CAT coaching online: Job and CAT preparation: "Should I quit my job to prepare?

Believe it's the most pestering question among Job goers & CAT aspirants!

Rajesh Balasubramanian and Saravana Baskar answer some of the most sought after questions from CAT aspirants in this series! This video has answers to several questions
1.How to juggle between Job and CAT preparation?
2.How much time should I spend daily preparing?
3.Should i quit my Job?

Detailed article @ pagalguy.com

Shopping and trading is Online. Even Bill payments. CAT is online too!
Why not CAT preparation? Have a go at Online.2iim.com for 4 free classes. Try Before you Buy!!

CAT Interview Preparation - Economics: Inflation

We continue with the video series on Economics. In this particular video, we are going to learn about definition of Inflation, differences between CPI, WPI and GDP deflator. We will also touch upon which metrics central banks use for taking policy decisions.

Mock CATs, Mock CAT percentiles, predictions etc

I am going to start with a series of quotes.

There are two ways of lying. One, not telling the truth; the other, making up Statistics. 

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.

Statistics are used much like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support, not illumination.

Replace Statistics with Percentile analytics and this would fit in perfectly in the context of CAT. No matter how many fancy charts are shown, it is the responsibility of the students to not over-interpret the results. When you take a mock CAT, the review happens on three planks -

1) Learn better methods by looking at the solutions
2) Think about how you could have improved your attempts by selecting better questions.
3) Evaluate your percentile.

Of the three, the least useful is no 3 (probably also the most harmful). Because it is the least reliable. Almost all mock CAT providers use look-up tables to give percentile scores. Gone are the days where a mock CAT provider could get 10,000 people to beat themselves into a frenzy on a given Sunday to take a mock CAT at 100 god-forsaken locations in the Country.

These days, proctored CATs probably have a sample size in the range of 1% of CAT takers. These are likely to be the most serious, most experienced, most-driven of the CAT takers. So, the test providers "adjust" the look-up table to factor this in. In layman terms, this boils down to - they look at the actual numbers, feed in some other numbers, and pat themselves on the back.

So, the percentiles are fairly unpredictable. And contrary to what all the service providers claim, there is no way to back-verify that database. The only ones who will call a coaching institute and tell them that they scored a decent percentile are the ones who got a decent percentile. So, the reverse-verification process is bogus. So, no one actually knows whether any percentile number has a serious correlation with the actual numbers. There is way more anecdotal evidence to say that the percentile numbers are erratic, than to say that they are accurate.

I recently heard that there was a percentile predictor that predicts percentiles based on numbers you feed in based on the scores you have got on other exams (some of my students called me to give me an update on their predicted results.). I almost fell from my chair laughing. Students who believe that there is a scientific basis for this kind of predictor should re-examine their brains. This level of gullibility cannot be good for the body.

The thought process behind the predictor is as follows - Take three not scientifically proven indicators with no established proof from back-verification, define arbitrary weightages based on your genius to these, come up with a fourth metric and call it a prediction. And supposedly students are flocking to this predictor engine. No wonder soothsaying, tarot card reading are all flourishing industries in our Country. If smart, ambitious people can be made to believe there is such a thing called a percentile predictor, god save the masses.

Anxiety does strange things to the mind. Fretting and fuming about this exam makes you do all kinds of over-analysis. The mind needs something to cling on to, to feel that you are on the right track. Ergo, predictor.

Think of all the guys who have completed their MBAs from IIM A, B, C and think about how each of them would react if you said "percentile predictor" in their midst. I will give you a hint. I spoke to a bunch of them and the only common factor was laughter.

So, what should we do?

I am going to say something that is difficult to implement. The last 2-3 weeks, you must focus on three things

1. Chuck the percentiles. Seriously, chuck them. Forget about them. Banish them.

2. Focus on still being curious and not getting sucked into this pressure vortex. The first 2-3 mocks that you would have taken, you would have enjoyed grappling with the questions. Slowly, the pressure takes over and you stop having fun in the mocks. You are too worried about the score (and that damned percentile). The ones who crack this exam are the ones who are likely to look at a question and go "Wow. Super question. I think I will enjoy solving this". If that joie de vivre is gone, you should rekindle it.

3. Mentally prepare for a paper that is far simpler than your mocks. In our Country, the service providers have a feeling that to create a great mock CAT, you must make it very tough. So, they create phantom tough questions. CAT does not do that. Lot of students panic in a paper because it is way easier than all the mocks they have done. They have difficulty adjusting to the fact that they can attempt 34 questions in Quant in CAT, whereas they never managed more than 22 in any mock. Finding a paper that is easier than mocks can disorient you. You end up shooting for too less, end up adjusting too late, and end up with a just-miss scoreline.

We at 2IIM have resisted every urge to make our mocks tougher and fought tooth-and-nail to keep it representative. This is why good students can sometimes attempt 75-80 questions in our mocks. Remember, the very best ones can and will attempt that many in actual CAT. So, it is very important to keep in mind that the level of difficulty will not be outlandish. If you are really good, but have never attempted more than 60 questions overall in a CAT paper, how will you adjust on the day of the exam to have a crack at 84 questions?

Try your best to have some fun in the paper. be very zen and forget the percentile, and go in thinking "this exam is going to be easy". Best wishes for CAT.

CAT - New Format: How does this affect preparation?

A video on how to plan for the CAT in its new avatar of 100 questions in 170 minutes.

CAT 2014 Notification: What does this mean?

CAT 2014 notification is out .

First up, let us review the facts

Time duration: 170 minutes instead of 140 minutes
Number of questions: 50 per section, instead of 30 per section previously
Dates: Nov 16th and Nov 22nd, two sessions per day, instead of 40 sessions in the previous avatar
Change in pattern: Candidates can shift from one section to another, the time limit is 170 minutes for the overall paper. Previously, we used to have 70 minutes per section. Now, the time limits are not in silos and one can choose to spend unequal amounts of time on each section.

Thankfully, the IIMs have chosen to clarify why they are doing these changes. All these changes have been done to make the exam "aspirant-friendly". They might have changed the format dramatically, it is reassuring to know that the IIMs have at least retained their sense of humour.

How does this change preparation strategy for individual sections?
The study plan remains the same. The syllabus, framework remain the same. Practice the basics, build intensity and take lot of tests in the end. Do not pontificate too much on why these changes have been made. Be happy that the test has been made more aspirant-friendly, and continue preparation with the warm glow that comes from knowing someone is looking out for you.

How does it change the plan for CAT?
1. Stamina matters: Taking an exam for 170 minutes is tough. This is not a college exam that can be taken even with "day-dream spells" in the middle. This is an intense exam. The extra half hour can be sapping. I have been taking CAT in the past few years purely for the experience (the implication being that the pressure is less). I get drained out completely by the end of the 140 minutes. I am so tired that I can barely drive back home. An extra 30 minutes is going to kill applicants who do not have stamina. So, start building intensity and stamina from now on.

2. Time management needs to be better: Given the freedom to shift from one section to another, students might flit from one section to another too many times and kill momentum in both. Have a plan that broadly allocates time across the two sections, and have one buffer for going for playing it safe in case you are worrying about section cut-off. Do not plan to shift from section I to II once every 10 minutes. Just because the freedom has been given , it does not mean one has to use it. Till 2009, CAT gave students the freedom of shifting from one section to another. Those of us who have taken CATs in both forms will tell you that this freedom of shifting from one section to another is a double-edged sword. I used to consistently "steal"  a few minutes from quant and use this for verbal. This did not help my overall performance much. My best results came when this freedom was taken away from students. The pressure of worrying about section cut-offs sometime takes something away from the performance. So, be careful with this new found time-management freedom.

3. Students with one strong suit and one weak suit will have a small advantage: A student who is frightfully good in quant and just about average in verbal can now spend 95 minutes on verbal and 75 on quant and "balance" things out. Because this option is now available, students with sharp variance between the two sections can now plan with this in mind. Just a word of caution though, trying to be too cute can come back to bite you in this exam. Plan to have mild tweaks, avoid major overhauls.

Obviously, you will have to take a few mock CATs to get used to the new pattern. As always, the best place for getting the newer version of mock CATs is 2IIM.

Best wishes for CAT 2014.

Strategies for taking Mock CATs:

2IIM - CAT Online Course

2IIM launches its online course for CAT. Have a look at the two-minute introduction video to know about the course.

Why the 2iim online course is the best in the world?

The course has been built by a very small team, with ~85% of the lectures handled by Rajesh Balasubramanian. Rajesh is an alumnus from IIMB (2003) and scored 100th percentile in CAT 2011 and CAT 2012. 

2IIM's online course offers students three key freedoms

Freedom over location: Class can be taken anywhere. Course is 'light', i.e. should load even in places where internet speed is not that high

Freedom over time: The course cane be taken any time; and any number of times

Freedom over pace: This is the most important factor that should be a breakthrough for students. Each class is broken into modules and has been built with a mix of slides and videos. So, the course offers students the freedom to take lessons at their own pace.  Each class is of ~2.5 hours duration; but one that an exam-ready student can complete in 45 minutes, and a beginner can take 4.5 hours or longer. Each class has 8-15 short videos interspersed with slides, and is not one long 2.5 hour long video. 

What does the course offer?

•  50 online classes – Each of 2.5 hours duration; but one that an exam-ready student can complete in 45 minutes, and a beginner can take 4.5 hours or even longer.
• 10 books that cover all aspects of CAT preparation
• 20 online mock CATs + 10-paper based mock CATs. Online mock CATs will come with video solutions for select questions.
•  25 online section tests. 

New product, new idea. Obviously you are not sure 

Rajesh might have scored 100th percentile and think he is god's gift to mankind. But what if he teaches at a level that is way too high for you; or at a level that is way too low. Proof of the pudding is in the eating. Hit a few sample classes at online.2iim.com .

Is CAT punishing incorrect answers far more harshly?

Every year, after CAT results, we have students complaining about the scoring. Generally, it is just considered overreaction by students. However, this time there have been some funny patterns emerging from the scores. There are two key trends that we have seen

1. A few good students have not just underperformed, their scores have fallen off a cliff
2. Students with very high attempts have seen unusually low scores

Anecdotally, I have seen the following scores/numbers that I am not able to completely wind my head around with the current assumptions that we have made.

1. I had two students more or less equally good in quants. One froze in the exam and attempted 6 questions and ended with a score of 86th percentile. The other probably pushed himself too hard in the exam and attempted 19 questions to end with 78th percentile.

2. Another good student attempted almost equal number of questions in Quant and Verbal, and got 90+ percentile in one and less than 60th percentile in the other

3. We have heard multiple stories about someone getting 50th percentile+ with zero attempts in both sections.

All of these lead me to believe that one assumption we have made with the computation of the raw score is probably incorrect. We have all believed that a correct answer fetches a student +3, and an incorrect one fetches -1.  And then these scores are normalized to factor in level of difficulty.

My suspicion is that the IIMs have created a framework that punishes inaccuracy far more harshly than this. 

On a +3/-1 system someone who attempts 19 and gets 6 wrong would get 39 - 6 = 33 marks. Someone who attempts 6 and gets all 6 correct would get 18. Now, this giant difference in raw scores is unlikely to get bridged in the normalization process.

However, if the IIMs said each student gets -1 for the first incorrect answer in the section, -2 for the second one, -3 for the third and so on, then the person with 19 attempts and 6 wrong could get 39 - 21  = 18 which is same as the score of someone who got 6 out 6 correct.

Alternatively, the IIMs could compute the score, normalize it, scale it to 225 and finally multiply by accuracy level to get the final score. Under this assumption, the final score of the person scoring 13 correct and 6 wrong would be their normalized score * 13/19, which is a more than 30% drop in score. Whereas the one scoring 6 out of 6 would retain his entire score.

I have just given two outlines that punish inaccuracy beyond the +3/-1 framework. I am sure we can create many more. My guess is that the IIMs want to say that 10 out of 10 is way better than 14 out of 18. From a student perspective, the earlier you can wind your head around that the better.

In my view, the most important message sitting inside the scores this time around is this - Do not chase attempts, agonize over accuracy. This is the mantra most trainers have been screaming for many years now. The relevance of this mantra just shot up now. So, all of you who are preparing for CAT 2014, get into the habit of getting every attempt correct from now on. If you are unsure, leave the question. If a question seems too easy, have another read to verify. Do not live in this speed-world where attempting 10 questions in 20 minutes and getting 8 correct is considered better than attempting 6 and getting ALL of them correct.

Finally, a disclaimer. All of this is more of less just conjecture. We can never be sure of the method the IIMs use for getting the normalized scores for CAT. This is just an attempt to interpret based on anecdotal evidence. Research based on statistical evidence is often wrong, so take anything based on anecdotal evidence with a pinch of salt.

Best wishes for all students who are appearing for their interviews. I look forward to meeting all 2iim students at the GD/PI workshop.

The above piece is from Rajesh Balasubramanian, a director at 2iim who trains student for CAT and takes CAT every year. 

Preface of the book on Quantitative Aptitude for CAT

This is a copy of the preface from the book on quantitative aptitude for CAT. The book can be bought on Flipkart here .

The CAT is a wonderful exam because it aims to create challenging questions based on simple frameworks. In recent years, the paper has become far tougher, but examiners have ensured that the syllabus is simple. This is an often-forgotten, but key, idea that should set the tone for your preparation.

To my mind, this gives us two key guidelines

1. Learn from first principles to ensure that you do not ‘plateau’ out in some topics
2. Do not bother with really tough questions; do not agonize over speed of computation

To have a preparation strategy that keeps these aspects in mind, I have followed some simple thumb-rules. I have adhered to these rules while building content; my advice would be for students to stick to it as well.

Ø  Start from scratch (and then increase difficulty level slowly): The first few questions are beguilingly simple. The plan is to provide a framework for students to handle tougher questions. The most instructive way to learn is by discovering ideas. Every chapter is broken into theory, exercise and CAT-level questions. The idea is to provide a framework with simple questions and ‘push’ students to discover some thought processes while handling CAT-level questions.

Ø  Focus on building the thought process, and less on getting answers: Let me illustrate with a simple example. There is a rule that goes like this – For a prime p greater than 3, p² – 1 is always a multiple of 24. Many CAT aspirants might have seen this rule, but few might know the basis behind this rule. p² -1 = (p -1) (p + 1). Now, if p is a prime > 3, p is odd. p-1 and p+1 are consecutive even numbers, which implies one of them will be a multiple of 4 and the other a multiple of 2. Or, (p-1) (p +1) will be a multiple of 8. Now, p-1, p, p+1 are three consecutive integers, implying that one of these has to be a multiple of 3. p is prime; so one of p -1 or p + 1 has to be a multiple of 3. This is why, p² – 1 is a multiple of 24. If you have gone through this process and you see the next rule to be – If p is a prime > 3, p has to be of the form 6k + 1(where k is a  natural number), it becomes far easier to establish.

The entire book is built on the premise that it is the ability to figure out newer frameworks that distinguishes the best from the merely good, not a vast knowledge base that comprises many frameworks. Almost every question in the book has detailed solutions; in some answers, we revisit key bits from the theory in order to build the thought process.

Ø  Stay away from get-high-scores-quickly schemes: I have consciously stayed away from short-cuts and other over-simplifications to ensure a stubborn focus on fundamentals. Many guys who crack CAT will tell you that the exam is about speed and good time management.  They are correct. However, the ‘speed’ that they refer to is the ease with which you can zone in on the best method for a particular question, not necessarily the speed at which you can plug in a shortcut. I have appeared for the CAT multiple times and I can assert that if you ‘pick’ the best method as soon as you read the question, you’ll be able to approach all questions with time to spare. So, work on building that clarity. Many a time, this quest for speed is a distraction. If your fundamentals are sound, you will have time to burn.

Ø  Assess where you stand every now and then: Each topic ends with a set of CAT-level questions that acts as a benchmark for students. Innumerable books shoot either too low or too high when it comes to CAT preparation; I have taken enormous effort to ensure that CAT-level questions fall by and large into the band of difficulty that one is likely to encounter in the exam. If a student can confidently approach 80% of the questions in this category, he/she can be confident that this particular topic has been well covered. Barring the topic on combinatorics (where I have included a few tougher questions because learning by enumeration can be very instructive), almost every other question has been designed to be around the difficulty level one can expect in CAT.

I have made it a point to categorize questions into two levels of difficulty – Level 1 are questions that you should  see in a CAT paper; Level 2 are those that you should skip in the first round. I have limited the classification to two because when faced with a question in CAT, the only decision a student has to take is ‘now or later?’.  It is that simple. Also, to aid this decision-making, I have made it a point to provide the level of difficulty only in the solutions section, thus giving students practice in this decision-making.

Ø  Prepare with intensity, but enjoy the process: CAT tests intensity and stamina as much as it does application. Completing a 140-minute exam without concentration ‘drops’ is not easy. It takes immense practice. So, set yourself targets of 20 or 25 minutes for intense preparation and build up from there. Contrary to popular perception, this is not an exam that one should prepare for eight hours a day. If you study with intensity, it is difficult to spend more than two-three hours a day on CAT preparation. And, if you can do two hours a day with intensity for 90- 100 days, you will be in great shape for the exam. Focus on intensity, not time. Intensity can be built up without a feeling of being burdened by it only if you enjoy this process at some level. Looked at differently, CAT preparation can be seen as being similar to solving Sudoku or math puzzles along with some general reading. If your attitude is correct, this can be a lot of fun.

What does the book provide?

There are 27 chapters in math, with each topic containing theory with solved examples, exercise questions and CAT-level questions. All questions have detailed solutions. The level of difficulty of the CAT-level questions is mentioned where solutions are provided. This is supplemented with CAT papers of 2006, 2007 and 2008 (with solutions provided for the first two). There are also three mock CAT papers for the Quant section, again with solutions provided for the first two.

I enjoyed creating the content for this book. Although a fairly arduous task, what started off as just another interesting project soon became a labor of love. I have a lot of fun when I am in a class or when interacting with students. I realized that my maiden venture as an author for a publishing house was also very enjoyable! It is my hope and expectation that students will find it useful and also fun. Mathematics is best understood when learnt with a certain sense of wonder and joy.

Finally, to the caveat emptor – notwithstanding the meticulous efforts undertaken by the team in putting together this book, it is possible that a few errors have crept in. Kindly bring it to our notice in case you notice any. This will help us improve our next edition. I can be reached at rajesh@2iim.com

What does the book not provide?

I have always believed that it is crucial to know what is not in any book. This book provides a good framework and detailed thought process for a number of challenging questions. However, the book does not provide what I would call “The Grind”.

Students are expected to know the simple basics of the topics being covered.  In case you feel like a particular topic is too complex, please look into NCERT class VI, VII or VIII text books and get an understanding of the fundamentals.

While learning some topics, we are more receptive of tougher ideas after we have internalized the simpler ones well and practiced plenty of questions on these. The pace of learning is determined by the amount of “Grind” required to be receptive to the next idea. As my mentor K S Baskar never tires of saying, each person should do the level of “Grind” required for him/her (and not get carried away with doing only as many as the best student in your peer group requires). So, if you feel like you require more practice of simpler questions before going to CAT-level questions, please suspend pride and pick up the NCERT class VI, VII or VIII books and have a go at them.

Best wishes for the CAT and other competitive exams.

Acknowledgement

I would like to convey my sincere thanks to my colleagues, who painstakingly reviewed most of the content. Special thanks are due to Shivaram (faculty at 2iim Chennai who is now off to IIM-A for his PGDM); Naveenan Ramachandran (IIM-A alumnus, who runs 2iim Mumbai); Vimal Gopinath (XIMB alumnus, who runs 2iim Bangalore); K.S. Baskar (IIMC alumnus, who is the founder of 2iim);  Naveen (quant faculty at 2iim Chennai); and Mr. G R K Murthy (IIT Kanpur alumnus, who runs 2iim at Mylapore, Chennai).

I am grateful to Ranjini for her enormous help in formatting and verifying content. I am thankful to Mr. Periyathambi Srinivasan for ensuring that our office functioned smoothly enough when we were wholly occupied with the book.

I also acknowledge the contribution of Mr. Biju Kumar and his entire team at Access Publishing for the editing, proof-checking and general guidance they have provided. This has been invaluable.

Finally, I am indebted to Ms. Ranjeetha Shivakumar (alumnus of Great Lakes, Chennai) for verifying parts of the content. As the author’s better half, Ranjeetha had the unenviable task of having to get her hands dirty with what was not really in her comfort zone.

Three step process for CAT Quant preparation

The below is an extract from the article published on MBA Universe that can be found here

For each topic in Quant section, you must break the process into three steps - 

 1. Learn the theory from first principles: Make a conscious effort to learn theory from basic ideas. We have a tendency to ‘jump’ steps when we get familiar with a topic. Resist the temptation to use plug-and-play formulae and learn the theory with an open mind. Let me illustrate this with a simple example – 

Consider a class of 40 students with an average score of 60 marks. Two students leave this class and the average mark increases by ‘x’. If no student can take a negative mark, and x is a positive integer, how many values can the average of the two students take? One can write equations and solve this. However, someone who has learnt from basic ideas will follow a more intuitive approach.

Let us look at this approach. Let us start with a simple case where the average does not change when these two students leave the class. In this case, the two students should have scored 120 marks overall (average of 60). Now, since the average has increased, these two together should have scored less than 120.

If the average increases by 1, then they should have scored 38 marks less than 120. If average increases by 1, total should have increased by 38, or the two that left the class should have ‘taken out’ 38 less than 120. So, if they had scored 120 – 38 = 82, the average would have fallen by 1.

If they had scored 120 - 38 x 2 = 44, average would fall by 2. If they had scored 120 – 38 x 3 = 6, average would have fallen by 3. Three different possibilities exist. The intuitive method scores over the formulaic method in questions like these. It is very important to retain the more intuitive approach and not get consumed by the algebra .........more

Under what circumstances is it a good idea to quit your job and prepare for CAT?

Under what circumstances is it a good idea to quit your job and prepare for CAT?

NONE!

This is one of those essay topics that can ideally feature in competitions seeking ultra-short contributions. The one-word response would be, ‘None’!  However, having told my boss that I definitely want to comment on this topic, I cannot get away with the ultra-short version. So, here goes.

Thanks to my earlier avatar as an investment research analyst, I have acquired this habit of getting my disclaimers in early. I am not going to sit on the fence. It is NEVER a good idea to quit your job. So, if you are among the group of people that has decided to quit and you do not want to hear anything against that decision, skip this article and move ahead to the next one.

Every week, I get at least two enquiries from students who are keen to take a step up by focusing exclusively on the CAT preparation. This roughly translates to, “I hate my job.  I want to have a decent-sounding reason to quit”. Beware! there are two major pitfalls in quitting a job to prepare for CAT.

1. The personal interview phase becomes trickier: You will lose scores for work experience, and might face uncomfortable questions in the interview. Sample this
1. “Quitting a job at an MNC to prepare for CAT makes me doubt your ability to weigh risk-reward.  I think I would be fueling your foolhardy decision-making if I gave you a seat here.  What are your thoughts on this?”
2. “I met eight candidates before you, all of whom have managed busy work schedules and squeezed in CAT preparation while you have focused exclusively on CAT. All other things being equal, why should I select you over them?”
3. “So, you cannot hold a job and prepare for a competitive exam at the same time?  After MBA, you will have to multitask at an even greater level.  You are basically telling me you are not equipped to handle that.  Thoughts?”

Do not think that it is a smart idea to say that you have not quit your job but taken a break to pursue your passion of working in industry X and therefore joined your cousin.

As a general rule, professors do not think it is a great idea to take a break for the sake of CAT preparation and will interpret any shift to a ‘small company in a preferred industry’ on your resume as a proxy for this.

2. Pressure increases: Bear in mind that if you take a break in June, you do not take a six-month break for CAT preparation, but rather a nearly 12-month break.  CAT is not an exam that one needs to prepare for 50 hours a week; it calls for intensity over two-three hours a day.  A longer preparation time could easily lead to a plateau in results performance.  A large number of candidates run out of practice material that really tests them but can never cross 90^th percentile. This is essentially because the intensity disappears from preparation.  If you set yourself a target of preparing for eight hours a day for 180 days, you are creating a recipe for losing intensity within weeks.  All these factors will intensify the pressure on the day of the exam.  Importantly, this plays a role in affecting decision-making after CAT as well.  If you do not have a viable plan B, the temptation to join a college ranked 60^th (because this is the only decent admit) will be high. The assurance that comes with having a viable plan B is vital for cracking this exam.

There are many other reasons for not taking this decision, but the two mentioned above are the most important.

Compared to 10 years ago, the admission processes for the IIMs have changed dramatically. When I took my CAT in 2000, the admission process was extremely CAT score oriented. If you had a decent CAT score, all else was pretty much forgotten (particularly true for IIMC).  In the current era, the CAT score is taken as but one metric in a broad basket of input variables. Ten years ago, it might have been a decent (if still risky) idea to trade 2 percentile points for one year of work experience.  In the current era, the trade-off is not even worth the discussion.

Do not try to use CAT as an excuse for getting out of a taxing/boring job.  Even after your MBA, odds are that you will go through a few bad jobs (and bosses!)  If you must quit, do so in August, have a job in hand that you plan to join by Nov 1^st.  Take a six-to-eight-week break, have a go at CAT in this time window and hope for the best. 

Get, set, go - From "The Hindu"

This is an article from "The Hindu" contributed by the director at 2iim, Rajesh Balasubramanian

 CAT 2012 will be conducted from October 11 to November 6 this year. A number of candidates will be fine-tuning their preparation right now, while others will be looking to somehow kicking the inertia out of the system and starting their preparations in right earnest. We provide a plan of action for the latter group.

Do not tell yourself it is too late to start now. Do not listen to anyone who says that there isn’t enough time for preparation. Till about 10 years ago, students used to start their CAT preparation only in August (very reluctantly, I must add). The basic syllabus for this exam roughly corresponds to Maths and English taught in class VI- IX. So, if the fundamentals are reasonably strong, a student should require only 200-300 hours of preparation for this exam.

What should be the plan of action? With the Olympic spirit in mind, let us think of this preparation as a parallel to an athlete preparing for the Olympics. Divide your preparation into three phases.

Do the grind

In phase I, cover the basics for all the topics in quant. Solve as many questions as possible. This is the phase where one builds on first principles and gets the mind ready for the tougher battles ahead. For the verbal section, set aside two hours every day to reading. Read lots of stuff and with as much variety as possible.

The topic, style, subject and size do not matter (Fiction, non-fiction, sports, politics, economics, science, anything goes). Just build the reading habit and get the mind ready to receive written content. This phase is similar to an Olympic wrestler/badminton player spending hours in the gym. This phase should go on for about six weeks.

Build intensity

Start building intensity. Take section-wise tests, set yourself targets for sets of 15, 20 or 30 minutes. Start practicing for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. Increase the intensity steadily by mixing up topics and setting varying time targets. This is the phase where you should select one DI bunch, one LR puzzle, two passages in RC, eight questions in Number Theory and set yourself 50 minutes of high intensity preparation. This is akin to an athlete training muscle by muscle and play-by-play. This is probably the part of CAT preparation that is heavily underestimated. People who are used to spending 10 hours in office or eight hours in college think that writing a 2 hour 20 minute-exam cannot be that taxing. Taking a test for 140 minutes without concentration “drops” is challenging and will not come without getting the mind ready for it. The better you do this the less tired you will get handling regular questions in CAT and more energy you will have for handling tougher ones. This should go on for about four weeks.

Fine tune your preparation

Phase III is simple. Take mock exams. Analyze them vigorously. Plug whatever gaps you find by revisiting phase I or phase II. And when you analyze a paper, you should focus on what kind of questions you have gotten wrong, which ones you should have attempted but have skipped, which ones took time without giving you much in return, which questions should you have skipped straightaway, etc. Do not waste time on studying percentile patterns and such. Most mock CAT percentile scores are nothing more than a distraction. This should ideally go on for about five weeks. This is the phase where the athlete simulates match conditions, studies opponents, figures out the draw, etc.

Phase I, II and III could overlap. If you plan well and are willing to throw in lots of time toward preparation, this can be done in 10 weeks. The students with intense shorter-term preparation have seen better results than those who enroll into long-term courses but do not do justice to them.

For those who have been preparing for a while, the strategy is simple. Skip Phase I. Kick start your preparation now and focus on building intensity. Best wishes for CAT 2012.

The author, a B-school trainer, is one of the CAT toppers last year with 100 percentile. He takes CAT every year to understand the pattern and help his students better.