harshi : SIR, I HAVE DONE BOTH THE BOOKS OF RCS AND VA (SET A AND SET B) AND PYQS TOO. I AM GIVING SECTIONALS ALSO BUT NEED SOME MATERIAL TO PRACTICE. PLEASE SUGGEST ME.
thomas : You have 30 aimcat sa and the aimcats also . Try those. You can also try the TRISHNA books for RC

krcab5a017 : SIR I AM AN AVERAGE STUDENT IN ACADEMIC SO HOW CAN I PREPARE TO GET A DECENT SCORE.
thomas : Start with the basic study material for each topic. Do the sectional tests of that topic after you finish each topic. Take the tests during the test window. Do not let the scores bother you and try to learn from the mistakes you made while writing the test

mucbb5a315 : HOW TO PREPARE FOR QUANT
mandar : Practice is the only way to prepare for quant. After basics are done, solve sectional tests, Questions from book etc

hana : I HAVE GIVEN 8 AIMCATS TILL NOW AND AT FIRST THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN SCORE FROM 60S TO 70S TO NOW 80S. BUT I AM UNABLE TO BREAK THE PLATEAU POST 80S. WHAT CAN I DO DIFFERENTLY TO CONSISTENTLY TARGET A SCORE OF 90S-100S?
thomas : The progress you made shows ghat you are in the right track. Small hiccups are part of such journeys and donlet them discourage you. If you feel you are putting in the same effort, try to change your strategy of attempting thevtest. You can start with va instead of rc or try just two ledi sets only in case you were doing more attempts before

jagadeesh : GOOD EVENING SIR...MY QUERY IS RELATED TO PREPARATION IS IT BETTER TO COVER ALL SUBJECTS IN A DAY OR TO ORAGANIZE A SUBJECT PER WEEK
abhishek : I think it is better to cover multiple areas in a day. I see atleast two advantages out of it - 1. Preparation/focus on all areas. 2. This will also help in avoiding overdoing one section and eventually losing interest.

yukta : THIS IS MY FIRST CHAT SESSION SO I WANT TO KNOW HOW EXAMS AND PREPARATION SHOULD BE DONE ALSO TEACH ME FROM BASICS
abhishek : Understand the following points about preparation 1. Attend all the classes and ask QUESTIONS, if you do not follow a particular concept. 2. Practice handout questions. 3. Learn application of concepts by solving multiple questions from a given concept. 4. Take tests regularly and keep a tab on improvement. 5. Develop skills which are not taught formally like strategy, time mgmt, question selection etc.

keerthii : SIR, IF I FOCUS MORE ON QUANT AND VARC THAN ON LOGICAL REASONING, CAN I STILL SCORE A GOOD MARKS?
abhishek : Depends on what your definition of 'good' marks is. Yes VARC and QA are scoring sections. Still I would suggest to focus on all the areas.

mucbb5a315 : HOW TO PREPARE FOR QUANTS TO GET DECENT SCORES
mandar : Practice quant from Handouts, books, sectional tests etc

shauraytiwari : SIR FOR AIMCAT 2617, WHAT COULD AVE BEEN THE BEST STRATEGY FOR DILR SECTION. WHAT WERE THE TWO SETS WE COULD HAVE INITIALLY TARGETED, AND NOT FELL FOR A DIFFICULT SET?
thomas : The dilr section this time was not very difficult. All sets except the stack bar one were easy or average and a good student would have done 3 out of the four sets. Set selection was not very important in this aimcat as the difficult set was towards the end and you would not have suffered had you started with any of the other four

mucbb5a671 : ITS JUST 15-16 DAYS THAT MY BATCH HAS STARTED..CAN YOU GIVE SOME TIPS TO PREPARE LIKE KIND OF STUDY PLAN OR WHAT SHOULD BE MY STRATEGY TO CRACK CAT 25?
mandar : You make your own study plan, which suits you. I suggest you meet any of the faculty members at centre, where you enrolled. face to face interaction would help you, and a better plan can be designed.

samarth : ARE THE STUDY MATERIALS PROVIDED ENOUGH FOR BASIC AND CONCEPT BUILDING IF WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ATTEND ANY LECTURE/CLASS DUE TO BEING A WORKING PROFFESSIONAL?
thomas : The study material if you cover them completely, are enough. But what will you do if something is not clear. Try to attend the class as far as possible. The concepts get drilled in when you do both classes and study material

hana : IN RC PASSAGES, I AM ABLE TO ELIMINATE 2 OUT OF THE 4 OPTION CHOICES IN A QUESTION. BUT I FIND MYSELF STUCK ON THE REMAINING 2 (AND I FIND THAT THE ANSWER IS ALMOST ALWAYS IN THOSE REMAINING 2 CHOICES). HOW DO I MAKE THAT FINAL CALL?
philipthomas : 1. Defer , finish with the other questions related to the same passage and then come back and work upon the 2 option question. 2 Differentiate - identify the difference between the 2 options , when you do that , you will recognise the answer. Drop - if you are able to answer the remaining 3 questions related to this passage , drop and move on to the next passage

hycbb5a290 : GOOD EVENING SIR, IN QUANT WHAT ARE THE MAIN TOPICS WHICH NOT ONLY BUILD OUR FOUNDATION BUT ALSO CAN GUARANTEE THE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE ?
abhishek : All the topics are important. I Suggest you focus on all areas as we are in July. Important topics in CAT can only be seen from the past trends, which can change in CAT 2025.

swati : HOW DO I IMPROVE DI SECTION?IM NOT ABLE TO SOLVE ANY QUESTIONS IN AIMCAT
thomas : The sets in aimcats are not difficult and you can expect similar sets innthe exam. In case you are starting at a very low score, try to select t one set even if it takes ten minutes. For the next 40 mins , try to solve that slowly and accurately such that you at least can look at 75 percentile for a start

samarth : AND ALSO WHAT IS A GOOD PERCENTILE IN AIMCAT?
thomas : Anything above 85 percentile is very good at this stage

uday : SIR CURRENTLY I ATTEMPTED 2 AIMCATS AND I GOT AN AVERAGE OF 44.5 PERCENTILE GIVE ME AN IDEA WHERE AM I IN ACTUAL CAT WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU SUGGEST FOR ME TO IMPROVE MY PERCENTILE
tarannumraza : You should do a section wise thorough analysis - questions you got wrong, those not attempted, time taken for the ones you got right...But before all this, what is your preparation before the AIMCATs? You should be regular with your daily practice from the study material & the sectional tests. Revise the fundamentals.

aryan : WHEN WILL ANSWERS GET UPLOADED?
thomas : Which answers? If you are talking about this chat, we are answering live and will be uploaded on to chat archives in a weeks time

rana : I AM ABLE TO SOLVE RC IF I HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME BUT UNABLE TO SOLVE WITH IN TIME CONSTRAINS , WHAT SHOULD I DO ?
thomas : This is the issue with most students. Forget about tryito do all the four and try to do two RCs in the time so that you have more time per RC. This should help you with the accuracy snd help you score well

hycbb5a290 : GOOD EVENING SIR, FOR A NON-ENGINEER/NON-MATH STUDENT WHAT TOPICS IN QUANT WOULD YOU SUGGEST TO BUILD A SOLID BASE WHICH NOT ONLY COVER THE FOUNDATION OF QUANT BUT CAN ALSO GAURANTEE MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE?
mandar : You are non engineering or engineering student, is not really important. Look, for CAT its high school mathematics. So you should ideally prepare evrything

dlca5a157 : HOW DO I INCREASE MY ACCURACY IN VARC AS MY ACCURACY IS VERY LOW. ALSO HOW SHOULD I GO FORWARD WITH VARC SECTION? SHOULD I ATTEMPT VA FIRST OR RC FIRST? ALSO, HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH RC SHOULD BE ATTEMPTED AND WHICH NOT?
philipthomas : Always start with the RC section as it requires patience and focus, if you push it to the latter half , you will feel the time pressure and start panicking. With regards to choice of passages, the best method is to train yourself to be comfortable with all topics, you do have 4 and a half months for that.

ri : HI GOOD EVENING, WHAT IS THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF QUESTIONS TO ATTEMPT CORRECTLY TO PASS THE SECTIONAL CUT OFFS FOR EACH SECTION. FOR LRDI I AM ATTEMPTING TWO SETS, QA I’M ATTEMPTING ONLY 8 QUESTIONS SO FAR. RC- I AM ATTEMPTING TWO SETS IN COMBINATION WITH VA QUESTIONS. ANY BETTER STRATEGY?
abhishek : Difficult to answer. Cannot guess, it will depend on the difficulty level of the test.

yukta : SOO I AM AN AVERAGE STUDENT BUT IM STILL CONFUSED HOW TO START
abhishek : Start by making a preparation plan. Start with easier topics, build confidence gradually.

shreya : HELLO,IN VARC I WAS UNABLE TO SELECT CORRECT PASSAGE TO ATTEMPT AND ENDED UP SELECTING DIFFICULT ONES THINKING THAT I WOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THEM. BUT I WASN'T AND TIME TAKEN ALSO WAS VERY MUCH. ONLY 10 MIND WERE LEFT FOR VA. AND IT RESULTED IN MORE WRONG THAN RIGHT. WHAT SHALL I DO. I AM REALLY SCARED. LAST TIME I GOT A VERY GOOD ACCURACY BUT THIS TIME IT CAME DRASTICALLY DOWN
philipthomas : If by chance you select a passage that is beyond you, do not panic , check if there questions connected to the part that you have understood and answer only them . With regard to the VA section , the number of questions to attempt should be limited by the time available, you need an average of 2 minutes per question , so , if you have only 10 minutes in hand , attempt just 5 questions.

: SIR FOR QUANT I HAD FINISHED ARITHMETIC MODULE 1 ABOUT A MONTH AGO AND HAVE TO OTHER TOPICS NOW ,BUT SIR WHILE GIVING THE AIMCATS I AM UNABLE TO RECALL MANY CONCEPTS OF ARITHMETIC,SIR WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW SHOULD I SOLVE MODULE 1 AGAIN
abhishek : It is good practice to keep revising old concepts. It is very natural to forget key concepts, if you stay out of touch for long. I suggest you have a plan for revision along with new preparation.

jagadeesh : ACADEMICALLY I AM WEAK AT MATHEMATICS SIR , IS IT BETTER TO SKIP QUANT AND GO FOR THE SECTIONS WHICH AM GOOD AT OR KEEP THE HIGHER EFFORT IN IT FROM BASICS?
thomas : Unfortunately quant is one whole section and you cannot skip it. The scoring in other sections is not going to make up for the poor score in quant and your o really percents going to drop significantly. It is better to study at least one major topic like arithmetic which should help you get a decent score in that section

keerthii : DILR TAKES TIME UP TO 20 MINS TO SOLVE A SINGLE QUESTION. SO, IF I TOTALLY SKIP THAT PART IN EXAM CAN I STILL SCORE UP TO 100 MARKS?
thomas : Dilr section has a 40 minutes time limit and you will not be able to attend any other section during this time.even if you take 20 mins for a set, you should able to do close to two sets in the allotted time and if done corre tly, that is good enough for more than 90 percentile

samarth : ACTUALLY I HAVE NOT COVERED ALL THE TOPICS TILL NOW BUT I AM JUST ATTEMTPING FEW AIMCATS TO GET AN IDEA OF WHERE I AM CURRENTLY IN THE PATH. AND ALSO I HAVE BEGUN MY PREPARATION PROPERLY ONLY 20 DAYS AGO. I AM SORT OFF ABOVE AVERAGE IN ACADEMICS AND WILL BE ABLE TO COVER UP THE TOPICS QUICKLY BEFORE NOVEMBER. CURRENTLY I AM GETTING AROUND 50 PERCENTILE WITH ONLY HAVING ATTENDED SOME 20-25 CLASSES LECTURES.. WHAT CAN IT BE TRANSLATED TO ACTUAL CAT SCORE?
tarannumraza : Good to know that you have started your preparation and are taking AIMCATs too for checking where you stand. Go through the basics of topics covered in class- practice the same from the study material - take the online sectional tests( 3 levels). Keep on taking the AIMCATs. Remember to analyse everything that you do. You can keep a log of your analysis similar to the type given for the AIMCATs. You will see a lot of improvement.

aspirant : HOW TO GIVE AIMCAT WITH CONSISTENCY BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW
abhishek : The question is unclear. Based on my understanding of your question, I suggest you not to focus on your scores initially for a few mocks.

sree : IM STUCK WITH GETTING 60-70 PERCENTILE EVERY AIMCAT, IM UNABLE TO PLAN MY TIMETABLE EFFICIENTLY AND I NEED HELP
philipthomas : Consult your faculty , ask him to analyse and identify your weak areas and to give you a study plan by which you gain proficiency in those areas.

priya : HELLO SIR, CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN QUESTION 4 IN QUANT
asim : It will be difficult to explain it here. I suggest you to ask this from the faculty at your center.

cataspirant : AFTER HAVING COMPLETED STUDY MATERIAL QUESTIONS. SHOULD WE REPEAT THE SAME QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE?
mandar : In my opinion, solving solved question is NOT revision. Solving a new question is revision.

ri : I HAVE BEEN STUDYING VIA THE STUDY MATERIAL BOOKS GIVEN. ARE THE HANDOUT PAGES BETTER? AS THERE IS LIMITED TIME- WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER IF ANY?
abhishek : Yes. Three material is sufficient.

mucbb5a315 : WHICH STRATEGY SHOULD I USE IN VALR. MY STRONG AREAS ARE ODD ONE OUT AND PARA SUMMARY ONLY BUT GET LOW MARKS IN RCS
philipthomas : You cannot have a strategy with such limited resources , suggest that you work upon developing your knowledge and skills before worrying about strategies.

ndcbb5a107 : I STARTED MY PREPARATION FROM THIS MONTH SO HOW MUCH SELF STUDY TIME IS REQUIRED FOR ACHIEVING GOOD SCORE ?
abhishek : Assuming average level of intelligence (80-85 level), I think appx 6-8 hours of study spread over all the areas is sufficient.

mucbb5a315 : IN VARC SUBJECT WHEN IT COMES TO SOLVING RCS OF CLASS MODULES AND HANDOUT MANY OF QUESTIONS I GET IT CORRECT BUT IN AIMCATS I GET LESS ACCURACY IN RCS HOW SHOULD I IMPROVE THAT
tarannumraza : Make sure that you go through the study material and the online sectional tests. These are of a graded difficulty level & will help you tackle the difficult passages too. Plus there are other full length tests- SAMCATs. Do go throiugh the ELTs too.

keerthii : SIR, ONLY FOUR MONTHS LEFT FOR THE EXAM, AND I AM STARTING FEEL ANXIOUS. IF I BEGIN PREPARING SERIOUSLY FROM NOW, IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO SCORE 85 PERCENTILE AND ABOVE
philipthomas : There is enough and more time to go higher than the percentiles mentioned by you.

mucab5a496 : HOW MUCH HOUR A DAY IS SUFFICIENT WITH SECTIONAL TESTS TO ACHIEVE 90%ILE FOR NGEM
thomas : This is an aptitude test and unlike exams like iitjee , more hours generally do not get you good marks. The amount of time you need to put in will depend on the level you are at now and how fast you can put into use what you learned.

narayan : HELLO SIR,I M SCORING VERY LOW AT SECTIONAL TEST AND AIMCAT
govindrajan : Go through classroom notes, classroom handouts and study material a couple of more times. This could be becuase of lack of sufficient practice. For each topic follow this approach in that order - Classroom handout, exercise (a) of basic study material, online foundation test, exercise (b).

shreya : I AM SHREYA AND NOBODY ANSWERS MY QN AND I KEEP WAITING. REQUEST TO PLS ANSWER. THANKS
philipthomas : Your question has been answered.

531 : SIR..I'M GETTING 4 RIGHT AND 6 WRONG IN VARC.. LIKE.. THE NUMBER OF WRONG ANSWERS IS MORE ALWAYS.. ALSO I'M GETTING DISTRACTED ALWAYS WHEN ITS VARC.. WHAT TO DO TO INCREASE FOCUS AND INCREASE PERCENTILE.. PLEASE GIVE TIPS ON VARC.. OTHER THAN READING MORE, READING NEWS PAPER ETC.
tarannumraza : A good way to improve concentration while reading RCs is to make small noters - just the keywords for each paragraph. Your mind will be occupied in searching for the key idea of each paragraph and you will have a flowchart of the idea-flow ready. This will help a lot in answering the questions- especially those based on the overall understanding of the passage ( idea-flow, central idea, tone).

aspirant99 : GREETINGS SIR, IN THE LATEST AIMCAT MY SCORE HAS IMPROVED, PLEASE TELL ME THE STRATEGY TO ESCALATE MY SCORE FURTHER, AND HOW CAN I STAY CONSISTENT IN THE UPCOMING MOCK TESTS?
tarannumraza : Revise the basics of the topics you go through in class. Attempt questions of varying difficulty levels from the study material plus the online sectional tests. Study the AIMCATs analysis carefully- especially the sub-area analysis. Make notes of your regular mistakes - this log will help you focus on key areas of weakness.

drcnb5q109 : BEING AN WORKING PROFESSIONAL HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY VARC SECTION, UPON ANALYZING THE PAST AIMCATS, I HAVE A CONFIDENCE ON QUANT AND DILR BUT VARC IS CONTANTLY AN AREA OF CONCERN FOR ME, I AM NOT ABLE TO CLEAR THE CUTOFF IN THAT SECTION, WHAT STRATEGY I MUST FOLLOW FOR VARC SO AS TO CONQUER THE AREA.
tarannumraza : The VARC section requires regular practice. Go through the study material plus the online sectional tests. RCs atleast 5 days a week. You can focus on one type of para-based question every week. Para-summaries are like small RCs- focus on tone too not just the main topic. The sentence placement and the odd sentence questions are like the subsets of parajumbles. Do not attempt many parabased questions in one go while practising. Take up sets of 5. Answer & analyse. Use the learnings to answer the next set of 5 questions. Have patience. You will see improvememt with steady & regular practice.

daredevil : I AM REALLY WEAK AT ALGEBRA AND HAVE NOT STUDIED MATH AFTER CLASS 10TH. SO, WHAT SHOULD BE MY STRATEGY
abhishek : Since we have more than four months for CAT, I suggest you prepare for those topics at basic level.

mucab5a051 : WHAT ARE SOME SOURCES I CAN USE TO IMPROVE MY VARC? I HAVE BEEN READING INDIAN EXPRESS, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH IMPROVEMENT IN MY COMPREHENDING SKILLS. SHOULD I START READING AEON ESSAYS
tarannumraza : Good to read newspapers but you will be able to judge your understanding of what you have read only through questions based on the passage. Do go through the Study material and the online sectional tests. These along with the analysis will help you pinpoint the cause for your mistakes. The progress in VARC is slow and steady with regular practice.

fazal : WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO IMPROVE THE DILR SECTION, SPECIFICALLY THE DATA INTERPRETATION PART?
mandar : practice, identify your strengths, weaknesses etc. Work on weak areas etc

fazal : HOW SHOULD I GO ABOUT COMPLETING THE QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE SYLLABUS EFFECTIVELY? ANY TIPS TO SPEED UP CALCULATIONS IN THE QUANT SECTION?
abhishek : Divide three topics into five-six groups(Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra etc.) and have timelines for completing these topics. Calculation speed can be improved by learning tricks, practicing questions multiple times.

fazal : HOW MANY QUESTIONS SHOULD ONE IDEALLY ATTEMPT IN THE QUANT SECTION FOR A GOOD SCORE? WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL TIME TO SPEND PER SECTION DURING PRACTICE AND IN THE ACTUAL EXAM?
abhishek : Good attempt will depend on the difficulty level. I suggest, looking at past year trends, around 12-13 +, with good accuracy is good workout

ri : HELLO, HOW ACCURATELY DOES AIMCAT SCORES COMPARE TO FINAL CAT SCORES? DO STUDENTS USUALLY SCORE AROUND THE SAME AS IN AIMCATS OR THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE?
philipthomas : The AIMCAT scores are indicative of what you can expect at the CAT , with the rider that you do not decide that your present score is the maximum possible at the CAT , remember your preparation is not yet complete

keerthii : CAN I GET 85 AND ABOVE PERCENTILE IN MY FIRST ATTEMPT ITSELF
abhishek : Yes. Possible with proper preparation.

fazal : SHOULD I DEDICATE EACH DAY TO INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OR ALTERNATE BETWEEN QUANT, DILR, AND VARC ON DIFFERENT DAYS?
thomas : This is completely an individual choice and you should try what suits you the best and doesn't bore you after some time. It is always better to give more time on the section you are weakest in as the scope for improvement is the highest there

cataspirant : DOES AIMCAT HAVE SAME LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY QUESTIONS AS CAT?
mandar : Largely yes, But there are some questions which are tougher when compared with actual CAT questions

pranavjoshii : GENERALLY HOW MANY SECTIONS WE SHOULD AIM TO DO FOR DILR SECTION AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THE BEST ONE QUICKLY?
thomas : Two sets done accurately should get you more than 95 percentile in most cases. You need to spend the first 5 to 7 minutes in identifying 2 or 3 doable sets among the five given. Do not panic if the set takes slightly more time than you thought. Accuracy is the key when the section is difficult

keerthii : AIMCAT SEEMS VERY TOUGH FOR ME. SO, WILL THE CAT EXAM BE EASIER THAN AIMCATS, OR WILL IT BE AT THE SAME LEVEL?
thomas : The aimcats which happened in the last few weeks had sections which are of the same level or were easier than cat.

ri : IN QUANT SECTION- HOW DO I KNOW WHICH QUESTIONS TO PICK AND WHICH TO AVOID? FOR THE BASIC CONCEPT ONES I USUALLY PICK THEM EASILY BUT SOMETIMES WHAT I FEEL WILL NOT TAKE MUCH TIME, ENDS UP TAKING MORE TIME WITH CALCULATION ETC. IS THERE ANY KIND OF SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS TO PICK UP?
abhishek : This varies from student to student, topic to topic, difficulty level etc. This skill of selecting the right question type improves with time and effort.

fazal : SIR IN QUANTS IT TAKES ME MORE THAN 5-6 HOURS TO UNDERSTAND ONE TOPIC SO HOW TO REDUCE THAT SPPED.
abhishek : I think that is a fair amount of time.

aryan : HEY GUYS ARE YOU ABLE TO ACCESS THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AS WELL?
tarannumraza : What is your question?

nitish : HELLO SIR, I HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE CLASSES IN MONTH OF JUNE. I GAVE AIMCATS AND MY SCORE OVERALL WAS JUST 27 MARKS. I REALLY FEEL UNDERCONFIDENT FOR THE SAME AND I FEEL THAT I AM LAGGING A LOT BEHIND IN THE PREP. I REALLY WANT TO REACH ATLEAST THE 60S MARK. WHAT ARE THE IDEAL THINGS I SHOULD DO AND KEEP IN MIND.
abhishek : Since you joined recently, right now the focus should be on taking the tests, doing the analysis and developing learnings.

sree : CURRENTLY I'M IN THE RANGE OF 60-70 PERCENTILE, IS IT VERY HARD FOR ME CATCH UP WITH THE GOOD SCORES LIKE 99 PERCENTILE? HOW MUCH HOURS OF PRACTICE PER DAY IS REQUIRED TO REACH THAT LEVEL COZ IM CURRENTLY IN MY 4TH YR PURSUING ENGINEERING
abhishek : Hello Sree, difficult to answer. I guess 5-6 hours of preparation must happen. Since you are in college, try to compensate by preparing on Sundays.

hana : IS IT OKAY TO USE CALCULATOR IN AIMCATS (AND EVENTUALLY IN THE ACTUAL CAT EXAML)? OR SHOULD I TRY TO AVOID IT AS MUCH AS I CAN?
abhishek : It is okay. But try to improve calculation skill as there is no calculator in other exams.

dlcab5a637 : HELLO SIR, HOW TO DEAL WITH RCS? I USUALLY UNDERSTAND THE CENTRAL IDEAS OF RC WELL BUT I HAVE TROUBLE FINDING ANSWERS IN BETWEEN THE RCS
tarannumraza : Good that you understand the central idea. Keep the idea-flow and the tone of the author in mind while reading the passage. This is what a thorough reading is about. Some questions can be answered on the complete/ overall understanding of the passage. Some questions require you to go back to the passage and cross check options. If you have the idea-flow in mind, you will be able to scan the passage fast for the answer.

keerthii : HOW MANY QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED CORRECTLY TO SCORE AN 85 PERCENTILE AND ABOVE
abhishek : Last year it was in single digits.

narayan : SIR I HAVE COMPLETED 70% OF SYLLABUS BCZ I STARTED IN FEB BUT I M NOT FEELING CONFIDENT AND ALSO LOW SCORING IN SEC-TEST AND AIMCAT NOW FEEL DEMOTIVATED WHAT SHOULD I DO ???
govindrajan : Reduce number of attempts in mock tests and make sure that whatever you answered is correct. Avoiding negative marks gives a great boost to your scores.

swati : GOOD EVENING SIR, WHILE PREPARING FOR QUANT I DO THE SPECIAL SUPPORT MATERIAL AND THE LECTURES AND THE FIRST EXERCISE, AM I FIT TO TAKE THE SECTIONAL TEST AND MOVE ON TO ANOTHER CHAPTER?
mandar : i think yes. sectional tests have also levels, Start with foundation, then go for intermediate, then advanced level

mucab5a031 : DOUBT 1: I FIND LR DIFFICULT COMPARED TO DI. CAN I JUST SOLVE DI QUESTIONS AND GET 95%ILE+?
govindrajan : Two sets will take you to 90+%ile. Of late the sets in DILR are such, each set has shades of DI and LR. At least two questions in the third set will ensure 95%ile.

sree : I HAVE MISSED SOME CLASSES AND WHICH IS THE BEST PLACE PLACE TO GET MY THEORY NOTES/BASICS FROM?
abhishek : You can check online videos.

nihar : HELLO SIR I ALWAYS SCORE 4/8 IN RC . I DO ELIMINATE THE WRONG OPTIONS, BUT THE TWO THAT ARE REMAINING ALWAYS CONFUSE ME, WHAT TIP WOULD YOU GIVE TO HIT THE ACCURATE ANSWER ?
tarannumraza : It is quite common to be able to eliminate two options and then get confused about the two left. In such cases, read the question again. Then try to find a difference between the two options. There has to be a difference. Pick the option more closely related to the question.

rana : SIR WHAT SHOULD BE THE STRATEGY TO SELECT 2 RC OUT OF 4 RC GIVEN IN AIMCAT?
philipthomas : Do not try to compare all the 4 passages , if the first passage is comfortable , start there , if not , look at the next , in this manner select 2.

zuzu : I'M FACING ISSUE IN VARC AND LRDI HOW DO I PREPARE IN IT . ALSO, GETTING LOW SCORE IN MOCKS
tarannumraza : For both, regular practice and analysis is the key.

dk : WHAT SHOULD THE IDEAL SCORE IN VERBAL ABILITY PART OF VARC?
philipthomas : 15 marks would be a good score.

swati : THANK YOU SIR I HAVE ALSO TRIED GIVING MOCK TESTS AND AM SCORING LESS PERCENTILE AND SCORING IN 20'S RANGE, ITS A LITTLE DEMOTIVATING HOWEVER I AM FOCUSED ON COMPLETING SYLLABUS
govindrajan : One should start giving mock tests as early as one month after starting preparing. By that time you get a fair idea of the exam. In the initial mock tests, one should focus on getting only positive marks, i.e. avoid giving wrong answers in an attempt to answer a higher number of questions. If you are able to answer only five questions in the first mock, make sure that those five are correct. If one attempts more questions and get many of them wrong, it only causes demotivation. On the other hand, answer very few questions and gert all of them correct. This boosts your enthusiasm to study well. Use mock tests to build a strategy for your self. Fix a small number of questions from each section to attempt in the first few mock tests. Make sure that all are correct. After a couple of mock tests, increase the number of attempts just by two or three. This pattern helps in buiding confidence levels.

rana : AFTER SELECTION OF RC HOW TO PROCEED TO SOLVE IN TIME EFFICIENT MANNER?
tarannumraza : It is important to understand what the question wants. Be careful not to mark an option that is true according to the passage but not an answer to the question. Use elimination method to narrow down to a few options. This will help improve accuracy.

fazal : SIR IT TAKES ME MORE THAN 12 MINUTES JUST TO SOLVE ONE RC HOW TO IMPROVE THIS
philipthomas : Check the timer after reading a passage , if you have taken 6 minutes to read , you need to finish answering in 3 minutes , to put it better , answer only those questions that you can answer in 3 minutes.

lnca5a061 : SIR I HAVE SCORED IN 30S RANGE IN 3 MOCKSIN JUNE BUT IN LAST 2 MOCKS I SCORED IN LOWER SINGLE DIGITS IN VARC HOW TO FIX THIS.. ALTHOUGH I UNDERSTAND 70 %OF PASSAGE BUT I END UP GETTING LOW MARKS SOMETIMES
tarannumraza : If you understand the passage well, you should be able to answer the difficult questions too. Read the questions carefully and look for even small clues in the answer options. Remember, the answer to a critical reasoning based question is never a restatement of the passage. Be mindful of if true/ if false/ least/ most/ except words in the question.

zuzu : SIR I REVISE ALL THE CONCEPTS OF CLASS, SOLVE SM BOOKLET IS IT ENOUGH? AND ALSO GIVE MOCKS BUT I THINK MY SPEED IS STILL SLOW
abhishek : Yes. It is mostly enough. Also, speed increase over time.

keerthii : SIR MY SCORES IN AIMCATS ARE DEMOTIVATING ME BUT I AM TRYING MY BEST. IS IT SOMETHING I SHOULD WORRY ABOUT?
philipthomas : You need to identify weak areas at the earliest and work upon those areas so that you get better scores.

sanchita : SIR HOW CAN WE PREPARE FOR LRDI?
govindrajan : For each topic follow this approach in that order - Classroom handout, exercise (a) of basic study material, online foundation test, exercise (b). After covering a few topics, solve online intermediate tests. Lot- 2 material provide practice in higher difficulty level questions.

fazal : WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SECTIONAL TESTS OR FULL-LENGTH MOCKS AT THIS STAGE?
tarannumraza : Sectional tests will help you improve in different topics. The full length test will help you with time-management and tackling questions of different topics & different passages together. So both are important.

cbcab5a005 : SIR MY MARKS IN AIMCAT IS FLUCTUATING EVEN I OBTAINING NEGATIVE MARKS WHAT SHOULD I DO TO IMPROVE IT
govindrajan : In the initial mock tests, focus on getting only positive marks, i.e. avoid giving wrong answers in an attempt to answer a higher number of questions. If you are able to answer only five questions in the first mock, make sure that those five are correct. If one attempts more questions and get many of them wrong, it only causes demotivation. On the other hand, answer very few questions and gert all of them correct. This boosts your enthusiasm to study well. Use mock tests to build a strategy for your self. Fix a small number of questions from each section to attempt in the first few mock tests. Make sure that all are correct. After a couple of mock tests, increase the number of attempts just by two or three. This pattern helps in buiding confidence levels.

fazal : HOW TO IMPROVE MY MOCK SCORES?
govindrajan : In the initial mock tests, one should focus on getting only positive marks, i.e. avoid giving wrong answers in an attempt to answer a higher number of questions. If you are able to answer only five questions in the first mock, make sure that those five are correct. If one attempts more questions and get many of them wrong, it only causes demotivation. On the other hand, answer very few questions and gert all of them correct. This boosts your enthusiasm to study well. Use mock tests to build a strategy for your self. Fix a small number of questions from each section to attempt in the first few mock tests. Make sure that all are correct. After a couple of mock tests, increase the number of attempts just by two or three. This pattern helps in buiding confidence levels.

paridhi : THERE ARE MANY PRACTICE BOOKS ON QUANT, BUT GIVEN MY LIMITED TIME FRAME, HOW SHOULD I PRIORITIZE WHICH ONE TO FOCUS ON?
mandar : Solving each and every question from every book is not the purpose. Solve various types of questions, and also tests. solve questions such that it covers all the types of concepts

lavanya : HOW TO INCREASE MY READING SPEED, I HAVE TO AGAIN AND AGAIN GO BACK TO REREAD THE PARAS
philipthomas : After each paragraph , do a quick recap of what you read before moving on to the next paragraph, this will enable you to answer without a second reading. You should practise answering questions without a second reference , soon you will find that you bo not need a second reading.

yashvrdhn : GOOD EVENING, SIR I'VE JUST STARTED PREPARING FOR CAT SERIOUSLY AND I'VE GIVEN SOME MOCKS RECENTLY AND FOUND OUT THAT MY ACCURACY IS GOOD BUT MY SPEED IN IS VERY SLOW. I HAD TO LEAVE 2 FULL SETS OF DILR PROBLEM. SO HOW SHOULD I PLAN MY PREPARATION.
govindrajan : This is very good, since you started preparation recently.Continue practicing and taking mock tests. As you practice you will be able to attempt more number of questions. Do not increase number of attempts at the cost accuracy.

dlcab5a637 : SIR HOW TO RETAIN THE MEANINGS OF WORDS. WHEN I ENCOUNTER A WORD, I SEARCH ITS MEANING BUT AFTER SOMETIME, I FORGET IT AND WHEN I ENCOUNTER THE WORD AGAIN, I AM UNABLE TO RECALL THE MEANING
philipthomas : The first time you encounter such a tough word , write down the meaning in your study material or rough book. If you write the meaning , you will not forget it.

harsita : HOW TO IMPROVE VARC. I READ AEON ESSAYS, EDITORIALS AND PRACTICE RC 5-6 EVRYDAY. STILL MY SCORE IS NOT IMPROVING
tarannumraza : Reading helps you get familiar with different topics/ different styles of writing. Good to read. But It is the exercises in the study material plus the online sectional tests that will let you know whether you have really understood what you have read. So please go through them.

vaibhavi : ANY TIPS ON HOW TO ANSWER INFERENCE BASED OR CENTRAL IDEA KIND OF QUESTIONS WHICH ARE SUBJECTIVE IN NATURE IN VARC?
tarannumraza : Remember that a restatement is never an answer to an inference based question. The correct option will have something extra - more that what is directly stated.

lalit : SIR HOW TO CHOOSE A SET IN LRDI
govindrajan : In general, sets that have a lot of information require less logical analysis. While the sets that do not have much information require a lot of logical analysis. The question format also gives some indication. The 'if conditions' in the questions indicate that we may get more than one possible case., Answer choices like "Cannot be determined" also indicate, though not necessarily, the possibility of multiple cases.

lalit : HOW MANY SETS SHOULD WE SOLVE DAILY
govindrajan : As many as possible. The more the better.

lnca5a061 : SIR CAN YOU TELL ME PLEASE AT WHAT RAW SCORE OF AIMCAT ONE CAN FILL FORMS OF IIFT MDI AS THEIR CUT OFFS ARE HIGH AND APPLICATION FEE TOO ..SO IF ONE GETS AN IDEA HE SHE CAN EXPECT CALLS OF RESPECTIVE COLLEGE ELSE IT WOULD GO WASTE OF MONEY
philipthomas : The scores that you obtain in the last 3 AIMCATs would be good enough to select the right colleges.

vineet : HOW TO PREPARE FOR VARC FOR CAT STARTING NOW?
tarannumraza : Focus on the study material booklets and the online sectional tests. Attempt at least three RCs in one sitting per day. Check the answer keys. Analyse why you goyt some answers wrong. Co pare your answer to the correct answer. Why is this the correct one? Did you read too fast and missed out on key information? Did you misinterpret the question? Check these yourself before you go through the explanation given.

lavanya : SIR I AM SCORING 14-18 IN QUANTS, 10-14 IN LRDI BUT GETTING SINGLE DIGIT SCORES(4-8) IN VARC. PLEASE SUGGEST HOW TO IMPROVE VARC AND IF THE SCORES OF OTHER TWO SECTIONS GOOD?
philipthomas : Suggest that you start by doing only the RC passages in the AIMCATs , once your score s improve attempt the VA questions also.

aarav : FOR DI-LR FROM WHERE CAN WE DO PRACTISE TO INCREASE OUR ATTEMPTS IN AIMCATS WITH CONFIDENCE AND ACCURACY??
govindrajan : Lot 1 material, online foundation and intermediate tests provide practice in basic and intermediate difficulty level questions. AIMCAT-SAs, lot 2 material and online advanced tests provide practice in higher difficulty level questions.

sovan : THE ACCURACY FOR RC ARE VERY LOW HOW TO IMPROVE THAT?
tarannumraza : Focus on proper understanding of the passage- central idea, idea-flow, tone. Read carefully. You can make small notes of key words. Remember, RCs are like open book tests. Read calmly and answer. Speed and how to pick the questions to attempt will come with practice.

vineet : IS THE BASIC STUDY MATERIAL ALONG WITH AIMCATS ENOUGH FOR US TO PREPARE FOR CAT?
philipthomas : Yes if used properly it will be more than enough.