What should you do after CAT Results - 4 Recommended Steps!

Below 4 steps are recommended for MBA aspirants post CAT results: 

#1 - Analyze your chances & expected calls
You must check based on your CAT percentile what all colleges you can expect calls from. Try to understand the various other evaluation parameters which colleges is looking for like 
Gender Diversity, Academic Excellence, Academic Diversity, WAT, GD/PI, Essay Writing, Work Exp, Professional Course etc.
Look at your chances by analyzing yourself based on these parameters.
Expected Cut off for various colleges:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2011/11/cut-off-percentile-for-mba-colleges-cat.html
Various Selection Parameters of all 13 IIMs for 2017-19
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2016/10/iims-selection-parameters-for-2017-19.html
Detailed Shortlisting Process of all 13 IIMs:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2011/08/iims-selection-criteria-shortlisting.html



#2 - Analyze the ROI for your MBA from a particular college
Do further self research about college considering below factors:
- College's Reputation and Ranking
- Placement & Average Salary
- College Fee's
Considering all above factors analyze ROI for you going for MBA from this college. Below example would help you in understanding your situation:

Example- 1 - Candidate X is working in IT company for last one year with salary of 3.5 Lacs P.A. He is a general candidate with CAT percentile of 83. Should he join for MBA?
Answer: You shouldn't, unless you are very desperate for doing MBA from any college, you shouldn't join . Reasons:
You would invest more than 8 lac rupees in doing MBA from an average college and when you pass out most likely you may get a salary of 5.5 Lacs P.A. ROI is very less.

Example- 2 - Candidate Y is 2014 pass out and he doesn't has a job. He is a general candidate with CAT percentile of 87. Should he join for MBA ?
Answer: Unless you are very confident of getting better percentile next year you shouldn't drop a year. You can check this by analyzing your level of expertise in Maths & Verbal in your 10th & 12th marks or introspect yourself.
Reasons:

Dropping a year without working is not advisable unless your percentile is going to improve to 97+ next year. If you are financially stable you should go ahead with MBA this year itself. If you have any possibility of getting a job then you can drop a year, prepare well in parallel with work and attempt CAT again next year along with work exp.
B Schools with best ROI - MBA Colleges with lowest fees and very good placement
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.com/2015/01/b-schools-with-best-roi-mba-colleges.html
Ranking of Top 247 colleges of India by Business Today could be useful for you:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2014/10/ranking-of-mba-colleges-india-best_47.html
Note: Some of the colleges like IMT G didn't participate in this survey, IMT G rank should be under top 12 colleges in the given list. There might be some more colleges missing in the list as they didn't participate in the survey.


B Schools with best ROI - MBA Colleges with lowest fees and very good placement

#3 - Check what application forms are still available
Considering that there isn't much time left in the admission process to start it is very critical to fill up application forms of colleges before the last dates. There aren't many application forms available at this stage, and missing the one's which are available is not recommended at all:
Last date of Applications:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2016/12/mba-colleges-2017-admissions-last-date.html
Admission notification published in newspapers
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2016/12/mba-college-notifications-for-2017.html



#4 - Start your preparation for next level of tests
Apart from CAT , there are various other test which B-Schools applies in selecting candidates examples are: WAT, GD/PI, Essay Writing, Work Exp
After CAT results its advised that you focus on equipping yourself with skills to master in these next level of test . 

Below are some of the tips to equip yourself for next level of tests:
Essay Writing Guidelines:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2011/11/xat-essay-tips-and-topics.html
Guidelines for doing well in GD
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2012/01/evaluation-criteria-in-group-discussion.html
Read good novels & books, you can download some of them freely from:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2009/03/recommended-novels-and-books-for-mba.html
Read about Current Affairs, you can download current affair related notes from:

http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2014/11/general-knowledge-2014-current-affairs.html
Check your Current affairs knowledge by taking Free General Awareness Online Test:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2014/11/free-online-general-awareness-test-2014.html

Prepare yourself for PI questions like:
Why you want to do MBA?
Why you want to do MBA from this college?
Why you want to do MBA in so and so specialization?
How do you spend your spare time?
Tell me about yourself?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Why should we select you?
Be prepared for questions from your work domain
Be prepared for question from your Company & its financial state
Be prepared for questions from your graduations academic area
Learn about Indian and Global economy.

Also do keep an eye on announcement from the college's you are expecting calls from and get complete understanding of their admission process.




All The Best!

XAT Preparation Strategy for Last few days days!

#1 - Understand the Patterns - Practice using Past year Papers
In exams like XAT along with logical, verbal and analytical skills candidates are silently evaluated on their ability to cope up with pressure & their time management skills. Each exam(CAT, XAT, CMAT, SNAP etc) has a specific format and also complexity levels of questions across different sections varies from exam to exam. Solving past years papers at home by setting up exactly same amount of time would help you in gaining more confidence and better time management. 
Its highly recommended that you attempt at least  2-3 XAT papers in next 7 days by sitting exactly for 2.5 hours and attempting all sections including GK and Essay writing as well(allot 20 minutes extra for essay writing) .
Past Year Papers of XAT from 2005 - 2016 are available at:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2011/08/xat-papers-xat-past-years-papers.html

Understand the Pattern and Recommended Do's and Dont's:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2012/01/xat-exam-pattern-format-duration.html


#2 - Learn to write a good Essay 
Even though XAT essay writing doesn't contributes in XAT percentile, still it plays a major role in your final selection in top colleges like XLRI. A good essay is surely going to increase your chances in final selection in XLRI and XIM-B
Below XAT Essay Writing Tips would help you:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2011/11/xat-essay-tips-and-topics.html
Also you must check XAT Essay topics from 1999 to 2014 to know what topics you can get in XAT 2015:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2007/12/xat-2008essay-topics.html



#3 - Read about Current Affairs
Reading about current affairs is not just going help you in tackling GK questions in XAT, it will also help you in preparing for upcoming Personal Interviews and give you more confidence. Even though GK marks would not be used for determining your percentile, still it's going play a critical role in your final selection towards the next stages.

Check your Current affairs knowledge by taking this Free Online GK Test:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2014/11/free-online-general-awareness-test-2014.html

You can read about Current Affairs, download current affair related notes from:
http://howtoprepare4cat.blogspot.in/2014/11/general-knowledge-2014-current-affairs.html


Important tips for cracking XAT 
  • Do not leave lot of questions unattended as it can result in negative marking. In XAT 2016 there was negative marking of 0.05 marks if number of unattended questions by a candidate were more than 13.
  • Each question will have 5 options which means probability of randomly choosing a wrong answer is 0.8 which is 0.05 higher when compared to exams having questions with 4 option.
  • 1/4th Mark is deducted if you answer a question incorrectly 
  • Unlike CAT, XAT is based on pen and paper format - this means you will have flexibility to switch from one section to the other. Get yourself familiar with using OMR sheets!
  • You should start with section you are more comfortable and confident with
  • Do not attempt a section in which you are least confident for the end, attempt it in middle
  • Never start attempting a comprehension or Logical Reasoning question(with lots of inputs) in Last 5 minutes. In last 5 mins, try to attempt questions which are short in description.
  • Do smart selection of questions - there is no point in correctly attempting a complex question by spending 12 mins whereas in the same time you could have had attempted 4 simple questions.
  • Have sectional cutoffs in mind - its advisable that while attempting a section avoid getting over enthusiastic and spend too much of time in one section alone
  • While attempting Part II quickly attempt General Knowledge questions to ensure you have ample time for essay writing.
  • Carry black or blue ball point pens only for filling OMR sheets - do not use gel or ink pens
  • Attempt past year question papers to make yourself familiar with type of questions asked




All The Best!

Technical Glitches galore CAT 2014 results... again!


With in few minutes of CAT results declared, the TCS server is already unable to handle the number of requests coming from aspirant who are trying to login. Below error is being shown: 
"Too many users are connected. Please try again after few minutes"
Reason for this issue:
1. Server is not capable at all of handling thousands of request at a time
2. Amazingly there is just a single server hosted at IP: 115.112.50.22
For such huge volume of requests one needs to use load balance and host multiple servers to handle volumes of requests coming. Unfortunately for some unknown reasons these things happen again and again!

Our advise to aspirants:
1. You can skip iimcat and directly try to load the login page at:
http://goo.gl/KBc1Eh
Why so?
Going through IIMCAT which also is currently unable to handle load is unnecessary and it reduces the probability of you seeing your results by 50%
 
2. If you still do not succeed take a break and come back again after an hour or two to check your results!


IIMs Selection Parameters for 2015-17 - Summary of selection criteria of all 13 IIMs

Apart from CAT score, there are various other factors which each of the IIM applies in selecting candidates examples are:Gender Diversity, Academic Excellence, Academic Diversity, WAT, GD/PI, Essay Writing, Work Exp, Professional Course etc.

Below chart is prepared to give you a summary of various evaluation factors applied by each of the IIMs, this would help you in analyzing your chances to expect an IIM call.

Recommended Posts:

Summary of selection criteria of all 13 IIMs IIMs Selection Parameters for 2015-17

Mini Mock XAT Test Instruction

Free Online Mini Mock XAT Test Instructions

Instructions
1. You are allotted 80 minutes to answer 40 questions + 12 Questions of General Awareness
2. You are highly advised to take this exam at one stretch
3. Once you start the exam you cannot pause it in between
4. You are advised to have pen and paper for rough work and calculations
5. As this mock test is for your benefit, you are requested to attempt the paper judiciously without cheating
6. A XAT aspirant with 70+ score in Section I and II could expect 90+ percentile in XAT
Note: General Awareness Cutoff is 16 Marks
7. The mock test will display your score on completion of test i.e. when you click on Submit button or the allotted time of 66 minutes is over. 
ON COMPLETION OF TEST PLEASE WAIT FOR YOUR SCORE TO BE DISPLAYED WITHOUT CLICKING ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE PAGE.
8. There might be slight discrepancy in the time displayed by two of the timers on the slower networks, but be assured allotted 80 minutes is calculated appropriately
9. You can post your test score in comment box below the test page along with your email id.

Marks:
1. Each correct answer will give you 3 marks
2. There is penalty of 1 marks for each incorrect answer
3. Maximum Marks for the exam is 40*3= 120 Marks in Section I & II and 36 Marks in General Awareness


Click on the below link to start the test, the timer of 66 minutes starts from the moment you click on the link:

Mini Mock XAT Answer Keys

Mini Mock CAT Answer Keys 

Mini Mock XAT Answer Keys


1. d 11 c 21 d 31 c




2. a 12. a 22 c 32 a




3. b 13 b 23 b 33 c




4. c 14 b 24 b 34 b




5. a 15 c 25 b 35 d




6. d 16 b 26 d 36 b




7. c 17 a 27 d 37 b




8. a 18 a 28 a 38 c




9. d 19 b 29 d 39 d




10. d 20 d 30 c 40 d


General Awareness Answers:
Q1. Who is the current CEO & MD of Infosys?
a. S Gopalakrishnan
b. N. R. Narayana Murthy
c. Vishal Sikka
d. V Balakrishnan


Q2. Periyar Tiger Reserve is located in which state?
a. Kerela
b. Karantaka
c. Andhra Pradesh
d. Tamilnadu


Q3. Capital of Australia is:
a. Sydney
b. Melbourne
c. Adelaide
d. Canberra


Q4. How many Gold Medals did India win in 2014 Commonwealth game?
a. 16
b. 14
c. 15
d. 13


Q5. Which country is going to host 2020 Olympics?
a. Brazil
b. Australia
c. France
d. Japan


Q6. Who among the following has become the first Indian to be honoured with Harvard Medal, recently?
a. Azim Premji
b. Anand Mahindra
c. Sunil Bharti Mittal
d. Adi Godrej


Q7. The total cost of the India's Mars Orbitor Mission is:
a. 550 Crore
b. 400 Crore
c. 350 Crore
d. 450 Crore


Q8. Who is the present chief justice of India?
a. H. L. Dattu
b. Rajendra Mal Lodha
c. P. Sathasivam
d.
Justice T S Thakur

Q9. How much was India's GDP Growth in 2013?
a. 5.4%
b. 3.8%
c. 5.9%
d. 4.7%


Q10. If the cash reserve ratio is lowered by the RBI, its impact on credit creation will be to
a. increase it
b. decrease it
c. no impact
d. None of the above


Q11. Excise duty is a tax levied on the
a. import of goods
b. export of goods
c. production of goods
d. sale of goods


Q12. Who among the following has been appointed the National Security Advisor (NSA) to the Prime Minister of India?
a. RK Mathur
b. Ajit Kumar Doval
c. Nripendra Mishra
d. Arun Ramanathan


Free Online Mini XAT Test for Practice