Does the success in CAT depend upon my knowledge or wisdom? It could be a crucial question answer to which you would definitely like to have. CAT is no more a game of knowledge only. Now it is a combination of the knowledge and intelligence. Prof S K Agarwal, Expert and Mentor on CAT preparation shares for the benefit of CAT aspirants that 5 M’s - Memory, Mentor, Mind, Mocks and Measurement play an important role to succeed in CAT and can provide the winning edge.
A rich stock of knowledge not expressed and not known dies gradually. You may find number of students overflowing with the knowledge thinking themselves that they are the best but when the time comes to express or utilize it, they are the utter dumb lot. If you observe such group of students you will find number of them is unable to answer despite knowing the facts. Such people not only tend to remain confused but also gradually forget what they know since they are unable to use it in an appropriate manner. Knowledge is not like wealth to keep it in hiding; on the contrary more you use it more it will grow.
A person may have knowledge but it is not necessary that he has the intelligence to utilize it. The intelligence to utilize your knowledge is wisdom. An intelligent person may have less knowledge but if he has the ability to use it he can use it well for his benefit and for the benefit of the society. You can gain knowledge but to gain intelligence you have to sharpen your skills
1. Memory: the key factor
The first M to be a winner in CAT is to sharpen your memory. Timely pick of needed part from your stock of memory is very much required in CAT. You should now focus how to sharpen it. George Eliot was of the view ‘The terror of being judged sharpens the memory’. So does it send the message that nearer the day of examination, stronger will become your memory. Since you are going to take one of the toughest and trickiest Management Entrance Examination – CAT 2014 where you will need a lot to remember, a lot to analyse and plenty of the material to practice- the solution of which will come from the stock of your rich memory.
Sound sleep, meditation, controlled diet, stress free life are few of the many factors that add to sharpen the memory. A sharp memory will help you to recall rules on error corrections, contextual usage of vocabulary, words that determine the tone of the passage. Please remember these are some of the many questions that are repeatedly asked in CAT every year and their answers depend upon how you utilize your stock of memory.
2. Mentor: Your source of inspiration
Do you remember the name of Chandragupta Maurya and the name of his mentor Chanakya who inspired him to become an enviable ruler and warrior. You could call it his destiny but this is an undeniable truth that Chandragupta would have not met the great success but for the thoughtful guidance of his mentor Chanakya.
In fact a mentor is more than concerned to develop all round skill to enable you to acquire the winning edge. One of Chanakya’s most famous quotes ‘Before you start some work or going to get indulged in something new, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful’ could be the source of inspiration and energy to achieve success.
Meet CAT Toppers, Know how to Score 99+ %ile
Think what a mentor can do in your CAT 2014 preparation journey. If you are going to appear in CAT first time, it will help you to figure out the course structure and how to study it. Your mentor will show you the path what should be studied and where to start from. Self-study without any structure will be of no help. When you are stuck at some point, on some question or are unable to clarify your persisting doubt, the expert guidance & explanation clears these clouds. It not only saves your time but also you get the tips to solve more such problems. A mentor infuses self confidence in you when you are running in low spirit and your inspiration level is dipping.
3. Mind: your power house
You mind has immense power to work. The mental tiredness is a subjective phenomenon. In fact you are tired when you lose interest in a particular topic or question. Get refreshed and recharged and work upon something else. You will find your brain works on it with more innovative skill. So it’s upto you how do you use your brain. The saying goes that you can’t teach an old dog new trick, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn’t true. The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change—even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. Brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways. The brain’s incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learning and memory. You can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase your cognitive abilities, enhance your ability to learn new information, find shortcuts and tricks to solve long questions for example the Quant, Di and LR questions in CAT 2014 and get an edge.
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4. Mocks: Gateway to success
How important are mock tests before the D day, is known to every CAT aspirant. Mocks provide you opportunity to have hands on practice before the actual test. Despite your well planned studies, you need practice sessions based on real test pattern.
It’s not one or two Mock tests but you need number of them. You may think that you have covered everything supposed to be the part of syllabus or at least all the important topics. But in fact you may be wrong. There is neither any fixed syllabus nor the fixed type of questions in CAT.
You may face questions with higher level of difficulty, surprise elements, questions on forgotten topics. What source do you have to practice and solve such unanticipated questions? Mock tests, sectional as well as full length contain mixed type of questions and equip you with the skills to solve unforeseen type of questions.
While solving the mocks you learn how to keep in mind the time constraints and as such come to know where to invest more time and which type of questions can be solved in less time. Mock tests are sort of replica tests that build confidence in you and good score in Mocks also motivates you further.
CAT Sample Question, CAT Quant Mocks
5. Measurement: Analyze where you stand
It’s not sufficient to attempt and get the score in Mocks. What you further need most is the measuring your performance in mocks and analyzing where you went wrong. What you scored and what you need to score can be judged by this analysis. This will make you understand what mistakes you committed, how can you improve, what more do you need to study, which are your strong and weak areas and a lot.
The analysis of mocks is more important than attempting the mocks to succeed in CAT, please remember.
If you are sincere and serious enough to crack CAT 2014, the aforesaid 5 M’s are to be adhered to. Apart from them there are lot of things you can do to improve your performance. More you work, more you gain so it’s like “use it or lose it.” The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information. Go for more brain exercising activities break your routine and get the challenge to use and develop new brain pathways to be a winner in CAT2014.
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