now? This post seems as if served on a plate. The three hat concept should work successfully now. Just two questions, how do deal with this ego thing? And how to change hats instantly, coz one as long as one is wearing a CEO hat and an Area Manager hat, time starts running down fast.
Wish you, GP sir and the whole of CL a very happy Diwali too!
Siddartha,
1. Ego is a difficult thing to handle. This is one of the biggest time waster. Just that you have to let go of a question if it is not going anywhere.
2. Changing hats does not take time – it will come very naturally. Just that you have to aware that there are 3 levels of decisions that you need to make in the mock. have a look at my attempt when the video gets uploaded in your SiS. I did not take too much time in making those decisions. You will see that I was very disciplined while taking the test – that I managed the time well – that I left the questions that I was not sure of – that I focussed on the question when I am solving – that I was talking to myself – that I was looking at the timer and making decisions etc.
Regards
Thank you Gejo Sir. 🙂 It really helped.