The document provides strategies and tips for the CAT exam. It recommends taking at least 15 full-length mock CAT exams seriously before the actual exam. Detailed analysis of each mock exam is important to identify knowledge gaps and strategy improvements. The document also emphasizes simplifying targets for each CAT section, taking chances carefully, prioritizing question types, and having a backup plan if initial targets are not met. Ten golden rules of test-taking are outlined, including not trading accuracy for speed, leaving questions with doubt, and not chasing a single difficult question.

1. 2II
M
Preparation Strategies
for
CAT
By Rajesh Balasubramanian
Director 2IIM. Alumnus of IIMB;
100th percentile scorer in CAT 2011 and CAT 2012

2. From here on, keep it simple
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
2II
M
2

3. Test-taking rules
2II
M
• DO NOT wait to complete ALL topics before taking mock CAT
– All topics will get completed thoroughly sometime in 2015 (or
beyond).
– A critical driver for this exam is the ability to skip questions. What do
you think is the best way to learn that?
• You should take AT LEAST 15 mock CATs prior to CAT.
–
–
–
–
–
And these should be taken seriously
No test-taking over two days
No breaks between sessions
No taking tests in the middle of the night
No trying only ‘quant’ or only ‘verbal’
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
3

4. There is no such thing as too many tests
• Take many tests
2II
M
• Take from many providers
• Forget the percentiles
• Try different strategies
– RC first
– DI before quant
– LR and RC alternately
• Analyze to death
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
4

5. What should one get from test analysis?
Knowledge gaps – Question-by-question analysis
2II
M
•What are the subject gaps that I need to fill?
•Which topics work for me? Which ones do I need to dump?
•Why did I not remember than formula?
Strategy changes – Overall view
•At what time are my errors coming?
•Do I start well or finish well?
•How much time am I spending on the questions I am getting wrong?
•Silly errors are partly due to fatigue. How do I build intensity?
•Why did I walk into that nightmare LR?
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
5

6. 2II
M
CAT
Simplify the Targets

7. What should you shoot for?
2II
M
Target Level III
Target Level III
Target Level II
Target Level II
Target Level II
Target Level
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
7

8. CAT Targets & Caveats
• Target setting HAS to be dynamic
2II
M
– Do not go in with fixed targets
• Target setting does not mean questions have to be done in
that order.
– If paper is going well, and you can attempt one more RC, get the RC
done and out of the way before hand
• In an ideal world, you should realize where you are headed
early enough and re-jig the order of attempts to get there.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
8

9. 2II
M
10 Golden Rules
Of
Test Taking

10. 1. Don’t trade accuracy for speed
2II
M
Score = Baseline + Noise.
If Noise is too high, no point
in assessing score. If you
attempt 25 and get 12
wrong, don’t even bother
analyzing the paper. This is
pure noise. Would you go to
a Doctor who has this hit
rate?
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
10

11. 2II
M
2. Do NOT Chase attempts
If your preparation is
good, attempts will
increase. Higher attempts
is a RESULT of better
preparation. It is not the
‘CAUSE’ of better scores.
Better
Better
Score
Score
Whenever your score
does not match with your
‘dream/ambition’ , the
default response is to try
to attempt more. That is
NOT a solution.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
11

12. 3. When in doubt, leave
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
2II
M
Attempting a problem
that you should not
have tried hurts way
more than missing an
easy one
12

13. 4. Take Chances, but carefully
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
2II
M
Once you start
‘chasing’ a magic
number, decisionmaking progressively
becomes worse.
13

14. 5. Prioritization is key
2II
M
If you have to put rocks,
pebbles and sand into a
bottle, start with the rocks.
At any rate, do not end with
the rocks. RC, DI, LR are
‘group’ questions. These are
kind of questions where one
takes 7 minutes for the first
one, then one minute each
for the next two.
Do not be the
genius who starts
an RC or LR (or DI)
group with 8
minutes to go.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
14

15. 2II
M
6. “Plans are nothing;
Planning is everything “
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Go in with a clear plan. But
keep two things in mind.
1)Your original plan should not
be fool hardy.
2)Be ready to change your plan
if facts ask you to.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
15

16. 7. Quit chasing that one question
2II
M
The exam-setters are (very)
smart. Odds are you will get
conned by 1-2 questions.
This is natural. The key is to
not let this upset the
subsequent 3 questions.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
16

17. 8. Fly off the blocks
2II
M
Very often, the best
way to remove the
pre-exam jitters is to
‘jump’ into the paper
and solve away.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
17

18. 9. Respect the devil
2II
M
If you get an answer
‘just’ wrong, you get
-1 instead of +3. Far
worse than not
knowing anything.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
18

19. 2II
M
10. Have a plan B
If you cannot stay on as
BCCI President
Get re-elected as BCCI
President
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
19

20. Don’t be the person telling anyone this
2II
M
• Sir, Quant was going very well. But the last 10 questions were all DI
– Or, the equivalent “The buggers had given all 10 RC questions in the
end ”
• I read an RC passage fully. Did not have the time to answer the
questions
• Had taken the bike to the exam. By the time I reached there at 2:00
pm I was damn tired.
• One LR puzzle was particularly tough. I spent nearly 25 minutes on
it, but had to still leave it.
• I tanked the first section so badly that I started the second section
poorly. Ended with a better percentile in quant than in verbal.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
20

21. Don’t be the person telling anyone this
2II
M
• Sir, Quant was going very well. But the last 10 questions were all DI
– Or, the equivalent “The buggers had given all 10 RC questions in the
end ”
• I read an RC passage fully. Did not have the time to answer the
questions
• Had taken the bike to the exam. By the time I reached there at 2:00
pm I was damn tired.
• One LR puzzle was particularly tough. I spent nearly 25 minutes on
it, but had to still leave it.
• I tanked the first section so badly that I started the second section
poorly. Ended with a better percentile in quant than in verbal.
All of this can be answered with “What were you smoking?”
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
21

22. Everyone makes these mistakes
2II
M
• I took my 5th CAT last year. I got stuck with an LR. Did not want
to let it go. Believed it was easy. Decided to chase it. Spent an
extra 4 minutes because of an Ego problem.
– Got it right, so escaped to tell this tale. But it is very silly
• Baskar, my colleague and alumnus from IIM Kolkatta took his
13th CAT in 2012. He wrestled with a question for 7-8 minutes
before dumping it.
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
22

23. And Remember
2II
M
The glass is
always half
full!
Ascent Education – Classes for CAT, GMAT, GRE and TANCET,
+91 44 4505 8484, 99626 48484 www.2iim.com
23

24. 2II
M