CAT 2014: 14 days plan

CAT 2014: 14 days plan

With 14 days to CAT 2014, the B-school aspirants are on tenterhooks. To hear words like Strategy, Mock CAT, Time Management, et al is very common to them. However, each of those words has its own importance when it comes to making your CAT attempt meaningful.

If you are taking the exam, try and stay calm. Keep working for the final showdown. The next two weeks may hold the key to consolidating all you have studied so far. It is easy, at this stage, to become nervous or lose concentration, and both the mistakes can prove costly. Do not shy away from practice. It is as essential as it was when you probably started your preparation for the CAT.

We have to remember that CAT is taken every year by lakhs of students. One cannot afford to sit back and relax at this moment. You need to keep yourself focussed and continue preparations until the last day.

Here we try to answer a few questions/ notions that trouble most of the CAT aspirants and we present our views on the same.

Mock Tests – Should I take them every day?

Yes. If not until the day of the exam, then atleast for the coming 10 days. Two reasons for that:

1. Get into the groove  – Taking a Mock test regularly will help you get into the groove. Also try and take the test at the time when your actual test is scheduled. This again will help you familiarize with conditions during those hours and make you more comfortable on the actual day.
2. Practice – Mock exams generally tend to provide real good practice and questions are often close to actual exam. A practice of those will help a student be in touch and have a constant practice of commonly asked/ expected questions. Though nothing can be predicted about such competitive exams, a practice of the most probable questions will definitely come handy.

One thing that most of the students tend to forget is to solve each question after taking the exam. This is so because as specified in point 2 above, the questions are important ones, and hence you need to know how to tackle them. So it is very important to solve each and every mock test completely, judge your suitability and move ahead!

New concepts – how many should I learn?

Possibly ZERO. The point is not to focus on what one does not know, but to focus on what one knows!

This one of the most common errors observed among the students. And it is quite understandable too. However, dear friends, please focus on the areas that you are already good at. Try to score maximum out of it. Learning some new concepts may help, but you cannot be sure. A good strategy would be to work upon your strengths and make them stronger. Remember, this is the phase of consolidation.

Math (Quants) – Darr lagta hai! What should I do?

If you are among the ones who are troubled by Math (Quants) and are not able to get to the sectionals, it can possibly mean two things viz.

•  (a) You have not given the required inputs
•  (b) You have worked but are not able identify the correct questions to attempt in the examination

In case (a), we need to practice to whatever extent we can.

In case (b), we need to identify our strengths and work accordingly. What happens with most of the students in the examination is that by the time they solve 15-20 questions, they have already consumed up the time devoted to the Quants section AND they are yet to see the remaining questions in the Quants. Now that can be horrible! We all know that Math is clubbed with Data Interpretation (DI). So if you are not so confident at Math and fancy your chance with DI, then go ahead – attempt DI. Chances of you being successful will be much more.

It is also advisable that you take Sectional test, everyday for the next 10 days in the Quant area. This will help you to develop the ability to select the “made for you” questions from the section.

To put it simply, there is nothing to panic. Analyse the question-pattern carefully, work on your strengths, do not forget we can have DI too and last but not the least, practice. Quants will be managed!

“Grammar” has my hands shivering!

If you are not through with the concepts of Grammar then it is possibly a herculean task right now with just 14 days left. However, if you are aware with the basics of grammar, we would advise that you take tests based on grammar every day. That should help you familiarize. Typically, such tests consist of 20-25 questions each and that would mean you will solve close to 300 questions and that should be good enough a practice. Same goes with solving the mock tests, analyse grammar questions carefully.

Reading Comprehension (RC) – I plan to leave it in any case!

Most of the serious aspirants of CAT must be aware that RC forms a major component of the verbal portion of CAT. We recommend not to leave ALL the RCs.

One can be weak at attempting RC if one has not practised as much. However, a good practice, even in the remaining 14 days can be of really good help. Please note that RCs can be based out of a variety of topics such as philosophical, business, economical, etc. and it is very much possible that we might be comfortable with two or more RCs asked in the examination.

Solve atleast 2-3 RCs every day!

Critical Reasoning (CR) – Any strategy?

CR questions are most commonly seen questions in CAT and other competitive exams. Most of the experts of MBA entrance preparation advise to exercise caution while attempting CR questions, so do we. Questions based on classifying the argument as strong or weak, true or false of questions asking to find out statements that strengthen or weaken the argument, are common. However, a scope of subjectivity is always there in most of the questions. Hence caution should be exercised while attempting such questions.

If you have practised such questions earlier, you can definitely attempt such questions with reasonable ease during the exams.

We hope that the above questions/ notions and the answer to them will help in clarifying doubts of thousands of aspirants of CAT 2014.

A few words without which this post will be incomplete:

• Trust your mentors

With all due respect to your knowledge and competence, we would still advise that trust your mentors. They have been with you all the way through, they know the exam and more importantly they know YOU. Trust them and be successful. It is important to emphasize this as it is very easy for a student to get distracted at the last moment, obviously because of tremendous pressure. In this age of information, it is quite possible to get distracted, but stay focused and be confident about your preparation.

• Stay Positive

Sounds cliché? May be so, but still it is quite important. As cited earlier, in a barrage of information, it is quite important remember and use the positive ones only. You have done quite well till now, you will be successful.

• Stay Healthy

It goes without saying that one has to maintain a good health. Avoid road-side food, junkfood, et al. Sleep well, sleep sufficiently. No need to stay awake for long hours.

What should be the correct strategy of taking CAT? Well, stay tuned to this blog!

All the best for your preparation for CAT 2014!

Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh

Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

(Click on "Join this site" tab on the right-hand side of the page and get instant updates)

Disclaimer: The views mentioned above are based on the authors' opinion and experiences. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on these views/ information.

3 Most Essential Things In Tackling Reading Comprehension (RC)

3 Most Essential Things In Tackling Reading Comprehension (RC)
While all of us understand that Reading Comprehension  (RC)  is one of the most crucial areas for any competitive exam, most of us find it reasonably difficult to tackle RC.

Here we present the most essential things for being successful in RC.

Diversity

RCs asked in various exams can be as diverse as one may think. The topics on which the RC can be based range from polity to social sciences, business applications to geography, history to literature, philosophical to fact-based, among others.

So a person who has studied commerce in his schooling days might come across a passage based upon pure science or for that matter a student of literature might come across a passage on chemistry.

Let us take an example,

The early history of the noble elements, ranged in the right-hand column of the periodic table, provided ample support for that view. Just after the noble gas argon was discovered in 1894, the French chemist Henri Moissan mixed it with fluorine, the viciously reactive element that he had isolated in 1886, and sent sparks through the mixture for good measure. Result: nothing. In 1924, the Austrian Friedrich Paneth pronounced the consensus. "The unreactivity of the noble gas elements belongs to the surest of all experimental results," he wrote. The theory of chemical bonding explained why. The noble gases have full outer shells of electrons, and so cannot share other atoms' electrons to form bonds.

What is a noble gas?

a.       Henri Moissan’s discovery

b.      The gases which are inert

c.       Paneth and Moissan’s discovery

d.      The gases which mix easily

The above passage and the relatively simple question that follow might be a cakewalk for a student of chemistry or sciences, but for a commerce student it might be something which is totally new.

The Solution? Read more, more, and more. Read diverse topics. The basic idea behind reading diverse topics is to increase our familiarity with them which ultimately will help us in a better understanding of the passage.

Concentrate:

While a diverse reading definitely helps, one needs to focus upon the passage while reading. Most of us do try and avoid distractions in the examinations, however, it is easy for most of us to fall in the trap and get distracted.

We strongly suggest a total concentration while doing any task. For an example, if you are reading an article, complete it in totality. The same goes for writing and almost everything. Such a habit will eventually help you in every matter and will get you positive results.

And if we have the ability to focus, it is redundant to say that we will be surely successful in tackling RC.

Words!

A good vocabulary is very much helpful in solving RCs.

‘Chutzpah’  a word made famous by the Indian movie Haider, has made many people utter this word but most of them do not know the actual meaning and pronunciation.

(hootzpa) – that is the way it is pronounced. The point is to increase your vocabulary.

With technology by our side, we can definitely use it for the advancement of vocabulary. Use dictionary to the fullest. Read newspapers, magazines, articles, etc. and develop your vocabulary as much as possible.

Food for thought: “faux pas”.  Do we know the meaning and the pronunciation? Start building vocabulary.

These simple steps will build a solid foundation for you to crack RCs and develop a good reading habit.

Keep reading!

Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh

Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

(Click on "Join this site" tab on the right-hand side of the page and get instant updates)

Disclaimer: The views mentioned above are based on the authors' opinion and experiences. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on these views/ information.

Wishing You All A Very Happy Diwali and A Prosperous New Year.

Wishing You All A Very Happy Diwali and A Prosperous New Year.

May this year be filled with lots of happiness and may it bring lots of success too.

Hardik K. Parikh | Paridhi Trivedi Parikh
Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

This Diwali – “Sweeten Lives”

This Diwali – “Sweeten Lives”

Diwali, also known as Deepawali, is celebrated across the world as a symbol of the victory of good over evil. This day is often celebrated as the day on which Lord Ram came back to Ayodhya after defeating the asur Ravana and the people of Ayodhya lightened up entire Ayodhya with diyas to welcome Lord Ram. The same tradition of lighting up the diyas is still followed, albeit with a little bit of alteration. Now, we deck up our homes and offices with diyas and a lot many other things as a commemoration.  We fire crackers, meet people, meet our relatives, and share happiness.

Most of us celebrate Diwali by firing crackers, meeting friends and relatives, eating and sharing sweets and stuff like that. But let’s think bigger, broader! Let us lighten up the lives of people.

This Diwali, we have a message: “ Sweeten Lives”.

Here’s how.

Share:

Most of us visit friends and relatives during Diwali, exchange pleasantries and what’s more, we exchange gifts and sweets too!

Now, if we just look at it from the perspective of sharing, we can share knowledge too! Sounds interesting or difficult? We would say both. But most importantly, we believe sharing knowledge is quite simple, provided we want to share it.

Anil, a student preparing for CAT examination, visits his uncle’s place to greet him. His cousin is preparing for his 12^th Board examination. Now here comes a simple and a noble gesture: Anil shares his knowledge of CAT examination with his uncle/ uncle’s family/ his cousin(s). In return, the family members get an actual feedback about the CAT exam and this piece of information will also help the cousin shape his future.

The same thing can be done by an IAS, when someone visits him and questions about the functions of an IAS officer. And these examples can be applied to any person: a teacher, a doctor, a student and as we said, everybody.

Remember, by doing so, we are just helping some person to make his/ her life better by making an informed decision. It is more important in today’s era of information-bombarding because of the digital revolution.

Gift of Knowledge:

Move-over from the sweets! Move-over from the expensive gits! And if not, take the them as a supplement. Innovate.

Gift books. Share knowledge.

As they say, “books are a man’s best friend, and possibly a woman’s too”. This Diwali we would suggest that if at all you want to gift something, gift books! Yes, an e-book too will do.  Developing the reading habit in a person may arguably be one of the most difficult tasks, but to attempt to do so can be most fulfilling too.

As most of us have heard umpteenth of times that “education is the solution to most of the problems in the world”, let us try to educate. Let us share knowledge.

Remember, by doing so, you would not only share happiness but you will “sweeten lives” too.

Spread Knowledge.

Wishing you a very happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year.

Sweetening Lives,

Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh

Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

Fantastic Four - Four Simple Steps To A Highly Productive Week

Fantastic Four - Four Simple Steps To A Highly Productive Week

All of us wish to have a highly productive week but only a few are blessed with one. Is it so difficult to have a productive/ satisfying week? The answer is NO.

We enlist here "Fantastic Four" - four simple steps to a highly productive week.

Step 1: Write it

There are lot many things to be done in a week. The first thing that one needs to do is “jot them down”. Most of us have the tendency of relying on our memory for what has to be done and what has not to be. We would say “WRITE IT UP”. Nowadays we have lot many softwares/ apps available to help us for the same. Writing the tasks will also help you to track the performance easily.

Step 2: Prioritize

A lot many tasks? Ehhh..some of us may be bogged down by just looking at the list of tasks prepared. The key here is to “prioritize” them according their importance. This step is one of the most crucial steps to having a productive week.

e.g. a student preparing for various competitive examinations has lot many subjects to study, but, say for an example, she has a test of the Math in the following weekend, it means she should give top importance to her preparation of Math. The same concept of prioritization applies to a business person, a jobber or for that matter any person.

Step 3: Moving Ahead

While being perfectionist or coming up with meticulous performance is what most of us like and would like most of things to be so, however, what we must understand is that while one may be perfect the others may not be. Expecting the same perfection from others may lead to unwarranted delays as it will take up a huge time normally. What one should focus upon is the result and if it comes with a little bit of imperfection, so be it. Move ahead!

Step 4: Question Mark ?

Jagpreet did a lot good work this week. He seems to be happy. He expects a promotion but instead what he gets from his senior is a “sweet” scolding. And the only thing Jagpreet is left with is a Question Mark? Did something went wrong?

Before the results force the question marks on you, PUT THE QUESTION MARK YOURSELF. At the end of the week, question yourself whether what you had WRITTEN has been accomplished or not. This step will essentially help you to improve your performance and also to set up plan for another glorious week.

Follow these four simple steps for a highly productive week.

Have a fantastic week ahead!

Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh

Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

Disclaimer: The views mentioned above are based on the authors' opinion and experiences. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on these views/ information.