The M.A.Ts of India

(In the following post, you can interchange CAT with RAT MAT BAT XAT EAT... whatever you want... Its just that each exam screws you at a point never before.)

Its exactly a month ago that I relieved myself from probably the toughest and academically the most difficult phase, so far, in my life. January 15th. Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi (Better known as FMS Delhi) conducted its entrance exam. Though it marked an end of management entrance exams for me, it was not so for the nation. On February 26th Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS, Mumbai) is conducting its entrance examination.

Well. Enough of the time table.

Probably one of the most admired modes of selection of students for management courses in India has originally been started by the IIM's, way back in the 60's. Generally conducted on the third sunday of every November, Common Admission Test, better known with its petname "CAT", which is also the first phase of selection process for the management course, has been the beast that only smart brains in the country could kill soft. The test consists of sub-sections wherein the candidate is expected to show equal competence in all the sections. The following sunday is generally IIFT's day, as they conduct a test of their own for an admission into IIFT. Equally busy are the follwing sundays for different b-schools, almost till the end of February, where tests are conducted for admissions into the management courses.

In all of these exams, similar selection processes and elimination strategies are adopted. Post entrance test, students who qualify are called for a Group Discussion, where majority of people who turn up are eliminated. Those who clear even this round are called for a round of Personal Interview. One can expect some mirchi here, in the form of some of the most stupid and weird questions like "Why is your tie not made of silk?", "How many buttons are there on you shirt and why only that many?". Completely subject oriented questions like "At which point is the function (some really complex function, calculus oriented) disontinuous and why?" are suddenly shot without giving any clue that the topic is being changed. A round of personalitydrilling is also carried out by the interviewers. Only those who sail through all these rounds can step into the prestigious management institutions of India.
Analysing this process, I wonder if there could be any other mode of selection so pure, refined and transperent as how it is for CAT. Luck absolutely has no role to play in it and so is it even for blind prayers. Only the cream can make it through. The history of B-School admissions has always shown this. CAT 2005 replayed the show and has once again proven its standard big time that a simple coaching is not enough to get you through.

So whats there to listen so much from this loser who didnt even get a single call from the 909290138931287 exams that he has written so far??. Well... only losers can clearly tell you what you can lose at what point of time by doing what :p. Can winners do the same? ;). Certain guidelines and simple strategies can help work wonders in CAT, but only when practised at the right time.
> I'm sorry if you dont, but you should really have a working brain. And when I say WORKING, it should be really working!!
> It really gets simple to crack CAT when you atmoise the whole paper. See it as a set of 120 questions where you are asked to mark the top 40 easiest quesitons making sure that you score approximately and requiredly well in each section.
> Mocks are the best field where one can judge oneself. I made a dumba** out of myself thinking that they really don't matter. The more you sweat the less you bleed. So its better you carry out as many experiments on your strategy as possible and evaluate their efficiency immediately.
> If youre a person who really gets tensed during the exam time, forget CAT for the last 2 weeks. Just F O R G E T. Concentrate on your sem exams instead. And for all the cool heads who really dont get tensed whatever the situation, try diggng and byhearting new forumale with certain routine question types (Dont mind even if its the night before the D-Day). It really thrills you and fetches you some "nice marks" if the formulae learnt before night help you in recognising a certain type of question.
> Smart Strategy is the only key for cracking CAT. So spend a higher amount your time more on it rather than mugging up formulae and practising questions.

1. Start with a section of your choice, if its Quant, scan the paper in 5 minutes flat and mark that 10-15 workable questions. Spend your half an hour on them.
2. For DI, adopt either "Some of All" or "All of Some" strategy. Dont forget DS at the same time too...
   
3. If its Verbal, go ask your mentor. He can guide you better. But if you have excess of verbal talent, get back to me.
   

> Avoid dumb guessing. Guessing is synonymous to choosing the most comfortable and soothing way you want to die. If you want to, try going for smart guesses wherein the generally possibility of an answer is checked and 2 of 4 options can be eliminated.

It's more a student learns from experience in such examinations than in "CAT-Cracking" guidelines and many more articles like this. So at the end, apart from these few general points mentioned above, follow what works for you.

P.S: Any sane head who has got a real taste of CAT will not leave it unachieved. So guys... get going!!