In an online chat with readers on October 18, Aziz Manva, IIM-Lucknow alumnus and head of Testfunda.com addressed reader queries related to cracking CAT 2011 exam, which will commence from October 22, 2011, Saturday.
maneeshg asked, kindly share some last minute strategies to crack the CAT
Aziz Manva answers, In these last few days to CAT, it is important to be in touch with concepts learnt and brush up on them. Take not more than 3 to 4 mock s in a week and analyse your performance in each successive mock. Go back to fundamentals wherever required but please do not try to pick up something new in the last few days.
divya asked, sir, how much should one ideally score in each of the sections to meet the sectional cut offs?
Aziz Manva answers, Try to attempt 18-20 questions in each section and try to get atleast 15 or 16 correct out of those
red asked, I want to crack cat this year i.e 2011, when to start studies?
Aziz Manva answers, Now may be too late to start preparing for CAT. Also, in case you have not registered for CAT, there is no way you can clear it this year because the registration date has ended.
sfSAf asked, anything specific which we need to prepare now
Aziz Manva answers, Browse through the basics of the chapters, practice a few questions and try to take a mock every couple of days
chandu asked, can you let us know how to go on with the new format of CAT
Aziz Manva answers, when you start section I, scan that section to identify the questions that you can answer easily and solve them first, irrespective of whether they are from quant or DI. This way you will be able to attempt a few more questions. Repeat this process for section II as well
auro asked, please tell how to score more in CAT. which sections are important and should be given more importance
Aziz Manva answers, To score more in CAT, you will have to do equally well in section I as well as in II. As such, please do not place more importance on any one specific section. Prepare equally for QA, VA and DILR
chandu asked, Do you think questions in DI-Quant will be inter related.
Aziz Manva answers, Can't say...but there is no reason for something like this to happen. So the DI questions may well be independent of the QA questions
chandu asked, My exam is on 22oct what can i do now ?
Aziz Manva answers, Considering that you have only 4 days, attempt 1 or maximum 2 mock tests. Secondly try to revise the important concepts from the chapters and practice a few questions only from those chapters where you feel that you are still not completely confident
anusha asked, do u think it is better to pursue MBA in US if one fails to get into IIMs? what is the average cut off required for IIMs
Aziz Manva answers, The average cut off required for the IIMs is anywhere above 97-98 percentile. However, it is not really necessary to pursue your MBA in the US> also, most institutes in the US will need a minimum of 2 years of work experience at the managerial level. Finally there are a lot of institutes in India itself that are quite good, apart from the IIMs
red asked, I have already registered but not started studies but i want to crack any how this year, tell me how?
Aziz Manva answers, Try to complete the concepts as soon as possible because you have very limited time. Also, try to practice atleast 4-5 mock tests in the new format
Sukhjinder asked, Pl Share tips on time management.
Aziz Manva answers, Are you asking for time management tips related during the exam or during the preparation time now?
anitha asked, I completed my BA should i go for CAT or ICET
Aziz Manva answers, Attempt both CAT as well as ICET. Depending on what scores you get in each, apply to colleges accordingly
chandu asked, why did IIMs reduced the number of sections.WERE not they happy with previous CAT results
Aziz Manva answers, The official stand taken by the IIMs is that this makes students focus on both sections rather than maximize their score through their strong section only
Illustration: Dominic Xavier
For those who missed the live chat, here's the unedited transcript.
catcrackeer asked, is the last date for CAT registration over?
Aziz Manva answers, at 2011-10-18 16:07:01Yes, the last date for registration for CAT was 2nd October. You may want to try other tests such as SNAP & NMAT who are nearing their last application date.
maneeshg asked, kindly share some last minute strategies to crack the CAT
Aziz Manva answers, In these last few days to CAT, it is important to be in touch with concepts learnt and brush up on them. Take not more than 3 to 4 mock s in a week and analyse your performance in each successive mock. Go back to fundamentals wherever required but please do not try to pick up something new in the last few days.
divya asked, sir, how much should one ideally score in each of the sections to meet the sectional cut offs?
Aziz Manva answers, Try to attempt 18-20 questions in each section and try to get atleast 15 or 16 correct out of those
red asked, I want to crack cat this year i.e 2011, when to start studies?
Aziz Manva answers, Now may be too late to start preparing for CAT. Also, in case you have not registered for CAT, there is no way you can clear it this year because the registration date has ended.
sfSAf asked, anything specific which we need to prepare now
Aziz Manva answers, Browse through the basics of the chapters, practice a few questions and try to take a mock every couple of days
chandu asked, can you let us know how to go on with the new format of CAT
Aziz Manva answers, when you start section I, scan that section to identify the questions that you can answer easily and solve them first, irrespective of whether they are from quant or DI. This way you will be able to attempt a few more questions. Repeat this process for section II as well
auro asked, please tell how to score more in CAT. which sections are important and should be given more importance
Aziz Manva answers, To score more in CAT, you will have to do equally well in section I as well as in II. As such, please do not place more importance on any one specific section. Prepare equally for QA, VA and DILR
chandu asked, Do you think questions in DI-Quant will be inter related.
Aziz Manva answers, Can't say...but there is no reason for something like this to happen. So the DI questions may well be independent of the QA questions
chandu asked, My exam is on 22oct what can i do now ?
Aziz Manva answers, Considering that you have only 4 days, attempt 1 or maximum 2 mock tests. Secondly try to revise the important concepts from the chapters and practice a few questions only from those chapters where you feel that you are still not completely confident
anusha asked, do u think it is better to pursue MBA in US if one fails to get into IIMs? what is the average cut off required for IIMs
Aziz Manva answers, The average cut off required for the IIMs is anywhere above 97-98 percentile. However, it is not really necessary to pursue your MBA in the US> also, most institutes in the US will need a minimum of 2 years of work experience at the managerial level. Finally there are a lot of institutes in India itself that are quite good, apart from the IIMs
red asked, I have already registered but not started studies but i want to crack any how this year, tell me how?
Aziz Manva answers, Try to complete the concepts as soon as possible because you have very limited time. Also, try to practice atleast 4-5 mock tests in the new format
Sukhjinder asked, Pl Share tips on time management.
Aziz Manva answers, Are you asking for time management tips related during the exam or during the preparation time now?
anitha asked, I completed my BA should i go for CAT or ICET
Aziz Manva answers, Attempt both CAT as well as ICET. Depending on what scores you get in each, apply to colleges accordingly
chandu asked, why did IIMs reduced the number of sections.WERE not they happy with previous CAT results
Aziz Manva answers, The official stand taken by the IIMs is that this makes students focus on both sections rather than maximize their score through their strong section only
Illustration: Dominic Xavier
'CAT is not very tough'
anitha asked, For CAT fees structure is more than ICET, how to overcome this
Aziz Manva answers, Most good B-schools have educational loan facilities, so you can avail of those loans and pursue your MBA through CAT as well
Sukhjinder asked, I Govt PSU employee with 10+ year experience. Should I pursue regular 2 year MBA program OR Executive Business Management Program?
Aziz Manva answers, If you are financially and professionally in a position to leave your job for 2 years, try to pursue the regular 2 year MBA programme. Alternatively, you could also pursue the full length 1 year programme at ISB
Alby asked, My exam is on 31st Oct. Ive been preparing for over 3 months now for CAT.What do you suggest I do in the last 2 weeks before CAT especially for English which is my weakness?
Aziz Manva answers, Since you have around 12-13 days left, try to practice 2-3 mock tests. Focus on the following chapters to try to increase your English score: Fill in the blanks, jumbled sentences, paragraph completion and paragraph summary, word usage, sentence correction, errors in usage
harsh asked, I want 90% in SECTION 1....what should be the no of CORRECT Attempts.....will 12 suffice??
Aziz Manva answers, No..it will not...try to attempt around 17-18 questions with atleast 14 correct
Alby asked, For the first section, Ive noticed that reading all the question and marking the easy questions to be attempted helps considerable.Is there a particular strategy I can use for the second section?Is it ok to do RC in the last 25 mins?
Aziz Manva answers, In fact what you are going to do for the first section is the same thing that you will have to do for the second section as well. Don't keep RC for the every end
sumAn asked, is there any age bar for CAT
Aziz Manva answers, No, there is no age bar for CAT
lol asked, how many questions in all should i attempt in both the sections?? negative marking is 1 marks am i rite?? thnx
Aziz Manva answers, For each section, try to attempt atleast 20 questions. The negative marking should be 1 mark but there will also be the effect of normalisation which will be very difficult to explain
szs asked, two sections in cat2011 consist 30 questions each.should we be careful to maintain uniformity in section itself as ist section consists QA as well as DI etc...any comment about break within a section...
Aziz Manva answers, It is expected that section I will have around 18-20 questions from QA and 10-12 questions from DI. While there will not be a sub-sectional cut-off within that section, it is better is you distribute your attempts between QA and DI. The same also applies to section II
Alby asked, Whats the ideal time to spend per RC? Assuming it has 3-4 questions?
Aziz Manva answers, Assuming that an RC set has 3-4 questions , you can allocate 12-13 minutes for it. You can always add or subtract a minute in this as tolerance
anshika asked, im weak in maths..how many questions should i attempt overall in DI - quant section...bcoz i knw there is sectional cut off in CAT
Aziz Manva answers, If you feel that you are weak at QA, attempt 16-18 questions (QA + DI) and try to get atleast 13 right
MEOW asked, Why CAT is so tough. I am planing to enroll next year
Aziz Manva answers, CAT is not very tough. It just requires systematic and sustained preparation. You can definitely give it your best shot next year
Aziz Manva says, These are all the questions that I will be able to take today. Thanks for participating in this chat. All the best for CAT!
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