|
 | Help |
| You are here: Rediff Home » India » Get Ahead » Careers » Cracking CAT |
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Advertisement | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Nervous about taking the Common Admission Test 2005 on Novemebr 20?
In a recent chat with Get Ahead readers, CAT trainers Gautam Puri and Arun Wadhwa had this advice to offer CAT aspirants: Personally don't expect a pattern change this year, but stranger things have been known to happen. Go with an open mind, and expect anything. Spend a few minutes at the start evaluating the paper and treat it on its merit.
CAT expert Gautam Puri, co-founder and managing director of Career Launcher (I) Ltd, chatted with aspirants for one hour and answered their queries. As the questions poured in, Arun Wadhwa, CL's national programme head for CAT, joined Puri in answering them.
Puri, an MBA from IIM-Bangalore, has had successful stints at Hindustan Petroleum, Britannia [Get Quote] and VAM Organics. He has prepared close to 1,00,000 students for CAT. To keep himself abreast with the latest trends, he has been sitting for the examination every year for the last 10 years.
Arjun Wadhwa has been associated with Career Launcher since 1999, when he was a student with CL preparing for his MBA. Influenced by his mentors in the organisation, and armed with his passion for teaching, he joined Career Launcher straight from campus after completing his MBA from MDI, Gurgaon. He has been with CL for four years.
Here is the transcript:
Part I: CAT 2005 -- A repeat of CAT 2004?
Part II: Do you need work experience?
Part III: Does Verbal Ability worry you?
Part IV: 'CAT gets a little tougher every year'
Part V: Want to ace CAT? Revise, revise revise
Fundu: Do u think caracking an exam like CAT gurantees that one is a good managaer??
Gautam Puri: No.
sm: The sample paper given in the brochure has only 80 questions. What kind of a paper pattern should we expect this time then?
Arjun Wadhwa: Personally don't expect a pattern change this year, but stranger things have been known to happen. Go with an open mind, and expect anything.
Spend a few minutes at the start evaluating the paper and treat it on its merit.
kggk: what is the the status of Executive-MBA in India?
Gautam Puri: Industry reponse is not very good, companies still prefer students from the two year MBA programme.
PARTHIBAMANIKANDAN: i have applied for cat only what r the other institution can i apply for?
Arjun Wadhwa: Depends on what you are presently doing, please give more info... At the same time please note that, for a lot of institutes, the last date is November 21, so please take a call on MDI, SP Jain, XLRI urgently.
Quant_Guru: Sir Does REC brand works in getting calls?
Arjun Wadhwa: They do not look at your college name, only at your test score when giving you an interview call.
naganayan: i am doing my 3rd year engineering in computer science i want to do mba thru cat , i am in a dilemma to get some experience in IT field, and then pursue MBA
Arjun Wadhwa: Work experience is useful from the utility you derive from an MBA course. Unfortunately, the risk in India is with the increasing number of applicants. CAT actually becomes a little tougher each year. Suggest you give this a serious thought.
NitinMehn: If I have 90%ile in CL Mocks, what do u think are my chances.
Arjun Wadhwa: Pretty decent. We have lots of students who have, over the years, seen a positive swing of 8-9 percentile on CAT day.
AJAIN: Can you suggest some good part time courses for working executive (+18 months exp)
Gautam Puri: Part time courses require a minimum of three years work experience.
Chetan: what should be the strategy if we get a mixed pattern i.e all the three sections are mixed. do sectional cutoff come into picture in this case
Gautam Puri: No sectional cut off here. Just focus on your strength areas.
AnotherRahul: Should I just aim to clear cutoffs in QA and DI and then try to maximise my total in VA+RC(My strong point)or should I aim for a balanced split though that would mean a lower total
Gautam Puri: Increased total score should be your target if you are confident of a score of at least 15 in QA and 17 in DI.
Mani: Hi arjun or gautam plz answer B.I.M Trichy is giving option to choose either CAT or XAT for G.D call. Since I am giving both the exams, I am little confused. Help me.
Gautam Puri: XAT usually results in higher percentile, so go for XAT.
alwazgng: SP Jain is accepting CAT as well as XAT scores. i am confused as to thru which shud i apply -cat or xat.
Gautam Puri: XAT.
ram says: sir ,y the colleges are demanding that much huge money from the students even if they clear the cat. wat about the students who clear the CAT and unable to pay that much huge money due to there financial outstandings...........?
Gautam Puri: Study loans at very friendly terms are available from banks.
Pratik: RESPECTED SIR, PLS ANS : HOW SHUD ONE ANALYSE PROBABLE CUTOFFS IN THOSE VITAL MOMENTS( albiet only iims is aware abt that )if CAT-05 CONSIST OF 150-180 QUES.
Arjun Wadhwa: Generally, work with the thumb rule that a total score of 60 is normally safe from an overall perspective.
Saxena: Hello Sir, I am a Software Engineer with 6 years of experience. I want to pursue MBA. I want to know which option is better. 1Year PGDBM or 2 year MBA. ISB offers 1 year MBA program how to compare it with 2 year MBA program from IIMs. For 1 year MAB program which is better ISB or Cyprus?
Arjun Wadhwa: Both are good options. Suggest you apply to both, we can take a final decision on which one to join at a later date when you get a confirmed seat at both.
Pallavi: Sir, I have been getting an aggregate 85% in MOCK CAT's. What colleges should I be applying to???And what sld i emphasize on in these last few days???
Arjun Wadhwa: Please revise. Which B-school to apply to in your SIS. Please ensure you apply to all B-Schools in the NM / SCMHRD group.
phoenix: Sir, With less than a fortnight left for CAT, how should the preparation be?
Arjun Wadhwa: Focus on revision.
AJAIN: Hello Sir, are there some B-Schools which prefer girls. i have heard scmhrd does so. can you name some
Gautam Puri: There is no gender bias in the selection process.
CRACKINGCAT: SIR,what %itle nirma n IMT look for?
Gautam Puri: IMT > 90 percentile
Part I: CAT 2005 -- A repeat of CAT 2004?
Part II: Do you need work experience?
Part III: Does Verbal Ability worry you?
Part IV: 'CAT gets a little tougher every year'
Part V: Want to ace CAT? Revise, revise revise
DON'T MISS!
- CAT 2004: Strategies, tips... more
- 10 tips to ace CAT
- Why English Usage is so important
- Are you good at group discussions?
- Why do you want an MBA?
- Key GD tips, revealed
 Email this Article  Print this Article |
|
|
| © 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback |