How much time one need to devote for Quant & DI section during CAT preparation? How to successfully handle time management in mock and actual test? Which specific section need more focus in Quant section? How to decide number of attempts in different sections so that I can minimize negative marking? How can I improve DI & LR section in 3 months of time?
These are some of the questions that MBA Aspirants asked to CAT Expert and Author Rajesh Balasubramanian to MBAUniverse.com as they seriously take plunge into their CAT journey which may lead them to dream B-schools like IIMs and other top institutions like FMS, JBIMS, SPJIMR, IMT etc.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian is an IIT, IIM alumnus, & 2011, 2012 CAT Topper and the author of CAT books published by ‘Access Publishing India’. He scored 100 percentile in CAT 2012. In the live chat, he shared success tips from his own experience of taking CAT, and guiding MBA Aspirants on Quant and DI sections.
This article brings you some questions asked by MBA Aspirants and answer shared by Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian during the Live Chat session on August 16, 2013.
Suraj: I am a B.Com Graduate preparing for CAT for last 1 year. I struggle to clear the CAT Quant section cut off in Mock Exams. Please guide.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Lots of people face this same problem. Don't let it get to you. Start topic by topic and slowly increase difficulty level.
Venky: Sir, I am good in verbal, DI and LR but get stuck in quant. Generally, I can solve 5-6 questions in quant with 99% accuracy. Sir how do I manage both the things?
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: It is great if you have one strong area. This gives you a lot of confidence. As far as quant goes, focus on few topic first. Then expand from here. If you get confident in, say, Speed time distance, geometry and number systems, you might suddenly find yourself answering 10-11 questions consistently (including DI). Remember, you need only 14 correct to hit 98th percentile or thereabouts
Nayna: I have a reasonably good accuracy in DI but I take up a lot of time usually 5-6 minute more than the prescribed time of say 10 mins. How do I cope with this challenge?
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: If your accuracy is very good, speed usually is not a problem. If you spend 15 minutes per set in DI and get all of them right, that is still pretty good. In the quant section, there will usually be 5 questions that can be answered within 2 minutes each. If you get this right, and then attempt 2 sets of DI for 30 minutes, you would have hit 11 questions in 50 minutes. In the last 20 minutes, if you hit 5 questions you are looking at 99th percentile.
Shreya: I am a working professional. I did not enroll myself into any MBA coaching institute and did self study. Please advise me strategy for remaining days to CAT.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Phase I: Solve lots of questions, read a lot; Phase II: Go topic by topic, get comfortable with DI-LR; Phase III: Take lots of practice exams. If you are starting late, there will be close to zero time for phase I. Phase II and III will have to be merged. Keep in mind that you can still crack CAT if you go full throttle from basics. Do not look for a fancy short cut method. This exam requires 250 hours of preparation. See where you can find that in the next 8 weeks. Do not try to squeeze everything into 60 hours.
Mounika: Should I spend more time for my weak section at this stage or focus on my strong areas and make them stronger?
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: This depends on what your weak segments are. If the weak section is something like Binomial theorem, face inference judgment, or vocabulary, forget about this, build your strengths. If your weak section is Geometry or Reading Comprehension - these are way too crucial to gloss over. Have another go.
Atul: How to decide number of attempts?
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Aim for near 100% accuracy. Do not plan a trade-off based on guesses. Simple thumb rule - for 99th percentile you need to attempt roughly 15 questions in quant and 21 in verbal (assuming almost all are correct). Of course, this changes from session to session. But this is roughly what you are shooting for
Manoj: Please share some tips for next two months.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Lots of mock CATs. Through analysis of mock CATs is also very important. From now on, a clear understanding of strengths/weaknesses will be crucial. So, focus on question selection. Learn how to avoid pressure when you are handling mock CATs. These are the things that become more important. Also, revisit basics before the exam once. It would be a crime to know the best method and then get stuck while recalling the same.
Sanchit: I am weak in DI & LR section. Do you think I can improve this section in three months of time? Please suggest me ways.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: You can definitely improve. DI LR requires Lots of practice. It requires one to build stamina. Very often, we get tired while attempting DI/LR questions. First one has to kill this. This can happen only when you hit lots of practice sessions on these.
Mohini: Sir, I have a problem in comprehension section of verbal ability. Kindly give some tips on this.
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Read slower. Forget time taken. Pick practice passages and tell yourself that you will get ALL questions right even if it takes 30 minutes for 1 passage. If you can confidently get things right without worrying about speed, you can improve speed later.
Kunu singh: In Mock tests that I have been taking, I have got high percentile in VA and DI & LR sections but very low in Quant section. What should I do within these two months to get at least a decent score?
Mr Rajesh Balasubramanian: Select questions well. Get 4-5 sub-topics fine-tuned extremely well. Fall back on DI whenever Quant questions get too tough. Work a lot on your question selection process. That alone can take your score up by 50%
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