CAT 2009: Preparing on your own

Some students, for various reasons, may decide that preparing for the CAT and the other management school entrance exams on their own is better than joining a coaching institute. This article examines how students can go about their preparation should they choose not to join a coaching institute. However, it must be pointed out that coaching institutes do offer some benefits that may not be possible to replicate if you prepare on your own.

Self discipline

Should students decide to prepare on their own, they need to be extremely disciplined. Normally coaching institutes ensure that you stick to a schedule, holding regular classes of a fixed duration. Left to themselves, some students tend to be lazy and not work/ give less time to their preparation on some days. Or they tend to get distracted by factors such as cricket matches, telephone calls etc. Plus coaching institutes will ensure that all the topics that could appear in the CAT exam are covered.

So, if you are preparing on your own, make sure of the following:

* That you remain very disciplined in your approach, by using a structured approach: prepare a time-table covering what you plan to study on which days, by when you plan to finish a particular topic, how many hours you will put in etc. Then, most importantly, stick to your schedule! For example, if you have planned to read at least four articles on a daily basis to improve your reading comprehension skills and speed and decided to practice at least 25 maths questions daily, then make sure that you do so, without fail.

* Ensure that you complete the syllabus: While there is no defined ’syllabus’ for CAT, the topics and type of questions that could appear are more or less known. Make sure that you cover all these adequately, whether it be geometry, analytical puzzles, time-speed-distance questions, algebra, trigonometry etc

Study material

If you are preparing on your own, it is needless to say that you would need appropriate study material. Try and ensure that:

* You can borrow material from students who have taken the CAT in previous years, so that you are aware of the topics, and have some practice material.

* Get your hands on good reference books. Speak to those who have already taken the CAT. Remember to choose a book that explains the concepts well and has adequate questions for practice.

Interacting with others

Interacting with others is a crucial aspect of classroom coaching. Very often, students learn more from their peers, through informal interactions. At coaching centres, you generally meet other students of different backgrounds and interests. You can share knowledge with them; plus you can benchmark your preparation with others and see how you are progressing.

If you can’t join a coaching centre, then:

* Aim at forming a group of your own with your friends and meet regularly. However, do ensure that others in your group are also serious about their preparation. Help clear each other’s doubts and teach each other, as appropriate.
* Share in the group what you think are important types of questions or crucial concepts. This may help you understand the CAT pattern better and be well prepared for the actual exam.
* Working in groups could be very useful while preparing for group discussions (GDs) and interviews. Mock GDs can be organised within the group and perspectives could be shared on important issues or the latest current affairs developments.

Mock tests

Make sure that you practice some mock tests. This stage of preparation is important, for the following reasons:

* Mock tests are likely to provide you a flavour of the actual environment that you would experience on the day of your CAT exam, and thus add to your comfort level. This is particularly relevant for those taking the CAT for the first time.

* Mock tests will help you understand what to expect in the actual CAT. You will be more familiar with the exam pattern, and know how to crack it.

* You will learn some important skills, such as how to allocate adequate time for the various sections etc. Remember that there are sectional cut-offs, so you need to score a minimum in all the sections of the CAT exam. In addition, taking practice tests will help you benchmark your preparation and you can understand what your strengths and weaknesses are. Are you, for example, strong in algebra or geometry? Verbal ability or reading comprehension within the English section?

Should you not be able to join a classroom-based coaching centre to prepare for the CAT and other management-school entrance exams, make sure you still are able to prepare properly. You must set out a schedule for yourself and cover all the topics that could appear in the exam. Try to form a group with other students and learn from each other. Make sure that you have good study material; and think about practicing mock-tests so that you are well-versed with the test pattern.

The author is an MBA from IIM Calcutta and is employed with a management consultancy. He is also a visiting faculty with MBA coaching centres in New Delhi [Images] and a freelance writer on travel and management related issues. He can be contacted at bsiddharth_2001@yahoo.co.in

CAT online: Challenges and myths

Finally, almost a year-long mist of uncertainty vanished when the IIMs confirmed that “CAT 2009 will be administered online”

It has been declared that the test will be conducted over a few test days rather than in one day and it will be similar to the pattern of the GMAT and GRE.

At this juncture, when aspirants and training institutes are bewildered with the new method of test administration, experts at TCYonline welcome the move.

The challenges

Those who have already begun their CAT preparation need to de-learn a little to be able to accept the CAT 2009 challenge head on. With many perceived challenges for test-takers, one thing is sure — the average time per question will increase. TCYonline recommends that the following areas of your preparation be focused on:

• CAT Verbal getting more importance
  We know from past stats that the test developers have been trying hard to make the overall test more ‘Verbal Section centered’. This together with that fact that CAT 2009 is online confirms that your verbal skills must be a strength area for expecting a high percentile. The unexpected extra weightage given to the Verbal Section in CAT 2008 confirms this.Moreover, in other standardised online tests like the GMAT, the verbal percentile has more impact on one’s overall percentile than the percentile in other sections. Now, with the CAT taking its GMAT avatar, it is expected to re-state this emphasis on verbal ability.

• New RCs means new approach
  Gone are the days when we used to do an RC on paper. We could easily surf through all the questions before even looking at the RC’s content. Imagine, an RC on the computer screen (visit to experience hundreds of such RCs) where it appears vertically on the left half of the screen and the right half has questions coming one by one. Moreover, there is ZERO possibility of underlining the keywords in the passage. You will have no option but to jot down the keywords, topic sentences and inferential information in the passages on to a paper to answer the questions in time. Additionally, do you think reading paper-based news bulletins will help if the ultimate reading is required to be done on a computer screen?
  

• Old DI with new challenges
  The next challenge before test-takers is to manage the large amount of data in the DI section without any option of writing or underlining key information on the screen itself. One will have to either calculate mentally or to look up to the screen and then down to the paper to jot down the figure for calculations. This will substantially increase the time one would spend on each question.
  

• CAT preparation
  The biggest challenge before test-takers is how to prepare and test themselves before the actual exam. If the ultimate test is online, it is high time, with 5-6 months at hand, to switch to computer-based preparation and practice. If not, they will stay fit only for paper-based IIFTs and SNAPs. Moreover, with CAT going online, be prepared for news of SNAP, JMET, XAT (once again), MAT, NMAT, FMS and IIFT also going online soon.

CAT 2009 preparation myths

So what should your action plan be? Start looking for places where computer labs are offered? Or rather get hold of some testing CDs? Is the preparation strategy all about computers and online tests? Here are a few myths that terms baseless:

It’s not about CDs and computer labs
The reason that CAT is going online holds the key to its preparation strategy. As the number of test-takers increases it is obviously impossible to manage its administration offline. And it is this increase that demands heavily on the assessment and testing. Hence, only online testing cannot help. An analytical approach to CAT 2009 preparation is the key. You must check everyday how much closer you are to 99+ percentile, failing which you are definitely going to lose your rank to the those who are.

Unless you do the post-mortem (question by question, topic by topic, strength and weakness analysis) of each test that you take, whether a chapter-wise or mock test, you can never be certain of its probable contribution to your ultimate percentile in November. Analysis is all that counts for belling CAT 2009. One such resource is the ‘TCY Analytics‘ system which gives you analytics to check your improvement, analytics to compare your percentile with that of other test-takers, expert recommendations to improve your performance on a topic or a group of topics.

And the trainers, can they really help?

Yes, they can; provided they know a lot more than the subjects they teach. That is, with the test analytics available for each test a student takes, it is vital for the trainers to be trained on how to infer from such graphs and tables in order to help students improve the percentiles in the subsequent tests. Only technology-driven trainers can bring the element of objectivity in CAT 2009 preparation.

CAT preparation gets difficult
It actually got easier. One major advantage that CAT 2009 offers is that one can gain quick access to the tests and preparation material at any time of the day if it is available online. This will offer customisation and flexibility to the test-takers preparing for CAT 2009.

Top Careers & You ) has been preparing national and international candidates for high-end tests viz. CAT, XAT, JMET, SNAP, CET, FMS, IIFT and GMAT since 1998.

Online CAT: FAQs answered

The announcement that the CAT will now be a computer-based test has given rise to numerous questions in the minds of test-taker. The IIM’s have cleared a few doubts and raised many more in the minds of candidates. The FAQs mentioned below are an attempt to answer those questions based on the information currently available.

So far, this is the information the IIMs have released:

• Confirmation that CAT is becoming a computer-based test from 2009 (CBT CAT)
• Prometric ETS has been awarded the contract for conducting the test
• CAT 2009 will be conducted over 10 days at the end of 2009
• More details will be communicated along with the advertisement (this is typically released in July)
• According to IIM-B admission chairperson Subhashish Gupta, CAT 2009 is unlikely to be computer adaptive
• Most likely there will be three tests a day over 10 days — meaning a total of 30 different tests.

Based on this information, these are some of the FAQs students have:

How will the computer-based CAT work?

CAT 2009 is likely to be based on one of two patterns used commonly for computerised tests:

Non-Adaptive Tests: These are similar to paper-pencil tests. You are tested on a “typical” test paper. Answers will be marked on a computer instead of an OMR sheet.

Here you can skip, return to, or change your responses to a question at any point in time during the exam. You may or may not be allowed to see all the questions at the same time. Your answers are evaluated only at the end of the exam.

Adaptive Tests: GMAT and GRE are adaptive tests. You can see only one question at a time in an adaptive test, and you cannot skip it. You are not allowed to return to change your responses to previous questions.

The questions in adaptive tests are decided while you are attempting the test. If you are not performing well, you are given easier questions, which are worth fewer marks; if you are doing well, you are given increasingly difficult questions, which are worth more marks.

Is it possible that my test questions will be tougher than someone else’s?

The overall difficulty level of the test is likely to remain similar for all test-takers. In non-adaptive testing, all test-takers on different days will get different test papers. The scores will be normalised after accounting for the difficulty level of each test (see the next question for details).

In a computer-adaptive test, each test-taker gets different questions from a large question bank (as explained above).

How are the IIMs going to compare or normalise the scores across various tests?

While the information has not been made public, we can extrapolate from the manner in which they compare scores for past academics for CAT aspirants.

If the IIMs decide on non-adaptive testing, they would be expected to normalise the scores across different papers using statistical distribution of scores for each test. A basic example would assume that the scores follow a bell curve. Then, the performance of students would be measured by how they have performed compared to the average performance.

If the IIMs decide on computer-adaptive testing, then each question will have a difficulty rating. A student will face a moderately difficult question first. Based on whether he gets it right or wrong, the level of difficulty will go up or down. There will be an algorithm that will generate the scores.

Will there be any change in the types of questions or the test-pattern?

Certain types of questions are more difficult to attempt on a computer than on paper. In an online format, the reading passages will be shorter, charts and tables simpler. Questions involving incomplete tables or charts are unlikely to be there.

In a computer-adaptive test, you are not allowed to skip questions, so you are unlikely to not get “unsolvable” questions. Similarly, very ambiguous/ subjective verbal questions are likely to be replaced by more logical/ critical reasoning-based questions. For the same reason the test may not have negative marking (but as you get questions wrong, the system will give you lower-level questions with lower marks).

To attempt a computerised test, what computer skills do I need?

You need very basic computer skills to take an online test. However, to do so well will require a lot of practice and familiarity with a computer-based test. You need to be comfortable with reading and concentrating on the computer screen for 2-3 hours as well as comfortable with registering your answers in the online format. To reduce stress during the actual exam, and to improve your efficiency, you need to regularly practice taking tests online.

Where will I do my rough work in an Online CAT?

You are likely to be given some means of doing rough work. For GMAT, test-takers are given an electronic scribble pad for rough work.

Should I change my test preparation and test writing strategy since CAT is going online?

The basic content for CAT will still remain the same and you still need to focus on fundamentals while preparing. However, the way in which you are going to attempt the test will change.

Familiarise yourself with working and reading extensively on a computer. Practice as many online tests as you can, so that taking a test on a computer becomes a habit.

As mentioned earlier, reading passages might become shorter and charts and tables simpler. You should focus on practicing questions with shorter passages.

If the test is adaptive, question selection strategy will no longer play a role because you need to attempt every question and questions are shown to you serially. You cannot choose which questions to attempt.

Accuracy is very important when attempting an adaptive test�because as you start getting questions incorrect, you are given easier questions, which are worth fewer marks.

Who is conducting the test?

The IIMs have chosen Prometric ETS to conduct the CAT online. Prometric ETS has also developed and conducts the GMAT and GRE computerised tests.

What does a typical online testing environment look like?

Common features of most online test-taking tools include simple navigation buttons, and a way for a user to select his correct option.

The image immediately below shows a practice test in the GMAT Test Preparation Tool developed by Prometric ETS.

The second image shows a screenshot of a full-length Mock CAT (http://testfunda.com/LMS/Student/TestCentre.aspx) from TestFunda.

TestFunda.com is a website offering personalised online preparation for competitive entrance exams like CAT, FMS, XAT, etc. TestFunda.com also provides free Online iCATs,Launch CAT 2007, 2008 in Online Format, Discussion on CAT going Online, Cast your vote on Online CAT-2009, TestFunda Courseware.

CAT 2009: The advantages of going online

The Common Admission Test (CAT) going online this year comes as welcome news. Now, CAT test will be conducted over a few test days rather than on one day and it will be similar to the pattern of the GMAT and GRE. MBA aspirants would have the flexibility of choosing the day and time of giving computer-based tests (CBT). While global CBTs like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT have been conducted in India for over 10 years, CAT is a recent addition.

As of now, the opportunity for appearing for the CAT comes only once a year. If a student is not able to appear for the test on the stipulated day, s/he has to wait for the next year. Since CBT-CAT may be held on more than one day, students get more options. Following this, if the IIMs allow, students may get more than one attempt in a year to crack the CAT.

The advantages of CAT going online

• Greater flexibility in timing and scheduling of the test. This will allow more students to be able to take the exam which will also create more competition.
• Like the GMAT and other CBTs, there could be the possibility of retaking the test in the same year instead of waiting for the next year (depending on CAT policy).
• In the long run this will significantly reduce the cost of administering these exams since manual checking is time consuming.
• CBTs will also encourage the IIMs to open more testing centres in the future allowing for further flexibility for students to take the exam, since the marginal cost associated with one more student taking a CBT is comparatively less than in the manual process.
• If test scores are made available immediately after the test then students can apply to colleges in a more targeted manner.

Significant challenges associated with a computer based CAT

Scoring
In the past there was one exam and all students had to appear for the same exam so the results were comparable. With a CBT, students take the CAT exam with different questions on different days. The IIMs will need to make sure that the different exams have the same level of difficulty in a country where even a 1-per cent difference in marks can make or break the chance of admission into a college.

Computer skills
Many students today do not have access to personal computers in their home. To be successful in a CBT, proficiency in using a computer is a must especially since the time allotted is limited. This could put economically backward students at a disadvantage. Students who do not have access to computers at home should try to practice exams which are available on the internet at public/ college libraries/ cyber cafes.

Access
Limited access to computers and internet connection for students living in remote areas is going to be a problem.

Test format
The test format of the CAT, as it has been used earlier (paper and pen), is not suited for a computer-based test as it required a lot of calculations. The same thing cannot be reproduced with a computer-based test. Hopefully the test makers will look into this and design the format accordingly.