Mocking the CAT

150 questions , three sections : Tenth standard Maths , Labyrinthine English , Totally encrypted Data to interpret... how tough can it be??

This is how i felt at the beginning of the 3rd mock CAT I took up today at 10 30 am . This pattern was a departure from the last 2 tests I wrote , which consisted of 90 Questions with 10 one mark and 20 two mark questions in each section. Looking at the analysis of the paper in the web site, I got the impression that it was supposed to be easier than the earlier few tests. For me it turned out to be a bad experience. Thinking about it now , I think that I made some wrong choices within those 120 minutes... thankfully its not the real thing !

The mistakes I made in the Verbal ability section : I rely on the grammar and vocab portion of the section usually to get me through comfortably and only after I finish this do I go for the Reading comprehension. I have been warned about this approach earlier , but today it was decisive, I need to change my strategy . No more shying away from RC... its really weird if you think about it though. I am what you could call a somewhat voracious reader. But when it comes to RC, something goes wrong everytime ... so now I make a vow that I ll do at least "n-2" passages from now on in RC ! The grammar and sentence completion parts of the section were to say the least awfully twisted... this is usually my favourite section! In this , I need to be able to leave questions and not make suicidal attempts.

In DI: Well , I did not do much in this section , in fact I have not done much until now in any of the tests. There were 50 Qs like in any other section and its all the more distressing to see more questions which seem unanswerable ! This is slowly getting to be a phobia now and this is another sections where I have to concentrate like RC . This is more important though because I am clearing Verbal and not DI!

In quants: In the first 2 tests , I chose the right questions and cleared both the test cutoffs comfortably , which was pleasantly surprising considering that a veteran CAT guy in my office could nt do it and so did a couple of my friends. This time though , the change in pattern and lack of strategy at that point( the right strategy is to look carefully from among more available options for the right Qs) , made me choose some wrong Qs and get stuck ! In short I got emotionally invovled with the problems somewhere in between and thats the last thing anyone with CAT aspirations should do!

Overall , the daily distribution of time to office and study is not working out . Attending morning class is fine, I am doing that regularly, and office as well is fine , but where I insert the additionaly preparation time is giving me problems. I have been speculating combined studies with a couple of TIME friends and also with a colleague, but what makes me hesitate is that we ll end up having fun and not do anything else besides. I think I ll give it a try ... heard someone say , try everything once before rejecting ;) . 16 more to go and the clock is ticking , wish me luck...
and if you happen to read this , please give me tips or what ever you can ...

railmani