Live One-to-One Online CAT Classes by IIM Alumni

www.spanedea.com

CAT Strategy – Second/ Repeat Attempt Second/ Repeat Attempt to CAT is important to most students as it

might be the last attempt. Also another failed attempt on the CAT will result in the loss of one

more year CAT and other similar exams like XAT,FMS etc are known for

changing patterns and differing levels of difficulty every year. CAT Preparation requires hard work, meticulous planning and

systematic implementation A correct mix of theory and concepts, practice, simulated testing and

detailed analysis Two Sins while CAT Preparation

A lot of people jump straight into problem solving and finding shortcuts to do “commonly occurring” problems.

Jump into exercise based preparation without getting the fundamentals right

Before starting preparations for writing CAT for the nth time, make sure that you get your fundamentals right

www.spanedea.com

What I Did Wrong? I Did not read any philosophy books, novels for “Reading Comprehension”

practice. I Did not prepare any dictionary / list for vocabulary. I Did not try any method for ‘speed-reading’. Had totally bogus Moc - CAT scores 6, 9 etc, never did ‘post-analysis’ of

questions and later stopped giving them altogether, as they were wasting my time and hurting my confidence.

Skipped trigonometry, coordinate geometry, games and tournaments and any topic that I couldn’t grasp on the first two tries or anything that would not go in my long term memory.

Did not do much arithmetic series and logarithm. Because most of them would require the application of some special ‘magic-move’, which won’t go my long term memory.

Skipped most of quant/LR threads & discussions on online forums (Well most of their sums go above my head anyways.)

Can’t do much speed-maths or mental calculation of percentages for DI/Quant. Don’t know squares upto 50. Can remember multiplication table upto 25, but 13,14,17,18,19,23 still give

nightmares.

www.spanedea.com

Count your SinsLow Mental ability –Brain has lost that ability to

grasp, analyze or calculate things quickly without calculator

Weak Fundamentals –Brain has lost hold of basic fundamentals used in CAT Verbal & Quant Sections; it is accustomed to analyze complex problems

Time Management – Solving questions within the time limit to get maximum percentile.

Practice –Not able to do much practice on sample Questions Especially student is not able to practice on & score at highest level of difficulty within 3 min.

Screening of errors - Understanding why the answer choice was wrong, making list of all the errors & doing practice so that this errors are not repeated again

www.spanedea.com

Few Questions to askDo I have mental stamina to work efficiency

during strenuous 140 mins (2.5 hours)?

Do I have approach/strategy for solving any type of question in less than 2 min (whatever the level of difficulty)?

Are math fundamentals, grammar basics & vocabulary list up to the mark to score 99+percentile in CAT?

www.spanedea.com

The Secret – Key The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do all

problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the score

Most important - knowing when to let go. You have to quit and move if you are not able to

answer a question within the upper time limit. Remember to take each question by itself. Don't worry

about the grand scheme, just one question at a timeDo not give up: CAT is a very logical exam and if you

are good with logic you should be able to do reasonably well.

Focus on the basics if you are not improving. Define your weak areas and work on them.

www.spanedea.com

MAD over CAT The CAT is a tough test. The CAT will humble you and bring you

down to your knees. With enough practice and right guidance, you can beat it!  The key to success is training your mind to think differently and

act differently  Get acquainted with both the content and the length of the

test. CAT is not rocket science, it just requires a lot of discipline…

There are no shortcuts—Identify your weaknesses and then reviewing materials/doing

practice problems to fill those gapsFocus on the problem types you're having issues with

TRUST YOURSELF. You are smarter than you think. All of the knowledge is inside of you. You just need to discover

how to pull it out and apply it on test day!

www.spanedea.com

  7 Point Strategy Mental Ability – Improve mental ability, improve mental

responses, practice mental exercises and calculations daily.  Clear Basic fundamentals – Through understanding of

principles through different books Time Management – Solving Practice problems with

timer, not more than 3 min for any question regardless of difficulty level ( 4 questions – 12 mins)

SWOT Analysis – Know different type of questions in & do SWOT on those types. More practice on weak areas.

Error Log - Error log will help you to know weak areas. Strategy to solve each type of question within 3 min

Process of Elimination – Understand & Practice Process of Elimination on different question types

Practice – No alternative to practice. it is very important to practice higher difficulty level questions for time management; try to solve every question within 3 min

www.spanedea.com

Start Fresh @ CAT

www.spanedea.com

Analyze, Understand & Plan the preparation Preparing for the exam 3 levels of preparation required to crack the CAT.

Knowledge Exam Strategy Confidence and Performance under pressure

3 Steps to ACE CAT Step-1 Learn all about CAT Step-2 Do Self Analysis for CAT Step-3 Execution: Mastering your strengths and improving on your

Weaknesses 

Study Plan Never Prioritize topics – study all What is prepared & what needs to be learned Time Management   Set accomplishable goals Stick to your plan 

www.spanedea.com

8 important steps for CAT PrepIdentify where you standBuild the Foundation - build the basics | Revise

the fundamentalsStudy Plan and Time ManagementSectional Tests and ExercisesStart acing mocksEvaluation and analysis Know your strengths, work on your

weaknessesAccuracy and speed: the perfect mixtureShortcuts and strategies

www.spanedea.com

Identify where you standWhere to start?The ideal way to start preparing for any

exam is by taking a diagnostic testDiagnostic test should ideally be of similar

type as the previous CAT exam.You may take the test online/offline. Detailed analysis on the results

www.spanedea.com

Build the Foundation - Revise the fundamentalsUnderstand and Develop basic concepts

tested in the CATUnderstand different types of questions

asked in each sectionGauge your understanding by solving

questions for each ConceptAttempt extra practice problems on each

concept to go to Pro Level.Finally, move on to actual past CAT

questions – to develop the CAT mindset

www.spanedea.com

Study Plan and Time ManagementTime is precious, while everyone has the

same amount of time, only those who manage it well crack the CAT.

Budget your time – Create a study plan to manage the time effectively and efficiently.

Give plenty of time for each task and concept

Use a calendar to set specific deadlines. Don’t get nervous over deadlines; stay

calm and keep on track.

www.spanedea.com

Sectional Tests and exercisesStart taking sectional tests and time based

exercises. At least 2-3 concept or sectional tests a week See where you stand and measure

improvement. Analyze the tests in detail to check:

Where have you gone wrong?Why have you gone wrong? Solutions to questions that you did not attempt to

identify the ones that you could have attempted. Analyze your performance after every test you

take.www.spanedea.com

Start acing mocksStart taking mocks once every week to

frame a full proof strategy.Gauge your performance – weakness and

strengthsMock scores will also help you identify your

aim and strategy for the last few months before CAT

Start your mocks even if you have not completed the chapters

www.spanedea.com

Evaluation and analysis All the tests taken must be evaluated properly and

analysed. Have a record on a spreadsheet of all the tests that you

takeTrack your performance section wise and concept wiseCreate a flowchart which will help you know where you

stand and how much improvement you need in every section. 

Analysis should include your attempted, non-attempted questions.  Silly mistakes and guess work attempts.

Such analysis will shed light on your strengths and weaknesses.

Concentrate on where you need to improve

www.spanedea.com

Know your strengths, work on your weaknesses Discover the areas, where you are strong and where there is a room for

improvement Capitalize on your strengths and get rid of your weaknesses. Challenge yourself by re-practicing problems in weak areas Make stronger area into the strongest and work towards improving the

weaker sections. Always keep yourself motivated; do not stress yourself, by studying all

the time. Over dosage often, as they say – kills. How to find your strength & weaknesses – Simply pickup a past years

CAT exam papers1. Attempt as many questions as you can without putting the time limit in one2. Attempt which ever you are confident of, don't make any blind guess for any

of the questions and make calculated guess 3. Check your answers and attempts.4. Write down your overall score, along with sectional score5. Repeat step 1-4 for 4 more past year CAT paper

www.spanedea.com

Accuracy and speed: the perfect mixtureCAT is not about solving 60 questions in 140

minutes. It is about solving 40 to 45 questions with 85 to

90 percent accuracy. Attempting all the questions is not the mark of your

achievement in CATAccuracy is a distinguishing factor among 99+

percentile Focusing on accuracy may lead to spending more

than average time on the questionsSpending more time on one problem could cause

panic towards the end of the exam.An optimum mix of both accuracy and speed is

desired.

www.spanedea.com

Shortcuts and strategiesTry to find strategies and shortcuts for

different sections and concepts. Increase your speed, improve your

accuracy and reduce time per question.Collective studies with your friends and

exchange ideas and shortcuts with each other.

A common pitfall is learning the tricks without understanding them.

Best solution is to derive and develop tricks yourself from the basic principles.

www.spanedea.com

Time Management during exam Practice the element of “TIME” in problem solving  Most problems in management institute exams do not require

knowledge of rocket science. These exams are about

Skill and knowledge Ability to manage time in the most efficient manner.How to solve problems in minimum time

Focus on 2 more questions and get proficient in them -:a) How much time will it take me to solve this problem?b) Compared to the problems that I have seen what level of

difficulty do I think this problem lies in? Important for candidate to decide

Which questions to attempt and which questions to leave In which order - which might very well end up being the most

important thing esp. in exams where time is the crunch.

www.spanedea.com

Plan your answering strategyThese are few points you must plan out before taking the

CAT-:What is your time allocation strategy? How much time do you plan to spend on each of the

sections?In particular, do you plan to devote equal time to each

section or slightly more time to the section that you are the strongest at?

How will you respond to a differential marking scheme if that is specified? For example, if there are 2 mark and 1mark questions, do you plan to attempt the 2 mark questions first?

Do you plan to spend some time at the completion of the exam, cross-checking or verifying some of the answers, especially of those questions that you are not really sure of and have just estimated or guessed the answer?

www.spanedea.com

Find your strategy - Experiment: Till you have found a rhythm/strategy keep

changing things The target number of questions you want to

attempt, The time you spend on each section etc.

This kind of experimentation will prepare you for any surprise that you may find on D-Day

Perfect the optimum CAT-solving strategy Strikes the right balance between speed and

accuracy, Ensure that you clear all cut-offs and as well as

get 99+ percentile

www.spanedea.com

Attention : Interviews and GD/WAT Start preparing for the interviews and GD’s from beginning Candidate needs to show that he/she has a well rounded

personality in complete admission process Start orienting on this aspect six months before even applying to

the b-schools. Know and Understand different question asked in interviews Pick up a hobby,

Project something to be your hobby in an interview, Good understanding of history, personal association, ground

details, rules, current news items related to it and finally your views on its future etc

For GD/WAT preparation, Keep updated on General Knowledge/ General Affairs Get a taste of the real thing Preparing in groups of friends for GD/Essays is a good idea

www.spanedea.com

Current Affairs – General KnowledgeInterview/GD/WAT Essays requires that you be

aware of your surrounding and current affairs. Read at least one good newspaper daily and a

weekly magazine on current affairs (and 1 business magazine preferably) regularly.

Most publications from same media houses would be a bit biased in some respect

A variety of views from different media houses would strengthen your knowledge of the subject and help you especially in GD/WAT Essay

www.spanedea.com

Train Your brain Entire CAT evaluation (including GD/WAT/PI) is designed for people

who can work for longer periods of time without breaks Train your brain for working effectively and efficiently for longer

periods of time Build Mental stamina

Mental fatigue is real and it tends to snowballAt end of a exam, mental fatigue will cause him/her to think more

slowly, it will force you to re-read or re-calculate, Spending longer on each question will only serve to fatigue you

even more. Mental stamina is required to perform efficiently and to get a good

score If you need to warm-up for an hour before beginning to be able to

concentrate and study productively, now is the time to break that habit.

You need to be able to start concentrating almost immediately, and need to do the same thing for more than 140 minutes.

www.spanedea.com

Work life balance Keep yourselves distressedBalance your work/study with preparation. Be genuine to yourself and spend time every day

regularly in a systematic mannerTake it slow and do not garble all the information. Work your way through different types of

problems and keep track of your performance in every possible area

It’s about ‘You’ and you know better about yourself; device a strategy that works for you

Keep fine tuning the strategy, until you get better results

www.spanedea.com

Final WordsCAT is a tough exam and you need to train your brain for it. The key to success is training your mind to think

differently. Get acquainted with both the content and the length of the

test. CAT is not rocket science; it just requires a lot of discipline.

CAT is a very logical exam and if you are good with logic you should be able to do reasonably well.

The challenge is not to master all concepts, or to do all problems rightly; the challenge is to maximize the score

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel; all you have to do is follow a plan which the high CAT scorers use and customize it to suit your needs.

NGUFO = (Never Give Up - Fight On)

www.spanedea.com

About SPANEDEA“Every learner is unique, and so is every learning

situation!”

SPANEDEA is an interactive learning platform through live video and audio and a virtual blackboardFounded in 2011 by IIM Bangalore 1998 batch alumni – Sanjay Bhadra, Nitin Bansal and Rajat SharmaBased in Mumbai, India

Get more information at: http://www.spanedea.com/CAT

www.spanedea.com

Why Learn Online Customized learning from the convenience of their

location.Sessions/course customized to particular students need

Convenience - Convenient timing

Comfort - At the comfort of your place, Spend less time

on traveling and more time to learn

Teacher’s personalized teaching -1on1 live teaching through internet,

Modular course content – ebooks, interactive and customized content/ courses

Quality – best quality teachers

Availability – qualified teacher available all the time

www.spanedea.com

Benefits to students Choice – chose teachers, select courses,

Precision – exactly what is required, instead of needless 'full'

Personalization – my weaknesses at my pace, customize your own course

Doubt clearing – interactive discussion required for doubt clearing

Tutor provides comfort – provides the invaluable hand-holding

Sufficient practice – pre and post session quizzes, full exams

More focus on concepts – concept building

www.spanedea.com

www.spanedea.com

For more information on CAT - http://www.spanedea.com/CATOpenedex India Pvt. Ltd., 703, C-Wing, Mangalya, Andheri (E), Mumbai-

400059, India

www.spanedea.com