A plan of action to all students for the next two weeks leading to the CAT.

1. Last Mile To the CAT
An Presentation

3. Every year, about 2000 students make it to the IIMs.
Each of them does different things in the last few days
before the CAT…
Here are a few examples…

4. From the 10
who have been there.. done that…
1. Sanjay Chaudhary, IIM B
 Take maximum 4 tests
 Objectively analyze to find out your specific problem areas
 Focus on the means… the end will follow
2. Asan Dasari, IIM C
 Fine-tune strategies based on your strengths & weakness
 Take care of mental as well as physical health
 Keep your ‘CAT-kit’ ready

5. From the 10
who have been there.. done that…
3. Vamsidhar, IIM I
 Don’t take more than 3 to 4 tests
 Unused tests can be used to improve sectional competencies
 Accept reality; leave things that you can’t change
4. Saurabh S, IIM I
• Keep reminding yourself about your “ultimate goal”
• Relax; be calm
• Take fewer tests
• Go through the CAT 2007 paper

6. From the 10
who have been there.. done that…
5. Subrata Dey, IIM A
 Keep your reasoning cells active
 Focus on ‘net practice’, not ‘match practice’
 Do not take too many tests
6. Tony Xavier, IIM L
 Have an open mind-set
 Stop taking tests a week before the CAT
 Throw all strategies out of the window

7. From the 10
who have been there.. done that…
7. Ritesh Hemrajani, IIM B
 Don’t predict; be mentally prepared for any
structure
 Don’t take too many tests
 Properly mark the ovals on the OMR sheet
8. Mahendra Kokane, IIM B
 Don’t listen to anyone
 Listen to self

8. From the 10
who have been there.. done that…
9. Arun Rao, IIM - A
 Don’t cram at this juncture
 Don’t invite stress
10. Kaushik R, IIM L
 Work on your weak areas
 Take 2-3 tests
 Don’t do anything much the day before the CAT

9. The essence of what they say…
All endeavor calls for the ability to
tramp the last mile, shape the last
plan, endure the last hour’s toil.
The Last Mile

10. The Last Mile…
All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the
last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last
hour’s toil.

11. Ability to tramp the last mile…
 Do you believe that you can tramp the last mile?
 ‘I am doing great ; bring on the CAT’
 ‘I am doing great, but I hope I don’t stumble
now’
 ‘Man! I am sure I can crack the CAT.. If only
Math would stop killing me’
 ‘When is SNAP??’

12. Whatever be your response..
To tramp the last mile.. Have a fresh outlook
 Rejuvenate
 Imagine you have just started your prep
 Imagine the last comprehensive test you took is your first
test
 Re-focus
 The Goal : The CAT
 The Time : 15 days to go
 The Attitude : Everything to gain and nothing to lose
Now ask yourself :
How do I shape the plan for the last mile?

13. The Last Mile…
All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the
last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last
hour’s toil.

14. Shape the last plan
IIM Call What I need to score
The Knowledge Gap
Scoring Potential What I could have scored
The Efficiency Gap
My Score What I scored
The key is to understand WHAT to attack!

15. Bridging the efficiency gap
Take a few tests, say 3-5
Analyse each of them thoroughly
Learn from each of them
& Apply your learning in future tests

16. Bridging the efficiency gap
 Before taking ANY test
 Keep your mind fresh and alert
 De-stress
 Have your CAT-kit ready
 Set your watch to 10:30 a.m.
 Most importantly, set yourself a TARGET

17. Bridging the efficiency gap
 While taking ANY test
 As a CEO
 Keep an eye on the bigger picture
 Develop your own strategy Manage Your
 As a Section Manager
Resources
Well
 Prioritise, Allocate and Execute
 Mind your own business
 As a Worker
 Carefully read, define and solve the problem on hand

18. Bridging the efficiency gap
 After taking a test
 For every section, check
 How many more could you have scored?
 Why did you miss out?

19. Bridging the efficiency gap
Do’s Don’ts
 Develop your own  Inflexible mindset
strategy based on the  “Geometry first”
test at hand syndrome or “One-liners
 Select or reject a first” syndrome
question only after  “I can conquer Russia”
reading a question syndrome or Throwing
good money after bad
money
Efficiency can improve your score dramatically

20. Bridging the knowledge gap
1. List all areas requiring improvement
2. Rate their impact on the score & on the effort
required to improve
3. Prioritise
4. Spend ½ hr – 1hr every day and work on 2 to 3
critical areas
Let us look at a typical case

21. Step 1: List areas
 PS
 I keep forgetting the formulae in Geometry
 I have not touched Permutations & Combinations
 I have difficulty in defining a problem while solving
 DI
 I can’t calculate fast
 I lose track while solving

22. Step 1: List areas
 Verbal
 I make a lot of mistakes in inferential RC questions
 I generally falter in usage-based questions
 Comp-based Format
 I find it difficult to read passages on the computer screen
 Solving DI sets is very cumbersome

23. Step 3 : Rating the impact & effort
needed
Impact on the score
Low Impact High Impact
 Can’t calculate fast Not touched Perm & Comb
Falter in usage based
questions
More
Effort
Reqd Forgetting Geometry formula
Defining Problem while
solving
Less Inferential RC question
Lose track while solving DI

24. Step 3 : Prioritise
Impact on the score
Low High
Can’t calculate fast Not touched Perm & Comb
Falter in usage based
questions
More
Effort
Reqd Forgetting Geometry formula
Defining Problem while
solving
Less Inferential RC question
Lose track while solving DI

25. Step 4 : Work on the areas
 Forgetting Geometry formulae : 10 min
 Solve 2 Geometry problems everyday
 Revise formulae every day
 Defining the problem in a Math question : 20 min
 Re-look at Math questions in the previous SimCATs
 Inferential RC questions : 20 min
 Read an editorial everyday
 Re-visit the RCs in SimCATs
 Focus on comprehension

26. A few tips for the computer-based CAT …

27. It’s not just CAT anymore…
 Try to inculcate the following habits:
Work on a computer for longer stretches
 Read news and articles online rather than from newspapers
 Follow reviews, match analyses, stock status, etc. online
 Get used to staring into the screen for 3 hours at a stretch

28. It’s not just CAT anymore…
 Most of us tend to write a lot while solving the paper
 Underlining relevant statements/words in RC
 Adding up a column or row in DI
 Crossing out answers that we’ve eliminated
 In an online test, these become impractical!
New ways of handling these would have to be devised

29. A possible plan
28th Nov D–day 20th Take a test
Prev Click here for the
day latest movie releases
17th-19th Bridge the Gap
26th Take a test?? 16th Take a test
24th/25th Bridge the Gap 13th-15th Bridge the Gap
23rd Take a test 12th Take a test
21st/22nd Bridge the Gap Till 1st Take/Analyse a test

30. The Last Mile
All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the
last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last
hour’s toil.

31. On the D-Day…..
 Be positive
 Have an open mind
 Avoid undue pressure
 Just don’t give up while
taking the CAT

32. The Last Mile