A: Tarun, the smaller goals can be appreciated better if you are aware of the bigger goals. So why are you really doing an MBA? What will you do after that? One last bit of gyan - find a friend you can work with. It always works out better with dost log. Your friend.
A: Aghil, what you wrote is exactly the kind of Bull almost every student gives to an interview panel. If you really want to gain all that knowledge that you talk about, opt out of placements after your MBA and start off on your own. Another bit of advice - if you indeed become serious about business - go to a B school that does not charge a bomb, say FMS Delhi - so that you can use the savings in fee - as your seed capital. Germinatingly yours.
A: Hey Dhiraj, the only way that I know of to get 100% accuracy is to answer 1 question that you are damn sure of. Arre Bhai, life main gambling to karna padhta hain. My idea of a good accuracy rate is anything northwards of 80%. As far as attempts are concerned, it would depend on the difficulty level of the test. So don't get into a test with a well defined attempt target. A general idea of number of attempts would help in the sense that it would allow you to select / reject right from the start of a section. Let me assume that you generally attempt 25 questions out of 33 in Math. So you do about 3 out of 4 questions. This means that you should be leaving between 2-3 questions in the first 10 questions. If you are attempting everything in the first 10 - then the accuracy will come down. Hope my attempt to explain was accurate enough :-)
A: Hey Arzoo, congratulations on breaching the 90 perc mark. The key to improvement is change. No mistake is silly. So the question is what change can you be making based on the 'silly' mistakes you are making in quant. Remember no change, no improvement. About verbal, my advice would be to rely on the brain more than the guts. Imagine the test to be purely subjective. Answer in your own words, and then compare that with the options. In life don't hesitate to copy whatever you find good. If this friend who scores 99 perc is a real friend, sit down with this person - and get some gyan on what works for him/her. Try it out in your own tests. And to end with - of course aliens exist. We are all aliens. The first amino acids came to this planet on meteorites. So all life on earth is alien :-) Your fellow alien.
A: Aman, if you aim to score 90 perc +, then you have to do the Parajumbles. If not, only RC is Ok. Remember, the key in Parajumbles is to find sentence pairs. Also some idea of introductory / concluding sentences can help. And btw, if the RCs becomes subjective, would you start leaving them also? Verbally yours.
A: Hi Anurag, so the interesting question is how does percentile jump from 91 to 98? To improve in percentile terms, you have to improve more than what others have. So the experiments have to be more than what others are up to. Designing the experiments is the most interesting challenge. This can come out based on your analysis of the mistakes that you make in a test. Baaki, what will help in the final exam is the presence of a lot of non-serious students. Encourage all your friends who have filled in the CAT form to sit it out for the CAT - even when they have not prepared. These are the guys who will help give you that last minute boost in percentile!
A: Hey Ayush, you know what - though the hitbullseye math teachers may disagree - everyone is above average. You just need to know what field you are above average in. Since I consider you above average, I would recommend you don't join an average B school! About the work-ex part, any experience is not something I will permit. It has to be in an area that you are not just above average - but way above average. I think I have bull-ied you enough, Ciao.
A: Hey Ruchi, you may want to hear Big Bull's Take on this nevertheless. The world is getting into too much of analysis nowadays. Big Bull believes in its opposite - synthesis. So if you were to ask a question - can a collection of infinite objects lead to something finite - the answer is yes. Infinitely yours.
A: Hey Ritesh, am afraid that you have a more than 50% chance of failing in this restaurant business that you plan to start. When I ask students what business they want to start, the majority have exactly the same thoughts as you. To evaluate your future, I look at your past. Anything to indicate more than a passing interest in food? After all that BS by Big Bull, if you still feel you need to start a restaurant, then get a job in the hospitality sector after your MBA. Two months into your job, mail Big Bull again - and we will then see if the answer needs to be changed. Hope I have satiated your entrepreneurial appetite. Cya.
A: Hey Digvijay, go see the world, man. Travelling is the best education a guy can get. If there is a chance of delaying your departure by a week, bell the CAT, else you always can do the GMAT. And see if your girlfriend can say yes in the next couple of months, company sponsored Swiss honeymoon awaits you in that case. :-) And do say hi to the cows in the Swiss pastures on my behalf. Wish I could have accompanied you to personally do that. Njoy.
A: Yo Laksh, to answer your question - need to know what your real Laksh is. If it is emigrating to foreign shores, then go ahead and do the MBA abroad. Would recommend Canada - as current scene there is better than the US for emigration and employment. And is also going to be a great place after global warming starts happening. Warmly Yours.
A: Hi Aayushi, the only motive power that drives the brain is experimentation. Get out of your routine - and so something new everyday. Most of the times experiments are failures - but after every 10 failures, you will come across one thing that clicks. One click can be the difference between cracking CAT or flunking it. Chamka?
A: Abhishek, be ready with an honest answer to the interviewer about the gap. Focus on what are the things that you picked up during the gap years. Remember, in life strengths are always more important than weaknesses. Here's wishing you more shakti.
A: Yo Meet, if you have already worked for 2 years, then take the GMAT this year. Btw, nowadays a lot of B schools are accepting GRE also. Best to take a diagnostic test of each. Free tests are available on the ETS and GMAC site. See where you are getting a better score - and focus on that test. Chances of scholarships for MBA are low. You will need an exceptionally high GMAT / GRE score to get one. About HR / Product management - choose the one that fits in better with your past experience - unless you have been hating your job. Your Big Brother Bull.
A: Adarsh, to generate interest in RC - my advice would be to watch two TED talks a day. I make a lot of RCs as excerpts from TED talks. Would personally recommend one by Andrew McAfee, where he talks about how machine-replaceable is your current job. (You can search for it on www.TED.com or on Youtube - type Andrew McAfee TED talk in the search box) We have already seen a lot of IT jobs shrinking as programmers are getting replaced by programs. Sounds Interesting?
A: Akshit, will suggest an alternate reading habit for you. Everytime you appear for a test, spend time in analysing your RC. Identify passages where accuracy has been low. And look up key words from that passage on Wikipedia to do up some reading. The interesting part of reading on Wikipedia, is that you can meander around - and clear out issues to whatever depth you desire. The key to building interest is not your width of reading, but the depth. Deeply yours.
A: Hey Nishank, if you love Monday mornings at work, my advice - continue in IT. If not, do your MBA - but ensure that you take up a job where you will end up looking forward to Monday mornings. Happily Yours.
A: Vivek, the first rule of time management is Prioritisation. Looks like the MBA is not very high on your list at this time. If you are planning to hit bulls eye, it should be. When something is Priority 1, then you start your day with that. You ensure that your weekends are kept free for Priority 1. If your distractions are really killing you - here is some advice. Delete WhatsApp and Facebook from your phone right away. Have just gifted you an extra hour a day now. Enjoy it.
A: Raj, what you are pointing out is the 'Two options main confusion' syndrome. The only way out of this chaos, is to first create your own option - and then check it with the given 4. For some technical help, check out this link - http://mba.hitbullseye.com/CAT/CAT-RCs-Answer-Choices.php Clearly yours.
A: Sakshi, of the two questions you have asked, the more important one is about the productive life. To be productive, you have to enjoy what you are doing. If not, you cannot be productive. About the exam anxiety - what is the worst that can happen if the exam does not go well? Appear for the next one. Remember exams are not the best tools to identify successful people. And fear is the worst emotion to have. If you take the fear away, the preparation can become a fun thing to do!
A: Yo Swastik, do unto others as you would expect others to do to you. I judge people all the time, I change my judgment about some people with time, but judge I do. So should you judge people? Of course. You will get paid for judging people!
A: Ajay, all of us have an exceedingly long list of things which we cannot do well. And an exceedingly short one of things that we can do well. Just ensure that your interview revolves around the short list, instead of the long list. Here are questions that you need to be ready with for your gap year. What did you do during that year? What have your learning been from that? Is your glass half-full, or half-empty? Depends on whether you are drinking or pouring. This is the age when you need to spend more time pouring and less time drinking. Cheers!
A: Hey Sushmita, getting bored is an indicator that there are better ways of doing things. So you need to change the way you study. Experiment with different times, different locations, different groups that you study with - and you will come across methods that make it more fun. Let me give you a fun assignment for Data Interpretation. Look at the data of airline reservations - and tell me how many days before the flight should you book a ticket to get the best price. Create 10 such fun assignments - and you will be the master of DI. Happy researching!
A: Hey Arnab, your questions indicate reasonable variety in your reading habits. The trick in RC is not reading. It is samajhna. Pause after every paragraph and write down what you have 'samjhaued'. If you do that the comprehension increases - and so does accuracy.
A: Ryan, studying abroad will definitely help - so go ahead and do the GMAT. But most good universities require that you have at least 2 years of work-ex. Some of them also require 16 years of education - so you may have to do an additional year - maybe something like an M.Com. Start researching, so that you can get a good plan in place!