There is always something about Math that evokes extreme reactions. Either people hate it or love it. Those who love it understand that Math is not only easy, but intriguing and exciting. Well, we cannot go much into this love-hate relation, but we do need to ensure that we are ready for the CAT exam coming up in about six months from today. Since Quantitative Ability is a branch of Math and figures in the CAT exam, here's what you can do to ace the subject.

Just six months to go for the D-day, and the quant ghosts have already started doing their rounds!

What is your status today?

"I am not clearing the cut-off, I seem to go blank at the very sight of quant questions, I am not confident at all" -- one would say that these are pretty genuine concerns. If you are among the two lakh people writing CAT this year with the above mindset, then here's what you need to do.

What should you do?

First and foremost, you should address the idea of mental baggage; there is no way a student will be in the best state to crack a paper if past failures haunt him/ her. Your past performance should not affect you in a bad way, and you should understand that it's okay to loose a couple of battles and still keep your eyes trained on the war.

Secondly, pay attention to individual topics and figure out those with which you are not extremely comfortable. Numbers, Geometry and Algebra account for a big chunk of questions in CAT, and they deserve due respect. 'Divide and win' is the key, wherein the entire preparation should be divided into topics, and every topic should be further considered as per sub topics, type of questions etc.

Once you have a topic-centric view of the entire course, use the time alloted to quant wisely. Instead of jumping at the questions straight away, efforts should be made to go through the basic theory behind the mathematical concepts, howsoever trivial they seem to be.

Then the example problems should be solved without glancing at the solutions. After you have your solution, it should be compared with the approach in print. After this, the theory and formulae should be looked at again and then the exercises should be attempted.

Thirdly, timed tests will bring you into the right frame of mind for the mock exams held each Sunday (which start on May 27 at T.I.M.E.). Thirty minutes of uninterrupted timed tests should be taken twice a week ,and the same analyzed for at least 45 minutes after the test. One must try and analyze how each problem was solved during the test, and try working out better and faster solutions to the problems.

Next, the student should also identify the type of questions which attract attention at first glance during the test, and analyze how long and accurate the attempts to answer are. The set of questions and topics from which one generally tends to ignore questions need to be identified, and students need to start working on the basics in these areas as well.

Preparation Agenda

For the next month and a half or so, each and every area of quant should be covered at least once. At this stage of your preparation, you should not leave any topic undone. The common problem students face is that they think they are not good in a particular area (say Geometry, or Permutations and Combinations). Since there are so many other areas to cover, they neglect these and think that the questions from these topics can be left out by choice. However, that would be a disastrous strategy. In CAT 2005, there were 19 marks worth of questions pertaining to Numbers. By leaving out this topic, there would be a huge psychological setback in the exam, which would leave most students stressed and lacking confidence.

Part II -- Quantitative Ability isn't so tough

IIM-Calcutta alumnus ARKS Srinivas is the director of  T.I.M.E, an organisation that prepares candidates for courses like the MBA and the MCA and competitive examinations like CAT, the GRE and GMAT.