Thursday, August 11, 2005

How to get through an IIM

there r 3 kinds of people i know
- the people who are already doing their mba or hv completed it. i wud request these guys to share sum of their experiences, strategies n other gyan
- the aspirants, who want to make it big......
- the junta who is uninterested in doing mba. these people shud just sit n watch with great amusement, how a simple exam of maths, english n reasoning can be made complicated thru application of various game plans n strategies....:).

well frnz, the title may be a bit misleading. This is certainly not a key to crack CAT n get thru a good B-School. this is just a portion of my experiences with this exam, considering the fact tht i went thru this ordeal 3 times including the leaked one...:).

VA section

RC- u shud make it a habit to read newspaper daily. n reading newspaper means going deeply into various events happening in different sectors like politics, finance, sports n so on. reading newspaper means reading 'Hindu' rather than just browsing the glossy n scantily clad models in DT section of TOI. This wud not only build good understanding of various kind of topics, also improve the reading speed. later during the GD/PI portion it is certainly going to help a lot. if u dont hv a habit of reading this transformation can be a bit painful but it is certainly going to help in the long run. dont waste time on reading fiction...... thts generally useless, unless provided u r an avid reader.


RC section tests :
Take up a regular RC section test.smthing like (30 mins 5 passages),target shud be to attempt 4 passages. 3 passages thoroughly + easy qs from 1 passage.(if u think ur better thn that ..target 5 passages..u can tone down targets depending on the kind of passages/diffculty level/type of qs etc). u will most probly be leaving 1 passage(look at the passages first ..lengths,glance thru content ..decide which u will leave.(maybe first 1 min for it..) alternatively if a pssage looks very easy jump ahead and do it(better). for each passage u attempt....get a hang of the passage and a general idea abt wht is being talked abt in which section of the passage.Go ahead to the qs.If any answers seem very evident mark it.Else go back to the part of the relevant para -re-read it slowly try to identify the answers.u shudnt be taking more thn 8mins for any passage.So 8*3 = 24..remainng 6 mins pick up the passage out of remainng 2 which looks esier/has more direct qs..try to read the qs and pick the answers.Simple isnt it??!If u read qs first..since u generally dont know wht the passage is abt u wont be able to relate to the qs.2.If u read the passage thorughly once b4 attempting qs...it is a waste of time..cos thr may be tough sections in the passage which u pored over and absoloutely no qs abt....many of the answers might be fairly direct and cud be picked up ina rough reading...u go back to the passage only if u absolutely need to.Usually wht happens is..u will complete a passage in abt 4 mins ..read qs..then hv to again go back and read parts of the passage cos ur not sure of the answers.this is total timepass.


vocab - this is one of the most over estimated portion of CAT exam. cat do not ask directly vocab related questions. but sumtimes u need to hv a good vocab to hv a better understanding of passage. start with norman lewis n then move on to Barron. try preparing ur own flash cards with arnd 20-25 words written on each card. try to relate words with something to improve the recall. Eg. relate word 'bacchanalia' to amitabh bacchan to improve recall its meaning of being drunkard. carry those 'word cards' (TIME issues them.. or still better u can make them urself!),


verbal ability - parajumbles shud be attempted by finding out the suitable link b/w two sentences . try to find a sequence of 2 or more sentences n then eliminate the choices. try to find if a pronoun is used fr a noun used earlier. The other way would be to take a holistic view of all the sentences and try to arrange them in your head, till it sounds right. Although this is tough, it takes a little time to get used to, but it will help in getting a higher accuracy level.

Arranging the 6 sentences type :
It is actually easier when the 1st and 6th sentences are given as now you have more ways of solving the jumble.Since the 1st sentence is given, it is not always tough to find the next sentence as it will logically follow. Use this method and then again go on an elimination spree.Also, the 6th sentence is given. Once you get the flow of the sentence, to guess the preceding sentence is not again too very tough. So all you have to do is battle with the 3rd & 4th which again should fall in place once you have guessed the others right.


grammar -its not necessary to hv a detailed knowledge of grammar. u do not need to know abt gerunds n other similar sounding stuff( i do not know abt them till today). just try to hv a decent understanding of various grammar sections i.e. where to place an article n which article to place. the basic grammar knowledge helps in finding the correct/incorrect sentences


Further few links for VA/RC I gathered from internet.......
1. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
2. http://esl.about.com/cs/beginner/
3. http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

the post has already become a bit big. so post on other sections wud be posted later, depending upon the response i get...:).

amit

P.S. -sum part of the above post has been taken from pagalguy.com. I dont hv any intention of claiming it as my own. all disclaimers apply...:)

39 Comments:

At 1:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Is there any way I can contact you? My email chard_jim@yahoo.com

I wanted to talk about your blog,

Please delete my comment, this was for you only.

Thanks

Please its is kind of urgent

 
At 2:42 AM, Blogger amit said...

hi anonymous...

i tried sending a mail at the email address u gave, but it bounced back. so give me some other mail address

 
At 10:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi amit!! howz life at iima.. wow man wish i wuld make it to iima one day.. gr8 post and do post abt other sections.. gyan on RC stuff was really good..

looking forward for other posts...

 
At 12:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi! Awesome Tip$! I can now easily strive to surpass the cutoff's here. where is my next Wizard Card? not losing hope A La KBC style...

PS: Dont take it long to post but the post can be long!

 
At 2:23 AM, Blogger Sujith said...

cool! why dont u write something for iimcatwalk.com :-)

 
At 11:56 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi..

Excellent tips for cat. Can you tell us what your stretegy was for cat? And how did you prepare for quant? Thanks a lot.

 
At 1:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

gud show lakhotia...but u r gud for nothing at iim..and u doling out fund to innocent aspirants is ludicrous...

 
At 1:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hailla ! lakho master jee , hume bhee sikhao na.:p

 
At 5:13 AM, Blogger amit said...

@ Anonymous : yaar naam batane me kya jata hai. .....

@ abhinav : sirjee aapko kya bataon.... aap to khud pahunchi hui hasti ho. aapko dekhker hi to hum bade hue hain...:)

 
At 5:15 AM, Blogger amit said...

@ jithu : wud try sumday. but i dont think i m pretty good at writing. i just write all crap what comes in my mind.

 
At 11:59 AM, Blogger sona said...

hey Amit
koool tips...experience speaks..:)
many visitors of blogs r preparing for mba..m sure it will help them out...gud work..:):)
tc

 
At 11:19 PM, Blogger Aj said...

Master ji namaskar!
Badiyan kaam me jute ho.jute rho badiya hai....

 
At 12:03 AM, Blogger V said...

darned misleading title. i really wanted to know how to get thru an IIM, not how to get thru TO one :-))

 
At 10:43 AM, Blogger freakzoid said...

Hey Lakho is getting thru an IIM more difficult than getting to or vice verca, yaar colleagues in B,C,K were telling only getting to part is diff rest is masti, aur kuch real tips dede yaar ques kaise select kare, time kaise alloc., when things not wrkin out to concentrate kaise kare kare know depends on individual but what was urs.

 
At 12:45 AM, Blogger Priya said...

tell me abt it! went thru the ordeal last yr.. didnt get thru :( will try again this yr.. :) till IIM ppl say.. this gal's trying too hard.. lets jus get her in :p
..p..

 
At 3:05 AM, Blogger amit said...

@sona : yeah try to give as much gyan as possible...really enjoy giving gyan...:).

@ ajay : kya baat hai ..muscle dikhakar kise masalane ka iraada hai

@ vishy : ohhhh, i never thot of tht. i myself don't know how to get 'thru' an IIM . if u get hold of sum way , i m waitin

@ freakazoid : dekho bhai, jo hum bata saktein hai, wo bata denge... lekin itna gyan bhi mat mango yaar ki tum apni originality bhool jao...remember everybdy has his/her own strengths n weaknesses. identify them n work upon them...

@ priya : try karte raho.. may be highly possible ki IIM wale tumhe is baar pasand kar le..:)

 
At 10:46 PM, Blogger Venkat | Mandy said...

Trust me..
If somebody figures out how to get through an IIM at the end of 6 weeks, The whole fun is lost !
Uncertainity is what gives you the kick !
Atleast it works that way at HelL !

 
At 10:46 PM, Blogger Venkat | Mandy said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 10:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello amit..
Nice work.. sounds really simple after reading yur post..BUT it isn't :).. efficent way of preparing for RC.. will definetely try it out..keep blogging so we get to know more abt life in iima and how to bell the cat..

 
At 2:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"How to get through an IIM" means how u pass out from an IIM once u reach there. Are you narrating a successful experience of such an incidence? or u r speaking about "How to get into an IIM" ? My friend, as u might have realized by now, there is Hell-&-Heaven of a difference between the two! isnt it too naive to make such a silly blunder? or r u feeling sleepy? hello? r u awake??

 
At 1:57 AM, Blogger amit said...

@anonymous : hi frnd, i do realise my mistake n i hv accepted tht in one of my comments earlier..... n i do realise how big tht difference is after staying here at A for 2 months.....
i m still trying to remain awake...though lately i hv been a part of PDS(People Deprived of Sleep) club...

 
At 3:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Amit,

My email address is chard_jim@yahoo.com.au

I would wait for your mail.

Many thanks for your time

 
At 12:48 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi amit
nice work done. plz tell us abt the other sections also as quant is really killing me.

 
At 1:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey amit,
hi im preparing for cat 2005 i read your article regarding prepo of CAT with respect to vocab n rcs but i would like to know bout other section(quant DI/DS) also

vinita.

 
At 8:30 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you tell me what to read fro the stuff u mentioned at this point od time.

 
At 12:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi
the tips for english sections are very good.
But where i can find some strategy for Quant??????????
thank you.

 
At 12:03 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

with the emphasis of catshifting from speed to real understanding how do pplstand anychanceif they have a ok sortof knowledge in many fields ratherthan deep sortof understanding in some fields also i want ur mail id plz...my id is arunpadmanabhan_86@yahoo.com
......hope lets talk more in mail

 
At 4:03 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi,

your tips were really good man. is htere any way i can get ur mail id.....

anoop

 
At 10:11 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hello!
really awesome nd helpful tips.the thing is some tips i knew before but wasn't able to implement,that's where i'm lagging.just 2-months remaining for the d-day..& i'm hard-pressed!!
need to hear more from you for efficient prep.thnx!!
email:tmani_2708@yahoo.com

 
At 3:12 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi amit

am a content writer in a management training institute.it woukd be of great help if you allow me to exchange mails with you.
BTW my elder sister is in IIMA.

renee

 
At 3:14 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi amit

m email id is reini.rhea@rediffmail.com


renee

 
At 3:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

amit,

delete my previous blog.i made a mistake in writing my mail id.its reini.rhea@gmail.com

 
At 11:18 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dear sir
i am a b.tech (IT) 2 nd year student
i am desperate to get in iim -a . i want to know what are the things that i can do at present to accomplish it .
i regularly read newspaper ( TOI).
magzines ( indiatoday)
but what else i can do at the moment to prepare for the CAT while simultaneously keeping attention on my engg studies.
should i may join the CAT COACHING NOW OR AT THE LAST YEAR .
would it better for me to prepare for the CAT right now or join up a s/w company for experience .
also i want to know if ther r any type of marks cutoff( OF GRADUATION OR INTERMEDIATE0 in the cAT .

THANK YOU!

 
At 9:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Amit,

Really ur stuff is very good. Keep giving gyan...I really enjoyed reading it.

 
At 6:20 PM, Blogger Brijesh said...

thanks for your tips....it really helps...

 
At 5:51 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

GOOD 4 ME..

 
At 7:25 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

arey bhai.. next post k liye kab se wait kar rahe hai.. i keep visiting regularly..... plz write abt Quant n Di sections too..... CAT z just round d corner.....

 
At 11:54 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks 4 d gyan sir....just wanted 2 knw sir which book should b referred 4 prepsration.

 
At 8:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

REALY AWSM HELP U PROVIDED ME WITH....

 

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