priyanshu : "WITH CAT APPROACHING, MY DILR IS WEAK. I KNOW THE BASICS AND CAN SOLVE EASY TO MODERATE SETS BUT HAVEN’T COMPLETED MY BOOKLET. I’M KIND OF STUCK, AND THE SETS IN AIMCAT OFTEN GO ABOVE MY HEAD. HOW CAN I BEST USE THE REMAINING TIME TO IMPROVE?
pradeeppandey : Complete at least one exercise of each of the chapter of DI and LR booklets..then quickly move to Sectional test. You will see the positive difference in your AIMCAT scores.

hycdb5a017 : ANY SPECIFIC QUANT TOPICS TO FOCUS ON, WHICH ARE EASILY SCORING AND BOOST OUR PERCENTILE?
rahulpinnamaneni : All topics from book 1 (SE, RPV, PPL, SI-CI, T&D, T&W, AMA) are easy scoring and have a good representation in the exam.

hocab5a013 : I AM UNABLE TO DO PERCENTAGES PROBLEMS DESPITE ATTENDING THE CLASS AND UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT.
rahulpinnamaneni : Practice is key. Don't lose heart yet. Have you watched the concept videos?

kanishka : I WANT TO KNOW POST COMPLETING MY STUDY MODU OF DILR
ashwinvariyar : Once you have completed the SM for a chapter/topic of DILR, attempt the Foundational Sectional Test of that topic. Repeat this for all chapters

yellow : MY ACCURACY IS JUST 65. HOW CAN I IMPROVE?
pradeeppandey : After analysing the paper, you will find the real reason of lesser accuracy percentage. Proper analysis followed by corrective measures is a key to success.

joshi : GOOD AFTERNOON SIR I HAVE 1 QUERY I HAVE ATTENDED GAMES AND TOURNAMENT LECTURE LECTURE BUT THE TEACHING OF FACLTY MEMBER WAS BIT CONFUSING FOR ME SO I WAS UNABLE TO SOLVE QUESTIONS IN THIS CASE WHAT SHOULD I DO
rahulpinnamaneni : Please refer to the solutions. If not clear, watch the videos provided. If still not satisfied, attend the doubts clarification sessions scheduled for every batch.

utsav : WHICH TOPICS ARE MOST IMPORTANT AND SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IT AND AND ARE EASY ALSO IN LRDI
rahulpinnamaneni : There's no such a thing in LRDI unfortunately.

kanishka : I WANT TO KNOW THAT AFTER COMPLETING MY BOOKLET WHAT I SHOULD DO FOR LRDI PREPARATION
pradeeppandey : Sectional test of intermediate and advanced level is must after completing the SM Booklet.

hocc5t574 : SIR PLEASE TELL HOW TO DO DILR QUESTION
rahulpinnamaneni : This is too generic to answer in this chat session. Have you not been attending the classes?

priyanshu : COMPLETED ARITHMETIC AND HALFWAY THROUGH ALGEBRA. THINKING OF STARTING GEOMETRY, BUT AIMCATS HAVE MANY NUMBER SYSTEM QUESTIONS. SHOULD I PICK GEOMETRY OR NUMBER SYSTEM FIRST?
ashwinvariyar : Both are important. You can start with Number Systems and then get to Geometry or the other way round. But try and cover both the areas

dlchb5a075 : WHAT STRATEGY I CAN ADOPT FOR VARC SECTION FOR THE EXAM. WHAT SOURCES CAN I FOLLOW FOR IMPROVING MY VOCABULARY, ABILITY TO SOLVE READING COMPREHENSION EFFECTIVELY AND WHAT SHOULD BE THE DAILY TARGET FOR ME AS THE BEGINNER.
rahulpinnamaneni : RC (Reading Comprehension) Focus on understanding, not speed at the start. Practise “Active Reading” → summarise each paragraph in 1 line in your head. Identify the main idea and tone before touching questions. In the exam, do easier-looking RCs first (based on topic familiarity, sentence complexity, and Q-type). VA (Verbal Ability) Parajumbles & Odd-one-out → focus on connectors (pronouns, transition words, time sequence). Para Summary → look for main claim + supporting evidence. Keep track of Q-types you repeatedly get wrong. CAT doesn’t directly test rare vocabulary, but vocabulary helps with RC speed and confidence. Read quality content daily (Aeon, The Hindu editorial, The Guardian, The Economist). Note 5–10 new words/day → write: Word Meaning in simple English Sentence from the article Your own sentence Apps/Websites: Vocabulary.com, Merriam-Webster Word of the Day.

jrcbb5a191 : SHOULD I COMPLETE ALL THE EXERCISES IN THE BOOKLET BEFORE ATTEMPTING TESTS?
rahulpinnamaneni : It's one way to go about it. An approach that seems to work for many.

hycdb5a017 : ANY EASY TOPICS WHICH ARE EASILY SCORING AND IMPORTANT AT THE SAME TIME IN BOTH QUANTS AND DILR SO THAT WE CAN FOCUS ON IT AND EASILY SCORE WHICH CAN ALSO BOOST PERCENTILE
rahulpinnamaneni : All topics from book 1 (SE, RPV, PPL, SI-CI, T&D, T&W, AMA) are easy scoring and have a good representation in the exam. Unfortunately in LRDI there's no such a thing. All sets are unique puzzles. Can't categorize them into one chapter or the other.

anu : CAN SOMEONE PLS SUGGEST ME A STRATEGY THAT HIF I AM STUDYING 8 TO 10 HRS A DAY BY GIVING ONE SUBJECT LET'S SAY 3 HRS THE OTHER 6 HRS FOLLOWED BY 2 HRS FOR THE OTHER SUBJECTS,SO HOW TO DIVIDE THE TOPICS IN THAT 2-3 HRS SO THAT I CAN BE VERY CERTAIN THAT MY 8-10HRS ARE BEING USED PRODUCTIVELY BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE CRACK CAT IN 4-5 MONTHS WITH AN EFFECTIVE 8-10 HRS STUDY STRATEGY AND I FEEL THAT MY STRATEGY IS NOT GOING SMART
ashwinvariyar : No. of hours can be a guideline. Please keep targets in terms of topics. Spending 8-10 hrs is a good idea. But have a target on what topic(s) will be completed in the 8-10 hours each day.

utsav : WHICH TOPICS ARE MOST IMPORTANT AND SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IT AND AND ARE EASY ALSO IN
pradeeppandey : so far the Quant and DILR are concerned all topics are equally important.

utsav : WHICH TOPICS ARE MOST IMPORTANT AND SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IT AND AND ARE EASY ALSO IN QUANT
ashwinvariyar : Already answered earlier - All topics in book 1 - Arithmetic - also Algebra. This much is bare minimum

utsav : FROM WHERE WHICH SOURCE DOES RC IN VERBAL IN CAT EXAM COME
rahulpinnamaneni : Here’s where they usually draw from: 1. Popular Magazines & Newspapers The Guardian, The New York Times, The Economist, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, Aeon Essays Indian sources like The Hindu (editorials & opinion section), The Indian Express, Mint, Frontline 2. Academic & Research Sources Academic journals (social sciences, psychology, economics, environment studies, history) University research articles, especially from humanities departments 3. Non-fiction Books History, philosophy, politics, anthropology, sociology, literary criticism Well-known authors (Yuval Noah Harari, Jared Diamond, Amartya Sen, Malcolm Gladwell) 4. Online Long-form Content Platforms Aeon (philosophy, culture, science) Project Syndicate (economics, geopolitics) JSTOR Daily (academia made accessible) BBC Future, National Geographic 5. Genre Breakdown in CAT Philosophy / Psychology → 20–25% of RCs History / Sociology / Culture → 20–25% Economics / Business / Policy → 15–20% Science / Environment → 15–20% Miscellaneous Arts / Literature → 10–15% Important to know: Reading The Hindu or Aeon daily is good, but CAT’s challenge is not vocabulary — it’s understanding dense, opinionated, and abstract writing. The source type matters less than exposing yourself to unfamiliar, complex topics so you don’t panic on exam day.

hocab5a013 : I AM FACING PROBLEM ON SOLVING PARA JUMBLING QUESTIONS SHOULD I DO MORE PRACTICE OR ANALYSE THE STRATEGY FOR ALREADY ATTEMPTED QUESTIONS
rahulpinnamaneni : Have you been able to identify where you're going wrong? That's step 1 isn't it?

anu : BECAUSE SINCE 1 WEEK I AM STUCK ON ARITHMETIC CHAPTER WHICH IS PERCENTAGES PROFIT AND LOSS AND HAVE TO COVER THE REST OF THE SYLLABUS IN ONE MONTH
pradeeppandey : You can't afford to leave even a single topic in Quant. Especially Arithmetic is useful for Quant as well as DI.

ananya : I WANT TO KNOW AS ONLY 109 DAYS ARE LEFT FOR CAT HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD WE GIVE FOR EACH SUBJECT AND AND HOW MANY QUESTIONS TO SOLVE FOR QUANT , LRDI AND VARC IN A DAY AND ALSO HOW MANY SECTIONALS TO GIVE IN A WEEK . ALSO I WANT TO IMPROVE ACCURACY IN VARC HOW CAN I DO THAT AND FOR QUANT I AM FINDING GEOMETRY DIFFICULT SO WHAT SHOULD I DO
raman : Divide your time into practice, revision of concepts, Taking Tests, Evaluate your selves. Identify your weakness. Also make sure that every question that is not attempted and attempted incorrectly is analysed. The exact division of time can be of your choice.

utsav : WHICH TOPICS ARE MOST IMPORTANT AND SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IT AND AND ARE EASY ALSO IN QUANT
amol : All topics are import. Toucan prepare in the order Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, Numbers and perm comb

priyanshu : SIR, AS YOU MENTIONED COMPLETING AT LEAST ONE CHAPTER FROM THE DI AND LR BOOKLET, WOULD IT BE OKAY IF I JUST COMPLETE THE B EXERCISE?
rahulpinnamaneni : Why not A too? They're both easy and will build some momentum and familiarity before you can tackle tougher sets.

hocab5a013 : I AM UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE FLOW IN PARAJUMBLING
rahulpinnamaneni : 1. Identify the Opening Sentence 2. Find Mandatory Pairs 3. Spot Connectors 4. Keep Track of Subject Consistency 5. Look for Chronology or Natural Progression

antonylevin03 : IM STUDYING FOR 2 HRS ATLEAST FOR LOGICAL REASONING AND QA BUT STILL I CANT DVELOP MAY SPEED AND ABLE TO ATTEND ALL THE QUESTIONS . IS THERE ANY WAY TO IMPROVE MY SPEED
amol : More than number of Hrs, what you are doing is important. You can have one to one sesssion with Faculty member to check what’s going wrong

john : HOW TO HANDLE RC'S SOMETIME I'M NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE PARA AND SOMETIME I UNDERSTAND THE PARA BUT NOT ABLE TO SOLVE THE QUESTION ALSO IT TAKE LOT OF TIME TO SOLVE?
rahulpinnamaneni : Skim: Identify the topic, tone, and main argument in 20–30 seconds. Read Deep: Now go through it carefully, noting why the author says what they say. While reading, mentally note: Intro: What issue or event is being discussed? Author’s Stand: Are they for, against, or neutral? Main Points: What reasons do they give? Counterpoints: Do they mention opposing views? Conclusion: What do they want the reader to take away? Before reading the last paragraph, pause and think: Based on what I read, what do I think the final takeaway is? Do I agree with the author? Why or why not?

k : SIR I HAVE BACKLOG OF SM BOOKLETS IN LRDI SO HOW MANY EXERCISE SHOULD I DO EVERYDAY TO FINISH THE BOOK
rahulpinnamaneni : Are you preparing full-time for CAT?

anu : PRADEEP SIR FOR THAT ONLY I AM ASKING A STRATEGY BECAUSE I AM NOT ABLE TO GRASP THE WHOLE QUANT EASILY
pradeeppandey : The chapters in which you are getting some kind of difficulties, start from the Special Support Booklet then move to the Main SM Booklets. Special support booklet will provide you enough confidence to deal with easy and moderate level questions of Main SM Booklets of QA.

hocab5a013 : WHAT IS THE WAY TO READ EDITORIALS IN THE NEWSPAPER. SHOULD I DRAW MY OWN CONCLUSION AND COMPARE IT WITH THE AUTHORS?
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes. That’s actually one of the best ways to use editorials for CAT RC prep. If you just “read” them passively, you’ll forget most of it. If you interact with them, your comprehension and inference skills improve dramatically.

john : HOW TO DEAL WITH RC'S SOMETIME I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PARA AND SOMETIME I UNDERSTAND WHOLE PARA BUT NOT ABLE TO SOLVE THE QUESTION ALSO IT TAKE LOT OF TIME
rahulpinnamaneni : Already replied to you. Please check.

k : SIR I HAVE BACKLOG OF SM BOOKLETS IN LRDI SO HOW MANY EXERCISE SHOULD I DO EVERYDAY TO FINISH THE BOOK.
rahulpinnamaneni : Are you studying for at least 10-14 hrs a day?

hocc5t574 : SIR IN GENERAL I DO DILR QUESTIONS BUT IN AIMCAT DUE TO SOME SILLY MISTAKES SIR MY WHOLE SET GOES WRONG AND REALLY HURT, SIR PLEASE GUIDE HOW TO IMPROVE THAT.
amol : It's good that you identified the issue. You need to learn form your mistakes. I will suggest you to spend 5 min in identifying two sets which you would like to attempt. Attempt those two sets only. Try to get 100% accuracy

john : SIR MY VARC SECTION IS WEAK SO CAN YOU TELL HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT I SOLVE RC ON DAILY BASIS BUT THEN ALSO I AM NOT GEETING A ACCURACY IN MOCK
rahulpinnamaneni : How many RCs a day?

anu : SOMEONE PLS SUGGEST ME A STRATEGY ON THE QUESTION I ASKED ABOVE
pradeeppandey : 1.Shortlist the question on the merit of that question i.e. What is given and what is required is more important rather than the appearance, length, face value of the questions or the chapter it belongs to. If I look at from the test makers perspective, there are no chapters in quant. Quant section as a whole is a level playground and even the basic mathematical concepts till class Xth are sufficient to get a decent percentile score. Chapters are basically the virtual boundary that we test takers have created for convenience in preparation 2. Be practical in scanning. Even if the question is from your comfort zone, if it is either calculation/formulation intensive or requires rigorous case analysis then you are advised to move forward or leave it to the end of the question paper. At the same time, do not leave too many questions to the end. Doing so will only create unnecessary pressure and you may lose some really easy questions.

saransh : SIR I HAVE NOT COMPLETED ALL THE SM BOOKLETS CAN YOU TELL A SCHEDULED LIKE QUANTS, LR,DI ON MONDAY ,TUESDAY OR IF DO THREE SM BOOKLETS IN A DAY HOW MUCH TIME TO GIVE TO EACH BOOKLET FOR VA, QA,LR,DI CAUSE UNABLE TO GIVE TIME PROPERLY TO EACH BOOKLET
rahulpinnamaneni : Why not start with your weakest area first, and depending on how fatigued / bored you feel, keep changing the areas and then focus on your next-weakest area?

saransh : SIR, I HAVE NOT YET COMPLETED ALL THE SM BOOKLETS. COULD YOU PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH A SCHEDULE—FOR EXAMPLE, ASSIGNING QUANTS, LR, AND DI TO SPECIFIC DAYS LIKE MONDAY AND TUESDAY? ALTERNATIVELY, IF I AIM TO COMPLETE THREE SM BOOKLETS IN A DAY, HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I ALLOCATE TO EACH SECTION (VA, QA, LR, DI)? I AM CURRENTLY UNABLE TO MANAGE MY TIME EFFECTIVELY ACROSS ALL THE BOOKLETS.
amol : Revise your QAHO Handout with class notes. Solve exercise (a) of that topic.Then repeat this for all the further topics. After doing all the QA Topics, if you get time then solve exercise (b). For DI Solve ALL DIHO, DEX and DAT Handouts. After that you can solve CAT Paper and AIMCATs. Solve Venn diagrams from the Book

yuvaraja : I AM SOMEHOW FAMILIAR WITH THE LR THAN DI . SO THESE AIMCAT I CAN ABLE TO SOLVE SOME LR QUESTIONS AND I WILL PRACTICE DI ALSO AND IN REAL CAT EXAM , OUT OF 4 SET , THEY WILL BE 2 LR AND 2 DI OR 3 LR AND 1 DI OR VICE VERSA , WHICH COMBINATION WILL BE COMING IN REAL CAT EXAM?
rahulpinnamaneni : Over the last 8-10 years the line between DI and LR has blurred a lot. Things are no longer black and white. Every LR set has some DI and every DI set has some LR. So it's better not to isolate and study in silos.

k : NO SIR 7-8 HOURS
rahulpinnamaneni : Work harder. Do it like you mean it my friend!

vinay_01 : HI SIR IN CASE OF DILR DURING THE TESTS I M UNABLE TO COMPLETE THE SET IT IS TAKING ME VERY LONG TIME AND I HAVE BEEN PRACTICING DILR FROM 2 MONTHS I CAN DO THOSE SETS BUT NOT WITHIN TIME LIMIT CAN YOU SUGGEST ANYTHING
pradeeppandey : You are required to invest 3-5 odd minutes before deciding whether the set is for round-1 or round-2 or better to be left un-attempted. In the 3-5 minutes of time, it is suggested to go deeper into data followed by restrictions very carefully. Try to comprehend and interpret correctly. The most important step in solving a problem is to study the problem statement with utmost care - NOT read it, NOT skim through it and think about why the data has been given and how to get information out of that. There are a few rules of this game, which help in solving DILR problems systematically. Inspect the conditions. Identify the most important condition, if any. Picturise the information. Organise the information in some ways like grids/tables and symbols/notations. Elimination of the answer choices. Be careful of the language used since certain words and phrases form important clues in framing the solution. During scanning the sets, one needs to identify the order of attempts also. Even after spending about 3-5 minutes on any set, if you are not able to figure out any headway for the solution leave the question and then move on. Don’t have any feelings for the questions/sets! The sets left over after earmarking for round-1 and round-2 are that kind of sets that are best left for post-AIMCAT/Mock analysis. It will help to gain important insights for the later mocks and it will expand your domain of familiarity.

shashwat : WHAT STRATEGY I CAN ADOPT FOR VARC SECTION FOR THE EXAM. AS CURRENTLY I AM STUCK BETWEEN 15-20 NUMBERS WHICH MOSTLY COMES FROM VA, RC SKILLS ARE VERY POOR OF MINE.
ashwinvariyar : Practise RC. Try to get better at it. Do SM and Sectional Tests. With only VA there are limitations to improve your score with the current pattern

lnca5a061 : SIR/MA'AM CAN YOU TELL ME ON THE BASIS OF AIMCAT SCORES WHAT FORMS ONE CAN FILL LIKE IIFT ,MDI ....LIKE IN THE LAST MOCK I SCORED 63 OVERALL WHICH WAS ON 2 AUGUST..BUT IN PREVIOUS MOCKS I WAS ON 50S AVERAGE.SO SIR IT WOULD BE USEFUL IF U CAN TELL AT WHAT MOCK SCORES FORMS TO FILL AS FILLING UNNECESSARY FORMS WILL ONLY GO WASTE OF MONEY 🙏
rahulpinnamaneni : AIMCATs are generally slightly tougher than the actual CAT. A raw score of ~63 in early August (out of 198) can translate to around 75–80 percentile in CAT terms (very rough estimate). Many students have done much better in the actual exam. So deciding which colleges to apply for now itself might be a bit preposterous. This is something you'd want to discuss with a mentor in person.

kenisha : SIR ARE THERE ANY OTHER SOURCES TO GET THE CONCEPTS OF QA CLEARED FROM BASIC TO ADVANCED LEVEL APART FROM THE LIVE CLASSES (COURSE COMPLETED) AND RECORDED VIDEOS ?
rahulpinnamaneni : Doubts Clarification Sessions.

john : 3-4 A DAY
rahulpinnamaneni : John, your issue is a very common one — "I’m doing daily RCs but my mock accuracy isn’t improving." That usually means the problem is not practice quantity, but practice quality. Instead of just reading → answering → checking answers, add a deep analysis phase for every RC you do. After each passage: Summarise each paragraph in one line (forces you to track the author's flow). Write the author’s main idea in your own words. Identify the tone (critical, analytical, sarcastic, neutral, etc.). For each wrong answer, label the mistake: Misread the question Fell for extreme wording Ignored evidence in the passage Chose “your opinion” instead of author’s Got trapped by a close but wrong option Do this for 2–3 weeks and your accuracy will start rising because you’ll know why you make mistakes.

anu : AND PRADEEP SIR I AM NOT ABLE TO SIT FOR EVEN 2 HRS OF I AM SOLVING SOME MODERATE QUANT PR LR QUESTION.SO CAN YOU PLS SUGGEST SOMETHING ON HOW TO INCREASE SITTING CAPACITY AND AVOID BRAIN ROT EVEN AFTER 2 HRS OF RIGOROUS SOLVING
pradeeppandey : As soon as you are done with 70% of the syllabus, start solving the time bound practices which is known as sectional tests.Time bound practices post analysis will help you to increase the sitting hours.

vineeth : SIR, CAN YOU PLEASE SUGGEST HOW TO TACKLE THE PRESSURE WHILE TAKING MOCKS. I MEAN SOMETIMES IT FEELS HECTIC FOR ME TO SOLVE THE QUESTIONS UNDER PRESSURE THAT IS LEADING TO WRONG ANSWERS.
rahulpinnamaneni : Handling pressure during mocks is a very common challenge. Focus on Process, Not Just Score. Practise Breathing & Mindfulness. Break the test into manageable chunks. And don't forget, post-mortem is key.

manya : SIR WHEN WILL I BE ABLE TO APPEAR FOR MISSED AIMCATS??
rahulpinnamaneni : October

saransh : SIR MY WEAKEST AREA IS QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU COULD ADVISE ME ON: 1. WHICH SM BOOKLETS OR TOPICS IN QUANT SHOULD BE COVERED FIRST, ON A PRIORITY BASIS. 2. HOW MUCH TIME I SHOULD DEDICATE DAILY TO QUANTS IN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN MY PREPARATION.
rahulpinnamaneni : All topics from book 1 (SE, RPV, PPL, SI-CI, T&D, T&W, AMA) are easy scoring and have a good representation in the exam. Please spend as much time as you can. It's important to address your weakest area first.

: WHAT WOULD BE RIGHT STRATEGY TO REVISE QUANT? I FIND THAT I FORGET FORMULAE FROM OLD CHAPTERS. WILL IT HELP IF I MAINTAIN A FORMULA NOTEBOOK FOR ALL THE TOPICS?
rahulpinnamaneni : 100% helps. We recommend this to all students as a matter of fact.

sam : FROM LR BOOK 2, WHAT TOPICS TO STUDY FOR SNAP AND NMAT?L
rahulpinnamaneni : Focus on all the OMET topics. There's a dedicated section isn't it?

sam : QA CLASS SESSIONS COMPLETED ONLY TILL TIME AND DISTANCE. WILLL REST BE COVERED IN 2 MONTHS?
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes, everything will be covered without fail.

sam : HOW CAN I PREPARE REST OF QA ON M OWN?
rahulpinnamaneni : Concept videos followed by questions from Concept Review Questions and Exercise A of the Quant SMs.

lnca5a061 : SIR WOULD YOU SUGGEST TO PRACTICE NUMBER SYSTEM AND PNC IN DEEP OR JUST AT MODERATE LEVEL OF PREPARATION AT CURRENT SITUATION WHEN IN HAVE FINISHED WHOLE ARITHMETIC AND 80%ALGEBRA FROM SM BOOKLET ...CAUSE I NEED TO SOLVE WHOLE ADVANCE STILL AND SECTIONAL
amol : That is the reason you should take more mocks so that you get use to handle that pressure and can easily handle actual CAT. At this moment if you are getting questions wrong due to pressure then I will suggest to focus on accuracy rather than more number of attempts. Once you get confident about accuracy then slowly improve your attempts.

bt : MY BIG QUESTION IS THERE A WRITTEN STRUCTURE FROM TIME ? ... HOW DO I KNOW WHICH BOOKLET TO STUDY FIRST , WHICH SECOND , WHICH THIRD IN EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDY AREA ? IS THERE ANYWHERE I CAN GET INFO SUCH AS IN QUANT STUDY 1. SM 002604 2. BOOK1 3. ETC .. I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED..
pradeeppandey : Ask your center to schedule a counselling session with FM.

saransh : SIR, COULD YOU PLEASE GUIDE ME ON THE TARGET NUMBER OF QUESTIONS I SHOULD AIM TO ATTEMPT IN EACH SECTION DURING PRACTICE AND MOCK TESTS
rahulpinnamaneni : There's no such a number that works for all exam types, but here's something that'll help you immensely. VARC: Choose RCs with familiar topics first; don’t chase all VA Qs — some are accuracy traps. DILR: Spend first 5 min scanning all sets and locking the 2 easiest. QA: Split into 3 passes — 1st pass: Easy direct questions. 2nd pass: Medium but solvable in <2 min. 3rd pass: Anything left if time remains.

manya : SIR I HAVE ALMOST COMPLETED 2BOOKS EACH OF RC AND VA.. SHOULD I BEGIN WITH MY SECTIONALS OR CONTINUE WITH SM BOOKS AS THERE ARE STILL 3MORE LEFT
ashwinvariyar : Yes Sectionals are important. You should attempt them They will give you an idea on tackling time pressure.

krushna : NOT GETTING SCORE IN LRDI AND QUANTS AS I STUDY AND SOLVE QUESTIONS THAT I AM ABLE TO SOLVE SETS BUT IN AIMCAT I AM GETTING VERY LESS MARKS!!!
rahulpinnamaneni : Are you struggling because of the timed nature of the test?

anu : AND ALSO WHAT ARE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF QUESTIONS TO BE ATTEMPTED FOR QUANT IN CAT IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A DECENT PERCENTILE FOR QUANT
pradeeppandey : Don't count too much, first of all complete at least one exercise of each of the chapter and complete majority of the sectional test.

manya : SIR I AM NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE STRATEGY TO APPROACH LRDI..I HAVE COMPLETED ALL THE HANDOUTS..WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW??
rahulpinnamaneni : Basic SM, Advanced SM, Online Sectional Tests. You still have lots to do.

sonali : I AM HAVING PROBLEMS IN SOLVING TDS TYPE QUESTIONS FROM CIRCULAR MOTION AND CIRCULAR ARRANGEMENT TYPE QUESTIONS....CAN YOU RECOMMEND SOMETHING TO STUDY FROM OR JUST SIMPLY HELP ME
amol : If is difficult to help you over chat. But I will suggest with a permission from your centre head attend that topic again.

manya : SIR ALSO I HAVE COMPLETED MY ARITHMETIC IN QUANTS THROUGH VIDEO LECTURES AVAILABLE ON SHP AND COMPLETED HANDOUTS WITH SM BOOKLETS..SO WHAT SHOULD I BEGIN WITH NOW?
rahulpinnamaneni : Advanced Quant SM or online sectional tests.

advika : MY WEAKEST AREA IS QA. I HAVE ATTEMPTED 6 AIMCATS TILL NOW, AND THOUGH THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS I'M ABLE TO ATTEMPT CORRECTLY HAS INCREASED, IT IS NOW MORE/LESS CONSTANT AT 7. WHAT CAN BE THE STRATEGY AHEAD?
amol : Don't look at your score in isolation. It will be proportional to the amount of preparation you have done. More you prepare, your attempts will I'm,prove. If you observe nowadays CAT Q ahas questions from every topic of QA. So, if you prepare limited amount of topics then you will struggle to attempt more.

nimit : SIR, ADVICE FOR WORKING PROFESSIONAL?
rahulpinnamaneni : Listen to podcasts/audiobooks on diverse topics (improves comprehension & speed). Flashcards or mental math practice while travelling. RCs on your phone (The Hindu, Aeon, Guardian, Economist). Even with less time, mock feedback is your biggest ROI. Cut social media/news scrolling by 30 min and redirect that time to RC/DILR practice.

manya : SIR MY APPROACH TO ENGLISH IS READING DAILY ALONG WITH 4RCS AND15QUES OF VA..WHAT MORE SHOULD I ADD TO THIS AS AUG HAS STARTED
ashwinvariyar : This looks good, provided you are able to improve accuracy and are able to attempt the set of questions with time to spare. Your accuracy should be better and time spent should be lesser as compared to the previous week. Also try to attempt Sectional Tests and Mocks in between

advika : WHAT PERCENTILE SHOULD I AIM FOR IN QUANTS?
pradeeppandey : Give your best shot in AIMCAT. Target at least 85% accuracy in Quant Section.Percentile score is a relative score and it is not in your control !!

manya : SIR AS I HAVE JUST COMPLETED ARITHMETIC WHICH COMPRISES OF MOST OF THE SYLLABUS, SHOULD I FOCUS ON BUILDING IT STRONGLY OR BEGIN WITH ALGEBRA?
rahulpinnamaneni : A little bit of everything is better than too much of one thing wouldn't you agree?

sonali : DO YOU RECOMMEND ANY YOUTUBE SOURCE OR SOMETHING FROM WHERE I CAN PRACTICE CIRCULAR MOTION TDS TYPE QUESTIONS
rahulpinnamaneni : You have enough practice questions in your SMs, handouts, Online Sectional Tests.

bunny : IM HAVING TROUBLE IN SCORING GOOD IN ALL 3 SECTIONS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN A MOCK ,AS IN I SEEM TO MESS UP EVERYTIME IN ATLEAST 1 SECTION OUT OF THREE IN EVERY MOCK, WHICH BRINGS MY OVERALL SCORE TO 100 WHICH OTHERWISE COULD GO 130+. I ANALYZED THE DIFFICULTY OF ALL THE MOCKS AND THEY WERE ROUGHLY THE SAME ,AND ITS NOT EVEN A PARTICULAR SECTION THAT GOES BAD ,SOMETIMES ITS VA SOMETIMES QA SOMETIMES DILR
pradeeppandey : The detailed analysis is an invaluable part of preparation which any serious CAT aspirant would vouch for. We should invest a considerable amount of time to analyse our performance. We should give the top priority to those questions in which time is invested but the answer is wrong. If you are observing any particular pattern in your mistakes, then it would be fairly easy to rectify it after identifying the cause of errors. The second priority to those questions in which question is shortlisted after proper scanning but due to some or other reason it takes more than the allotted time. One should not forget that performing well in CAT purely based on one’s ability to filter out the easier ones first the relatively tougher ones to score over the rest. The difficulty level questions or out of the box questions which remained un-attempted is the last priority, but one should try to learn the hidden concept so that similar question can be attempted in the forthcoming tests if time permits.

yuvaraja : WHY DONT AIMCAT FOLLOW REAL CAT QUANT WEIGHTAGE IN ARITHMETIC , ALEGRA ETC . NOW I HAVE PRACTICED ARITHMETIC BUT I DONT FIND AS MANY QUESTIONS IN AIMCAT
rahulpinnamaneni : Because you have not seen all the AIMCATs yet. You might've seen a couple of CATs at best but we have seen the last 35 years' CATs. It's good to be aware of what came in CAT last year, but it's best to be prepared for anything that can come in next year's CAT.

mucbb5a122 : I TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO SOLVE DILR QUESTIONS AND YET MY ACCURACY IS TOO LOW. ON WHAT THING SHOULD I FOCUS TO HAVE BETTER ACCURACY IN LESS TIME?
amol : I wil suggest solve daily Two sets of DILR. and make sure that you know the basics of all the topics. Next Two AIMCATs keep a target of only one set with 100% accuracy. After that two sets with 100% accuracy.

pepsu : SOMETIMES IN VAMY ACCURACY IS TOO LOW OR TOO HIGH WOULD LIKE TO KEEP MY ACCURACY MORE CONSTANT AND SAME FOR QUANTS
pradeeppandey : Analyse your performance very sincerely. Take the corrective measures to rectify the error.Once you realised that question is very easy and on the set pattern or very known to you then take a small pause and be extra careful and avoid the common trap planned by the test makers, if any. On the test day, you may still make mistakes. You are bound to allow the margin of error but at the same time, you are required to be extra careful in areas where you have proven weaknesses.

: WILL WE GET PRACTICE MOCKS UNDER "OMETS" SECTION OF THE TIME PORTAL, FOR EXAMS LIKE XAT, NMAT?
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes, of course.

pepsu : SIR CAN YOU TELL WHICH TYPE OF TOPICS TO FOCUS IN QUANTS AND LR AND DI FOR OTHER EXAMS LIKE SNAP.XAT.NMAT
pradeeppandey : For Quant CAT syllabus is more than sufficient but for LR you are required to do Reasoning-II booklet comprised of topics like Letter Series, Number Series, Coding-decoding, Input-Output etc.

nimit : WHERE CAN I GET PYQ AND SOLUTIONS?
pradeeppandey : It will appear soon on your SHP. Solutions are still available.

anu : AND YES ALSO WHEN SOMETIMES I SEE SOLUTION FOR A QUESTION IN QUANT THEN I GET STUCK IN SOME CALCULATION PART WHICH THEY HAVE DONE SO WHAT TO DO FOR THAT
rahulpinnamaneni : Such mistakes are common. The key is to not be stuck there. Keep walking! Leave the avoidable mistakes behind and look to the future.

: BUT SIR, TILL NOW THE MOCKS FOR XAT, NMAT ARE NOT PRESENT UNDER THE OMETS SECTION. WILL IT BE MADE AVAILABLE IN DUE COURSE OF TIME?
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes, absolutely.

nikhil : HOW DO WE RECOGNISE PATTERN BASED QUESTIONS? ARE THERE TIME BASED QUESTIONS? IF YES, ANY TECHNIQUE TO REALISE IT
rahulpinnamaneni : Can you be more specific please? Your question is not clear.

ugs : SIR CAN U PLEASE SUGGEST A LIST OF NOVELS TO IMPROVE MY RC SKILLS IN VARC SECTION CAT
raman : Generally non fiction books are recommended! However reading novels is not a bad idea!!

pepsu : SIR MY SCORE IS NOT INCREASING FROM 50 WHAT TO DO
rahulpinnamaneni : If your CAT score is stuck around 50 and not moving up, the problem is usually not “lack of practice hours” but lack of targeted, feedback-driven practice. Diagnose the problem first before you add more study hours, find out: Which section is the main drag? (VARC / DILR / QA) Within that section, which topics/Q-types are low accuracy? Is it a knowledge gap (not knowing concepts) or a test-taking gap (time management, silly mistakes)?

unnati : SIR HOW CAN I START THE REVISION OF QUANT SECTION TO ENSURE A THOROUGH PRACTICE
rahulpinnamaneni : How far have you come so far in Quant?

manya : SIR I GUESS I HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE APPROACH FOR VARC BUT IM TOO MUCH CONFUSED REGARDING LRDI AND AS OF QUANTS IM UNABLE TO SOLVE ANY QUESTIONS DESPITE COMPLETING ARITHMETIC FROM TIME MATERIAL PROVIDED
rahulpinnamaneni : What about online sectional tests? Maybe you struggle in timed tests.

unnati : I HAVE COMPLETED ARITHMETIC,ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY,NUMBER SYSTEM AND MODERN MATH ONCE NOW TO RECALL THE TOPICS I DID EARLIER, WHAT SHOULD BE THE STRATEGY
rahulpinnamaneni : Online Intermediate and Advanced sectional tests are great. They cover all areas in each test.

hycab5a517 : I COULDN'T COMPREHEND HIGH VOCAB RC'S AT ALL, SOMETIMES MY VARC SCORES IN AIMCATS ARE GOING TO SINGLE DIGITS. WHAT STRATEGY SHOULD I USE TO OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM.
rahulpinnamaneni : What sources are you reading from? Your general reading practice, I mean.

manya : SIR DO SECTIONAL AND SAMCATS HAVE TIME LIMIT
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes

vinay_01 : HOW MANY MOCKS SHOULD I GIVE IN A WEEK
rahulpinnamaneni : What level of preparation are you at currently?

shubhkarman : I GET STUCK ON QA QUES, HENCE UNABLE TO ATTEMPT ALL OR GIVE ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF TIME TO ALL QUESTIONS. IS THERE A BETTER WAY OF ATTEMPTING QA QUESTIONS?
ashwinvariyar : Practice. Go for SM and then Sectional Tests. Get comfortable topic by topic.

manya : SIR DO WE HAVE CHAPTERWISE TESTS?
rahulpinnamaneni : Yes

manya : WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SECTIONAL AIMCAT AND SAMCAT
rahulpinnamaneni : There's nothing called sectional AIMCAT. SAMCAT or AIMCAT-SA means Self-Administered. You can take them whenever you want, without the compulsion to take it in a test window.

manya : ARE AIMCATS AND MOCKS SAME?
rahulpinnamaneni : AIMCAT = All India Mock CAT. So AIMCATs are also mocks. What's your question?

manya : WHEN SHOULD WE START PREPARING FOR PYQ
rahulpinnamaneni : You mean going through PYQs?

manya : YES SIR GOING THROUGH PYQ
rahulpinnamaneni : Good. As long as you've covered the syllabus reasonably, PYQs can be covered at any leg of your preparation.

shubhkarman : HOW TO INCREASE MY READING SPEED, AS SOMETIMES I HAVE TO READ A LINE 2-3 TIMES JUST TO UNDERSTAND IT AS THE RC SEEMS A BIT BORING.
rahulpinnamaneni : RC (Reading Comprehension) Focus on understanding, not speed at the start. Practise “Active Reading” → summarise each paragraph in 1 line in your head. Identify the main idea and tone before touching questions. In the exam, do easier-looking RCs first (based on topic familiarity, sentence complexity, and Q-type).

vinay_01 : I HAVE COMPLETED THE ALL THE TOPICS IN QUANT EXCEPT GEOMETRY , PRACTICED DILR QUESTIONS EVERYDAY FROM 2 MONTHS AND READIMG VARC PARAGRAPH DAILY IN VARC AND DILR THE SYLLABUS IS COMPLETED
raman : Start Geometry without any further delay. Also do coordinate geometry and Functions Graphs. Let your preparation include revision.

pepsu : SIR CA YOU TELL A SCHEDULE THAT LIKE I HEARD FROM SOMEONE TO COMPLETE ALL THE BOOKLETS BEFORE SEMPTEMBER AND DO ONLY AIMCATS AND MOCKS AFTER SEPTEMBER
rahulpinnamaneni : Different things work for different people. There's no one-size-fits-all. But it's strongly recommended to be done with the booklets before progressing.

shubhkarman : FOR EXAMPLE IF I GO THROUGH MY QA ANALYSIS, I HAVE BETTER ACCURACY IN ARITHMETIC RATHER THAN OTHER TOPICS, IN THIS CASE SHOULD MY ATTEMPT BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT AS COMPARED TO OTHER APPROACHES.
rahulpinnamaneni : Maximize your marks by attempting more questions in your strong areas first and being selective in weaker areas until you improve them over time. Meanwhile, continue targeted practice on weaker topics during study sessions.