Things you must-do after every mock CAT you take

Things you must-do after every mock CAT you take

By now you must have read and experienced for yourself the importance of mocks for aptitude exams such as the ones you are gearing up for. Once you have written a mock, what follows thereafter is as important as taking a medicine for fever. In direct terms, your post mock activities should be corrective in nature and should help you to perform better in the next mock. Thus, this article is important as it suggests what all you must do after every Mock CAT you take.

The CAT 2018 pattern was akin to taking three, one hour sectional tests one after the other and hence it is highly advisable to take the sectional tests regularly along with Mock CATs. Most students take this advice seriously and focus on writing the Mocks & sectional tests regularly. Some students go to the extent of a taking a Mock CAT every week. However, after the paper, many students check their scores and move on to the next paper – this defeats the purpose of taking a test. To understand how the Mock CATs should be handled, we need to first understand the purpose of Mock CATs.

A Mock CAT tests your preparations, it tells you your current situation, your strengths and highlights the areas where you need to take corrective action. Just as checking your temperature, when suffering with fever, every couple of hours without taking corrective action will be of no use, taking a Mock CAT without analyzing the paper and identifying the corrective action for the desired output is a waste of time.

After you have taken the paper and checked your score, the real work starts. You need to go through all the questions and solve them again. To make it simple, I have given section-wise post Mock activities. Have a look…

 QA Questions:

  1. Solve the question again and compare your solution with the one given in the solution booklet or the video analysis.
  2. If you were unable to solve a question, go through the solution and ask yourself if you would like to attempt this type of question in future. If the answer is no, forget this question.
  3. Check if there are any other shorter or faster methods to solve the question. With a one hour time restriction coming into picture, using the faster methods would pay rich dividends.
  4. Check if the incorrect choices can be eliminated on the basis of logic.
  5. Check if approximation or calculation short cuts get you to the answer faster.
  6. Any question in which you have been able to identify an alternate method or a calculation short cut or a question has helped you understand a concept is an IMPORTANT question and needs to be REVISED every week.

DI & LR Question sets:

  1. Attempt all data sets that you did not or could not attempt in the stipulated time.
  2. Identify the questions that could have been solved with the help of choices and revise them every week.
  3. Identify the questions in which calculation short cuts can be applied and revise them every week.
  4. Identify the type of data sets that you should definitely attempt or not attempt in future.
  5. Identify the data sets (or the individual questions) that you should revise every week.

RC Passages:

  1. Attempt the RC passages that you did not attempt in the stipulated time and then decide if the decision of not attempting these passages was correct or was it a miss.
  2. Find the meaning of the words that you have come across for the first time.
  3. The questions for which you marked incorrect answers, find out the reasons.
  4. Identify the RC questions (e.g. Tone type) that you should revise every week.

Verbal Ability Questions:

  1. In vocabulary & sentence completion question find out the meaning of all the words in the choices and revise the difficult ones every week.
  2. Go through all the grammar questions again and mark for weekly revision the ones you got wrong.
  3. Go through all the para-jumble, para-completion and critical-reasoning questions to understand why each choice is correct or incorrect. Revise the difficult questions every week.

Now that you have analyzed the paper we need to get to the next step:

Revision. This aspect of preparation is ignored by a large number of students.  Most students practice a lot, they take a Mock CAT or a section test every day but do not revise the important questions from these papers and hence not only do they commit unforced errors but also are unable to work fast in the paper. Revision is the key to higher speed and accuracy and hence should be done at least once a week for all the important MCQs that you have identified in Mock CATs, in Fundabooks, in Test Gym, in Sectional Tests and in past CAT papers. It is okay to cut down on Mock CATs but not revising is unacceptable. You must also have a look at the Smart CAT Cracker videos regularly in order to learn the smarter problem solving techniques that are bound to help you solve questions faster.

All the Best
GP

Still haven’t started your preparation for CAT ’19? Choose from our offerings here that suits you the most and get started!

 

247 Comments

  1. I am really not satisfied with CL , i updated my CL SIS Login ID of 2017 and my SECTIONALS are not updated ……
    this thing doesnt happen with TIME or IMS ….
    please resolve my issue
    my email ID = loverboyx6.ar@gmail.com

    really upset with CL

    sorry for being harsh

  2. Good Evening sir,
    Sir my query is how to use strength finder in my SIS effectively ?

    • Madhavan, this is just the beginning. 1st mock shows you your current position you have 6+ months to increase that score. Make the best of these months. Start mastering the topics of your interest and write mocks or test gym tests every week to ironclad your preparation.

  7. sir so currently what should we focus on : completing our syllabus first or deeply analysing the MOCK CAT PAPER ? and according to my action plan i will be able to complete the syllabus once by 10 september 2017. please guide sir

    • Aashi, sound strategy to top the CAT would be focusing primarily on the mocks and their analysis, while secondarily on the syllabus. Ensure that you are taking atleast 1 mock in every 7-10 days and spending a qualitative time on its analysis.

  8. Hello sir…I attended your Race to 99% percentile today…it was amazing…
    But I was not able to get the answer of my one question..how can i improve my rc inference skills? When I usually do rc on offline mode or on sheets I am able to score good marks but I don’t know what happen when I attempt rc on online mode..? How can I resolve this issue sir..?

    • Akash, you must get comfortable with the online mode. Switch to reading and practicing online. This is the only way to help you get cozy to taking RCs online.

  9. Sir I have been scoring 30to 70 percentile in mocks. Which colleges should I apply for. How do I choose a good college from which I can get a call.

  10. Sir.
    I have been scoring 80-85 percentile in the proctored mocks but the scores and the number of questions I attempt is very less (49-52). Plus there are a lot of questions I get wrong in VARC section.
    I’ve been practicing a lot but the speed is still pulling my score down.
    please suggest something.

    • Abhijeet, learn to choose your questions wisely and leave the ones your are doubtful about. You do not have to attempt all questions for a good percentile. For VARC a score of 75+ would be sufficient for a 99 percentile. First pocket these marks.

  11. Sir,
    In my last 3 mock tests, I do a lot of mistakes in RC section, which cost me my percentile.
    Half of the questions I attempt come out to be wrong attempts.
    How can this be improved sir?

    • Sourav, go through the analysis of the previous mocks and analyse the type of mistakes you are making. You do not necessarily have to attempt all questions in RCs, make your question selection wisely and always perform a qualitative analysis after each test. Focus on your strengths only. All the best.

  12. Whichever link I’m trying to open, I’m getting a 404 error! Please fix it! I really want to go through the articles present here!

  14. sir . there is just one and half month left for cat and still i am scoring hardly between 50- 60 and i have started feeling demotivated. please tell me what should i do now so that i can manage to double my scores in remaining mocks

  15. Sir , i am taking two mocks 2 days gap……….and analysing them on single day (as test window same solution of both mocks are declaring on same day ) should i continue like this or take second mock after analysing first mock ?

  16. Whenever I do RC practice, I got lost as on screen as we have to scroll again and again in order to get to the answer. Therefore, in doing this lot of time is wasted and speed also decreases.
    Since cat passages are a bit long therefore I’m finding difficult to give RC on screen.
    On other hand when I practice RC on paper, I’m able to do it.

    Could you help in this.

    • Priyanka, you will find *Question Paper* on the right corner of the screen. You can use that button to look RC at single glance. This will save lot of time.

  17. I have given 15mocks in total. My performance in the Cl proctored mocks have been improving with each mock(on basis of percentile). But what All India rank is good enough in the Cl mocks if I want to get a 99+ Percentile in CAT 2016?

    • Pranay, you should not consider All India ranks in CL mocks. Focus on maintaining at least 95+%tile in mocks to get a 99%tile in CAT 2016.

  18. Sir, if I am stuck on an LR question when do i decide to leave it and move on? Or should I stick to it since I am committed? Also, how accurate is the CAT percentile predictor?

    • Rohan, this is a tricky one, basically you continue with the data set if you think that you have a chance. My personal experience is that if I am unable to solve the data set in 5-6 minutes then I will most probably not be able to solve the set.
      The percentile predictor tries to estimate your CAT percentile assuming a similar level of performance in CAT. So if you perform at the same level it is fairly accurate.

  19. Sir,
    I have given about 11 mocks till now. However, in every mock I find that there were some easy questions in QA that I am missing out ? So, what should be my strategy regarding this ? And can I have a talk with you regarding some general queries ?

  20. Sir,

    I am taking the self- proctored mocks through a subscription to CL. I want to know, how relevant are the percentiles in those tests to the actual result. (Since no. of students appearing is not shown for each test). Also through IIM profilizer, the minimum percentile required for IIM-B is 90 (why is it showing so low?), is there a problem with the algorithm?

    • Khushboo, IIM Banaglore cut-offs are to be taken with a pinch of salt. IIM Bangalore does admit students at percentiles as low as 94-95 provided they have a great academic score.

  21. Sir,
    There is a DI/LR set (Q43-46) in unproctored mock 11 on arrangements of shops and their cities.

    I am not able to do this set even after seeing the solution given as solution is directly given as final answer.

    I will be very grateful to you sir if you can give me some hint.

  22. Hello Sir,
    I have a couple of questions if you could please guide me.
    I have been scoring between 120-140 in CL proctored mocks with percentile ranging from 90-95. However, my quant percentile is extremely low (60-70 percentile with scores between 30 and 50). What should i do in order to improve quants?

    Also, I have scored 90+ in class 10 and 12 and 80+ in college. What score should i target in order to get a call from the IIMs?

  23. Dear Sir/team,
    Out of all the proctored mocks which can be considered the closest to actual CAT 2015 and how many more marks can we expect in the actual test than the mocks.

    • Bhupinder, this question can be answered only on 29th November evening 🙂
      However assuming your performance in CAT is similar o that in Mock CATs then you can expect your CAT percentile to go up. A 90%ile in Mocks typically converts to a 95%ile in CAT and a 95%ile in mocks to a 97-98%ile in CAT.

  24. Sir, would it be better if I attempt all the non MCQ questions as they do not have any negative marking? Or would it affect during final scaling of scores?

    • Swapnil, since there is no negative marking I would attempt all non MCQs. Percentiles are based on the net raw score and accuracy does not pay any role. Also the formula for normalising the scores does not consider accuracy.

  25. sir, when i am practicing thru funda books and test gym my score is around 60-70% but when i give mocks my score goes down below 30%. how should i improve ?

  26. Dear GP Sir ,
    When I started preparing for CAT in the January this year VA was my strength .But now , after constant preparation I find that I am doing reasonably well in QA and DILR section . I am hitting the rock bottom in VA section .The scores are fluctuating in VA from(19 to 44).I am scoring around 110 in the CL mocks .What should I being from now on ,till the D day.

    Awaiting your answer.

    • Amit, the only solution for this is taking more and more number of mocks. Eventually you’ll pick up the speed and will attempt more questions.

  28. Sir, I am sure the next mock i appear for, will be as per the new sequence of sections(as notified).
    Can the same thing be done for earlier mocks as well?

  29. Please tell me what would be the score required in CAT paper to cross the 99%ile barrier for 2015. Also , CL claims that the Procs are a bit more difficult than actual CAT papers, so whatever score we get here, chances are we will get a higher score in CAT. If this is true, then how much %ile should I score in Proc Mocks of CL to get 99%ile in CAT. Also what should be my range of score in Proc Mocks to ensure 99%ile in CAT.

    • Shashank, assuming the same level of difficulty as CAT 2014, the estimate for the score required for a 99%ile in CAT 2015 is:

      QA – net score of 70-75
      DILR – net score of 65-70
      VRC – net score of 55-60
      Overall – net score of around 175

      A consistent 97+%ile in CL mocks will certainly lead to a 99+%ile in CAT 2015.

  30. Sir, my score in QA and LR-DI is in the range of 40+ each, but in VRC it stays around 30-35. Please suggest something to increase my score to at least 50+ range.. Thanks in advance.. 🙂

  32. Hi Sir ,

    A couple of questions if you could please guide me .

    i have 89 and 87 and 76 % in 10,12 and B tech res. Also i have 2 years work ex in IT . Approx what %ile can get me a call from top B 20 b schools ( 13 to IIMs , FMS , NITIE , SP Jain , MDI , IIT B/D/KGP) considering i am general ?

    Also in 2014 i found that 160 marks fetched around 98 %ile , given change in pattern again in 2015 , how much marks do you suppose will give around 98 %ile ?

    Thank you Sir .

    • Pooja, you must score a minimum of 99.6%ile for the IIM calls and atleast 98.5 for the calls of all the other colleges that you mentioned.

      A score of 175 would give you around 99%ile in CAT 2015

  33. Sir,
    I am not able to score more than 40 or 50 in mocks but whenever I do analysis of those papers I realize that I could have scored more than 85 easily. I think the problem is that little counter on the screen and a possible solution which I can think of is to give more & more testgyms and sectional tests but I don’t want to see myself fail again so anything else which you can suggest?

    • Prashant, this can be tackled only by taking more and more mocks. Eventually you’ll get a hang of it, your concentration will increase and you’ll be able to score better.

  34. Sir, My scores vary between 110-140 in the mocks and likewise the percentiles too. with just one month left, what should be my strategy.. I am really tensed as i want to score in the 99+ range.. please suggest something to bring some consistency in these scores..

  35. Sir,
    What will be the order of sections in the next mocks taking into consideration the latest notification issued in the cat website??Will it be qa,di,va or va,di,qa?

  36. sir here are my academic credentials
    10th-91%
    12th-90%
    grads-73%
    i did not do engineering because i dint like it..! i have been preparing for the UPSC EXAM after my grads(2013)
    i am planning to write CAT THIS year but what I SEE is that i have lost some analysis skills ..!!
    i have started takin mocks ,scoring around 60-70 markss !! what should i do to increase my marks ?

  37. Dear Sir

    My scores in mocks are consistently low (less than 40) , I am practising through the CL fundabooks, therefore, I wanted to clarify , whether the CL fundabooks level-1,2,3 all questions + PROC/UNPROC MOCKS are sufficient to get above 95%ile in CAT 2015?

    Thank you.

    • Dipanjan, a score less than 40 is extremely low. Analysis of the mocks and the sectional tests is the most important thing. This along with the CL Fundabooks and the Test Gym is sufficient to score above 99%ile in CAT 2015.

  38. Sir
    My speed in mocks is very slow. I have been giving bull mocks and I am able to attend only 40 questions per mock on an average with 80% accuracy. Can you suggest me how to improve my number of attempts.
    Thank you.

    • A0987, if your concepts are in place and yet you struggle with speed then it could be because of:
      1. Lack of practice or
      2. Poor test taking strategy or
      3. Lack of analysis and revision.
      Which of these do you think is your problem?

      • GP sir. I have noticed that the proc mocks of CL have been going a bit easy on the quant section. Does the team in CL believe that the Quants section this time round will be easy like the proc mocks. Should not there be a better mix of easy and tough questions ?

        • Somok, be rest assured. You’ll be witnessing the right level of difficulty across all the mocks. The difficulty will also vary.

  39. Sir
    You said any important question we have identified in the mocks must be revised every week.

    How do I maintain a log of these questions. Do I write it down by hand in a note book. In that case it takes too much time and in DI it is not possible also. Is there a better way to maintain a log of the important questions.

    • Happy, do what ever works for ypu. My preference is to bookmark the questions in Test Gym or Test Series and highlight the questions in a paper based test.

  40. Hello sir,
    I have taken CL CAT Test Series ’15. I have received the solutions for 1st Mock-CAT but the time that I took to solve the questions has not been provided. It would be great help if the time taken to solve individual questions were provided as I would have been able to see the areas where I am fast and where I am slow and improve accordingly. Can there be any such provision where we can see time invested per question?

  41. hi sir, this is sakshi here.. my %le drastically varies from 65-95 in my mocks.. there is just one month left fr cat.. so if i do just do past years cat papers from 90-08 will it be suffiecient to get a 99%

    • HArshit, go by 100 sec per question, hence a paper with 90 questions should be for 9000 sec or 150 minutes. If you are taking the sectional tests then it should be 110 sec per question for QADI and 90 sec per question for VALR

  43. Dear sir
    I am a student of SCC comprehensive . Please upload mocks without solutions after declaration of results so that we can try it on our own. Also i leave all the question of PJs in which odd sentence is to be selected. could you please upload a video for that in SCC. i have got 90+ in all the 4 mocks that i have appeared in till date
    Regards

    • Praveen, will check if the format of the solution can be changed.
      You should consider the odd statement para jumble questions like a normal para jumble question and look for a mandatory pair. You could also connect the statements on the basis of scope – the connected statements should have similar scope. Will try and create a video for this question type.

  44. Sir!!

    i gave 5 mocks….just so that i have good and truer data to work with while making this chart and categorizing questions into 6 categories which will enable me to decide what needs to improved goin forward here on..

    but HONESTLY

    making the categorisation sheet and also checking each question for solutions and faster methods (things you’ve asked to do AFTER EVERY MOCK CAT) is taking too much time.)
    ALMOST 3 DAYS PER MOCK.

    so do i still give it 3 days…making the above categorisation sheet..and also doing all uve mentioned in THINGS TO DO AFTER EVERY MOCK..or do i speed the process some way..

    because ill b spending 15 days in just filling up these things (keeping 3 days per mock average)

    im a 93 %iler last year and hope to make it thru this year..
    hoping for a quick reply so that i kno what to do next!!

    • Dear Rushil,

      Yes, you should definitely do this. It will save you a lot of time ultimately and will ensure that your preparation proceeds in the right direction.

  45. Sir, this is slightly off topic, but could you tell me what is a good score for CMAT out of 400? I just took my first online CMAT mock and scored a 182. The accuracy was disappointing in this one, though I managed to attempt a decent no. of questions.

  46. Sir please help me…
    I m taking CL mocks….my scores are too low…today I took the 2nd mock….& my score is 35 marks.
    I started my prep this year around 25th June.
    How much time should I devote to studies? and what should be the target for next mock…
    Is it possible to crack the exam this year?
    Waiting for your reply…

    • Dear Divya,

      Yes, it is possible to crack the exam this year. But, you will need to put in some hard work for this. Go through the basics across areas and revise these once more. Try some simple problems again (across areas) so that you can be sure that you have fully grasped the basic concepts. After this, do use Test Gym Adaptive as much as you can. For your next mock, try a very simple strategy. Aim for just 30 attempts (15 in each section). In Section 1, try to attempt around 7 to 8 (maybe up to 10) questions from DI and attempt another 5 (or up to 7-8) questions from QA. Similarly, in Section 2, identify which areas you are comfortable with and just attempt 15 questions from those areas. At this rate, you will have nearly 6 minutes per question that you attempt. Do this in your next mock and see what results you get. After this, gradually increase your number of attempts in the mocks. By the end of September, you should be attempting around 50 questions per mock.

  47. sir I left career launcher this year as I was not accustomed to high quality teaching in CL. so I decided to study myself. now the problem is that I am very weak in maths so plse tell me in which topics should I focus so that I can achieve good marks in QA/DI section. I need ur help sir.

    • Srajan, focus on Arithmetic, DI and Algebra, these three can get you sufficient marks to get around 95%ile in this section.

  48. Sir, earlier the PDF for the mocks that we downloaded contained two separate PDFs, one for the questions and one for the solutions. But now, the PDF that we download contains both the questions and solutions in the same document. Sir, this becomes a bit inconvenient during the analysis, especially when one takes the mock again. I suggest that the old PDF format should return. Hoping that you reply soon. Thank You

  49. Hello Sir,
    Every time I give mock tests(proc and unproc),I take time upto 4-5
    minutes to do a single Question and endup attempting 30 qns. in qadi in 140 minutes with 23-24 correct . But, after solution is published, I again attempt the same proc/unproc and solve upto 40-42 Qns. of QADI with 80-90% accuracy.
    But sir, I want to minimize the time per Qn in QADI so that i can maximize my VALR attempts.
    Sir, how can i do QA qns. faster with 80-90% accuracy.
    please suggest me sir.
    thank you sir………..

    • Rahul, weekly revision of important questions as suggested in this post should help you improve on your speed and also accuracy. Take a break from Mocks for a week and in this time revise all important MCQs (Mocks, Test Gym, Funda books etc) 2-3 times and then take another paper, hopefully your attempts will go up.

  50. sir, it will be very convenient for us in preparation if in the “solutions ” tab in the mock analysis we can ADD PERSONAL COMMENTS (personal solutions or any notes to remember) in every questions according to our convenience and also can put them in various “Grades” or “tag” them at our own so that if we want to review a question or revise later those questions in the mock, we can select only particular questions.
    Because bookmarking show all questions marked yet,
    please consider it.
    thanks

  51. Sir, My 10th. 12th and graduate scores are 63.5, 63.2, 60.0
    I am in my final year and preparing for CAT fulltime. My preparation was going on very well, but few days back many told me that i cannot have good b-schools as I donot have good scores. I was and I am upset because due these type of comments my preparation has got disturbed. What to do sir? I am keenly interested in getting a b-school among top-15 and I was preparing very well but now my confidence has all shaken up. Can you please help me in any way?

    • Sanchit, while it will be difficult for you get into a IIMB and possibly a couple of others. Almost all other IIMs including IIMA are all possible. IIMA has this year relaxed the criteria for past academics significantly, however you should target a CAT score of over 99.75%ile for IIM A and C. Almost all MBA institutes outside IIMs have a low/no weight for past academics and hence are all possible. Most of the other top IIMs and FMS will be possible at 99.2% and the new IIMs, MDI etc will need a 97%ile. A score of 95%ile can get you calls from almost all other B schools.
      Keep your focus on CAT preparation to ensure a good score and do not worry about what others are saying.

  53. sir my tenth and 12 th percentages are 94.5 and 94.8 ….and b.tech is 8.59 til thrd year……..how much percentile should i need to get to get into the iima or iimb ……for that how many questions i must be attempting …..?? please specify questions in each section sir ……and what is the cu off for top iims sir ??

    • Sravani, as a general category candidate with your excellent academic record you should get call from IIM A, B and C at 99.5%ile. In the new pattern of CAT you should be attempting around 65 attempts with at least 28-30 in each section.

  54. sir m doing good in LR ….but my vocabulary is very bad bcoz of which m lloosing the vocab questions, RC, grammar and even verbal logic ……so please tell me within this 2 and half months how can i improve my vocab….specialy for fill in the blanks questions what material should i follow …..becoz i will be loosing the ones that take less time to answer ryte so please guide me what should i do to improve my vocab in the remaining two and half months to do the vocab and RC questions .

    • Sravani, focus on the these question types in the past papers of CAT, IIFT, XAT and the Mock CATs. In your SIS you also have daily vocab practice, regular revision of all these words will help you improve in this area.

  55. sir i have finished the quant funda books but i am not able to answer the questions in the mockS..Are the QUESTION TYPES and LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY of those in the funda books is sufficient or should i need to work out with other books ????
    please reply soon sir …….if am thorough with the funda books questions and models is it enough to get into an iim ? shal i revise all of them again or shud i go for some other level books ???
    hoping for a sooner reply….

    • Sravani, after finishing the MCQs in the fundabook you should move to Test Gym and attempt questions from there. Start with the beginner level and move up. The questions in the Mock are at Advanced level and the Expert level is above the CAT level.

  56. sir,

    this is regarding the updated sis..
    The links of all the unproctored mocks and the analysis of the proctored ones have been taken off the student information pages.
    I understand the circumstances were unforeseen for you and so were for all for us.
    i had saved the unproctored mocks for taking during september- october but now those being removed from has left me quite perturbed. I had paid the same amount as those of my friends who took the unproctored mocks early. On that basis , it is unfair. Even if not in the current pattern the questions would have been of immense help.
    I have also written to support department but they have refused to help and said that the links wont be uploaded back.

    Sir please help! will be really grateful ..

  57. Dear Sir, i wrote to you before regarding this but I have a few more queries. Sir I look after my family business but I dont get any official payslips and all. So while filling out the form for CAT, what should I put in for work exp and if I get selected for the GD-PI rounds, how will i prove my work exp. I have been looking after this business since 2012 when my father died. And my family business consists of a tuition center with 9 teachers and about 250-300 students. We also own a few retail shops. I am involved in the entire logistics of both the tuition center and the shops. I am also highly involved in teaching too.
    Plz answer as soon as possible. Thanking you in advance.

    • Dear Sandip,

      You should mention the actual work experience that you have. Once you secure calls from various b-schools, you can explain your issue to them. If you have actually worked then you should be able to talk about your work in your interview as well. So there should not be any problem merely due to absence of payslips.

  58. Hello sir,
    When should we start mock analysis? As analysis 1-2 week time (I take my mock at in the first 2-3 days) by the time I do my analysis I don’t remember my though process I was doing when I was solving the question. Is it okay to do analysis after 2 weeks?
    Also I have problem of speed in my QA section. I manage to get 90% accuracy but each question takes 5-6 minutes so i cannot attempt more than 50% questions. How can i work to improve my speed?

    • Rohit, the Mock analysis should ideally be done immediately after taking the Mock but since the Mock window is for 9 days we can release the solutions and video van be released only when the window closes.
      The problem of speed in QA can be easily rectified by revision, suggest that go for weekly revision of all important from Mocks and Test Gym as suggested in this post.

  59. Sir,Is there any crash course going to be started by career launcher.As i am a job doer so if it starts on weekends then it would be best for us.Still 4 months are left. Thanks in advance.

    • Saurabh, crash courses are available in almost all CL centers. Let me know the city that you belong to and I’ll connect you to the right person.

  60. Sir…..
    My academic profile is :
    10th – 86%
    12th – 85%
    Grdn – 65%(BTech)
    I m completing my graduation by this year. I hv also got a job in TCS(CTC = 3.18). I m confused whether to go with the job & gain some work exp. or to drop 1 yr for CAT 14.
    Is there any loss if I drop a yr and go for MBA instead of doing job alongwith appearing for CAT 14 ?

    • Ankit, it need not be an either-or situation, you can do both. My suggestion is to join TCS and also go for CAT’14, if you make it to a good institute then go for it else continue with TCS and try again next year. Purely from a career point of view the earlier one does an MBA the faster is one’s career growth, I will not recommend dropping TCS because it is a good back up option and I think one can manage CAT preparation along with one’s job.

    • Pradeep, none that I am aware of. Any word can be given and hene it is difficult to narrow down to a list of likely words.

  62. Which colleges consider the work experience ? Is it necessary to have work exp. for getting admission in the top colleges ?

    • Ankit, most MBA institutes have 2.5-5% weight for work experience but it is not necessary to have work experience for admission to top MBA institutes. SP Jain and IIM B have a much higher weight for work experience.

  63. Sir do you expect the level of difficulty of questions coming down with new time per question being reduced to 1.7 min as compered to previous ~2.3-2.5 min/question.
    Should we focus more on speed (calculation speed,etc) Any books/suggestions on how can we improve the same?

  64. GP Sir,
    I know you must be flooded with queries of CAT everyday, but my query is a little bit different and slightly different from the discussion on the topic paracompletion.
    What kind of an impact will there be on the admission process of JBIMS now that it has been granted autonomy?

    1.Will there be an increase in fee?

    2.Will there be a GD/PI round?

    3. Will they start with a new exam, or CET will be considered as usual?

    4. What will be the status of reservation for Maharashtra as well as OMS students?
    P.S I am a Mumbai student ,and I am anxious regarding the status of CET/JBIMS,Mumbai.I will be appearing for CAT 14, ALONG WITH CET’15.

    • Raisa, I do not expect any such change in JBIMS and it will by and large continue with the existing policy in all areas.

  65. @GP sir, I request you to also change the pattern of classic test gym as per new cat format.It will help us as lot

  66. Respected Sir,
    I am a CAT aspirant of CL , Dhanbad Center.I am thinking to take MBA entrance tests like CAT, XAT ,IIFT ,SNAP. My question “Is it better for me to give CMAT or any any other MBA entrance test”. Please suggest me….
    Also please give me a list of B school rankings

    • Ankit, with Maharashtra CET opting out, CMAT is no longer worthwhile and it will be prudent to focus on CAT, XAT, IIFT, SNAP and NMAT. For JBIMS you should take Feb’15 MAT or ATMA or CET.

  67. Sir, I score 75% in 10th Standard & 67% in Senior Secondary Exam & In my Graduation I score only 60%.
    So Which B-SCHOOL i Target…..

    • Gaurav, most of the B schools outside the top IIMs have a low/no weight for past academics so you can target almost all MBA institutes. Your CAT score will determine the institutes that you can target.

  68. Sir,

    Now that is known that no.of questions have increased in both sections, how many more DI-questions can we expect? I am quiet decent in DI compared to topics like geometry, algebra and numbers. in a 30 question section, 9-10 were DI. So can we expect this be now 15-16?

    Thanks in advance.

  69. Sir my profile:
    X- 72
    XII-78
    Graduation(BBA)-76
    XAT 2014-84.78

    I converted GIM and joined. But now i am planning to take CAT, XAT and target the Tier 1 B-Schools. Should i go ahead with this?
    Is this the right decision?

    Secondly, sir is Goa a centre for CAT this time? Until last year it was not.

    • Ankit, if you are confident of a 97%ile in CAT’14 then you can go for a retake.
      The list of centers will be available on 1st August and hopefully Goa will be a center.

  70. Sir,
    my query is not in sync. with the post but please do address it.
    my academic records:
    Xth: 88.5%
    XIIth:83.4%
    Graduation(b.sc cs(h)):60%
    Sir i completed my graduation in 2013 but i’ve no work ex up until now.
    i gave mba entrance exams in 2013
    cat’13:66.13
    xat’14:79.70
    nmat’14:197
    i started my prep. in august’13 as my parents wanted me do MCA so it took a lot to convince them.
    I finally converted IMT nagpur and welingkar bangalore(major converts).
    i did not take admission since i want to do mba only from a top b-school so i’ve been preparing for cat’14 for d past 2months but what is worrying me is d fact dat i dont have anything to show for the 2 year gap.
    sir should i do my mba(2015-17) assuming i get into a top b-school or should i work for 2-3 yrs and then join a mba program?
    i want to make a career in finance and as far as job is concerned i’ve given SBI PO and am quite positive about the result and IBPS PO is also coming up in case i dont clear sbi po and i’ll also do CFA along with the job if i dont join mba.
    sir ur expert advice would be really helpful as i am in a very confused state of mind right now.

    Regards!!

    • Abhishek, given that your performance in last years exams has not been very good my suggestion is to go for multiple options. Having graduated in 2013, you should immediately pick up a job and also prepare for CAT and other MBA entrance exams. If SBI PO happens then join it, work for a couple of years and then again look at MBA but if it does not happen then take the IBPS PO test and try for other PSU banks. CFA is also a good option but I would be more inclined towards the PO option.

      • thank u for the guidance sir.
        just one more question….i am going too far into the future n being highly optimistic but in a situation where i clear my PO as well as get admission into a top b-school what should be my prefernce…or rather what would b more beneficial for me?

  71. Hi Sir,
    Since no of questions have risen significantly can we expect less of reasoning based DI and more of calculation intensive DI & sir it would be most helpful if in test gym one dedicated section is there for only para completion & para jumbles so that we can check our consistency in these sections.Thanks !!
    Regards,
    Shashank

  72. Sir, my name is Sandip Roy. I am a Physics Hons graduate from Calcutta university. I finished my graduation in 2013 and have been preparing for CAT ever since. My father passed away late 2012 and I have been looking after a small family business ever since. Sir, will this family business count as work exp when I apply for CAT 2014.
    Got 93% in CAT 2013.
    Acads – X – 86 %
    XII – 80 %
    Bsc (hons) – 62 %
    and sir do i have any chances of getting into IIMS and what sort of colleges should I target for.
    Plz help….Thanks in advance.

    • Sandip, you will get credit for work experience for working in your family business. While IIM A and B are difficult but they are not ruled out as you are a non engineer (for IIM A) and have work experience (for IIM B). IIM C and the other IIMs are all possible. For IIMA, B and C you should target over 99.5%ile, for other top IIMs and FMS you should target over 99%ile and for new IIMs, MDI and SP Jain you should have over 97.5%ile.

      • Sir, i wrote to you before and you said family business counts as work exp. But sir my family business consists of a small coaching center. We have 9 teachers teaching for us and our student strength is about 250 – 300. I look after the entire logistics of this center and am also actively involved in teaching. We dont give any payslips to our teachers but we do file IT returns. We also have a few retail shops which I also look after. So, will these count as work exp. I have been looking after this for about 2 years now since my father died in 2012. Plz reply soon. Thanking you in advance.

  73. DEAR sir,
    my academic details
    10 th – 86
    12th – 94
    b.tech – 69
    what are my chances of getting into IIM A,B,C

    • Raja, unfortunately as a general category candidate IIM A and B are ruled out for you. IIM C is not a problem since it does not consider graduation marks.

  75. Sir, I have been constantly getting 90+ %ile scores in the CL mocks but only once have I been able to reach 98+%ile.. 3-4 times i’ve got %ile in the lower 90s. My problem has been the number of attempts and the accuracy.. My average attempts in QA/DI section have been 15-17 and in the VA/LR section 23-25. And the accuracy has been very poor. On an average i get 25-26 correct and 13-14 wrong.. The best i managed was 75% accuracy in the mock i got 98%ile.. (Attempted-40.. Correct -30)
    Please tell me how to improve on this. Thanks.

    • Vaibhav, you have good attempts bu it is your accuracy that needs to be improved. Please take a break of 7 days from the Mocks and in these 7 days go through all the Mocks again, identify important questions for revision and revise them at least twice and then once every week. This will hopefully help you improve on the accuracy front. The same process should be followed for all subsequent Mocks and also for Test Gym or other MCQ tests that you attempt.

  76. Will the remaining Proctored and Un proctored mocks be changed as per new pattern?
    will all sections have equal weightage? i.e QA , VA, DI and LR into 25 questions each?

    • pakshaal, yes all subsequent Mocks (effective the next Mock) in the test Series will be changed as per the new pattern. The new pattern is 50 questions each of QADI and VALR and I do not expect it to be 25 each of QA,DI, VA and LR. Will come out with the details in a few days.

      • okay. thank you sir:) your prediction of CAT exam to be conducted for 1-2 days exam turned out to be true 🙂

  78. Sir
    although my query is not in sync with the topic of discussion , but I would still like you to address my query.
    I have practised questions on LR from Arun Sharma(since I am done with questions on study material)upto LOD-II. Should I restrict myself to this LOD or proceed further to LOD-III.
    Also, What kind of changes do you expect in the level of questions across all the sections in CAT 2014 since there will be 50 questions in each section now.

    Thank you

    • Ayush, will be coming out with an article on the new pattern of CAT in a few days.
      With respect to LR, if you are comfortable with LOD II then you can move on to LDO III.

  79. GP sir,
    Please write an article on test taking strategy for this year CAT. According to TOI, no. of questions have increased by 20 in each section and total time to 170 minutes.What type of questions and of which difficulty level can be expected this year compared to last year CAT.
    I rely on your advice, please discuss in detail how to attempt this year CAT.

    • Nagesh, will come out with one shortly. As of now just work on the basis of your existing strategy and also work on increasing your calculation speed and reading speed.

  80. SIR,
    I AM A STUDENT OF CL DHANBAD CENTER AND REGULARLY TAKING ALL PROC MOCKS .BUT IN QA AND DI I AM GETTING 60 – 75 PERCENTILE BUT IN VA AND LR I AM GETTING ABOUT 30 – 40 PERCENTIL DUE TO WHICH MY OVERALL PERCENTILE BECOMES LOWER. EVEN 2 TWO TIMES I HAD GOT NEGATIVE SCORES.I AM REGULARLY ATTENDING ALL CL CLASSROOM CLASSES.I HAD GIVEN A TOTAL OF 56 TESTS IN TEST GYM ADAPTIVE . REGULARLY READING EDITORIALS OF ECONOMIC TIMES HOW TO CURE THIS.

    • Ankit, you should take a break of 7 days from the Mocks and in these 7 days go through all the Mocks again, identify important questions for revision and revise them at least twice. This will ensure that you will be a bit more comfortable handling the VALR section. You should do the same for all the questions of Test Gym that you have taken so far.

  81. Respected Sir,
    Is the actual CAT similar in terms of difficulty with CL proc mocks?? Just trying to gauge my condition. I have been getting %iles varying from 98- 99.5 in CL Mocks?? Is that figure going to go up or down assuming I keep performing the same way??

    • Sayan, CL Mocks are the closest to CAT, please refer to this survey of last year students who had enrolled for Test Series of CL and other players. If you maintain your performance in the Mocks then your CAT percentile will be similar or higher.

  82. Sir,In the mocks till now i have been able to score between 93-98 %ile . please suugest me that what all colleges i should apply

  83. Hello Sir,
    i want to ask u tht how shud we prepare for iift gk?and is there enough time left to prepare well for the same.?
    Thnxx in advance.. 🙂

  84. Sir,due to my previous engagement i was not able analyze my mock well enough but now as i have taken leave from job i have full 24hrs.so can following this process from now till end(7th nov) will land me up in top percentile till now i have been around 90 with few shocks of 70’s.

    • Rishi, if without much preparation you have a few scores in the 90s then in the remaining 35 odd days you can comfortably reach 99%ile.

  85. sir, thank you for the post .i would like to ask one question.
    how to deal with unfamiliar question?material of CAT does not cover all type of question.some of mock test covering types of questions that are not familiar . what if it happen in actual CAT exam ?

    • Prashant, in case you come across an unfamiliar question, read it carefully along with the choices and decide if it is do-able or not. If not then leave it. In general an unfamiliar question should be attempted in R2 only.

  86. Hello Sir,
    I have read your article “Things you must-do after every mock you take”. My question is that Is it enough just to revise the questions that come in the mock test and Is it enough to just understand the concepts of the questions in the mock cat? Should one also read through the study materials that one have before going for the next mock? My CAT date is Nov 10th 2013. I have enrolled for CL’s Test Series. I have some material of TIME for LR, DI, VA, RC. And for QA I am using Quantum Cat by sarvesh kumar verma. So far I have given only 7 Mock Cat from CL Test Series and I have only single digit attempts in them. I don’t know how to go about in these last few days. Please give your valuable feedback and suggestions.

    • Chandra, from now on all understanding of concepts should happen through the MCQs only. So Mocks CATs (Procs and Unprocs) and past CAT papers are your best bet. You could also consider using the section tests of QADI and VALR. Rather than go to fundabooks, I would suggest enrolling for Smart CAT Cracker.

  87. GP sir,i had attended ur last seminar in kolkata.and i also followed d steps u prposed.and fairly speaking my quans score improved in proc 8 and also the no. of attempts.i got 16 correct out of 22.sir but doing that i only just cleared the cut off.sir what steps would u like to tell me now to follow..eagerly waiting for ur reply sir…

    • Aritra, continue with this approach. Additionally attempt all questions from the Mock CATs and past CAT papers. As usual, identify the important questions and revise them regularly.

  88. Sir i really feel nervous once i sit for mocks.feel as if i will not be able to complete it and feel like running away..what to do

    • Anshita, please remember no one completes the paper. If you can attempt about 20 questions in each section then you have done a very good job in the paper. So just focus on attempting the questions that you are comfortable with and do not worry if you have to leave a few questions un-attempted.

  90. Sir,
    Since the day I had been taking the tests in my SIS Account, I have bookmarked many questions after reading the solution once. And now the no. has grown very large in my bookmarked section. Even if I sometimes go to revise them I cant obviously revise all of them every week. so what to do in such a case and how to build up my familiarity with these question??

  91. Hi GP Sir ,
    I have heard a lot from students who wrote CAT in past years that paper level is easy if you give it in the first week and the level increases with the time . So , i just wanted to confirm if it actually makes any difference when you write your CAT paper ?

    • Neha, this may have happened but cannot be generalized. In any case the process of normalization takes care of any difference in the degree of difficulty. So choose a date that is convenient for you.

  92. sir, i have started my preparations for cat2013 1 month ago and gone through the entire syllbus of cat.. i hv also joined mock test series.. but i often become patienceless while giving my test.. inspite of being familiar with the questions i am still not able to solve.. dont know for what reason and because of this i have never cleared my cuttoff and lag behind in both the sections.. pls suggest me.. how to overcome such problems

  93. Sir,
    During the mocks,I noticed that I fail mostly in the Reading Comprehensions.I find them very difficult.The main thing is that I am unable to find a definite pattern(or a flow) in the RCs.So I end up doing negatives.Suggest me some tricks or tips,if available to earn max in these questions.

  94. Sir, what u have mention above is helpful but i want to know about the detail process of analyzing our mock scores so that we have a clear pic what are our strength and weakness and what mistakes we did….

  95. Sir, I have not understood the selection criteria of top IIMs fully till now through your blogs. In one of your blogs one guy had asked if his 10th % is 91, 12th 88 and grad % is 80 will he get a call from IIM-A(B) and you replied that IIM-A is ruled out and B is difficult. What are these criteria and how to know about it???

    • Ankur, Based on the current criteria of IIMA, if a general category candidate has less than 80% in X, XII or graduation he/she will not get a call from IIM. IIMB also has high weightage for academics but has a normalisation process (unlike IIM A which goes b absolute marks without normalisation) hence one can get into IIMB at lower percentage. Additionally IIMB has a greater weightage for work experience so a couple of years of work experience can also cover up lack of marks.

  96. hie sir … i have started the prep for cat from last week .. i’m not able to figure out a suitable timetable for prep.. my percentile in prock mock 5 is 30 .. and in 4 is just 2 .. since i’m improving … i need your help in the following areas:

    1. what should i start preparing first and how much time should i spend for it .
    2. should i finish all the materials given at cl or can i just go with the problems from cat question papers

    p.s. i am doing my final year sir … so i just have 2 days off in a week .. kindly suggest me some methods or tips to crack cat 2013 …

    thank you so much

    with regards – eshwar

    • Eshwar, from the CL material focus on the MCQs in the fundabooks then move to Test Gym Adaptive for additional practice after which you should start with the section tests. Continue with the Mock CATs and do analyse every paper as suggested in my bogpost “Things you must-do after every mock you take”

  97. GP sir,
    The registration dates for cat are opening soon. I wanted to ask if there is a strategic choice for picking our test dates ?

  98. Thank you sir…also please sir introduce All India Rank(AIR) and City Rank(CR) in mock analysis with %ile. This will help us to know how many students are ahead of us (in number).

  99. Sir,
    Why this time for cl proc mock 5 there is no analysis webinar. That webinar is very beneficial to know how to attempt exam. If doing an online live webinar is not possible for the faculty than please upload a youtube video discussing all questions, tricks and right approach about that particular mock. Please sir.

      • Thank you sir…also please sir introduce All India Rank(AIR) and City Rank(CR) in mock analysis with %ile. This will help us to know how many students are ahead of us (in number).

  100. Hello sir,
    I have a few queries..

    1) how should i improve in quants.
    In the two mocks my accuracy has been abt 80% bt my attempts are few.
    How should I improve on this??
    If you can please suggest sum book..I have heard about Arun Sharma but have not purchased it as I am not too sure

    2) given that I have a very tight schedule how should I go about the G.A section.

    3)please suggest some web site/blog to read articles of the type being asked in RC.
    I do not have problems in reading editorials of THE HINDU as they are based on current affairs but the RC passages asked on psychology/arts/culture/literature etc pull my score down.

    4)any link of 2008-2012 CAT papers???

    Do reply sir..I seem to be reaching a dead end.

    • Vishwaas, if you are able to solve questions after the paper then it is an issue of either choice of questions or “practice and revision”. Please go through the blog posts “7 Rules to Excel in CAT QA” at http://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=15 and “Are you choosing the right questions in your Mock CATs?” at https://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=192 to identify the problem area.
      You can go for Arun Sharma but restrict yourself to Level 1 and 2 questions only. Level 3 are mostly beyond the level of CAT.

      For GA section restrict yourself to newspaper, Management Compass and current affairs inputs on SIS. For RC you will have to get used to reading passages from various topics, Newspapers usually give articles on Politics, Business and Economy which is insufficient. Hope yoou are regularly going through the RC books and study material provided by CL.

      No link is available for CAT 2009-12 papers.

    • Vishwaas, there is no specific book on QA (or in other areas) that you can purchase and prepare for CAT. Suggest you enroll for the correspondence program of CL or any other institute.

  102. GP sir, i can’t perform in mocks, i have completed all basics(my basics are clear), but problem is Low attempts & Low Accuracy. as per your guidance i have completed CAT 1990-1999 papers.
    please suggest me Strategy for Next 15-16 days for Improving my accuracy & Speed. what should i do in next 15 days for practice?
    i go for Topic wise in QADI or Sectional wise ???
    Please suggest me strategy & If it is possible please suggest me Daily schedule for Revision & mocks plus CAT papers???
    thanks
    Ayush

    • Ayush, practice followed by revision is the best way for improving accuracy and attempts and that is what you should focus on for the next 2 weeks. Revision has to be of all the important questions of the Mock CAT and old CAT papers that you have already completed and this sould be done in the next 3 days after which you should take a Mock CAT once in 3 days. The last Mock should be 5 days before your CAT date. Along with revision and the Mock please attempt the CAT 2000-08 papers also for QA and EU. DI from these papers is not relevent for this years CAT. Please do not compromise o revision, I am okay with a practicing one paper less but not with compromising with revision.

      You could follow the schedule that I have suggested in my blog “Taking your CAT ’12 prep to the next level: What to do in the remaining 40 days” http://careerlauncher.com/gpspeaks/?p=381

      All the best.

  103. Hi Sir,

    Your approach is fantastic. Really loved it. One thing: less than a month is left for my CAT exam. I have a good overview of the quant topics, but I didn’t practice much, the DI and Verbal section, which by giving mock tests, i found are my weak sections. So i I just give MOCK CAT’s right now till my CAT exams, and analyse them each, through the process explained by you above, will it be enough?

    • Abhishek, A mock CAT with analuysis will not take more than 5 hours and with CAT possibly only 2 weeks away you should be spending atleast 10-12 hours becuse you have ignored the DI and VA. Suggest that in addition to the Mocks you also do one CAT paper evdry day. Attempt the QA, DI and EU sections and ignore the RCs that are more than 800 words long.

  104. GP Sir, thanks a lot for your valuable reply, i want to discuss my preparation strategy & daily schedule:
    1@ Every Day
    Morning -Sectional Test (VA LR): 70 minute test + 110Minute complete Analysis.
    2@ Twice in a week
    3.15PM:: Full length Mock CAT(140)Minute once in 3 day.(Sir i choose 3.15 PM), Because its my actual CAT slot time.
    3@Every day
    Night- Sectional Test QA + DI & Analysis.

    with this strategy i can cover all Mocks Procted + Unprocted.
    plus CAT papers 1990-2008 in two stages as per your guidance. Sir i wish to know Is this Preparation strategy Right?
    & i also solves Test Gym ALL Topic test & sectionals test.

    My strengths & Approach for CAT
    Sec-II
    1@LR approx 8 Questions in 30 minutes
    2@ RC= approx 6 Questions 25 minutes
    3@ PJ + PC== approx 5 questions 15 minutes
    Sec-I
    1@ DI- 8-9 questions 30 minutes
    2@ QA 10-11 Questions 40 minutes, Suppose out of 20-21 Questions i can attempt 5-6 questions in 10-15 minutes
    & for 6-7 Tricky & tough Questions 25-30 minutes

    Finally my overall Attempts
    1@ LR DI=16-18 Questions in 60 minutes
    2@ RC+ CR= 6-7 Questions in 25 minutes
    3@ PJ +PC = 5-6 Questions in 15 minutes
    4@ QA= 12-13 Questions in 40 minutes
    Is this Right approach?
    for Better performance in LR DI i have already solved ALL CL’s Mocks- 2011 series.

  105. Sir, I can’t perform in QA section, my score was always Negative.
    Tomorrow i was given mock-9, &
    QA+DI= Total attempts 8 Questions
    and my score was (-1), please suggest my sir
    what should i do for QA+DI ???
    my CAT-12, exam date 30-oct-2012,

    Sir please suggest me strategy for Next 35 days for QA+DI, i wish to give my best shot in next 35 days. i am performing very well in VALR, but can’t perform in QA+DI,
    please suggest me right apporach, so i can attempt 22+ questions with 100% accuracy?????????

    • Tripti,
      Take a break form papers for the next 7 days and in this period go thru all the Mock CATs you have attempted so far. In each of these papers identify the QADI questions that you would like to attempt in future, do them a couple of times and revise them at least once every 4 days. Next go thru CAT 1990-99 papers of QA and DI and again identify important questions for periodic revision. After this start taking Mock CATs once in 3 days with revison of important questions and doing CAT 2000-08 papers. This will hopefully ensure a decent performance in QADI.
      All the best.

  107. sir another q in which i could apply ur technique….in ur smart quant sheet….area of region bounded by I x+y I + I x -Y I =4 ??? plz tell how to solve this using shortcut..

  109. sir i attended ur seminar today in delhi…can u pl tell me once again how did u solve this q using option….p,q,r,s are points on circumference of a circle of radius r such that PQR is an equilateral triangle and PS is diameter of circle.what is perimeter of PQRS?

    • Mehul, I identified the minimum and maximum value of the perimeter and eliminated choices. The maximum perimeter will be when PQSR is a square in which case the perimeter comes out to be 4*SqRt(2)*r = 5.6r. he minimum perimeter will happen when Q, S and R coincide at S wherein the quadrilateral PQSR will have the followig dimensions – PQ = diameter, QS = 0, SR = 0 and RQ = diamerter. Thus the minimum perimeterr will be 2*diameter = 4*radius.
      Thus any chooice that does not lie between 4r and 5.6r is incorrect.

  110. hello sir.. m always going thru ur posts and its really helping me alott.. thedifficulty m going thru d mock nd other test is tat though i always start with the correct method nd correct concept ,at d end i always get stuck to find out correct answer .. its becoz m lacking tricks in few ques .. i hv gone thru all my funda buks , done my revision but still having this problm.. at d same time becoz of dis i end up wid solving very few number of question but wid complt accuracy.. i want to increase my attempt in QA and DI.. pls suggest me wat to do ?..

    • Aditi, please go thru my blog – The Mystery of R1, R2, R3 Solved: Presenting the ‘Strengths Finder’, it might help you identify your problems.

    • Aditi, if you are getting stuck at the end of a large number of questions it indicates that either you have not revised sufficiently or you are not confident of youself. I hope you are not pressurising yourself to attempt all questions?
      If it is a few questions then it indicates that these need a little more time and hence should be attempted in R2 only. Also please check if it is some specific kind of questions that you get stuck in, if yes then practise more questions of the type before attempting them in the paper.

  111. sir,
    i am good with quants and lr.
    but not good in english can u help me out.so,that i can improve in english to get a good percentile..

    • Adi,
      You can read these posts to get a better score in the VA section:
      6 Rules to Excel in VA, Para completion is not Rocket Science, Crack Vocab in 60 days

  112. Thank you very much sir,you are doing very splendid job….i need help in my CAT preparation for rest of days.i am writing CAT on 31 oct….so plz sir help me ..
    thanx in advance.

  113. hello sir, after analyzing the mocks i have given , i found that i could have solved 17-18 questions in QA section . but i able to attempt only 12-13 questions and that with 100% accuracy . what should i do sir to increase the number of attempts. please suggest

  114. Sir , thanks for such an wonderful revision guideline.
    It’s true that giving a mock CAT every day makes little sense. However is it fine if people like me who are working take two MOCK CATs each week and analyse them thoroughly or should we go for more in the last two months.

  115. Dear sir after taking mock i got very less then the expected result, and now very short time is left for CAT mine will be on 5 nov . I am really in very much stress and panic Please help me and suggest me what to do…………Thanks

  116. questions from DI eat up the maximum time,if i leave them for R2 i fail to get enough time for all the questions,which means i end up leaving the ones which i could have solved,any tips and tricks to solve them quickly and accurately.

    • Rahul, that I leave DI and grouped questtions for R2 does not mean that you too have to do the same. It might be useful for you to attempt DI in R1. Each one of us needs to idntify our way of attempting the paper based onn our own strengths and weaknesses.

  117. I am really thankful to the guidance you have provided in your blogs.I have a problem of silly mistakes that i am usually committing in QA and DI which also includes reading or inferring the piece of data wrongly.Can you please suggest me a way out.This is the only wall that stands b/w me and a great score.
    Thanks in advance and also awaiting some new insights on preparations :)….U ROCK!!!

    • Vikas, you need to do the following:
      a) To ensure that the same silly mistakes (ubnforced errors) are not repeated, revise once every week the questions in which you committed these silly mistakes.
      b) While attempting the paper, do not rush thru a question or read it very fast, also if required write down the calculations. These 5 – 10 seconds that you will invest in reading the question carefully will help in eliminating these unforced errors.

  118. ” Most students practice a lot, they take a Mock CAT or a section test every day but do not revise the important questions from these papers and hence not only do they commit unforced errors and are unable to work fast in the paper.”
    Could not agree more with you sir ! thank you again 🙂

  119. desparately need ur help sir.please give some tricks to attempt the paper in the systemic manner as when i look at paper i get nervous and my whole planning goes for a spin.my status is presently is that done the topics atleast once.and sir should i now only be giving the mock cats ?

    • Harsh, the only trick to do well in CAT or the other MBA entrance exams is to do the easy questions first and then go after the difficult questions. Rememberr it is Easy for YOU which mightbe different from Easy for Me. Even if you attempt only 7 – 8 quesions in R1. Learn to leave difficult or confusing questions so that you are able to spend time on easy (for you) questions. Hope you are analysing the papers wrt to choice of questions in the manner I have mentioned in an earlier write up.

    • While going thru the paper again, you do not need to follow any time constrains for the QA and VA questions. However for the unattempted RC passages, DI sets and AR sets it would be advisable to attempt in 8 minutes for a 3 question set, if you are unable to solve them within these 8 minutes, try them again without any time constraints.

  123. thank you sir… your posts are really helpful… i always analyse the mock but not in this way, its just a quick analysis.. i hope ur analysis method will help me to improve my score…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *