How shall I prepare for geometry in the last few days? How many questions is expected from number system in quant? Which topic to prepare more now and which to leave in Quant?
These are some of the questions which aspirants asked CAT expert Mr Arks Srinivas on MBAUniverse.com Expert Chat last week on thursday. The topic of the chat was ‘How to finalize your CAT 2013 Preparations?’
Our expert Arks Srinivas, CEO Vista Mind Education, graduated from IIM Calcutta in the year 1997. He has been guiding thousands of students to Crack CAT, and is one of the most reputed Quant experts in India. So read on to get the right advice on your last minute preparation to CAT 2013.
Quantitative Ability
Urvashi: How shall I prepare for geometry in the last few days?
Arks Srinivas: If you have ignored Geometry till now, it is unlikely to become a strong area in a few days. But if you spend some time you can at least answer easy Qs in Geometry. Go through in steps Review formulae for Quadrilaterals. Solve 30-40 Qs from basic exercise Solve 10-15 Qs from Mocks and Past Papers Repeat whole process for Triangles and then for Circles
Kushal Kapoor: Quant is my weak area. I m commerce background but practice a lot. How many marks should I score in QA to clear the cut off?
Arks Srinivas: Each paper may have a different level of difficulty, hence not easy to say what the cutoff would be. However if 35 - 40 net score, i.e. net 12-14 Qs correct should be enough unless paper is very easy
Ginesh Jose: Sir make calculation faster, As only 7 Days left in my exam, should I revise formula in Quant ?
Arks Srinivas: Only revising formulae won't help for CAT. Much rather you resolve quality Qs from Mocks and Past papers. To improve calculations spend 20-30 min everyday doing different types of calculations. Some should be accurate and some should be approximations
Rohan: Sir please tell how many question is expected from number system in quant. sir surds part is important it create panic for me.
Arks Srinivas: Hi Number system is an important area. On an avg 2-4 Qs can come. However since there will be a different paper every slot can’t say how many will come for you. Surds haven’t come much in past papers. However last years, we had a few Qs from Logs.
Dikshita: In mensuration section, I always confuse to create virtual diagram of problem means not understand the main thought please help to cop up ?
Arks Srinivas: Will be difficult to solve your problem in a chat. I had the same problem during Engg Drawing adn Machine drawing. Dont focus on visualisation, try to understand the symetry. For example a cube will have six faces all similair. A cuboid of say 2 x 3 x 4 will have 6 faces 1. 2 x 3 - 2 faces 2. 3 x 4 - 2 faces 3. 2 x 4 - 2 faces. Have a session with a good faculty. Also mensuration by itself is max of 1-2 Qs so don’t panic
Sangeeta: My average mock percentile is 90. I'm scoring well in DI & Quant but VA pulls me down. Please help.
Arks Srinivas: Lets divide section 2 in parts RC - 10 Qs 3 passages attempt 2 25 min VA - 11 Qs attempt 8-9 in 20 min LA - 9 3 sets attempt at least 2 Accuracy of 70% is good enough, but attempts should be high. The key is to stay within time limits.
Avinash: Please tell us which topic to prepare more now and which to leave in Quant?
Arks Srinivas: Generally Algebra + Numbers Geo + P&C + Functions are important. But each slot paper is unique so have at least a basic idea of other chapters so that if Q is easy you can solve
Data Interpretation
HIMANSHU: Sir, I write many mock papers but still unable to achieve above 91%, how could I increase it kindly help me. In DI still Pie chart is a big problem for me. Any suggestion?
Arks Srinivas: Increasing from 91 is not easy as all students are trying to improve. Two simple things Is your accuracy in section 1 , 80% at least. i.e. 80% of attempts correct. If not, focus on accuracy. Identify types of errors that you do. If accuracy is ok, you need to increase attempts. Attempting 2 more Qs can make a big difference. If your mocks allow that try to identify time spent of Qs that you have not attempted. i.e. Qs that you spent some time but did not completely solve. If you have more than 2-3 of such Qs then your question selection needs improvement
Sonal Jain: Is it advisable to read through all the DI sets (to spot for the easy ones) before attempting to solve any? Or is this just a time-waste?
Arks Srinivas: No. Don’t do that. That will waste lot of time. When you see a DI set, spend 90-120 seconds understanding data. Look at 1. What is given in the data? 2. How can the given data be combined to get new terms? 3. If multiple charts are given what is the connection? 4. What is being asked for in Qs? At this point if you are clear about the concept, go ahead and solve. Else drop it and move on. At worst you will lose 2 min but will escape a difficult set
Mock Tests
Diwakar: Hello sir, while I practice for mock CATs I feel difficult to complete within time, esp. quants. Could you please advice how I could get on faster?
Arks Srinivas: For section 1, I have a simple strategy. All Qs are of three types 1. Definitely solvable - Solve immediately 2. No idea - Leave immediately 3. Maybe - Mark for review. This way, I want you to attempt only the Qs where you are very confident in the first round. This ensures that you don’t miss out on any easy Qs. In the second round attempt the 'maybe' questions to the extent possible
Aman: I'm getting very confused with my preparation. Sometimes Geometry bothers me sometimes it is DI. How to cope with this situation?
Arks Srinivas: Hi Review your performance systematically in the last 5 Mocks. Look at areas where you losing out. DI at least one set will be easy and most likely one more will be medium. So don't miss out on DI. T0 get confidence do 20-30 min of Speed math every day. Also before calculation for any DI, ensure that you see the answer choices
Dibya: Sir, it’s a matter of concern for me that I have not been able to get good marks in my mocks exams and reason being that I lost my marks in negative .My accuracy has been a problem what to do?
Arks Srinivas: Two possible problems 1. Silly mistakes. You may be attempting too many Qs or trying to calculate too fast. Relax a bit and go for a normal speed but get it right 2. Improper Question selection. Look at my other answers on how to select the right Qs
Ravindra Pandey: I would like to know whether one should take some time in reading the whole paper. I mean skimming through the whole paper or go on attempting the favorite section of the paper.
Arks Srinivas: For section 1. If QA and DI are equal for you, then start from Q 1. Round 1: Attempt all Qs where you are very confident of solving. Leave Qs where you have no idea and Qs where you have some idea but not sure, mark for review. This way you will get all easy and some med ones Round 2: Solve as many Qs as time permits from the marked Qs For Section 2 Divide time RC - 2/3 passages 25 min max VA - 8-9/11 Qs 20 min max LA - 2/3 sets 25 min max
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