Can you believe it? There are less than three weeks left before CAT 2007!

So, how can you best use this time? What should be you focus?

And how can you beat that constant stress?

In order to answer some of these pressing questions, competitive examinations experts from Career Launcher appeared for rediff.com chat on 30 October 2007.

For those of you who missed the chat, here's part one of the transcript. Part two will be published this evening.

gaurav ahmd asked, hello sir, one should revise mocks (already revised once) again or solve/practice more for QUANT N DI.

Rishi answers, Gaurav, Try to practice more QA DI from Quality source from good quality Mock test series available in the market. Also Revise last 5-6 years CAT questions and try to see the trend and the important properties used by CAT

mhima asked, @aridam : Good eafateroon...peer week,I am just gettig around 90% percetill most of the time.. just able to clear the ecutoff...havenot seen any score beyond 92% till date.. Any suggestions...how to plan for last three weeks

ARINDAM answers, Hi, Important o keep your cool in the last 3 weeks. Revise your mocks, brush up on your areas of strength. You are doing well and need to get a little bit more to get an IIM call. Try to concentrate on devising time management strategies, so as to maximise your scores in your section of strength and clear the cut-offs in weak areas

ajay asked, sir i am not able to clear the cut offs in DI section of mock tests either the section is too difficult or i am not upto is..Please suggest something

Rishi answers, Ajay, The key in DI section is to choose right kind of set. In actual CAT also there will be two sets which are crackable. U need to identify and attempt them. Pl go thru the entire DI section before finally choosing the sets. Even if u attempt two sets confidently, u'll be able to clear the cut off

2007 asked, when i am in best mood then my results are all together very different from under tention condition...so,my question is : how to maintain that condition during the exam too..plz try to give me answer.sir.

ARINDAM answers, Simple answer...do not get tense. A famous general once said that those who win battles are not involved. Please tell yourself that you can do it but also tell yourself that the world is not going to come to an end if something goes wrong. Anxiety and fear can cloud normal thinking so please avoid that at all costs. Two days beofre CAT try to maintain regular diet and sleeping hours, chat with friends, watch movies...anything

gaurav ahmd asked,  hello SIR, want to ask that how much importance in given for BE degree percentage, mine is 68.8%, wil it effect getting admission into IIMS.

Rishi answers, Hi Gaurav, concentrate on CAT score, Graduation percentage is not that importnat in the entire selection process, it may be only 5% important while CAT score and GD and PI consists around 90%

2007 asked, when i am in best mood then my results are all together very different from under tention condition...so,my question is : how to maintain that condition during the exam too..plz try to give me answer.sir.

Rishi answers, Try medidating for 15 mins each day, do not go out much for last 3 weeks or so, do not watch violent movies or play violent video games.....also think of the relative importance of CAT in ur entire life, it is not the end of life....all the best, you know u have to keep ur cool

mhima asked, Thanks Sir..what most of us including me have suffereed, is ,,panic generally sets in during the last 30 mins of the test..when u ahave to deal with " so called tuff" questions..beecuze most of the easy questions aree done.. how should that be planed..

ARINDAM answers, A proper strategy is esential to make the best use of the last 30 minutes. Your objective is to maximise scores in your area of strength and that is where you should concentrate in the last 30 min. Having ensured a cut-off clearing performance in other sections revisit your section of strength in the last 30 minutes. If it is your area of strength (say DI) then you would be more comfortable in tackling questions there even if they are tough

akshay asked, sir i want to know from where to prepare for gk for iift snap irma

Rishi answers, career Launcher and other coaching institutes provide adeqaute support material. Try to access them

amitm asked, hi !!!Arindam , i have 5 years work ex. , now i want to do mba but I think, i wont be able to get into top 5 ,so i am eying rank 10-20 colleges ,can u plz tell hows sectoral mba from narsee monjee ...

Rishi answers, Amit, you have very decent work ex, do not go to NM sectoral MBA, you will not be able to leverage the work ex factor...however two year full time MBA from NM is good. You can also think of one year MBA like PGPX offered by IIMs or ISB or Great Lakes

paplu asked,  hi .. i m giving time as well as cl mocks n my performance is degarding now. i have climbed till 96 even n had a fall to 58 also but on an average i used to have around 90 only but since last 2-3 mocks my percentile has dipped to 83, b0 n now 65. wat should i do .. im depressed.. i have work ex of 1+

Rishi answers, Pl do not get depressed, fluctuation may happen in 3 month long test series, you are capable of getting IIM call, keep that confidence. Revisit and analyse all the mock questions including DI and eng section....all the best

Kamlesh asked, Sir, still facing too much fluctuation in my score so m confused and one more now how much mock test one should give (including take home test )

Rishi answers, Kamlesh, You shlould not take more than 2-3 tests per week (including the take home tests). Last week take only one test and keep your cool for the final day. All the best

kunal asked, Hi, I am never able to clear Englist Cut Off..But almost I am able to clear DI & Quanths cut off...It makes no sense to me to keep attempting English and get a poor score..Instead I am tempted to attempt only Quants & DI & get 99.99 percentile in both of these...Will this fetch me any IIM calls or SP Jain or MDI Calls ?? , if I score 0 in English & 99.99 percentile in the remanining two...?

Rishi answers, Kunal, with '0' in English and 99% in others, You may get IMI, IMT, Tapmi, may be SPJ if they like ur profile. But u shud not expect IIM or MDI with that combination

shikha asked, hi i got a GMAT score of 700, i have 10 yrs exper. in merchant navy i have done BE with 50% marks i had applied for ISB and IIM PGPX but did not get a call will my low garduation marks also affect my chances of admission in top 10 b schools i am doing well in mock cats usually scoring 1st rank in them but i am feeling low after ISB and iims shortlist ..i would also like to know which institutes shld i apply both India and abroad i would prefer executive programmes thanks

ARINDAM answers, If it is your poor graduation marks that went against you at ISB that is sad. But do not panic. Probably you were not able to weave the right story around you to justify poor marks. Since graduation marks is one of many criteria that B-schools look for in evaluating admissions you should build a strong and plausible story about why things went wrong there. Were you involved in extracurricular activities? Was there some other unavoidable reasons. Also you have a good background and a good GMAT score. So highlight these achievements and any other you may have. For executive MBA programs it would be good to look at the top European schools (INSEAD,IMD) as also the good US schools. However do not only look at top schools and have a mixed bag of top and medium good schools in you application kitty.

amitmeh asked, hi thanks a lot !!! Arindam , again for sectoral mba , global pgm(sectoral)my collegue sitting besides me has 2 year work ex..., can she do it? she is doing gr8 in her presnt job and she is a elec. engineer but now working is hr dept. of i.t. company .

Rishi answers, If she is interested to continue in HR or Strategic HR, she may go for HR specific MBA course, but a sectoral course like Insurance or retail will not benefit her much

rk asked, good afternoon sir,i m doin' b.tech frm a coll. frm whre after doin' the course i can b offered may b 3 lacs package if i do the course wth gud %ge...i want to know tht fr the study of cat wht should i do...i m just in 1st year...is thre any need fr coaching in this test......wht all r the sub. in this test....wht is ur suggestions fr the starters??thanks

Rishi answers, You should start with some study material, then in third year u may decide whther you need class room coaching or not. Subjects are Maths, English and Reasoning. You shud develop habit of reading Books, newspapers magazines and shud be very thorough in maths of class IX-X, alo algebra part of class XI-XII. No calculus please.

mahima asked, good aft sir, I have been regular at giving my CL Mocks....bt the confidence hasn't build up & also the consistency & stability is not there.I do get a 99.7% & also 43%...Because of this I am getting jitters for the final day.Kindly help me & suggest me what should I do in these last 15days.I am god in Eng bt quant gvs me horos...pls help

ARINDAM answers, Do not get tense. If your performance in mocks has been erratic try to analyze dispassionately where you are going wrong. if you have identified quant as a weak area , you know that you have to at least clear the cut-offs there. devote more time to practising quant with this practical aim in view. Revisit your area of strength (english) from time to time also so as not to get complacent

HITHERE asked, @ARINDAM I HAVE DONE ENGLISH HONOURS AT THE GRAD LEVEL PASSED OUT THIS YEAR ONLY BUT HAVE NO WORK EX BUT GIVIN CAT THIS YEAR . DO U THINK THAT THIS WILL CREATE A PROBLEM AT THE GDPI ROUND EVEN IF I CLEAR CAT WRITTEN EXAM?

Rishi answers, Not a problem. Don't worry much, lot of candidates will have similar background. Concentrate on CAT score and try to perform well in GD PI

srikant asked, good afternoon sir..I wanted to know what should be the stratergy at this point in time. Should I go for more number of tests or focus on my weak sections??

Rishi answers, Take maximum two-three tests per week. Concentrate on your strengths not weakness. Analyse all the mock cat questions, solve all DI sets and keep your cool. All the best.

as asked, considering that CAT is going the GMAT way is it safe to say that quant is going to be easy this time also say of the level of CAT 2006

ARINDAM answers, Look there is no confirmation yet on whether CAT will finally become online, when that will happen and how the structure of the exam will change. Hence best not to assume anything and keep practising as per present patterns. Quant was relatively easy last year so there is no guarantee that it will become easier still

kunal asked, Percentage wise ,,what is the likely cut off for IIM's ?? & Also the minimum overall percentage required ??

Rishi answers, IIMA clearly stated that 25% per section and 33% overall is the minimum requirement to get a call. However the actual cut offs may be higher. Other IIMs have not said anything except IIMC. IIMC said 17% sectional and 20% overall

JLT asked, Hi..this is my third attempt at CAT..gettting good % in mocks...but worried about the VA part...Also, when i think about last year's debacle, ....soggest something. Thanks

Rishi answers, Last year's VA was an exception, dont worry, this time CAT will not pose any ambiguity. Keep your cool, you will crack it this time. All the best.

angad asked, Sir should I be targetting more mocks or analyze different sections in which I am weak

ARINDAM answers, For weak sections it is best to have a defensive strategy and practise with an aim to clearing cut-offs. I would rather that you concentrated on your area of strength and try to maximise there. So do firm up your strategy and take one or two mocks more to see if it is working

DarkLord asked, Hi Arindam, I'm consistently getting 98+%ile in Mocks and pretty confident of getting IIM calls. What should I do in these last few days, considering that I'm a working professional and hardly get an hour or so during the weekdays?

ARINDAM answers, Just relax and try to conserve you energy for the big day ahead. Try to practise a little bit whenever you have time without overstraining yourself. But do not get overconfident. Your apporach and attitude has to be the same on CAT day as when you have taken mocks

BHANUBHANU asked, @ARINDAM I AM EXTREMLY GOOD IN ENGLISH BUT WHEN IT COMES TO QUANT I AM AN AVERAGE WHT SHULD I DO TO INCREASE MY SCORES?

Rishi answers, Concentrate on accuracy, become extremely choosy in case of QA questions, attempt ponly 5-6 and try to get them right. Try to choose qs after properly going thru all of them, may be you can scan page by page

Ari asked, What type of pattern you are expecting this year is that like last year IIFT of will be mixed section paper or will contain negative marks for unattempted questions also .....

Rishi answers, Do not expect any weird pattern like last year IIFT or any mixed section. There will be clear cut three sections, with only one answer correct. Number of qs may remain same or slightly go up.

help asked, Tell me the good colleges for around 95 %ile in CAT..pls

Rishi answers, IMI, IMT, NITIE, TAPMI, MICA etc

mahima asked, thank u so much sir...1 more thng also with 4 or 5 chapters will I be able 2clear my cut off???beacuseI plan to leave PnC,TSD & part of algebra...

ARINDAM answers, If you are leaving chapters then you are also leaving things a bit to chance, right? What if questions are few from the chapters you are planning to leave? You have to clear the cut-off, right?

pant asked, Hi Arindam !! If i work out all the AIMCATS of last 3 years in and out with serious determination,,will I be able to get percentile above 90 ?I am 22 and have been in touch with cat since 3 years!!

Rishi answers, Pant, kindly also solve last 5 years CAT paper. That will give you an idea about the specific properties that CAT is using again and again in QA section. IN DI and RC solve, only last 3 years paper.

harshit asked, In these last days, is it right to learn new words and increase vocabulary. I guess I have an average vocabulary.Are there any chances of direct vocab qsns?

Rishi answers, Forget abt learning new words. Do not worry aboutt Vocab at all. Spend your time in verbal logic practice tests.

harshit asked, In these last days, is it right to learn new words and increase vocabulary. I guess I have an average vocabulary.Are there any chances of direct vocab qsns?

ARINDAM answers, CAT is going more and more towards reasoning and logic based questions going by current pattern. So in the last 3 weeks I would not want you to worry too much about cramming your head with new words. It is unlikely that pure vocab based questions will be numerous in CAT. However if you have problenms with other common words faced in reading newspapers, magazines try to look up their meanings.

BHANUBHANU asked, @rishi im am targetting fms exams apart from cat i have heard that quant is slightly easier in fms paper is it truth or a myth? wht shuld i target at to crack it to fms and how much does work ex count in the whole mba admission and selection?

Rishi answers, FMS - QA is slightly easier..but last year in 2006 it was same as CAT level. Last Year FMS, reasoning qs were tough. Yes work ex helps to some extent may be 5-8% advantage over others in non-academic part of the selection parameters, but having more than 3 years work ex is not helpful.

arpit asked, @arindam.what would be the best way to handle pressure on the D-day.more than the actual cat,its the pressure it generates is causing me trouble..

ARINDAM answers, Ask yourself a simple question. Will I perform better if I panic? The answer is obvious.

harshit asked, How many questions do u think will come from geometry, numbers in quantz.

Rishi answers, geometry not more than 20% of the QA, I mean if there are 25 Qs in QA, not more than 5 Qs from Geometry. But Number Theory may have 8-9 qs out of 25

nish asked, howz the NM sectoral Global Business Course ?

Rishi answers, Its relatively new, and not that highly rated as MDI or SPJ courses. But obviously a good option, depending upon your aspiration level

arpit asked, @arindam.what would be the best way to handle pressure on the D-day.more than the actual cat,its the pressure it generates is causing me trouble..

Rishi answers, Keep you cool, CAT is not the end of life. There are thousand other ways in which u may have a successful life. Handle your nerve, talk to yourself...be cool.

aaaa asked, i gave CAT last year ,after that no prep because of job , now i am getting 14 days leave before CAT what should I go to maximize my scores my fundamentals are OK

ARINDAM answers, Try to get as much of practice from solving actual past papers or mock CATs

nish asked, sir, i am working as an HR for the IT firm so wld the Global Business course be of any help or i should go for the specific HR related courses..

Rishi answers, You should go for specific HR related couse to enhance your career prospect. Look for TISS or XLRI-PMIR or SCMHRD, or MDI-HR

This Evening: Part II