Your Preparation

In exams like CAT, the emphasis is NOT on memorising various models of questions or formulae but on basic concepts and the ability of the student to apply the basic concepts to different situations. No derivation of any formula is required for these entrance exams. You should try to gain conceptual clarity rather than memorising formulae except the very basic of formulae.

Your preparation should take care of broadly these three different test areas. They are (1) Conceptual Clarity (2) Speed (3) Practice.

But, before you start your preparation, you should understand one issue. Do not expect miracles - your performance in the exams depends on the hard work you put in and how systematically you do it.

In every area, work towards conceptual clarity - be it Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability or any other area - understand the fundamentals or basic concepts involved with various types of questions in these areas. When we say conceptual clarity, we mean that when you read a question, you should be able to understand what the question is asking as well as how to solve it. This is very fundamental to your preparation for management entrance exams.

Follow this up with specific exercises to improve your speed - speed in all test areas. In Reading Comprehension, it is your reading speed that matters. In quantitative related areas, it is your calculation speed that matters.

You need to spend time regularly practising how to solve different models/types of questions in different test areas. As the saying goes, practice makes you perfect. Your comfort level with different types of questions will improve. Do not think that your practice in certain varieties of questions is with the expectation of only such questions in the exam. Your practice will help you develop your basic ability in dealing with different types of questions and hence, even when you face new models of questions in the entrance exams, this practice will stand you in good stead.

In addition to solving various practice exercises, you should also spend time regularly on revision of different topics that you have already completed as a part of your preparation. The revision should be done as regularly and frequently as required till you are thorough with the particular topic.

Taking tests in each topic where the concepts are clear to you will help you make your fundamentals stronger. But, after taking a test, you should analyse your performance, and rework your basics where required.

Joining the classroom programme for CAT of T.I.M.E. will help you take your preparation forward in the desired manner. This will give you the right inputs at all stages of your preparation in addition to a lot of study material (both offline and online) which covers practice exercises and test papers.