120 days to CAT 2014: Self study and right study material is the key to success

Approximately 2 lacs of MBA aspirants are expected to take CAT 2014 in the last quarter of this year. The vast syllabus and question pattern creates confusion where to begin with the CAT preparation journey. All the four parts clubbed into 2 sections of CAT comprising Quant and DI; Verbal and LR need the specific attention, good amount of study followed by mentor guidance.

All the topics are important but it is difficult to decide which one is to be picked up first, how to study it and what should be the right study material that could guide and take you in right direction of preparation. Its definitely not difficult to walk but more difficult is to find the right path to walk.

CAT needs inspiration and great motivation. When you begin your CAT preparation journey think of these factors and the source wherefrom you can have them. You can remain motivated and inspired if you know you have the ability to crack CAT. This inspiration is the bye product of the meticulous study pattern that you derive from your predecessors when you are trying to finalise your CAT 2014 study plan for next 120 days.

MBAUniverse.com brings for the benefit of the CAT aspirants the route map on how to begin self preparation from Prof S K Agarwal, Mentor and expert on CAT Verbal Ability. It will help you chalk out your CAT preparation journey for next 120 days.

No other MBA entrance examination is so preferred as CAT. It needs hardcore in- depth preparation, where nothing can be left to chance. One should start preparing for this examination at least 4-5 months before the commencement of it. It is a computer based on line examination. The success in CAT awards you with the opportunity to enter top B-schools like IIMs/FMS/MDI/SPJIMR

Self Preparation: choice of many

Usually, we run hither and thither to get admission in one or other coaching centre to prepare for examination like CAT. We not only spend a lot of money but also waste a lot of energy and time commuting to and fro visiting the coaching centres which are situated mostly in big cities.

You may be interested to know that around 50% candidates who opt for self study get higher percentile in CAT than those who depend on coaching centres. If you wish to get into IIMs, apart from your CAT scores, your academic record and other factors like work experience, gender diversity play an important role. Those who can pass other exams with high scores can also score high in CAT if they seriously devote time to self study.

How to start our CAT 2014 preparations? I need help?

Know the syllabus: Then begin
Well begun is half done if you know what to study, the preparation will be easier. Let us have a well organized understanding of CAT and the strategy to begin the preparation for the same
Verbal Ability in CAT no doubt has a vast syllabus, it is like a big tree with multiple branches, and every branch has got its due importance. One thing is however clear that you have to go up the trunk to reach those branches else will remain unfamiliar with it.

If you are a commerce graduate or graduate with statistics, you may have good command on Data interpretation, Logical reasoning, If you are an engineering graduate, graduate in Physics or Mathematics, you may have strong aptitude to solve questions based on Quantitative Ability. Students of Arts & Literature as a general presumption- may have better skill in spoken and written standard English language. But how good you are to solve various types of CAT questions on Verbal Ability can be decided on your level of preparation. In the earlier article, different segments and question types were discussed to provide a focused understanding on the pattern of Verbal Ability in CAT.

CAT 2014 Prep Alert: Expected Verbal pattern & How to prepare
Begin with fundamentals There can be number of topics to study and practice. Parts of speech and tenses which you studied in standard 10 can be of great help to you. You need to study them in a different tone now than what you studied earlier. You have a matured mind which may help you not to repeat the mistakes that you made in standard 10.

It is advisable to go through the usage pattern of articles especially definite articles, repetition of articles and omission of articles. Next are the other concepts of Noun, pronoun, adjectives, adverbs, non-finites, prepositions, phrasal verbs, confused words, time zones, conditional sentences, sequence of sentences, active passive and reported speech. A good number of exercises will definitely carry you through. You may expect 2 questions on error corrections in CAT 2014

If you can still devote 30 minutes a day from now, on these topics, you can prepare them well in 2 months time without any need to waste time on commuting to the coaching centres.

Next is vocabulary
Building a rich and strong vocabulary that too in accordance with contextual usage in sentences is a consistent process. The saying that Rome was not built in a day is also true for building the vocabulary.
CAT has also changed its face over a period of time. Now you no longer need to learn only synonyms and antonyms, similar or confused words, on the contrary the need is to have the expertise how to use them and how to pick out their incorrect use in sentences. Please remember you may expect 4-6 questions on such usage. If you can devote 15-20 minutes every day to prepare for such contextual usage, it may be a great help and your preparation will be quite strong by the time your CAT examination date draws near.

CAT preparation, Question of the day

Dont forget Jumbled sentences
Before proceeding to practise the jumbled paragraphs, it will be better to learn the theory behind them. These sentences are based on the fact that many of us do not know in what sequence sentences should be placed. If something happened in 1945 and the other thing in 1915, which should be placed first? Obviously, the event in 1915 should be first one. In the same manner, if you find sentences beginning with this, that, these, those it, whats the first thought that comes to your mind? Isnt it the fact that these words have been used in place of some earlier used words? The reading itself prompts you to locate such original words which have been substituted by these words. 4 questions can be expected in CAT 2014 on different types of jumbled sentences.

To make a paragraph coherent and running with right flowing sentences, you are supposed to read them as many number of times as you think fit initially. Once you crack one jumbled paragraph, read the other one and understand the idea what it conveys, you will spontaneously understand the main idea of the next one. Regular practice can take you ahead of your peers, rest assured.
CAT 2014 Verbal Preparation with CAT Expert!

Need is to hit the RC
Reading comprehension is supposed to be your main stay of an organized CAT 2014 preparation strategy. RC passage could be on any topic based on economics, business, socio-political, psychological or other abstract topics. The questions on Reading comprehension are 10 out of 30 in Verbal+LR section and commands 33% score. The importance of RC can be well understood in CAT.

Prepare RC Passages for CAT 2014

Beginning options
Going by the syllabus and past pattern of CAT examination, identify your weak areas in your strong holds where you will have to study and practice more. You will need more focused preparation on them.
Similarly, there may be a few topics in your weak areas where you are strong enough and you may need less revision and practice sessions for them.
The first thing is to find out such weak areas and segregate them from the strong ones as more time is to be devoted on their preparation.
A good preparation strategy is to find out the root cause of weakness in these areas. You may have weak fundamentals but you are able to solve the jumbled paragraphs with certain short-cuts, instincts, elimination method and have the ability to connect the sentences logically. Now the need is to begin with the strengthening of your fundamentals-and the path is supposed to be from- Grammar-Times zones understanding-Vocabulary contextual use-correct usage-to rigorous understanding and practice of Reading Comprehension passages.

Get the right study material for CAT 2014
Study material could be in the form of printed books, online available on internet, practice exercises, mock tests of varying levels of difficulty. The right study material whether it is the self-study or mentor supported study, has to be judiciously picked up.

Recommended printed material
No compromise you would like to make when it comes for CAT preparation. The market is full of CAT preparatory Books. There are however, some of the books that may or may not be available on-line and If you can not access such books on-line, you are left with no alternative but to have the hard copies of them to continue the consistent process of preparation. Following books could be the great help in your CAT 2014 preparation, hence the same are recommended

-Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension-Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay -Quantitative Aptitude-Arun Sharma -Data Interpretation-Arun Sharma -Logical Reasoning Arun Sharma -Word power made easy-Norman Lewis - High school English Grammar & Composition Wren & Martin - Living English Structure- W. Stannard Allen - Build Your Basics First-S.K. Agarwal - Proficiency in Reading Comprehension-Ajay Singh - Reading comprehension for the CAT-Sujit Kumar

Recommended on-line study material
An aspirant whether working or non-working, in the present scenario, is more tech savy and can study on-line instead of carrying the stuff with him all the time. You can visit, study the on-line study material on various sites who provide free CAT preparation material like MBAUniverse.com. You may also subscribe to on-line study material from mindworkz, Time, CL. The piece of advice is to compare among their price offers and qualitative aspects. The study material that begins from scratch is always better as it simultaneously clarifies your doubts.

MBAUniverse.com provides full course material on Quant, DI, Verbal and LR free. The study material is lying on the site consisting reading material, exercises, past CAT test papers and mocks. Verbal Ability section has an e-book titled Build Your Basics First which goes on frequently updated with the current topics.

Everyday you are shared a question on topic relevant and expected in CAT 2014 on MBAUniverse.com site. The site has daily word power, word dictionary to build your vocabulary. When you search on internet you will find number of good practice questions to give you a glimpse of the forthcoming test.

Main advantage of online study material is that it is updated on regular basis. You may have access to past recorded as well as new study material. They add to your level of preparation infusing confidence and motivation within you.
The
re are some books which you may down load and some of them have to be purchased. For example you may down load Living English Structure-W.Stannard Allen, Build Your Basics-S.K. Agarwal. The latter is a pure on-line book which goes on updated twice a week and contains fundamentals, vocabulary, jumbled paragraphs, RC passages-all with exercises. It is available with the study material provided by MBAUniverse.com and can be accessed 24x7 on the site with updated chapters and exercises.

Closed Group for cat 2014 crackers, do you have it in you

Mocks: 2 months before test date
Start taking mocks at least 2 months prior to your exam date preferably on-line as CAT is a computer based on-line test. This will equip you with right kind of approach and familiarize you about the pattern and components of CAT 2014.
You can subscribe to these sectional and full length mocks provided by MBAUniverse.com, CL, TIME, Mindworkz, or any other preparation centre of your choice.
CAT Sample Question, CAT Quant Mocks
CAT Verbal Section Mocks

Newspapers & Periodicals; integral part of preparation
Editorials and featured articles in the news papers form integral part of your CAT 2014 preparation journey. Although almost all the newspapers are available on-line, it is the experience that unlike e-book, on-line reading of the newspaper is not retained for a long time as you do not visit the same newspaper again nor you try to underline the interesting but unfamiliar words, phrases, clauses in the same.

While e-book may continue getting updated regularly, a new news-paper will appear the next day and you will lose interest in the old one. As it is the human nature, you will switch over to the new. Hence it is suggested that you must develop a habit of going through the hard copy of the same. It may be kept in your small beg, laptop bag or you can carry it in your hand, you should carry a pen/pencil with you to underline the interesting but unfamiliar parts of the sentences in the published editorials, articles This habit will help and improve your reading skills many fold.

Trending Topics Around the Globe!
Optimum utilization
Leading your CAT 2014 preparation strategy forward, please remember your study material will be helpful only when you are able to utilize it to the optimum extent. There may be certain topics that appear of no importance but omission of the same may reduce your percentile to a great extent. For example usage in punctuation, a simple omission of (,) comma may cause a loss of four marks (3+1), reducing your percentile by 8 or so.
A mentor will save time too

How deeply you have followed the concept and what areas need further improvement cannot be determined by you. This can be judged by the person who knows the intricacies of the topic. It is always a good idea to begin with the expert guidance and continue clarifying your doubts consistently without compromising with the self study.

Meet CAT Toppers, Know how to Score 99+ %ile

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