CAT the shocker

Please read the following articles with it 1 week 2 CAT The last TIP What to expect No one can predict CAT and that's the best part of the exam so I am not trying to make any guess and don't believe that following things are going to happen in real CAT but it might. (i) There is a good chance that the level of difficulty is going to be same as it was last year. (ii) The number of questions will be more. It should be with in the range of 100-140. (iii) No of sections should be three. (iv) Marks assigned for each question will be different. There ll be questions of 0.5 , 1 and 2 mark. It might go beyond 2 marks. (v) There might be a time limit for each section - very rare chance. (vi) Most of the Questions to be of like reasoning, which needs more mental work than pen and paper. (vii) You might get a paper where all the questions are of same level of difficuty. What Not to expect (i)The negative marking should remain same as 1/3rd (ii)Any drastic change in the areas covered by the examinee. i.e don't expect inclusion of any questions from GK/Business Awareness /new topics in math and etc. (iii)And the last but not the least - any easy questions, which was a part of CAT for many years but not now.

1 week 2 CAT

One week to go for CAT. Now the times has come up to realx and give the best shot at the exam and try to achieve the best result out of your level of preparation. With in a week time one cant do some wonder in gaining knowledge required for the exam but with proper time management before and during the exam one can get the best outcome. It would be best to make a schedule for the next 7 days that will best suit to you in accordance with the following guideline. On 12th Nov (Sunday) Appear the mock in your center and if you have not taken up any mock program then do take a test in the morning. In the afternoon try to make some time in evaluating the paper. Your main aim should be to figure out the questions, which you have attempted wrongly because of miscalculation/simple fundamental errors/reading the question wrongly, and because of other similar silly mistakes Now these are the things you cant make in real CAT. So make sure you avoid such things on the D Day On 13th & 14th Nov Revise all the basics once again thoroughly. On 15th Nov Do take one more test and scrutinize it as said earlier. This time you should be making no errors at all. On 16th and 17th Revise all the basics once again in relaxing mood. Don’t make any change in your lifestyle. You don’t want to miss the exam because of illness or an accident. Try to avoid any long journey from this date till the exam is over. Don’t drink or smoke heavily. For 18th Nov. and 19th Nov. Please read The LAST TIP and CAT the shocker On 18th there will be few CAT related programs on NEWS channels. Watch them out if you don’t have any better way of relaxing. But my suggestion would to be go for a movie and come back home before 8pm. Have a good dinner and go to bead early with your iPOD / FM player.

Full Knowledge about Part time MBA

A degree of Part time MBA serves no purpose.
Few might go against the above statement but that is the truth, Few might get dishearten but I don’t have any good words to assuage them. The simple truth is that perusing a part time MBA in INDIA is like doing a part of MBA – a part-time MBA just does not provides the same status-quo, as a full time 2year/1 year MBA course, neither to your current employer nor to the future recruiter.

So how different are the students who take part time MBA?
"Not as good as those who takes full time MBA" – completely wrong. To get admission in any part time MBA programs is not that tough and so; one can infer that most of those students lack the analytical/quantitative skills but most of those students stand far ahead in terms of seriousness, dedication and loyalty in all part of life. Balancing the office works with mba course is a tough job and a person who completes it successfully definitely deserves some praise.

And what one achieves after completing a part time MBA? 
May be some thing but I am not sure. But during the course they came across many other same minded peoples and those contacts do help a lot like a job shift and in similar stuffs, And with all these, they came to know few management basics for which there colleagues get a better salary.

Still thinking about going for a part-time MBA?
please don’t go for any b grade college. Target should be IIM/XLRI/JBajaj/XIMB or a similar brand institute.

Part Time MBA from VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur

Part Time MBA from VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur This programme a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management is designed for the working execs who want to pursue a Management degree from a top class institute but due to professional and personal reasons cannot opt for a full time 2yr MBA course. The classes are held on weekends in 3 Centres: Bhubaneswar, Kharagpur and Kolkata. The course is not that hectic that one will have problems in managing both the job and the course. It is designed to suit the working execs. The course is of 4 semesters generally starting from July-August. The curriculum has 4-5 subjects in each semester with an Industrial Project in summer between (IInd and IIIrd semester) generally done in the same company where one is working. The mode of the study is through VCDs and Lectures. Evaluation is done through class tests, submission of assignments, mid-sem and end-sem exams. The specializations are done in Finance, Marketing, Operations, Systems and HR. The Fee for the programme is currently Rs 50000/- per semester. Additionally gymkhana fees of Rs. 200/- per semester & insurance premium of Rs. 696/- per year are also payable. Applicant should be a working executive with minimum two years of work experience with any of the following educational qualifications: B. Tech/B.E/ M.Sc/M.Com/MCA (3years) with 60% marks or equivalent CGPA. Candidates with professional qualifications (AMIE/AMIETE/AMIECHE/CA/ICWA/CFA/CS) with 60% marks are also eligible. The eligible candidates will be called for the following selection process at VGSOM, IIT, Kharagpur. 1.Screening test: One-hour test consisting of multiple choice questions on Reading Comprehension (20%), Logical Reasoning (40%) and Business Data Interpretation (40%). 2.Group Discussions and Personal Interview. For further Information, please refer to website at: http://www.som.iitkgp.ernet.in or Contact: Coordinator-PGDBA, Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302. West Bengal. Email: kalyan@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in, pgdba@vgsom.iitkgp.ernet.in Phone: 03222 - 282312 Fax: 03222 - 279333 Center Addresses: Vinod Gupta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur-721302 Phone: 03222-282312 Fax: 03222-279333 IIT Extension Centre, Kolkata HC Block Sector-III Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700091 Phone No. 033-23379793 Fax. 033-23348091 Bhubaneswar Extension Centre, Mouza: Samantapuri (near Swasti Plaza Hotel) Bhubaneswar, Orissa Phone: 0674-2301704 0674-2300424

CAT Trend & Analysis

Mathematical Aptitude

The three most favorite topics for CAT makers are Number system, Algebra and Geometry. To know why & how - Let's first find out how many questions are being asked from different chapters in last few CAT exams.

So it's obvious - "To clear CAT, clear all your doubts in Algebra, Geometry and Number System". In the latest trend where different questions carry different marks, its also important to know how vital are each chapters mark wise.

You don't need to be a scientist to figure out that around 50% of the total marks are coming from 2 chapters

• (i) Number System and
• (ii) Geometry

English Usage and Reading Comprehension

Data Interpretation and Reasoning

How much time should I spend on CAT preparation?

This is the most common question asked by many cat takers esp. those who have just started their preparation and it is the most difficult question to give an answer. One can be give the guidance only if all the details of that person are known. To find a standard answer to this question one must consider few parameters. Go through the following few lines carefully if are unsure about how much time you should spend on your preparation, it might help you.

Before preparing for CAT you must know your competency level in all the three departments that IIMs assess through CAT. There are very few persons who have the same level of competency in Maths, DI/DS and English. Out of the three, there must be one or two section which you like most and you can easily score high in CAT. My advice to all who are about to start their CAT preparation -The first thing you need to do is to arrange last year paper and attempt it as if you are appearing the real CAT.

While taking the test, be sure you are true to your self. Take the test for 15 minutes less than the allocated time (2 hours or 2.30 hrs). As it’s your first test you should give equal time to all the sections, during the test if you feel you have done enough to get a good score in that section continue with that section till the allocated time.(you are giving this test to judge your competency level). After you have done with your test check the answers .Match your results with last year cutoffs section wise.

If you have cleared the cutoffs then its great if not then check by how much marks you missed it. If you missed it by 2-4 marks then with a little bit of preparation you can cross the cut off level. 2 months of preparation with weekly 25-35 hours for the basics, then another 2 months on FLTs and revisions of basics should be sufficient. You should always fix last 2 & 1/2 months for Mocks.

If your score is in between than 60% - 80% of the cutoff, then you need to do a lot of hard work. It’s not that easy to increase the score in a very sort time span. You need to make a long term plan. I would suggest 4 months to basics. First check out in which area you find yourself comfortable. (for ex in Number System, Geometry, arithmetic, algebra ,etc ) Select only one section and give a full month or so to it. Start it from the basic and do all the problems in that section. Give few sectional tests without any time constrain and try to achieve 100%. With number of questions reducing & level of difficulty increasing, the importance given to accuracy should increase. When you find most of the questions are familiar to you go to another section.

If you have scored less than 60%, I ‘ll suggest please forget about IIM and target 2nd tier institutes. Less than 60% means you were not serious in your school and no way one can go to that level to learn the basics. You follow the methods that I have described earlier for 60% - 80% category. But if you feel you have all the basics but you couldn’t score well because of not remembering the formulas or for few silly mistakes then you can hope for IIMs too. In summery If you cleared the cutoff or missed it by 10%-20% then - 2/3 months of preparations + times for mocks should be your total time If you score 60% -80 % of the cutoff marks then -  5/6 months of preparation (with weekly 25-35 hours) + times for mocks should be your total time If you score less than 60% , start preparing now. Give how much time you can spend for your preparation.