Embarking your CAT journey? Make it perfect & enjoyable

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
April 9, 2013
This article from MBAUniverse.com prep team of experts bring you ways to create your learning curve for CAT 2013 preparation
You must enjoy your CAT preparation journey and face the challenges with a determined mindset. But, what if CAT preparation begins haunting you?
While your preparation towards scoring high percentile in Common Admission Test (CAT) and securing admission to your dream B-schools should be your focus now, you also must enjoy this journey and face the preparation challenges with a determined mindset. But, what if CAT preparation begins haunting you?
Just try to recall your learning of a bicycle ride. When did you first ride your bicycle? Try to remember. How did you learn riding and pedalling a bicycle? Who was your guide? Who motivated and inspired you, when you fell off it? Which new routes did you discover in your town/locality, when you learnt how to pedal a bicycle? Is CAT more difficult than learning how to ride and pedal a bicycle especially when your tiny feet couldn’t reach the pedal from the riding seat? Despite number of accidents, bruises, were you afraid of cycling?

You needed to throw away your fear when you wished to ride a bike or you envied the success of others. The journey to success in CAT is no different from the determination you showed, when the first two wheeler, the bicycle fascinated you. Has the story of learning to ride the bicycle brought any smile – back, out of the CAT fear zone?
So, here is how you need to create the learning curve for CAT preparation:

Safe zone learning & Practicing:

When you first know about CAT, you are not even aware what are its constituents, how to prepare, what to study, Can there be any well defined syllabus, where to begin and number of FAQs hover your mind. Sometimes you do not even find anyone to answer your queries. When you begin your self-study, it appears that you have entered an unorganized thick and large forest where it is difficult to locate which way to go.

This is the juncture wherefrom you get a crying need for help. If you compare your cycle training to CAT preparation training, you will find both are very difficult to begin but become adventurous once you embark on it and bring more smiles on the successful completion.

Fear of Falling:

A ground with short grass is preferred when you begin to pedal the bicycle and you always try to find a safe place to practice lest you should fall. Similar strategy overpowers the MBA Aspirants and they prefer reading and practicing those topics which they are well versed with but keep away from the unfamiliar ones. Practice may not do much good to them unless and until they are very clear about the concepts. A balancing act is required to begin the journey which is considered tough till it is complete.

You fall to get up again and learn a tough riding more easily and so is the CAT, tough concepts are made easy when you are unable to understand them by your guide or mentor. Your mentors work hard and try harder to give you easy tips to learn a topic which is tough.

Make sure you get it right:

Any misconception or misunderstanding of a particular topic may land you in trouble. This may result in recurring mistakes that can be avoided. Therefore, understand the concepts and practice them as many times as possible.  The more you practice to solve the questions based on the understood concepts, more confident and accurate will be your approach.

Your Mentor- a time saving device:

Unable to ride, you run with your bicycle clutching its handle bar, here comes the guide and places you safely on the seat, holds your bicycle for a while and lets you go-the lesson you never forget.

You flip-flop this or that way- topics on Verbal, Quant, DI-LR are away from you - unable to grasp despite wasting a lot of time, a feeling of desperation finds its way in, and there you have a mentor, your time saving device, he does not only solve the problems but also gives you unforgettable tips on them.

Towards a planned journey:

You neither learnt how to ride your bicycle in a day nor can you complete the CAT syllabus in a short while. Right from the first day to the last day, process of learning has to be planned. It is very difficult for an aspirant to chalk out the strategy and path of study. Besides CAT is very much fond of giving surprise elements every year, however strongly they may deny this fact. Your mentor may foresee it, will analyse the past trends, will come up with more probable type of questions, will discuss the extinguished types as well. All this, as an established fact, may not be visualised when you have no guidance or have inexperienced guidance.

Remember, when you had lessons and rode your bicycle to every nook and corner enjoying the ride-how pleasant was the sensation? So is the CAT – skilfully accomplished with a high percentile, well guided GD/PI/WAT – paving your way to desired B-school- how would you feel? You will never forget the journey to the top B-school that you always dreamt for. The role of your prep centre/ mentor/coach/guide- will be a life time asset for you.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news and prep related articles on CAT 2013.