Are you taking CAT 2008?

How can you improve your RC scores?

What's the best strategy for D-Day?

How can you improve your DI and quant scores?

To address these and other related CAT questions, Syed Faiz Ahmed, general manager, IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd, hosted a chat with GA readers on September 10. For those of you who missed the chat, here's the unedited transcript.

syed faiz ahmed says, hi this is faiz, i am ready to take your questions

jtyj asked, at this point hw many hours of practice is needed?

syed faiz ahmed answers, Hi, what is more relevent at this juncture is the quality of the analysis of smcats and the gaps that are present which should direct your prepartion. time should be used to cover these gaps

vgswg asked, can u share good reading list to crack RC, verbal

syed faiz ahmed answers, regular reading should help you in cracking RC and verbal.its imporatnt that you do a proper analysis of what you have read and understood than concentrating on reading alone.net is a good source as with edit columns of dailys

nita asked, i'm weak in maths, any imp areas we shld focus on over the remaining time?

syed faiz ahmed answers, one needs conceptual clarity on all topics as no one can predict the areas that would be tested.

pal asked, besides IIM wat other reputed bschools consider cat score?

syed faiz ahmed answers, MDI, NITIE, SPJ, TAPMI, BIM, IMT-G are the better known.there are 1200 odd schools which you can see on imsindia.com

meet asked, wat cut-off shld one aim in each section?

syed faiz ahmed answers, cut offs arent pre decided.have a startegy of adressing percentage scores(around 40% net

sal asked, how many hours per day should i prepare form now

syed faiz ahmed answers, depends on which stage of preparation u are in

sal asked, should i concentrate on verbal on quant

syed faiz ahmed answers, cat mandates that u show competence on all sections irrespective of the area tested.

gajendra asked, Respected sir, i am a electrical&electronics engg.when i am cleared the CAT entrens i want to add. power menagment so pleas give me sug. to name of colleges not NPTI.

syed faiz ahmed answers, hi gajendra, there are no courses as such of repute for power management in India. However you could look at global options .please walk into any one of our centers to get mnore details.

Nilesh asked, Hello Sir. In simcats, I am not able to get good score. While analysing, I can see that I am very slow. My accuracy is good. What do you suggest to improve my score?

syed faiz ahmed answers, accuracy with speed is the mantra for cracking the CAT. You have one aspect thru but for the next i wouldnt be sure if you are spending too much time to answer individual questions.dont get stuck but keep moving on.

sunny asked, sir, i m opting cat next year.is it conpulsary to join classes?i m a 80% class student.should i go for it?

syed faiz ahmed answers, sunny,i would suggest you walk into any of the IMS centers and take a prelim test to understand your level of preparedness. based on that we can advise you in case of gaps.

P1 asked, hEY I HAD DECIDED TO DO MS BUT PLAN TO DO MBA NOW SUGGEST ME WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO GET A GOOD MBA COLLEGE.

syed faiz ahmed answers, please refer sunnys answer

krishna asked, sir what is the cut off mark for Public Policy Management

syed faiz ahmed answers, There are other parameters for PPM besides the test scor which weigh the condidates suitabilty

HariNair asked, Sir, How to improve my skills in non-RC verbal areas like jumbled sentences, sentence completion,etc.

syed faiz ahmed answers, Reading is to be based on logical thinking and has to have a proper flow .so try to read complex paras and test yourself by understanding the text

raj asked, Hello sir, In quant section i am attempting good no. of questions ~12-14 but the accuracy is just 50%. The method to solve those wrong questions is almost correct to that of answer but at the end of answer I unable to calculate the exact answer. Please suggest me how to convert those wrong ones in to right?

syed faiz ahmed answers, your progress is right but most times you must trust your intutions and your gut feel to know the answer when you arent able to crack the right answer.to be bit more scientific,use the elimaination technique from the listed options

Sonia asked, How long should a person who is also working typically spend on preparation at this stage?

syed faiz ahmed answers, you may be better off on concepts,but to test it out you need to take a prelim test to know where u stand and then start the prep to cover gaps

kabbu asked, does the coaching helps, can one achieve one's goal (cracking the CAT)without the coaching.

syed faiz ahmed answers, you can, provided you have very strong concepts in verbal,quant and di.

dharam asked, sir, will CAT 09 be ONLINE? Wheteher SIMCATs be online for that. Pl. reply i m really very confused. some say CAT can't be online. XAT also tried once sometime back

syed faiz ahmed answers, At this jucture only the iims know the status..you neednt worry as we would scale up to the need. dont let your preparation flag as it would make no differnece if its a paper test or on line.

sandeep asked, Sir, This is Sandeep from IIT Delhi [Images]. Is there any criteria of identifying questions to attempt or not to attempt especially in DI and Quant?

syed faiz ahmed answers, no strategy is the best strategy

rohits asked, sir im gettin variable scores in mockCATs.....ranging from..40%ile to 70%ile.......wat shud i do ?

syed faiz ahmed answers, your testing phase and the test day would be very different. just be at it.

manik asked, hello ji main iim main addmision lena chata hu , muje kya karna chaiye?

syed faiz ahmed answers, u need english verbal communication skills along with proficience in concepTs of quant and DI and LR

neha asked, What was the highest score and cutoff score (percentile & percentage of marks) in CAT 07

syed faiz ahmed answers, you can refer to our website, www.imsindia.com

DISHANK asked, sir i m a computer technology, engineering syudent, what shoud i opt in mba to be in maharashtra state only.plz suggest

syed faiz ahmed answers, NITIE, JBIMS, NMIMS, SCMHRD and SIBM are some of the good schools you acn look at.IIT Powai should also be in your consideration

sal asked, iam scoring 95 pernctile in SIM CATS how much time should i prepare every day . my ps score in comparatively less than verbal

syed faiz ahmed answers, Understand which aspect of PS are you finding difficulty in solving and brush up on those concepts

va asked,  I AM WEEK IN dI SO MUCH TIME i SHOULD GIVE FOR THAT

syed faiz ahmed answers, PS and DI are hand in hand on the preparatory phase. so you need to analyse and practice much more.

vasudha asked, sir! what should be my game plan for IRMA?

syed faiz ahmed answers, Quant would be realtively simpler but you would need to be very aware of the Social Awareness sectio.n which is topical to the Indian context and carry more weightage.

anup asked, helloo sir i had 3 yrs of work experience in VLSI , last yrr i got 92.74 percentile , with less score in verbal , how i can improve that to 98-100 percentile pls guide

syed faiz ahmed answers, why dont you open your options for global too..it may be more than worthwhile.

sal asked, sir what should be the stragergy on cat day

syed faiz ahmed answers, no startegy ..just listen to rock music ,chill and go with an open mind on the test day..theres a life beyond the CAT too...

officialcatrepeater asked, Syed ...temme ..does it make sense to give CAT if u have good 5 yrs of Industry exp ? what value can IIM A/B/C add in this casE?

syed faiz ahmed answers, Just walk into an ims center and hear about the Top Mgmnt and Global Leadership Programme. It will adress your queries.

rohan asked, sir , i am expecting score of 97 percentile in cat , and i have 15 month of experience in IBM, got 66 % in B. Tech. 10th 89% and 12th 78%. Should i apply for SPJain??

syed faiz ahmed answers, You can ,after you give the CAT the best shot. SPJ goes more on profile rather than the percentages.

vijeth asked,  sir i am gettin percentiles in the range of 94-98.5....how should i scale it upto 99...pls reply..pls

syed faiz ahmed answers, revisit the weak areas and see if you are getting good sectional scores and pull up the scores in the strong areas to make the diff.

shankar asked, Sir, I am student of b.sc (chemistry) du, i want to mba for good college. pls adv

syed faiz ahmed answers, please transalate your thoughts into action. take a prelim test and see how u fare.

omi asked, Mr. Syed, I want to know whether if any person is failed once in his graduation, then is he elegible to do MBA from IIM's if he scores good marks in CAT.

syed faiz ahmed answers, if you have 50% in grad you stand eligible. however please refer www.iimcat.in for a detaled analysis for intake parameters

shailendra asked, i did B Tech in electronics and communication..now i m working as electronics research engineer in audio DSP domain.....my work experience is 2.5 years...which domain MBA will be useful to my career????? suggest me colleges also.....???? what should i do for DI...becoz my performance is not consistent in it....i am strong in vocabulary part ....still ..i cant score good in verbal section ...for enhancing my performance in DI and Verbal ...can you suggest something?????

syed faiz ahmed answers, I suggest you look at Operations .NITIE would be my choice. However an MBA is a mix of all specialisations and your passion can be tweaked by choosing an apt Institution. As far as ur prepation is concerned its been answered in parts elsewhere.

bobby asked, Hi syed, i m preparing for CAT 2008 and i think the chances are ine or me. I have 2 yrs of work experience. IS taking a 2-3 months break from job for CAT preparation a gud idea if it improves my chances considerably?i hv no job right now and want to keep it such till november 16.

syed faiz ahmed answers, bobby,not a gud ides..they wouldnt want to hear that you take a break for prep. so get back to a decent role as the process extends till may

ramkhilawan asked, I am scoring 99+ percentile in SIM CATS. I am at 9.5 CG CS Engineer from IIT Mumbai and working with Google. What do I need to do to make sure that I end up at IIM A/B/C and a private equity job later.

syed faiz ahmed answers, You need to crack the CAT go successful into the GD/PI round and we would help you towards that in the Acheivers Workshop--A real must do for the serious takers.

syed faiz ahmed says, Thats all friends ,wish you all the best to bell the CAT as well as to have a successful career.You can write in at imsindia.com for any queries