The second CMAT computer-based exam will be held over 5 days window from February 21-25. With CMAT just a few days away, it’s time to buckle up and start your revision! Let’s look at the some of the preparation tips, that’ll help you crack the CMAT exam.
CMAT is a three-hour test. The question paper comprises four sections - Quantitative technique, Logical reasoning, Language comprehension and General Awareness. There are 25 questions in each section. While each correct answer carries four marks, each wrong answer will carry one negative marking.
Preparation tips:
In this season of Mock CATs, most of the students struggle with the problem of low attempts (and low scores) in QA despite having good knowledge. Many students are unable to choose the right questions while attempting the paper and end up attempting difficult questions that not only take time but also get them negative marks.
However after the paper, while analyzing it or going through the solutions, you suddenly discover that there were easy questions that you tend to not notice while attempting the paper. Over the years, watching so many make the same mistake I’ve realized that this usually happens because either you’re not aware of your strengths and weaknesses in different topics of QA or you’re just plain afraid of leaving questions!
When you’re taking a competitive exam like the CAT, it’s not important whether you know more than the others. How you attempt the paper makes all the difference. I’ve always achieved very high scores in QA and cleared many competitive tests due to the way I attempt the section. I’ve devised seven simple rules for myself – and they work every single time! Here’s how:
Attempting and clearing CAT (Common Admission Test) is merely the beginning of the admission process at some of the premier institutes of India. The top B-schools in the country allot almost equal importance to the WAT (Written Ability Test) and the PI (Personal Interview) for enrolling students. Here are some tips on how to come out of the entire selection process as a winner -
Study up on general knowledge
It is important to be acquainted with current affairs and general knowledge for the WAT. For instance, an IIM–Indore (Indian Institute of Management-Indore) student was given an essay topic on *** education and was asked to write about whether there is a requirement to introduce it in school curriculum.
Demonstrating leadership abilities in MBA essays is often a problem encountered by most business school applicants. There is a common misconception that the essay has to be about either a professional achievement or a unique incident portraying their leadership qualities. However, the goal should be about leaving the impression of being a good leader in any situation, rather than delivering the final product.
An MBA aspirant needs to review his past experiences, particularly those episodes that bring out his leadership skills and choose the best one as a relevant example. Usually applicants end up writing achievement or accomplishment essays to illustrate their leadership skills. However, an achievement does not necessarily signify great leadership skills.
The big surprise in SNAP this year was that the authorities did not allow the students to take home the question paper. This move will only allow for greater amount of uncertainty while applying to colleges and will definitely benefit the lower ranked Symbiosis colleges in attracting a larger number of applications.
Other than this, SNAP did not throw many surprises this year. The number of questions and sections remained the same as last year. One thing that did change is the logical reasoning section, where absence of Critical Reasoning questions would have come as a welcome relief. This section was mostly made of Mathematical and Logical Reasoning.
The number of attempts should have been for 130 marks or more if your average accuracy in Mocks (total correct / total attempts) tops 85%+. It was at student’s discretion to choose which section to attempt first. However, students should have started with Logical Reasoning, given that all the questions in this section carried 2 marks each. Then, students could have attempted any of the sections depending upon their strengths. Although, colleges are not likely to take sectional cut-offs, a student with a zero or a negative score in a section is likely to get eliminated.
 CAT takers look for good coaching institutes every year in order to get admitted into the best one for CAT preparation. There are many institutes available for CAT prep and one can choose any. But, choosing the right institute that offers the best coaching is important. For this, one has to consider many factors before joining an institute. Read on to understand what to look for in a CAT coaching institute for better preparation.
Selection Criteria for CAT Prep Institute
Factors based on which CAT coaching institute must be selected are as follows:
 The Reading Comprehension part of the Verbal Ability section requires a good skill over the English language and comprehending. Questions on Reading Comprehension is a compulsory part of CAT. In order to improve on your Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability section for CAT 2011 you need to broaden your background knowledge by reading newspapers, magazines and books.
Strategies for making it easier:
 In a GD, it often happens that the topic is an abstract one and hardly anybody contributes. TestGenie will tell you how you can make the most of it in such a silent GD.
"Give as many interpretations to the topic as possible and drive the group in those directions. Then discuss each of them in detail"
 As the pace of change continues to accelerate at speed, we can take solace in the fact that the masters in MBA degree is still a constant worth embracing. The world economy is truly global, where
what happens is not only known almost simultaneously
to the occurrence of event, but the impact can be felt
as well. Customers and competitors are no longer
relegated to the geography that surrounds them. In
fact, many businesses no longer have traditional
buck and mortar operation.
Within this complex
setting, the modern manager must still do what
managers in every era have had to do to succeed. Lets start with obvious reason to do MBA. Those with MBAs make more money. At least they make more money in
the beginning. The prospect of making money and living
a better economic life draws thousands of students to MBA programs.
 Given the cost of an MBA programme at a top school, it is no surprise that most MBA students have their minds sharply focused, not just on the lessons they will learn from the experience, but where they will be applying them after they have graduated.
For many years, the traditional perception of the MBA has been that it is a stepping stone to a well-paid job with a large organisation– a major bank, an international management consultancy or a corporate multinational. However, in practice, a sizeable proportion of graduates end up working in a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), like the bulk of the world's population. According to Valerie Claude-Gaudillat, MBA director at the Audencia Nantes School of Management in France, it is about time that students realised this may be the sector where their skills and abilities have the most logical fit.
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