Disclaimer : Please take the suggestions mentioned below at your own risks; they are tried and tested

but so is the online CAT. Considering that in the next 10 days, I would be leaving for IIM L, it would be tough to answer individual queries as I want to enjoy the limited days of freedom before hel(L) takes me over. I am writing a global post which might help some. Let me set a benchmark first Any score below 29 Correct and 0 wrong, won't get a 100%ile in sec-1. Ideally, only a 30 correct will bring a 100%ile. 29 correct and 1 wrong will get a %ile of around 99.93. So, know your target and realize that it isn't a cakewalk and be prepared to work hard. Let us look into Quants Know your enemy :21-22 questions. Around 10 very easy, 5 moderate, 4-5 tricky, 2-3 tricky and tough. By tough, I don't mean olympiad level. Except for 1 to 3 questions from PnC and Probabilty, all the questions are from the mathematics syllabus upto class-10. Time: It is enough if one does not get stuck in a tricky question. If no lead in 1 min then skip the question. Stage-1 Symptom : 1)Do not recall the theorems from geometry, mensuration, algebra etc. 2) Have to use pen to calculate tables upto 20, squares upto 30, cubes upto 20, square roots upto 20 and cube roots upto 10. Cure: 1) Learn the tables upto 20, squares upto 30, cubes upto 20, square roots upto 20 and cube roots upto 10. It is shameful if the answer to 17*7 does not come instantly to your mind. 2) Solve the basic QA material - Arun Sharma or Time material. Don't waste a lot of time, try to finish in 2-3 weeks. Skip questions which seems solvable. 3) Maintain a notebook of all the formulas. Stage-2 Symptom : 1) Basics are clear. 2) Speed is slow. Cure: 1) Solve questions mentally, without using pen. It will take time for the effect to be visible but is the single most effective way of improving speed. 2) Never get into the trap of vedic maths. Waste of time and low ROI. Moreover, it takes time to become a habit and under stress situation read CAT, old habits aka normal calculation methodology resurfaces. Stage-3 Symptom :

do not have any weakness. time taking and have a high chances of getting wrong. Be prepared to solve a seater from any topic. Last set may be from Set theory/Venn diagram or anything generic. 4) Solve previous year mocks and analyze your performance. Let us look into DI Know your enemy :8-9 questions spread over 3 sets One of the sets will check calculation acumen and will involve operations on big numbers One of the sets will check visual acumen and will have charts and graphs. one set can be very tough. One of the set will be very easy. I repeat. Stage-2 Symptom : 1) Basics are clear. Cure: 1)Solve basic DI material of any coaching institute. No clue in 5-6 questions. other two will be moderate. 3) Do not prepare at random. 2) QA questions are heavy with Number System. Low accuracy. Generic suggestions:1) Data Sufficiency questions are tricky. 2) Speed sucks. Keep it simple and stupid. Cure: 1) Pray day and night . 2) Calculation speed sucks. So that you are not normalized. 2) Do not have any weakness. Stage-4 Symptom : 1) Things are perfect in mocks. bar graph etc. so be careful and attempt them after attempting easy questions. If you get a question wrong then look for the mistake and never repeat it again. 3) Solve last 10 year CAT papers. Just appearing in mocks won't help. even after dedicating time to them Cure: 1) Practice a lot. Geometry and Algebra. . At times. Be really good at these three topics. Stage-1 Symptom : 1) Have no idea of basic charts eg: pie charts and graphs eg: line graph. Analyze your performance. Speed is decent. The questions are very basic. 4) Don't get into the trap of too many shortcuts and complex formulas.1) 2) 3) 4) Basics are clear.

People will kill previous year mocks and lot of questions get repeated in mocks from previous year and hence score unrealistic percentiles. Felt the pressure. Attempted all DI questions. Being pro at solving tough questions never helps and it is proved by the fact that people who own the Quant thread on PG and nail those tough questions. Google some article to know more. So my final suggestions are:- . Cure: 1) Pray day and night . Stage-4 Symptom : 1) Things are perfect in mocks. Cure: 1) Solve last 10 years CAT papers. Stage-3 Symptom : 1) Basics are clear. The ratio and proportion chapter of Arun Sharma QA will help a lot in this. Attempted all QA questions except 3-4 questions. Asked myself to be calm. My experience in sec-1 of CAT'11 1st question. Marked the last question. It was my weak area and I hadn't worked a lot on it. because CAT checks basic and demands speed and accuracy. Solved 3rd question then 4th. They are unrealistic . Revised all the questions. Mocks like every good thing has some flaws. Took deep breath. Last 2 mins. 4) Expertise at judging a set or a question as tough will come with practice. I never had awesome speed and my average attempts in mocks used to be around 22-24 questions. Skip it. when actually the basics and question selection skills are not developed very well. are unable to own the QA section of CAT. 2) Unable to solve all questions. 3) Not necessary to solve all the questions of the three sets. 2) Then practice mocks and sectionals. 2nd question could not solve(read it wrong. Decide on your comfort level and then solve in the order of easy to hard. They have all possible DI sets and have good questions. Focus on having your basics clear. could not solve.) 5 mins passed with zero attempts. Generic suggestions:1) Have a look at all the sets first. Sec-1 of mocks is tougher than that of actual CAT. Had 17 mins remaining. One of the questions in some sets is quite tough. 3) Low accuracy. 1 question remaining. This question was from Probability. suddenly I recalled a method and the answer was one of the options and the method made sense. Attempted rest of the QA questions except for one. So that you are not normalized. 11 minutes remaining with 29 attempts. but I always used to analyze the questions from mocks.Cure: 1) Learn the art of approximation and mental calculation. 2) Skip a set as soon as you realize that it was actually tough.

ATB. which I will update after sometime.93 sec-2: 95. Moreover. P.S. Few more things to add.15) Member : Pagalguy Dream Team 2011. CAT is all about nerves. Don't ask me to mail the materials.S. 2) Do not have any weakness.1) Never panic. I don't have the time and net speed at present. Half of the mistakes are because of not understanding the question properly. 5) Not learning from mistakes is suicide. .P. P. 6) Read the question very carefully. Specially on threads where the competition is . everything is easily available. 3) Don't waste too much time on solving tough questions.who posts tougher questions and who solves it faster.87 (sec-1: 99. 4) Keep your basics clear. So stop being a freerider and put some effort by using Google. Abhishek Sharma IIM Lucknow 2012-2014 CAT'11 : 99.