Application
SIBM and SCMHRD last day on January 06
forms are very scare , do get it fast from IMS
XIMB
GIM last day for online application is 31st december,2007
GLIM is january 18th,2008
S.P Jain Interview Experience
This was first interview call experience at SP jain, mumbai , had arrived on thursday night for the first time at mumbai. , The Airport was really beautifull with an international like feel , The parking lots shade impressed me the most I had earlier booked a hotel , as we know its tough and exspensive to get a hotel in mumbai. I arrived at andheri, west at Bhavan's college at 8:00 am for SPJAT test. For the first time I have got the feel of a business school , It was really nice , We were taken to a classroom FLC , it was a typical MBA college with levels of seat .
The SPJAT was 1 hour test with 6 section 44 question including Qunatitative section, diagrammatic reasoning , General Awaress , Data Sufficency , critical reasoning and Reading Comprehension.The paper went good , by the way I got 81 percent in the same.
Next was essay writing , The essay were
1. 3 moral principles which guides us in work place
2.How will MBA change your work behaviour attitude?
we had to write these and were given 20 mins each.
Then , we had to do a case study , The topic was 'Startergies for global success of products/services if you were CEO of the company'
I had given three points 1. Create a on-shore office.
2. Market research/study of global consumer market.
3.Hiring college recruits , training them and having a bond with them.
After these , we were formed in groups for all other process in the day. Which were group discussion , personal interview and Verification.
the group discussion topic was 'Should doctor's be taken to consumer part?'
I listened carefully to few person , and I made a point Doctors have made this a bussiness were normal delivery is required they operate early 'ceasarian' , they do a service and if the costumer is not happy for service he can go to a court questioning the same.
Basically in G.D you should be to the point and say something solid , loud and confidentaly , Dont change sides. Do speak up within 7 mins , and do keep seeing and agreeing with your fellow members and add 'I agree' , Basically in 15 mins ideally all should speak 1.5 mins , If you speak well for 1 mins without anyone stopping you for two times , You have done your G.D well.
Next was person interview and eldery man and a woman have taken my interview , They welcomed me with a nice smile , First question ; Introduce yourself
Why an MBA ?
Why Investment banking?
what is p/e of sensex?
p/e of Larson and turbo.
WHo calculates the p/e and why is it important?
What did you do in HP?
I tried to answer with atmost confidence , but we was not conviced that with 2-3 yrs experience in software I should take Investment banking. Interview lasted for 10 mins.
My learning from this is you should be very clear what you want in life and why do an mba? Also be thorough with financial terms and market technicals.
Overall SP Jain experience was good, the evaluation process was very smooth though they took 2000 bucks. They had a nice canteen with good food , The building and ambience was good the site of students in library with laptops doing there project, some doozing off was nice.made ffew friends of different background.
After a hectic day we want to Infiniti Mall in Andheri , Its one of the biggest in India , spent some hours there before heading to Kurla station where my train was waiting for me.
NMAT Pattern
With the end of IBSAT and SNAP , We have done our best and thats over for people who have done good congrats , but no one knows till Symbiosis takes out the result , So get ready for the next exam NMAT
Language Skills
Qs -40
Time-30
Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency
Qs-60
Time- 55
Intelligence & Logical Reasoning
Qs-50
Time-35
Total
qs-150
Time-120
Some questions are unanswered regarding the timing for each section are we free do what we want or restricted
MY CAT Experience
Had done all AIMCATS 0820-0801 with through analysis and given 10 MCT 5 CRT. Done my basics many times had given the QAT Test 0801-0810. As I had taken leave , I used to utilize the whole day ,I had developed the zeal to fight and get things solved in paper , my preparation was good and Saturday afternoon was enjoying om shanti om ,Sunday reached my center in time was ready for the prayer ,filled up all answer keys done with the formalities was waiting to open the CAT paper and fight for 21/2 hr for an IIM call,had a strategy in place English 10:30-11;15 ,DI 11:15-12:00 and maths till 12:45 and rest the buffer. With the GO.. for invigilators I tore the plastic opened up the RC section and marked all passages and read question of the mother-relation , was all inference based Had to read the passage which did so and did not understand much , 2 times I tried the also was in vain , tried my same luck with 2nd passage Human biology was also over the head tried to answer the qs was not that good start ,went to 3rd about the civilization that was also a bouncer all inference based qs tried to break the code,but was’nt sure . Then the verbal part it was 5 sentences using a particular word which had two options and I had to select one. Had come across this in an verbal class in TIME which helped me answer but there were some tricks. With 5 mins time remaing tried 2 parajumbles.
As it was already 11;20 had to jump into DI , approached with aggression and had done the BHAT one. I had done something like this in CR (with bhats conversion) So had the confidence and cracked this set , Then the aeroplane and the propotions , The clock was about to strike 12:00 , I went to Quants with hope I can crack CAT . was disappointed with the Qs , tried the 1st , 2nd , luckily 3rd I did .Then the squares of 2 digits really hitme back I thought none will be there, The maximum guaranteed return one I thought there is
A trick and went with 0.1 % ,which was wrong , The ten year ago Qs caught e back I had tried for around 7 minutes was not getting it ,which frustrated me , also the time gap one I got it as 1:30 assuming things ,which was again wrong
I had narrowed the two triangles to 0-60 but did not mark as had to confirm and time elapsed. Seeing these levels I thought doing my strong point will help so did DS from quants then DI section , Again tried to find sitters from the quant section and luckily got the quadratic equation one.
Overall English,DI went good and Maths has taken me down , which was supposed to be my strongest question , Have been time -07 student religiously attend classed and worked hard to see such a day was really disheartening ,It took me some days to comeback and write about my experience, But one thing is that I fought till last second,and I am PROUD of that.
This was 3rd Attempt in CAT ,I have gathered the ashes and will fight back with other competitive exams like this Sunday IIFT ,AIMAT,SNAP,IBS,JMET,XAT,NMAT and GMAT. Yes I am giving all this my friends my options are clear , my focus is an MBA in 08-10 , for that I have worked hard taken 2 months leave from office. The zeal has gone down but the will have to get it back to crack them. Thanks for all your support.
STRUCTURE OF JMET 2008
STRUCTURE OF JMET 2008 AND SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS
The JMET 2008 will be of 2 hours duration. The test will consist of 150 questions (objective / multiple choice type) in the following sections:
Verbal Communication
This section aims to test the candidate's comprehension of and interpretative abilities in English as a language of business. Given the potential manager's decision-making roles, this section seeks to examine the candidate's felicity with common forms of English expression, grammar and usage in business that would enable him/her to extract essential information from a variety of data, and arrive at an informed decision. Regular analysis of business articles and non-fiction prose, besides a firm grasp of communicative English grammar would be helpful in preparing for this section.
Logical Reasoning
This section consists of analytical reasoning, argument analysis, and analysis of explanation questions.
Quantitative Ability
This section aims to test the candidate's understanding of Basic Mathematics (Numbers; Operations; HCF and LCM; Fractions, Decimals and Percentages; Ratio and Proportion; Roots and Power; Logarithms; Progressions; Elementary Geometry and Mensuration; Elementary Trigonometry; Introductory Set Theory), Linear Algebra (Equations and Inequalities; Matrices; Determinants; Simultaneous equations and solutions; Elementary Linear Programming; Elementary differential calculus involving functions of one variable; Elementary integral calculus), and Probability and Statistics (Types of Data; Frequency Distributions; Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion; Probability Concepts: Basic Outcomes, Events, Sample Spaces; Probability Calculations: Counting Rules using Permutations and Combinations, Unions and Intersections, Complementary Events, Mutually Exclusive Events, Conditional Probability and Independent Events; Binomial, Poisson and Normal Random Variables; Correlation and Simple Linear Regression) for their use in business applications such as Partnership and Shareholding; Present Worth and Discounts; Depreciation; Demand and Supply; Cost and Revenue, and common applications such as Banking Transactions; Inventories; Mixtures; Time and Work; Time and Distance; Pipes and Tanks; Estimation of time, distance, area, volume, effort, etc.
Data Interpretation
This section aims to assess the ability of the examinee to make valid interpretations from a given data set. The section also assesses the ability of the examinee to understand data in different representative forms such as simple tables, histograms, pie charts, graphs, scatter diagrams, etc. Although involved calculations are not expected, simple data manipulations would be required.
There is negative marking for incorrect answers. For a wrong answer to a question, 25% of the marks allotted to that question will be deducted. Moreover, for a candidate to be qualified in JMET 2008, he/she should, not only, secure certain minimum marks in the test paper, but also, should necessarily obtain certain minimum marks in each of the four sections stated above.
SNAP Test structure
SNAP Test is an objective test and has 150 questions. Each question has 4 responses. Candidate should choose an appropriate response. It has 4 sections. In three sections each question carries 1 mark and in the one section each question carries 2 marks. Each wrong answer attracts 25% negative marks.
The four sections are:
1.
General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability
Number of Questions 40
Total Marks40
2.
Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency
Number of Questions 40
2.
Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency
Number of Questions 40
Total Marks 40
3.
General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario
Number of Questions 40
3.
General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario
Number of Questions 40
Total Marks40
4.
Analytical & Logical Reasoning
Number of Questions 30
4.
Analytical & Logical Reasoning
Number of Questions 30
Total Marks 60
Total
Qs 150
Marks 180
Read more...
Total
Qs 150
Marks 180
Board game: Make the right move
An article from Economic TImes
IT IS not everyday that the world’s greatest in the most popular game of the mind lets you in on moves that will help you excel in the business world. So pause and take a deep breath. Be prepared to chew on every word said, for every sentence could be a rung to rise in the corporate world. Viswanathan Anand, the just crowned king of chess, gave a master class to ETon how to become the best in business. Vishy Anand occupied centrestage in the Indian chess scene when he became the youngest Indian to win the international master title at the age of 15 years, in 1984. He went on to win more titles since. The crowning glory came this year in Mexico City, when Anand became the undisputed world chess champion. One will expect a sportsperson to use the most eloquent terms to weave business and chess. However, Anand chose to bring out the parallels in a simple, straightforward manner frequently interspersed with examples and anecdotes. Some of them may seem counterintuitive. Take for example: “A lot of chess players get too absorbed in the game, and try to get to the bottom of it. But, that’s essentially a distraction.” This may fly in the face of perfectionists — it’s not the perfectionists who get the market share, but those who give the right stuff at the right time. Take his views on tension — it helps you concentrate and be alert. Those who espouse relaxation and wellness classes may disagree. But it’s the likes of Anand who keep chanting ‘I should not relax’ who manage to conquer world championships. Anand gives the readers of ET seven lessons — simple and powerful. Know what your goals are: Seeking perfection may be a distraction: In chess, you have to learn what your goal is. Win the game, score points. It is a fascinating game and you can get lost in it. But the goal is not to make the perfect move, not to get into the bottom of a position. It’s simply to trick the opponent to win the game. Again, you have to make your best decisions in two hours. A lot of chess players get too absorbed in the game and try to get to the bottom of it. But, that’s essentially a distraction. Strive for objectivity: You may be optimistic or pessimistic, but be realistic: In chess, two players can look at the same position and come up with completely different ideas. But, if you are excessively optimistic or pessimistic, you will lose many points. Few chess players tend to feel lucky, and decide they can take a gamble. But even then, you must know where you stand. First analyse your position and get an objective feel of it. Objectivity is a face you show to yourself. In the heat of the game, it’s difficult to be objective. You tend to get emotional. So, it’s important to analyse after a chess game. Remember, an advantage need not be an advantage at all times. Being realistic is not easy. It demands constant analytical work. Be merciless with yourself. That is when you grow as a chess player. Feel the pressure, but don’t worry about things you can’t control: Tension helps you concentrate well. Being relaxed may be dangerous. Often, after a wild success you will have a failure. Winning the fifth round recently, relaxed me so much that I lost the next two. You may say, I shouldn’t relax. But it’s difficult. Performance goes down with satisfaction. When you have that feeling, you will not think of the optimal move. You will make easy moves. When you are relaxed, you are offguard, your sense of danger comes down. After every success you should be wary of becoming too relaxed. The way out is to be engrossed. There is no point in worrying about things you can’t control. Know your opponent: What is his goal, what are his favourite lines, is he deviating, why? Look beyond the board: Chess is all about applying game theory. You always think in terms of what your opponent will do, how he will respond. Again, in chess, most people specialise in something. Nobody does everything. Understanding that is important. If your opponent does something out of his normal range, ask why? And the answer could be — he’s now trying to specialise in a new area; he’s trying to expand his game; his favourite line, at the moment, is in trouble and he’s not done repair work or he could be bluffing. Analysis and sharpen intuition: Intuition is often used as a substitute for calculation. If there is some move that’s winning, and you know it’s winning, that’s not intuition. Intuition is when you make leaps into the dark. But it’s very difficult to draw lines between intuition and strategic thinking. If you calculate a lot, even if you don’t get till the end, your guess is going to be better. Expand your horizons: There may be gems in the garbage you have discarded: In chess, humans generally analyse two positions per second. Computers can analyse two-three million positions per second. Even at two positions per second, we can compete with computers. If something doesn’t work six out of 10 times, we discard it. But computers constantly look for unusual moves. We discard the rubbish efficiently. But that rubbish is not all rubbish. There could be a lot of gems in that. Very often a computer will tell you something that challenges your opinion. When you lose, move on to the next battle: Handling defeat is usually just impossible. You are totally depressed and the defeat is going over and over like a tape in your head. It’s useful to learn to be disciplined and put it out of your head. Perhaps it’s in business life as well. You have to say ‘okay, this battle is over’ and move on to the next one.
Notification Updates
AIM MAT for admission to AIM , Manila is on 2nd december to register send draft of 2500 to Damodar at admission@aim.com
20th novembver last day for IBSAT rgistration -over
25th Nov for NMAT gettin forms at IMS - over
30th Nov IMT . - Last day
22nd Nov IBS - over
25th SNAP -over
FMS - 30th nov
,CET dates out
SIBM jan 5 2008
GLIM DEc 15th 2007
10 Things to do on the CAT day
1. Section to start with It’s always good to start with your ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ first! Start with the section you are most confident with. Quant, DI or Verbal which ever is best for you to boost your confidence in exam.
2. Admit card Do remember to carry your admit card, check your wallet to make sure that you are carrying the documents in the morning.
3. Sleep early It is very important to feel relaxed and stress free, as the CAT always come with surprises. Sleep well one night before the exam.
4. Check the exam time One night before the exam check the time of the exam and the estimated distance from your house to the centre. We have seen many students reaching late for the exam so don’t take any chances.
5. See the venue beforehand If you have seen the venue beforehand it will give you confidence on the day of the CAT
6. Question not marks CAT always give a surprise and every year the surprise is in he number of questions and the marks allotted not in the questions. Therefore the best way to tackle CAT is always see the questions and forget the marks allotted to them. Trust me this is the best strategy to follow.
7. Pen and pencil Do remember to carry your stationary with you. People tend to forget their pencil and ask people around them for extra pencils.
8. Chocolates and Coffee At the centre do take a chocolate or a coffee/ tea to keep the caffeine level high in your body as makes your adrenaline flowing through your body.
9. Read Instructions Carefully CAT paper pattern changes every year so read the instruction carefully to understand the changes in the paper and make strategies accordingly.
10. Relax and Confident Last but not the least; take CAT paper as just one more practice paper. You had already taken many practice papers before the CAT so think that CAT paper is just on more practice test on Sunday. This will make you feel stress free for the paper.
CAT Changing Patterns for 11 yrs
CAT has been Changing Patterns for 11 yrs , and we are not sure what will be ib store for 2007 aspirants , will it be tets of accuracy or speed. Dont be suprised of the pattern Just see the changes , you will figure it out
1995 to 1996:
Total Questions 185 Time – 2 hours Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension - 100 Q (1 hour sectional time limit) Problem Solving & Data Interpretation - 85 Q
# Change in paper pattern: No change in pattern for 2 years Back to top ABHAYneogeek
1997 to 1998: 2 years
Total Questions 185 Time – 2 hours
Verbal Ability - 50 Q Reading Comprehension - 50 Q Problem Solving - 45 Q Data Interpretation - 40 Q
# Change in paper pattern: No Sectional Time, No change in pattern for 2 years .
1999:
Total Questions - 165 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 : Verbal Ability-25 Q and Reading Comprehension - 30 Q Section 2 : Problem Solving - 55 Q Section 3 : Data Interpretation - 31 Q & Reasoning - 24 Q
# Change in paper pattern: DI n VR combined
2000:
Total Questions - 165 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 : 55 Q - Verbal Ability - 15 Q and Reading Comprehension - 40 Q Section 2 : 55 Q - Problem Solving - 55 Q Section 3 : 55 Q - Data Interpretation - 31 Q and Reasoning - 24 Q
# Change in paper pattern: No drastic change, VA & RC ques shuffled Back to top
2001:
Total Questions - 150 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 : 50 Q-Verbal Ability-20 Q and Reading Comprehension - 30 Q Section 2 : 50 Q - Problem Solving - 50 Q Section 3 : 50 Q-Data Interpretation - 31 Q and Logical Reasoning - 19 Q
# Change in paper pattern: No drastic change, All sections no. of ques reduced to 150
2002:
Total Questions - 150 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 : 50 Q-Data Interpretation - 40 Q and Logical Reasoning - 10 Q Section 2 : 50 Q-Problem Solving - 50 Q Section 3 : 50 Q-Verbal Ability-25 Q and Reading Comprehension - 25 Q
# Change in paper pattern: Shuffle of no. of ques distributed
2003 (re-exam format ):
Total Questions - 150 Time – 2 hours
Section 1: Verbal Ability - 25 Q and Reading Comprehension -25Q Section 2: Data Interpretation - 30 Q and Logical Reasoning - 20 Q Section 3 : Problem Solving 50 Q
# Change in paper pattern: Shuffle of no. of ques distributed # Level of Difficulty: Very Easy, - easiest paper in last 5 years
2004:
Total Questions - 123 Total marks: 150 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 Data Interpretation: 20Q of 1 mark each Data Sufficiency: 6 Q of 1 mark each Logical Reasoning: 12 Q of 2 marks each
Section 2 Quant: 20 Q of 1 mark each Quant: 15 Q of 2 marks each
Section 3 Verbal Ability: 10 Q of 0.5 marks each Verbal Ability: 14 Q of 1 mark each Verbal Ability: 5 Q of 2 marks each
# Change in paper pattern: Shuffle of
2005:
Total Questions - 90 Total marks: 150 Time – 2 hours
Section 1 Data Interpretation Sub Section A- 10 ques Sub Section B – 20 ques
Section 2 Quant Sub Section A- 10 ques Sub Section B – 20 ques
Section 3 Verbal Ability Sub Section A- 10 ques Sub Section B – 20 ques
# Change in paper pattern: Shuffle of no. of ques distributed, Change in marks per ques. # Level of Difficulty: Medium, only Verbal tough, DI changed drastically
2006:
Total Questions - 75 Total marks: 300 Time – 2.5 hours
Section 1 DI / LR – 25Q
Section 2 Quant – 25Q
Section 3 Verbal Ability - 25
# Change in paper pattern: Shuffle of no. of ques distributed, Change in total time to 2.5 hours, change in choices to 5 choices, Change in marks per ques. # Level of Difficulty: Medium, only Verbal tough, DI changed drastically
Verbal: level have become very difficult over the years, esp engineers who are weak in english have to work hard..
Quant: Stress on Algebra & Geometry.. Arithmatic almost out of CAT and very difficult to solve..
DI: Changed from 2002.. no bar charts, line charts, tables n calculations.. Di is based on reasoning only.. so through away ur notes which have calculations in DI... they are out dated....
Time: this year paper can be anything 2/ 2.5 or 3 hours.. be prepared for anything
No. of Ques and marks: every year this is changed so again u have to be open..
'I will fight till the last few seconds'
A Inspirational note fro Rediff.
As CAT rapidly approaches, many students find the pressure unbearable.
!
By now you should have sorted out your weakness and figured out your areas of strength. The most preferred order of attempting the sections should also be in place. There should not be any major change in your strategies during these last few days for the simple reason that the time available is not sufficient to practice that new idea someone gave you during the last mock test.
People who are working should consider keeping these last few days to themselves and taking leave from office. There are two lines of thoughts here. While some believe staying away from office helps one focus better, others feel that engaging in activities other than CAT gives you something else to think and talk about which in turn helps you cope with pressure better. It's upto you to decide what suits you best but the things I'm about to suggest would be more effective if you chose to stay at home.
Here are a few simple things which should help at least a few of you out there:
~ Review earlier mocks/FLTsIt would be in your best interest to review the mocks/FLTs you have already attempted. The aim should be to review those special questions which either introduced a new concept or required a different approach for solving. This is of immense help since if lady luck decides to smile on you, you might just get a question similar to one in those mocks. Atleast it happened to me for CAT-2005 and I think that was the clincher for me!
The second reason you must review those mock tests is to remind yourself of some of the silly mistakes you committed in them. You surely won't want to repeat any of those on the most important day. By now you should know the areas which are your pitfalls. It might be parajumbles or poems or geometry or something else. These areas should not be your first choice on the day of CAT. Only if you have run out of questions after the first stage of scanning should you come to these.
~ Practicing with mocks and earlier CAT papersI believed it was a good idea to go into the exam-hall after having run a mini marathon and taken a small rest! What I'm suggesting here is something I tried myself and it worked for me. You can tinker it to suit your comfort level. It may be a good idea to attempt about 5-6 full length papers during the last two weeks, attempting a mock every alternate day. This should be the final test for your strategy for CAT-2007. The day between the two mocks can be spent in analysis of earlier mocks, brushing up on some fundamentals and attempting a sectional test or two. There must be a sense of urgency by now which should ensure that you are able to review most of the mocks and sectionals you attempt now quickly. Out of these 6 mocks, atleast 3 should be the earlier CAT papers. This would ensure that you not only spend a good amount of time practicing but also get a flavour of the real CAT.
Test your speed and accuracy with this Mock CAT
I also suggest you choose these mocks/ sectionals across different coaching institutes. This would provide some variety. Don't get bogged down in case you happen to score low in one of these paper. Your only aim should be to meet all the sectional cut-offs in these papers and better your highest score. And, I suggest you don't calculate your score from the last mock! ~ 2 days before the CATYou should not attempt any mocks at this stage. The best way to utilise this time is to pick up those books on quant fundamentals and brush up on the formulae, concepts and whatever else you had left for review during the last few days. Don't try anything new here! By this time you should begin to move away from the preparation mode. You may decide to go to office just like I did.~ A day before the CATThis day should be spent away from books. Spend time doing what you love the most. Catch a good movie, speak to people, go to office or do anything else other than discuss CAT. I would suggest you see a movie which inspires you to achieve and gives that adrenalin rush!
~ On C-Day When you wake up, sit quietly for a few minutes. Tell yourself: "This is the day I have been waiting for -- this will be my Day! I won't falter and come what may I will fight till the last few seconds!" It may leave a few of you really charged up emotionally, which I'll say might just work. It did for me!
Have a good light breakfast. Before leaving for the CAT centre, pick up the newspaper. Read any article the fastest you can without bothering to comprehend. Think of some arbitrary numbers and add, multiply, divide them for next 2-3 minutes. This will be like a warm-up before the race and would ensure you get into the hall with your cerebral-machinery running.
Consistency and timing are critical
Reach the examination centre with sufficient time in hand. When you receive the paper, read those instructions carefully. This would give you an idea of the number of questions and their split across different sections. The next few minutes can be utilised to modify your strategy if required. Eg. In CAT-2005, 2-mark questions were introduced. In those 15 minutes before 11am, I decided to spilt my 40 minutes for each section into 15-25 in favour of 1-mark and 2-mark questions respectively, the sequence remaining same.
Lastly, I would like to remind you all once again, the kind of mock scores you carry into the halls never matter. A guy with 99+ per cent in mocks could falter and a guy who scored less than 90 per cent could ace the exam! I have always believed that its all about those two hrs (now 2.5 hrs) which will change lives!
Someone told me once: "In the race of CAT, the first hour will see people fighting to stay in the race, the next 30 minutes will have only 5 percentile of people in the race and the last 30 minutes will see the winner emerge!"
So go in with a positive frame of mind, fight it out to the best of your abilities and be a winner.
All the best!
CAT : The Managers Way
YOU TAKING CAT LIKE A MANAGER?
So the big bad CAT is round the corner. This is it! The ultimate test of your mathematical, communicative and managerial skills!Yes, you read right. CAT does happen to challenge your managerial skills, and if you aren't applying any in the test, chances are that you're performing way below your potential. This note seeks to explain why.
Let's begin with a few examples of what has happened over the years.
1. In 1990, for the first time in its history, CAT did away with time limits for each section. In an unprecedented move, the test asked candidates to decide how much time they wanted to spend on each section, instead of the usual way of pre-decided time limits. A bit like practising cycling all your life only to discover that on the day of the race, one wheel has been removed!
2. In 1996 and 1997, there was a one-hour time-limit imposed on the communication and the maths parts. You had to do RC/VA in the first hour, and the PS/DI in the next. Those who followed unequal time distribution had to forego the liberty of self-timing: harder to adjust than you think!
3. In 1999, CAT moved from being a four section test to a three section one. VA and RC seemed to be have been clubbed. People happily assumed that the second section would be PS and the third, DI/DS. They didn't realise that towards the end of the third section, there were 24 questions related to syllogisms (the ones you would learn in verbal reasoning). These were sitters, but unfortunately, by the time most people got to this part of the test, it was too late. They had missed out on sitting ducks.
4. The following year saw the same pattern, except that the difficulty level of the test went up a few notches,and that took most by surprise. Mid-way through the test, many people gave up, since things were just not going as planned: only to come out of the hall and realise that it was tough for everybody. They, of course, had a full year to regret. Those who decided to carry on nonetheless, won.
5. Last year, the same pattern featured, but suddenly the difficulty level nose-dived. It was, as I keep saying in class, a slow ball from the fastest bowler in the world. Those who quickly realised it immediately raised the bar on their ideal score, and went about taking CAT with the newfound perspective. Some wasted time and energy looking for a catch: there was none.The examples could go on and on, with specific instances of how the questions appear in varying order of difficulty, how the instructions can try to bamboozle you, et al. The point is that we need to learn from them.These examples are screaming from the rooftops and saying one thing: TAKE CAT LIKE A MANAGER.But then, first questions first. Who IS a manager? How do you define one? Knowing who a manager is will doubtlessly lead to what he is expected to do.
CAT is all about: CONTROL. Legend has it that if you don't control CAT, it will control you in much the same fashion as a wild horse. If you can't stay on top of it, it will topple you.So if the definition is so simple, what's the catch? What prevents us from being in control of the test, if it's all so easily understood?The answer is simple, yet startling. In business, there are managers, and then there are workers. The manager's job is to tell the worker what to do, and to make sure that the work given is being done. He has the overall picture of where the company is heading, and will take important decisions affecting the future of the company.The worker's job, on the other hand, is to execute instructions. He simply does what he's told. What's more, he will continue doing his job until he receives instructions from above to do otherwise.You see, the worker's job is to execute tasks as efficiently as possible. But to be in CONTROL is the manager's job. And to control CAT, you must don the manager's hat: something you may not be doing.Most poor scores in CAT boil down to lack of PLANNING and SELECTION: the primary tasks of a manager. Candidates tend to go after the test, question-by-question, expending all their energies on moving through this maze of questions as quickly as possible. Little do they realise that only a bird's eye view of the maze (meaning the test) would tell them which direction to take, without which they might as well go in blindfolded.The catch, therefore, is that while taking CAT, YOU ARE A MANAGER AS WELL AS A WORKER, rolled into one. You MUST play BOTH these roles if you wish to do well.Let's get more specific. The tasks of deciding which sections to attempt first, how much time to devote to each section, how many attempts you are likely to make, which passages you decide to attempt, et al, are the tasks of a MANAGER. Actually going about reading, solving and answering the questions are the tasks of a WORKER. It is important to distinguish the two tasks and make sure you're doing BOTH.In fact, I would go further and look at THREE roles that you must play in order to take control of CAT. You'll find that it isn't very different from managing a factory or an office, after all.
1.The role of the CEO.Imagine you're the newly appointed CEO of CAT, for the next two hours. It is 10.30am on the 24th of November, and your job has just begun. Here are some things you could look at, right at the beginning of the test.- Is the test familiar, or different? If different, how is it different, and how is it going to impact time to be spent on each section? Are there any big surprises? What is the overall assessment of this test?- How many sections are there, and what seems to be the difficulty level? How much time should I devote to each section? What should be my order of attempts? WHAT IS MY PLAN FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS?As you can see, the CEO's role is vital, but he has the least time to take his decisions. Perhaps the CEO needs to spend no more than three to four minutes to plan the order and set time limits for each section. This is PLANNING.Having done that, he must hand over the baton to the next level.
2. The role of a SECTION MANAGER.Here, your task is to make sure you make the most out of the section, and strictly adhere to the time limit given to you by the CEO. You are like a departmental head. Your job is to tackle these issues.- What seems to be the difficulty level of this section? What could be a good score?- Which questions should I begin with, and which ones should I attempt only at the end? What is the order? (Since you're a section manager, you, of course, have the specific expertise in that section on how to tell the easy ones from the difficult ones. Your practice will help you here.)- While attempting the section, am I getting too involved with one particular question or passage? Should I junk it and move on? For example, a good assembly-line manager would ask his worker to ignore a mistake and carry on with the assembly, because in the time he takes to repair one product, the worker can make three new ones.The section manager decides which questions to solve and which ones to omit. this is SELECTION.
3. The role of the WORKER.Now that you've got instructions from your section manager on what to attempt and what to leave, it is your duty to execute the instructions. This is clockwork, and the more you're familiar with it, the more you'll enjoy it. You objective is to GET MARKS, and NOT just attempt as much as possible. Your section manager will have given you a target. It is your job to attempt as few questions as possible to achieve that target. Consider this: would you rather have a worker who makes 10 cars (4 of them faulty) or 5 cars (none faulty)? What makes more business sense? While both strategies may yield the same net score (10 attempts with 4 mistakes would give you a score of 5, assuming a -0.25 negative), what about the time wasted in making mistakes?Consider this. If you attempted 100 questions and made 50 mistakes, you actually spent one hour in increasing your score, and one hour in decreasing it! Even 60 attempts with 10 mistakes would have been better!Also, from time to time, it will be the worker's job to report the progress to the manager. In other words, this means that you must keep a tab on where your attempts are going at an overall level, and not get bogged down by the operative task of solving questions.
Remember that for any task to be successful it must be done EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY: It is the worker's job to make sure it's efficient, and it is the manager's job to make sure it's effective. You can't have one without the other. During the test you need to constantly change roles: from CEO to manager to worker, and the other way round.
So every time you take a practice test, ask yourself this question: how well do I perform these roles? Chances are, if you do well, you will maximise your score. Of course, that does not mean that you will DEFINITELY make it. Your score may still not be good enough for that year. But at least you'll know that you did your best. And that's a far better deal than saying "if only I had managed the test better..."So are you taking CAT like a manager?
Read more...IFJ
Its a type of verbal question in CAT , It has come only one in CAT so far,It very trick but if you keep these in minds you will be able to crack it
FACT.
1. Universal truth2. Analyzed truth3. Something which can be verified- abstract things cannot be verified4. Something which has transpired.
JUDGEMENT
1. Abstract description is a judgment2. Futuristic prediction.3. Phrases are judgments.
INFRENCE
.1. For abstract description cause is given2. reporting of any event is inference.3. Anything transpiring is inference.4. “So”, “Thus”, “therefore” characterize some cause but not 100%.
These are some basic rules to check which statement is a fact, inference or a judgment.Example- sachin is a good cricketer.This is a judgment not a fact . coz it cud be any sachin. And even if it is given sachin tendulkar it is a judgment.
Top 10 Asian Colleges
1. IIM A
2.NUS Bussiness School(Singapore)
3.Asian Institute of Management(Phillipines)
4.Melbourne bussiness School
5. IIM B6.College Bussiness Administrator
7.Sasin Graduate (Thailand)
8.Chinese University of Hong Kong
9.Nanyang Bussiness School
10.Graduate School of Management (Japan)
Learning Experience
My Gmat experience
I had been preparing for arround 2 months for the same.Going through about 1000 Maths Qs , 500 SC , 200 CR , 50 RC , 30 AWAs, 10 Prep TEst 5 Sets ,Og 10 , og 11, Princenton Review , Manhattan Verbal , Scoretop PQs.It has been pathetic performance by me, My experience is as follows.
I had reached test center at 8.25 am got an instruction page read that got all formalities doneLike photographed ,keping an apple , snicker and redbull at Lunch Room. Went in testing area Had to read instructions and fill 5 colleges name I went to write about AWA which are 30 mins each , Analysis of argument topic was a little weird it was about increase in introduction of computer instructions in schol circulum has reduced school dropout rate and thus goverment is allocating more money next year you have to anayze the same.I started getting down my ideas, this is comon in USA but in India these are a little old , definately I argued that this arguement needs more accurate assumptions.
Second was analysis of an issue that "change and innovation are not helpfull for employee" I supported this issue , stating the importance of change. I had written the structure but had to fill in the paragraphs and could not complete a line as time expired.
I Took a 10 min optional break had an apple , redbull gearing my self for quants went with a zeal and started the first 3 qs were easy the 4th was a little tricky and inequality DS got it right , I had made a plan First 15 mins 6 qs then 15 min 7 qs ,then 15 min 8 and then 15 min8 and then 15 min 8 qs. The stratergy worked only till 5th the 6th question was data table with 10 inputs of data with x variable , they were asking the mean , It was the toughest DS I had seen I spent 6 mins to crack that , then 7th qs was geometry one including two circles and tangents , radii and all that ,was confusing as geometry is my stong point I sat down for doing it and took me 5 mins , then there was a complicated exponent question taht was the turning point 8 mins to do that qs , It took out all the cham in the paper being the 8th qs the time was 40 , so 29 qs left and 40 mins , see the pressure guys. How can one expect to perform knowing that you have to complete all the question else you will be penalized. I was broke at that moment , These 3 qs had taken 20 min of my precious GMAT time . After that I didnot know what to do I was just picking answers quickly , Was not sure in many , time was going 15 mins left had 16 qs left , less than a min a qs, fought back in one-two more ones , Last 5 mins went accross 7 question , I knew I could do it but time did not allow , Tear come into my eyes with this situation , If I would even try to get answers I would have been penalized for not completing the paper. 3 secs were remaining when I guessed the last question , I was marking C for most of them. I knew I had missed the oppurtunity to crack GMAT .
English section you need to have the zeal and motivation to do it which I had lost I was trying to concentrate but wasn't sureof many answers , The critical reasoning were tough. I had got three paragraphs one about jupiter's moon surface and linking it water,key was to understand the flow, I may have got many right in this , One RC about differnt typesof grammer book prespective and desprective was really factual but needed a prehand knowledge on the same.
Last RC was retail market on UK compared to itscounterpart it was last one so had done a quick scannning and answered few.
My SCs I think I might have done 2-3 surely right , rest had to pick between two-three. Critical reasoning was the toughest could get what hey looking for but answer options were quiet similar , Like an assumption question was asked in which 3 assumptions were almost correct but you had to choice the best one , After three hours of intense battering how can your brain work so much.
I was in two minds whether to cancel or report the score , but $250 and I thought GOD would be a little considerate for me in luck sde and I would get good but it was worse then expected.
This the sad story of my GMAT first attempt, I could have done much better if I didn't waste my precious time in 3 Maths Qs .So would suggest you whatever happens dont give more than 2 mins more in Quant Qs , I believe if you go wrong in middle you can easily pull it back in the end as Qs are easier and you will have the enthusiaism and zeal to go to next VErbal section , which requires to be alert and can quicly read things , In my situation I did not have that previlege as my poor paerformance in MAths was killing me from inside.
Give CAT ,the GMAT way
I read about the same in Economic Times that CAT may go the GMAT way , Do add comments whether it will be benifitial or not .
Now the mouse will soon help bell the CAT. In what could be a dramatic shift in the entrance system of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the CAT committee of IIMs is considering to hold the test online. And if this isn’t enough, the committee is also considering to give respite to lakhs of IIM aspirants from the one-year long wait to write the toughest test, common admission test (CAT). Instead, the IIM aspirants might be allowed to take the test online for a definite number of times during the year.
The CAT committee of IIMs is in talks with leading global online test company Prometric to get the job done. The US-based Prometric, which has helped deliver tests like GRE and Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), has recently been acquired by education testing company ETS. Prometric will now operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ETS. Thus, with CAT going online, the aspirants need not worry on the preparation front. The test can be taken whenever they are ready, confident and well-prepared. And with the test going online the students might get an opportunity to take the test even over three times a year. “It is difficult to conduct and manage the test at different centres across the country. Availability of latest technology will enable us to make an easy shift to online system. So we are talking to a few players and examining feasibility of the same,” said a member of the CAT committee. The body is working out ways to prepare a question bank that can be used for the online test. At present, the aspirants fill in forms to register for the test. The CAT forms cost around Rs 1,100 but with the test going online the application charges are expected to go up further helping the institute generate more revenues. The committee members had earlier expressed apprehension over the fact that not many aspirants taking the test are computer savvy. The committee is discussing different issues on test procedure, timing, question data bank, test centres and way to go about the online exam. However, the plans are now being finalised and a decision is expected soon. The popularity index of CAT is fast going up and this year over 2.3 lakh aspirants applied for the test. Only 1% of them will get an opportunity to study at the coveted IIMs.
Apart from the IIMs, over 111 other institutes take into account CAT score for admissions. Conducting CAT online will solve a lot of administrative work for the IIMs. Based on the CAT scores, the institutes can directly call students for interviews and group discussions thus simplifying the whole admission process. While GMAT is already conducted online since several years, the CAT committee had a tough time convincing its members for an online test. GMAT, which costs $250, is taken over two-three lakh times annually and it is part of the admission process for over 4,000 graduate management programmes around the world.
GMAT Tips
Art of Guessing
Guessing, like pacing, is more important on the CAT than on any other test you have ever taken. You'll have to guess often on the CAT because:
You can't skip questions. If you hit a mental block, you have to guess at the question in front of you. You can't pass over a question and go back to it later. Since all answers are final, you have to make sure your guess is a good one. Most students waste more than 1/3 of their time bogged down on a handful of tough questions. You have to learn how to guess, move on, and cut your losses after spending more than a few minutes on a question.
At the end of the test, when time is about to expire, you have to hurry to make sure to review every question or else face the severe penalty for not finishing all the test's questions. Many students have to do this last-minute sprint and are often left guessing on the last few questions.
P.O.E.
The key guessing strategy is P.O.E. (process of elimination). A big asset going into test day is knowing that one of the five possible answers must be right. If you can eliminate two of the choices, you can increase your chances of getting the right answer by 65% (from 20% or 1 in 5 to 33% or 1 in 3). Here's how to do it:
Eliminate answer choices you know are wrong. Even if you don't know the right answer, you can often tell that some of the answer choices are wrong. For example, on the Data Sufficiency questions, you can eliminate at least two of the answer choices by determining if one of the statements is true.Avoid answer choices that look suspicious. For example, on Sentence Correction questions, beware of any answer choices that look completely different from all of the other choices. In the Quantitative section, you can usually eliminate any answers that are negative when all the other answers are positive.
Once you have narrowed down the list of answer choices, pick one of the remainders. It is a myth that some answer choices, like A or C, are more often correct than other choices.
The Importance of Dry Erase Scrap Paper
You'll need to use your dry erase scratch paper because you are taking a test off of a computer screen, and you can't write on the screen. The result is that you'll sometimes have to carefully copy much of the question down onto paper without miscopying the information. This is awkward and difficult. It takes valuable time to recopy information and it increases the chance of a hurried error, so you have to be careful about what you copy and what you don't copy.
700+ GMAT Routine
1) Math: Solve all the current Math and Verbal Practice questions as soon as they are posted in the VIP forum at ScoreTop.Membership cost 30$ for a month.But its worth.
2) Sentence Correction:
Fundamentals - Manhattan SC Notes Concise , effective and tailor made treatise on SC for GMAT.
Practise –
20 questions per day from 1000 SC.
If you have time, please go through Manhattan SC guide. Follow each chapter thoroughly along with the OG questions listed at the end of each chapter. You’ll get a hang of the question types, which'll be extremely critical on the test day in saving time .
Go through all the explanations of OG questions irrespective of whether you get them right or wrong. You don't have to refer to OG beyond this. You may if you have time.
3) Critical reasoning -
Fundamentals -
Please go through CR - Basics - strategy sessions for CR in the online courses section (scoretop.com)
If you can get hold of it, go through kaplan workshops and go through CR material in that. It is a damn good introduction.
Practise -
20 questions per day from 1000 CR ( a few hundred LSAT questions followed by GMAT questions will do.
If you have time, you can do all the LSAT questions. Leave out formal logic, parallel reasoning and do the rest)
4) Reading Comprehension - 5 passages from 1000 RC. Do LSAT & GMAT passages. If time is a premium, do 20 questions each of SC and CR. However, make sure you do five RC passages per day.
5) Error log - Maintain a record of all your doubts in a word document and analyze them on a excel sheet. This'll serve as your error log.
6) GMAT Sets are the closest to the real test more than the powerprep. Practise them as mock tests - One set (math+verbal) every alternate day.
7) Mock tests - Power prep (2) , GMAT prep (2) - a total of four tests would more than suffice. If you have any additional software, you may practice. However, please note that most prep companies' tests don't match the ETS standards. The score might not be a true reflection of your abilities or your potential performance on the real test.
8) Math: Work on Permutation and Combination; probability ; statistics etc if you aren't comfortable. PQs are the most important stuff for math.
GMAT Pacing
Don't waste time. Make sure you get your pacing stats right during the practise sessions. Jot these down on the scratch paper and keep it next to you on the test table.Spend adequate time on the first five questions.
Suggested Math pacing
First 7 questions (15 minutes)
Next 10 questions ( 20 minutes)
10 questions (20 minutes)
10 questions (20 minutes)
Suggested Verbal pacing
-First 5 questions (12 minutes)
Next 12 questions ( 22 minutes)
12 questions (21 minutes)
12 questions (20 minutes)
Inspirational Success Story
This is an inspiration Debrief which I keep reading regularly , It may help motivate anyone giving GMAT and is confused.
http://www.scoretop.com/GH_ShowArticle.asp?HID=41
The world MBA tour
I had been to world MBA tour at Bangalore Taj Residency was a real good experience and wanted to share the same with you.34 colleges worldwide had participated, mostly from the USA big names like Queens, Maryland , NYU stern where present.
The whole lists here
Barruch
Boconni
Brandeis
Carneige
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Duke Univesity
ESADE
HECHult
NYU stern
IEQueens
PSu
Rice
RSM
Thunderbird
University of British Columbia
University of California Davis
University of Los Angeles
University of Dallas
University of Denver
University of Iowa
University of Maryland
University of Rochester
University of Southern California
Vanderbith
Warwick
Worcester
York Uniberity
There was a huge crowd at the itenary , The registration had began at 5:00 pm , reached there at around 5:15 and it was packed , Seeing the number of the people scared me of the competition after that got the badge checked , The organizers did a great work in attending to so many aspirants ,and for free.
There were three panels
Why an MBA and which specialization?
Is MBA right for me?
Alumni Discussion
Three panelists were giving a broad picture about the MBA from International university and about the application procedures. The halls where also packed, people standing. Majority of people where IT and engineering background .Most common Questions for career switch from IT to finance. Why Finance and what in finance have to be really specific like investment banking, Venture capital, commercial banking .merger and acquisition etc. Applications were discussed, See my next blog.
Need to do lots of research what will be ideal length of MBA ,your financial state to pay fees and what best for you as said you have to analyze things deeply as you are paying a huge amount of money and return of investment should be there.
After talking to so many panelists ,Alumna’s and Admission officers, I have got a idea we have to be sure why we are doing an MBA and what we actually interested in , That’s a really tough to know . Many of us seeing the equity market and money involved are lured to do investment banking but the fact remains it’s a very critical job and finance experience and undergrad degree in Finance , economics is necessary , As told by an Alumna’s of Queens CFO of AMD , prove that you are interested in finance and have done some homework then only you will land up there do an internship with a finance company .Doing Retail Abroad is really tough for an International student as you face local competition and the Americans are too much interested in marketing and a company would any day prefer them over an International student as no issue of visa and all. MBA is a platform for a person to accelerate your career , 1000’s colleges offering many courses , you have to be specific what will be best for you.Getting into MBA .Many kind of Scholarships are there and colleges encourage entrepreneurs.
Do start networking it’s a way to help you get an internship or job. These high levels of networking really helps in this world.
One Panelist told me to forget about everything and work very hard to maximize your score as we have the potential 2 months hard work and boast our score to 720 levels and from there with a decent work experience no colleges can reject you.
The MBA fair was another grand event had to kick off from 7:30 the queue started from 6 near the doors , There were tables behind which representatives from each college were present advertising there courses and colleges. Applications have become real good business as each is around 100-200 $ and increasing the range of students, I mean the GMAT range in some it’s from 500-750, these will make number of applications more. There were brochures at every table and people were just rushing including me to collect all brochures before it gets over .Its a very attractive brochures and all details in them, the officers were very interactive and answering to all different absurd question asked to them .I admired there patients its there job but what about the alumna’s why are they so keen in helping there college to get students, is it because of networking. As there is an alumna’s group of each college and are very active, this question remains unanswered.
Finally, I would like to conclude that such fairs for an Indian student is really helpful as he gets a platform to interact with admission officers of his dream college and know what exactly has to be done, Thanks to moa tour (www.the mbatour.com).
Applications Debriefed
Applying to colleges is a very tedious process Applications process are discussed and do keep deadlines in mind , Checklists are
1.Official gmat scores
2.Transcripts
3.Degree Attested
4.Resumes- This is very important as it’s a mean to market your self and should be accurate and any data should not be mismatched , if so application will be degraded.
5.Recommendation – 1st From our current manager 2nd Team lead/ Previous company 3rd College. It should be about you role.
6.Essays – Use this to show why want to be in your college don’t leave any gaps tell everything , no use of writing general stuff write why you want to be in about your diversity
7.Work Experience
Need to do lots of research what will be ideal length of MBA ,your financial state to pay fees and what best for you as said you have to analyze things deeply as you are paying a huge amount of money and return of investment should be there.
Notification For B-Schools
| Inst. | Cost | Form Start | Form End | Last Date | Test Date | Online |
| CAT | :) | :) | :) | :) | Nov 18 | :) |
| IIM -I Xec | 500 | ? | Oct 25 | Nov 12 | CAT | ? |
| B- PGSEM | ||||||
| C- PGDCM | ||||||
| IIFT | :) | :) | :) | :) | Nov 25 | :) |
| XAT | 700 | Sep 1 | Nov 30 | Nov 30 | Jan 06 | ? |
| XLRI | 800 1300 ? | Sep 1 | NOv 30 | Nov 30 | XAT | |
| SP Jain (PGDBM) | ? | 30 Nov | CAT/XAT/GMAT | Y | ||
| SP Jain (Global) | Nov 15 | CAT/GMAT | ||||
| MDI | 1500 | 10 Aug | Nov 9 | Nov 14 | CAT | |
| IMT | 1600 | 31 Aug | 30 Nov | Dec 2 (online) | CAT | Y |
| NIRMA | 1100 | Aug 25 | Nov 30 | Nov 30 | CAT | ? |
| K J Som | ? | Dec 15 | Dec 15 | |||
| Narsi MOnji | 1500 | 17 Sep | Nov 30 | Dec 30 | ? | |
| JMET | 800 | Sep 3 | Oct 3 | Oct 3 (online) | Dec 09 | Y |
| T A PAI | 1200 | Nov 30 | NOV 30 | CAT | ? |
GMAT Learnings
Sentence Correction is toughest and most confussing part of GMAT , Practice is one of teh best ways to tacke the same . When you read the sentence Look carefully at the 5 choices and quickly scan the differences. And while reading the main sentence Check for the followng Error in the sentence,
1.Clear and concise and not Awkard or Reddudance of any word.
2.Subject verb agreement .
3. Verbe tense mood and Voice.
4.Pronouns
5.Modifiers
6.Parallelism
7.Comparisions
8.Idioms(go through all 100 idioms one time you will get an idea)
[To Know in details You can Download Manhattan Verbal and go through]
ANd try to illiminate the choices to get the best suitable Answers, Remember all choices may be correct but you have to get the best one.
Practice all 138 SCs from OG11 religiously before going to 1000 SC
LEARNINGS FOR QUANTS
These are the things you should know in quants
1. The sum of digits of a perfect square has to be 1 ,4 and 9
A Template Approach to the GMAT Essay
You will be given an essay topic that ETS expects to be debatable. In other words, about half of the people will agree with one side, while the other half will agree with the other side.ETS will not give you a topic that most people agree on. For example, you will not see a topic asking you to give your opinion on the value of education for children, nor on whether or not the government should have programs to decrease the number of the drug users.
However, you might see an essay topic asking you to give your opinion on school vouchers, for example, or you might see a topic asking you to pick whether you think it is primarily the government's or the family’s responsibility to prevent drug use among children.
In general, do not take one side of the argument completely. A good rule of thumb is to argue your opinion at about 60 percent or 70 percent. I should emphasize this—even if you believe you are one hundred percent correct, you should still pretend that you are 60 or 70 percent correct.
Although the GMAT essay scorers are trained to forgive certain mistakes given the time constraints of the essay, ETS can be very picky. Pay attention to your grammar, spelling, and logicalsequence, just to name a few. How can you improve your score? ETS also looks for sentence variety and ability to use language. I will show you some simple ways to do this—really, it's not that hard!
First of all, you have to figure out why they chose this as a topic. Remember—not everybody will agree, in fact it should be about 50/50. This is your hint. Try to find about five points for and against each side (ten points total). Don't worry if you think that your points are stupid or trivial. The important thing right now is just to get some ideas down on paper, to start your brain working.
Second, figure out which side you are going to take. Duh.
Third, start writing! Don’t worry about an introduction or a conclusion right now—they are the hardest to write and everybody gets hung up on them. Just get your ideas down first.
Next, make sure you have about three or four paragraphs. You should be thinking about adding some examples now. Try to make one personal, maybe from your country and another one either international or American (the idea is that most educated Americans will have heard about the topic before). Don’t make your examples too personal! Imagine your prospective boss is reading this.
Now, go back and spice up your language—add something witty, an illustrative anecdote, a rhetorical question, even sarcasm or irony. Also, try changing the order of some of your sentences, i.e., put the subordinate clause first.
Almost done! Write your intro and conclusion!
Last, check grammar and spelling. Viola! A perfect essay!
Template
Okay, let’s try the essay now.
First Paragraph: Introduction
The issue/belief/idea/opinion that ______________________________________ is an interesting/controversial one. This issue is increasingly important in this age of ___________________________. Many people believe _________________________, but these people overlook _________________________________________________. Furthermore, _____________________________________. In this essay, I will argue that __________________________________________________ _______________.
Second Paragraph: Support
There are many good reasons for ____________________________. However, it cannot be ignored/overlooked that ___________________________. A classic example of this is ___________________________________________ . Try to add something interesting in this paragraph. Make sure you use a few complicated structures—try putting a subordinate clause first. Like this: While many type of professional promote the notion that _____________________________, I believe the opposite should be argued given the current situation/status/ of ____________________________________.
Conclusion
I have argued _______________________. This view will become increasingly dominant in the coming century given ________________________________. Many of these issues can never be resolved to everybody’s satisfaction, but in the long run, promoting ________________________________ will lead to the betterment of all involved. Finally, _____________________________ increased something like global cooperation, cultural understanding, blah, blah, blah can only result from this, resulting in ______________________________ for everybody.
__________________
CAT 2007: A ten-week study strategy
Attention, CAT aspirants:
You have less than three months to prepare and 2,00,000 strong competitors staring you in the face!
Do you have jitters yet? If not, you should.
By now, most CAT aspirants have completed their basic preparation. In this phase, students' scores in the half-length tests behave like the volatile Sensex -- unpredictably. So, if you think group meetings and loads of testing is all you need to continue improving your scores -- sorry, you're wrong. For the final few months, you should revise and review your study plan.
At this point, the strategic approach of a general is what you need, not merely a soldier's aggression. You must plan, execute, evaluate and revise. If you don't prepare properly, your percentile will decrease markedly by C-day.
Here's a plan of action for the final, a strategy for the final ten weeks of CAT 2007 preparation.
A factual, exhaustive and balanced study plan must have both micro as well as macro facets to it.
The micro aspect involves the day-to-day planning and subsequent execution of these points. This allows you to keep a consistent, steady tempo and pace to your preparation.
A micro view of CAT preparation
Your plan should be prepared and executed on daily basis. An example can be -- two hours on number theory, one hour on reading comprehension and one hour on logical reasoning questions per day.
Give simple, straight-forward descriptions of your daily tasks. Complicated or confusing directions will just leave you lost and discouraged.
Unlike your old and memorable Class X board exam preparation, you need to follow many books rather than concentrating on one or two. CAT has more and more questions from fewer and fewer topics. Hence the key is to exercise your skills on those VITAL topics from as many sources as possible.
All three sections -- quantitative, data interpretation and verbal -- must be touched every day. This will help you exercise discipline and will ensure that you devote equal time to each of them. Moreover, such a study plan gives a sense of completeness to your preparation on a daily basis and keeps your confidence and achievement levels up.
Every set of sectional preparation must be followed by an assessment (testing) of the same. So always keep one series of tests for the evaluation of each step of your micro preparation. An additional weekly combined test would be even better.
In the end comes another very important step: evaluation and analysis. All the tests taken must be evaluated properly and analysed. If possible, have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests that you take.
In order to learn how to critically analyse your tests, register at http://www.tcyonline.com/ to attempt online MBA tests and see the analysis page at the end of each test. Such analysis will shed light on your strengths and weaknesses, helping you concentrate on where you need to improve.
But sticking to such a frequently updating plan may cause your overall preparation to move slowly. This may subsequently result in missing certain topics all together, or losing sight of the 'big picture.' Hence, a micro plan must stick to an overall macro plan.
A macro view of CAT preparation
Your macro plan should be consolidated and divided into weekly or fortnightly segments. An example:
In the next two weeks: Complete number theory, algebra and geometry from quantitative; practice at least 35 to 40 reading comprehension questions, 200 gap fills and 200 English usage exercises from the verbal section; practice approximately 400 data interpretation questions.
Use weekends to manoeuvre the pace of your micro preparation to match the macro milestones. Macro planning must be done by working backwards from November 15, 2007; this leaves you the last two days to conquer anxiety and establish self-control.
The milestones in the macro plan must be planned on the lines of mock CATs (specifically National level CATs). It is a good idea to appear in at least (if not all because of time constraint) two mock CATs conducted by institutes other than yours. This helps a test-taker in developing a more objective understanding of his performance vis-�-vis others.
Which areas deserve the most focus?
If you look at and analyse the actual CATs from 2004, 2005 and 2006, you can prepare a factual and accurate list of topics to be covered.
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
As the above two charts show, the share of number theory in quantitative and that of reading comprehension in verbal is increasing. Your study plan must be structured around exercising the most frequently asked topics in the CAT -- hence, you should focus on these two areas. This will help you cover the most important topics first, moving down the areas in the decreasing order of their probability to appear on the exam.
Here's another informative chart, where we have summarised the contribution of the various sub-sections of quantitative and verbal sections in the total CAT:
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
It is quite obvious from the above two pie-charts that reading comprehension in verbal and geometry and number theory in quantitative have clean pre-eminence over the other sub-section in previous. On the other hand, vocabulary and paragraph jumbles in verbal and time and work, ratio and proportion, and profit-loss sections made negligible contributions to the previous CATs.
Use this information to thoroughly cover the most important topics while spending less time on the least important -- this will help you increase your overall score.
Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture
Remember that the CAT is not about solving 75 questions in 150 minutes. It is about solving 45 to 55 questions with 85 to 90 percent accuracy. Hence, attempting all the questions is not the mark of your achievement in CAT.
Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among the test-takers. But focusing on accuracy alone may lead to spending more than average time on the questions, which could cause panic towards the end of the exam. Therefore, an optimum mix of both accuracy and speed is desired.
Here are a few ways you can achieve an optimum combination of accuracy and speed before November 18:
Strictly follow a preparation schedule in order to eliminate the possibility of stress and pressure near November 10 and 15 that otherwise arises because of pending examination.
Keep a track record of your performance in terms of your total attempt together with percentage accuracy.
Rank yourself on the above two parameters compared to classmates and other peers.
In the end, always keep in mind that clarity of your strategy and clarity of your goals will help you stay focused during these final months of CAT preparation.
Read more...
You have less than three months to prepare and 2,00,000 strong competitors staring you in the face!
Do you have jitters yet? If not, you should.
By now, most CAT aspirants have completed their basic preparation. In this phase, students' scores in the half-length tests behave like the volatile Sensex -- unpredictably. So, if you think group meetings and loads of testing is all you need to continue improving your scores -- sorry, you're wrong. For the final few months, you should revise and review your study plan.
At this point, the strategic approach of a general is what you need, not merely a soldier's aggression. You must plan, execute, evaluate and revise. If you don't prepare properly, your percentile will decrease markedly by C-day.
Here's a plan of action for the final, a strategy for the final ten weeks of CAT 2007 preparation.
A factual, exhaustive and balanced study plan must have both micro as well as macro facets to it.
The micro aspect involves the day-to-day planning and subsequent execution of these points. This allows you to keep a consistent, steady tempo and pace to your preparation.
A micro view of CAT preparation
Your plan should be prepared and executed on daily basis. An example can be -- two hours on number theory, one hour on reading comprehension and one hour on logical reasoning questions per day.
Give simple, straight-forward descriptions of your daily tasks. Complicated or confusing directions will just leave you lost and discouraged.
Unlike your old and memorable Class X board exam preparation, you need to follow many books rather than concentrating on one or two. CAT has more and more questions from fewer and fewer topics. Hence the key is to exercise your skills on those VITAL topics from as many sources as possible.
All three sections -- quantitative, data interpretation and verbal -- must be touched every day. This will help you exercise discipline and will ensure that you devote equal time to each of them. Moreover, such a study plan gives a sense of completeness to your preparation on a daily basis and keeps your confidence and achievement levels up.
Every set of sectional preparation must be followed by an assessment (testing) of the same. So always keep one series of tests for the evaluation of each step of your micro preparation. An additional weekly combined test would be even better.
In the end comes another very important step: evaluation and analysis. All the tests taken must be evaluated properly and analysed. If possible, have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests that you take.
In order to learn how to critically analyse your tests, register at http://www.tcyonline.com/ to attempt online MBA tests and see the analysis page at the end of each test. Such analysis will shed light on your strengths and weaknesses, helping you concentrate on where you need to improve.
But sticking to such a frequently updating plan may cause your overall preparation to move slowly. This may subsequently result in missing certain topics all together, or losing sight of the 'big picture.' Hence, a micro plan must stick to an overall macro plan.
A macro view of CAT preparation
Your macro plan should be consolidated and divided into weekly or fortnightly segments. An example:
In the next two weeks: Complete number theory, algebra and geometry from quantitative; practice at least 35 to 40 reading comprehension questions, 200 gap fills and 200 English usage exercises from the verbal section; practice approximately 400 data interpretation questions.
Use weekends to manoeuvre the pace of your micro preparation to match the macro milestones. Macro planning must be done by working backwards from November 15, 2007; this leaves you the last two days to conquer anxiety and establish self-control.
The milestones in the macro plan must be planned on the lines of mock CATs (specifically National level CATs). It is a good idea to appear in at least (if not all because of time constraint) two mock CATs conducted by institutes other than yours. This helps a test-taker in developing a more objective understanding of his performance vis-�-vis others.
Which areas deserve the most focus?
If you look at and analyse the actual CATs from 2004, 2005 and 2006, you can prepare a factual and accurate list of topics to be covered.
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
As the above two charts show, the share of number theory in quantitative and that of reading comprehension in verbal is increasing. Your study plan must be structured around exercising the most frequently asked topics in the CAT -- hence, you should focus on these two areas. This will help you cover the most important topics first, moving down the areas in the decreasing order of their probability to appear on the exam.
Here's another informative chart, where we have summarised the contribution of the various sub-sections of quantitative and verbal sections in the total CAT:
++ Data: Previous year CATs
** Analysis: Top Careers & You
It is quite obvious from the above two pie-charts that reading comprehension in verbal and geometry and number theory in quantitative have clean pre-eminence over the other sub-section in previous. On the other hand, vocabulary and paragraph jumbles in verbal and time and work, ratio and proportion, and profit-loss sections made negligible contributions to the previous CATs.
Use this information to thoroughly cover the most important topics while spending less time on the least important -- this will help you increase your overall score.
Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixture
Remember that the CAT is not about solving 75 questions in 150 minutes. It is about solving 45 to 55 questions with 85 to 90 percent accuracy. Hence, attempting all the questions is not the mark of your achievement in CAT.
Accuracy is a distinguishing factor among the test-takers. But focusing on accuracy alone may lead to spending more than average time on the questions, which could cause panic towards the end of the exam. Therefore, an optimum mix of both accuracy and speed is desired.
Here are a few ways you can achieve an optimum combination of accuracy and speed before November 18:
Strictly follow a preparation schedule in order to eliminate the possibility of stress and pressure near November 10 and 15 that otherwise arises because of pending examination.
Keep a track record of your performance in terms of your total attempt together with percentage accuracy.
Rank yourself on the above two parameters compared to classmates and other peers.
In the end, always keep in mind that clarity of your strategy and clarity of your goals will help you stay focused during these final months of CAT preparation.
GMAT Prep Materials
Do click on the ebooks mentioned to download the same
- Kaplan- All collections
- GMAT 30 Sets
- Official Guide 10
- Manhattan Review Verbal
- Manhattan Review Quant
- 1000 s.c
- 1000 c.r
- Princeton Review
- Kaplan Advance 800
- Software for TEst -100
- Online Test Passkeys
- AWA Analysis.
- JMET paper
- NMAT paper
- SNAP Paper
- Self Help Books
All these materials will be found at Google group ,you may have to become member of the samehttp://groups.google.co.in/group/aspirant008
Many more books going to get uploaded , Please be patient ,if you need any in urgency do leave a comment, will get back to you soon
Read more...MBA Dreams
Hi Friends,
This is my 3rd blog , This is specific to MBA related stuff. Have been Doing lot of research for last 2 years and will try to share all that with you. First Knowing Importance of MBA.
There has been a sea change in the economic and industrial scenario of India over the past few years. The Government's policy of liberalization has unshackled restrictions and controls on business with the result that there has been a spurt of entrepreneurial activity and a spawning of mega-conglomerates. Increasing globalization has perpetuated severe competition and tough battles for market share. For business success, these organizations need talented, qualified managers with a professional approach. They turn to MBAs from premier business schools.
The MBAs recruited are credited with the following:
The functional knowledge of the business organization
The knowledge of functional interdependencies
In-depth knowledge of at least one discipline
The ability to adapt to new environments - micro and macro
A problem solving approach
The necessary inter-personal skills
The skills of communication
Self-confidence
Initiative and the drive to succeed
If one takes a look at the profiles of captains of business and industry, movers and shakers of the corporate world, high flying executives, key decision makers, in short anyone who makes a difference to the fortunes of a corporation, more often than not, you will find they have one thing in common, an MBA from a premier business school. Be it in Marketing, Finance, Banking, Advertising or Consulting. Take any organization and, by and large, occupying the top and senior level positions are men and women of familiar qualification.
Understandably, the well-chronicled success stories of the alumni of premier business schools and industry's growing confidence in teaching and training methodologies of these business schools, which have widely respected, acknowledged authorities on various subjects, as faculty, have sent the stock of MBAs soaring.
In today's complex and competitive world, personal entrepreneurship is required to succeed irrespective of the profession/position that you are handling. Just having focused / specialized skill sets though important may not serve the overall purpose in a business environment. Some are born entrepreneurs like the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis etc. to name a few. However, this quality of 'entrepreneurship' is not inculcated or developed in professional courses of engineering, medical, commerce, arts, economics etc.
An MBA course would sharpen your vision, increase your business acumen, enhance you skill set and help you to view things with a business perspective. To highlight the above point, a pure engineer may not be able to appreciate commercial, legal, financial or marketing aspects of a business unit. However, coupled with an MBA, he/she is likely to do better.
For Engineering Graduates an MBA is an added adbantage. As an Engineer, you develop:
1. Good analytical skills
2. Good quantitative skills
3. Good decision making
4. The art of attacking a problem head-on and reaching its solution
5. Instant thinking
But the industry these days requires you to have (in addition to the above mentioned skills):
1. Good communication skills
2. Creativity
3. Leadership qualities
4. The right personality
5. The ability to work in a team
6. Knowledge of all functional areas in Management
7. One specialization in Management
An MBA bridges this gap most effectively
Career profiles of specialists get 'stagnated' and their acceptability from one job function to another is limited. In the modern environment apart from varied formal and informal training, an MBA gets irrespective of specialization functional job knowledge in areas of marketing, finance, HR, systems, legal etc. Apart from the 'formal' education curriculum students are vigorously trained and given exposure to industry, asked to take up social projects etc. A few institutes even provide specialized training for development of personality, mental and physical health. In short, B-School MBAs irrespective of their graduation background are specially equipped to tackle their jobs and responsibilities in a more efficacious and business-oriented manner.
The demand for MBAs far outstrips the supply. And that is the reason they command such great bargaining power. Where else does one get the opportunity of making it really big in a short time span, a high-powered life style, lucrative earnings, of fully exploiting talent and potential, except in a career in Management? No matter if one is an Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering or Social Sciences student. An MBA from a premier business school can provide foundation for a successful career path.
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