CAT 2012 - Syllabus and Paper Pattern

Common Admission Test (CAT), the test conducted by IIMs as entrance exam for getting admissions in IIMs and leading B-Schools of the country, is an all India level entrance test. 

Like every year the CAT exam will be held between October, 2012 and November 2012. Based on scores and CAT percentile, candidates will be called for next stage of selection process which generally includes Group Discussion or GD, Essay and Personal Interview or PI in other words. 

The pattern of the CAT exam is objective type ie. multiple choice questions will be asked in the exam as usual. There is negative marking in the exam, for each wrong answer 1/3 mark will be deducted.

There will be only two sections in the exam. First section will be Quantitative Ability & Date Interpretation and the second section will be Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. 


Also Read : How to Get Internship at Google

The time limit for each section is different. The duration of the exam is 140 minutes. Candidates will be given 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section, each section have an on-screen countdown timer. Once the time ends for the first section, students will move to the next section and will not be able to go to previous section.

Syllabus for CAT 2012

CAT 2012 Syllabus for English: -

• Comprehension of passage.
• Verbal Reasoning.
• Syllogisms.
• Contextual usage.
• Analogies, Antonyms, Idioms.
• Fill In the Blanks, Sentence completion and Sentence correction.
• Foreign language words used in English.
• Errors in word choice, mania & phobia, Incorrect words, Conditionals & Multiple Usage , Punctuation, Proverb, , one word substitution, Different usage of same word Phrasal verb etc.

CAT 2012 Syllabus for Quantitative Ability:-

• Geometry, (Lines, angles, Triangles, Spheres, Rectangles, Cube, Cone etc.)
• Ratios and Proportion, Ratios, Percentages, In-equations.
• Quadratic and linear equations.
• Algebra.
• Mensuration, Alligation & Mixtures, Work, Pipes and Cisterns.
• Installment Payments, Partnership, Clocks.
• Probability, Permutations & Combinations.
• Profit & Loss.
• Averages, Percentages, Partnership.
• Time-Speed-Distance, Work and time.
• Number system: HCF, LCM, Geometric Progression, Arithmetic progression, Arithmetic mean, Geometric mean , Harmonic mean, Median, Mode, Number Base System, BODMAS, etc.

CAT 2012 Syllabus for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning :-

• Data Interpretation based on text, Data Interpretation based on graphs and tables.
• Graphs can be Column graphs, Graphs representing Area, Bar Graphs, Line charts, Pie Chart, Venn Diagram, etc.
• Critical reasoning, Visual reasoning.
• Assumption-Premise-Conclusion, Assertion and reasons.
• Statements and conclusions.
• Cause and Effect.
• Identifying Probably true, Probably false, definitely true, definitely false kind of statement.
• Linear arrangements, Identifying Strong arguments and Weak arguments.
• Matrix arrangements.

GK/GA/BA:-

• Current Affairs, Business, Punch line of companies, Top officials of big companies, Major corporate events.
• Science, History, Geography, International organizations.
• Important quotations.
• Social issues, Sports, Finance, Automobiles, Entertainment, Politics etc.
• Famous award and prizes.
• World Records.
• Books and authors.

Post By-
Alok Upadhayay 

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India - Upcoming Global Manager

India is striving hard to become a global hub of management knowledge and helping it achieve are world class management institutions like IIMs. At present, the USA is the obvious knowledge destination of the world because of the high quality research that is carried out there and its management and PhD programmes. "But things are changing. Indian B Schools have started doing high quality research and are producing great work with which they are able to attract global faculty", said V.K. Menon, senior director, careers, admissions and financial aid at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. It is estimated that by 2040 there would be the time when the entire world will look at India for people with brain power because by that time 65% of India’s population will comprise of the workforce. That would be the time when Hence, B-schools in India must chart a work plan to build on this power of mind. Let's have a look at the latest trends in management education in India and what more is required to be incorporated in the curriculum to match the industry trends.

Quality focus - 

To drive quality, a multifaceted effort is required. The government plays an important role in terms of giving approvals and evaluating the intent behind starting business school. Faculty resource selection and retention is most important. One way of determining quality is accreditation of business schools. There are national, regional and international accreditation bodies like NBA, SAQS, AMBA, etc. which can ensure quality checks. There are very few business schools in India which have continuously done a self-audit to identify the gap areas. As per facts and researches, around 20% offer quality management education. Emerging needs of the practicing world requires a good combination of domain and soft skills. Indian government is today exhorting inclusive growth, yet it does not feature anywhere in Indian management education. 

"There are very few good management schools in India - may be only top 25 make the grade in a broad sense. There is a need for bringing in tremendous change in pedagogies and current curriculum in use. What we require is a complete overhaul of Indian management education rather than mere incremental improvements. Also, there should be a larger focus on developing the person, building character, rather than only focusing on developing cognitive skills and giving cognitive knowledge. The curriculum must develop greater sensitivity to the context - environment", said Asha Bhandarker, dean, research and consultancy, MDI. 

To update curriculum to meet emerging needs it is important to include industry experts from various functions, achievers from alumni community and leading academicians as part of the academic council.
Currently, Indian management education is undergoing a metamorphosis from traditional classroom oriented teaching to using research driven teaching and use of contemporary case studies. "Indian case studies are beginning to get written and drawing attention across the world. This trend is set to grow. Complex demography, strong value orientation, need for rigorous cost management, deep and multiple distribution systems are some of the challenges routinely faced by companies operating in India and these are adding to the body of management knowledge. As the world globalises, Indian management education will have exponential growth in years to come", said Menon. Competition is certainly not set to come down and the techniques developed in India will be used worldwide. The other issue deals with the right fit. Companies are looking to hire employees who bring great and direct value to their organizations.

Latest Trends In Management Education

The last decade has witnessed major transformation in the management education domain. This transformation could be analyzed from three perspectives - management institutions, students and corporate. "Where earlier the focus of management institutions used to be on developing functional managers, the focus is shifting towards developing holistic managers by giving them more exposure to industry. Traditional courses are being replaced by courses linked with emerging business needs. This is a reality in good business schools where corporate play a key role in designing of the courses. In terms of delivery, lecture based pedagogy is being supplemented by simulations, cases, live projects, outbound, etc. The idea is to bring the classroom environment similar to real organizations where students are able to experience the decision dilemmas in-turn helping them to become good managers. Similarly, students applying to business schools have all the right information to take informed decisions. The last few years have seen a significant rise in the number of portals catering to the needs of the MBA aspirants. Further, the increased participation in social-media has made the applicants capable of making the right choices. Corporate today are picking up the best talent. With the opening of new IIMs and a number of other business schools, the choice has increased. A large number of corporate have tied up with schools all over India to provide managers tailored to their business requirements. The whole focus has shifted towards selecting candidates who can be assigned to roles quickly. Therefore, the whole orientation towards training and skill development has also undergone a major change.

Why only a few of Indian B-schools can be compared with world's best management institutions? "One of the primarily reasons is quality of education. In a quest to approve new business schools, quality has taken a big hit. Good business schools are known by their intellectual capital and not by the size of their campuses or infrastructure. And the core component of the intellectual capital is the quality of faculty which determines the quality of students selected and passing out from these schools", said Joshi World's best management institutions consistently and continuously produce high quality research. This gets them cutting edge knowledge which they are able to pass on to their students. According to Menon, "The major focus of many Indian Bschools has been in teaching. This trend is now changing and good research is getting done in India. A B-school graduate is trained to be a senior manager.
An MBA is not just a teaching of tools and techniques. B-schools need to inculcate integrative thinking, and should equip the student with functional expertise and cross functional knowledge. This understanding of various functions of business and their interplay helps the students to assess an issue through a multi-dimensional lens and to arrive at an appropriate solution."
Another dimension is the profile of the promoters or the leadership behind the schools. Management schools which were opened with a purely commercial objective have not been able to survive. This is precisely why a large number of B-schools have closed down within few years of their inception. The third dimension is the quality of research and consulting undertaken. The fact remains that we are still not doing enough management research to be at par with global standards. Barring few IIMs and top notch B-schools in India, there is very little in terms of faculty output other than fulfilling their course loads."
It is believed that if adequate efforts and processes are established, the quality of education offered by distance institutions can be as good, even better than regular full time education. Any distance learning institute should offer programmes that are at par with the best programmes of the world and must take initiatives to continuously upgrade its programmes.

Points to remember before taking admission in a B-school
First and foremost it should be the profile of the promoters and faculty resource.
Second, the industry/corporate linkages of the institution. It would also be worthwhile to look at student and faculty exchange arrangements with other leading b-schools around the world.
A B-school must be is closely connected with corporate world and have good mix of academicians and faculty from industry.
While selecting a business school, students should keep in mind that the business school is configured to lead students to a career of their choice / liking. This is possible if the business school has appropriate linkage of curriculum and training programmes with the corporate.
Most importantly, the degree should be a recognized from an approving body of Ministry of HRD. One must opt for a PGDM programme approved by AICTE or University Degree approved UGC.
Check whether the school offers Full time PGDM / MBA. The students should be careful about distance and part-time programmes as they have up gradation purpose and are not meant to be professional certifications preparing you for a career ahead.

Also many institutes conduct distance programmes under the garb of full time degree/diploma while conducting classes similar to full time mode. Students must visit the website of AICTE at http://www.aicte-india.org/ to confirm the name and address of the institute they are interested to seek admission.

Source -  Times of India

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GD myths, Qualities Count, Some Interview Tips

The GD PI process at leading Maharashtra B-schools, like JBIMS, Sydenham, Welingkar will be conducted from Tuesday, May 10, 2011 to Tuesday, May 31, 2011.

It’s the beginning of the efforts of MBA Informer community. We are here to help you at each and every stage of your ROAD TO MBA. As all of you know that all the MBA aspirants has to go through a tough selection process of GD {Group Discussion}. Some Institutes also test the abilities of the candidate through Case studies.

All the institutes wish to have the best brains in their institutes. Thus for this purpose the admission processes is divided into two stages. The first stage of this process is entrance test. You have faced this stage already. Institutes conduct GD and PI(Personal Interview) in the second stage. The time period of second stage may vary. For e.g. Most of the institutes which accept CAT score only have conducted there GDs but those colleges which accept MAT score are still calling candidates for GD and PI. CET Maharastra will conduct its GD in month of MAY.

The qualities B-schools look for in candidates and the purpose of holding GD PI

GD PI is a very important aspect for selecting the students as the complete personality of the candidates is reflected through these processes. The expectations from the candidates are determined by industry expectations. These include the technical skills, decision making skills, interpersonal skills and conceptual skills.

Technical skill comes from the education. Decision making ability refers to how you take the decisions in your organization. Conceptual skill is the ability to solve and analyze complex situation and Interpersonal skills is the combined skills of communication, leadership, teamwork and conflict resolution.

Myths associated with a GD

1.  Person speaking the most scores the most: It is not important who speaks the most. What is important is whose points make more sense

2.Person starting the GD is the winner: A person might start the GD with a good point. But that does not make him the leader. He has to keep coming back with equally good points whenever possible.

3. Communication skills are very important:  Only communication skill is not enough as your points should have some substance.

3.Like starting the GD, summarizing the GD is also of great importance: Summing up does not mean that you will have to repeat what others have said. It is checked how differently you present the points from others while summing up.

Case Study GD

Case Study GDs are gaining importance over the years. Several B-schools like IIM Indore, IMI and many others conduct Case Study round of GD. In Case Study GDs, you will be given a certain situation and you have to bring out a solution of that problem or situation…

Approach for dealing with a Case Study GD should be as follows:

Identify the problem – At first you will have to understand what the problem is and exactly which is the area you need to look at. For example, if the case is about a company undergoing a loss, then you will have to review what the reason is. Is it the product or something else?

Give two to three different possibilities - On the basis of the problem, you need to come up with two to three possible solutions that you think will work for the particular situation.

Analyze – After that you need to analyze the pros and cons of the suggestions you have made. Then finalize which one is the most feasible option to approach.

Recommendations – You have to give your recommendations on the basis of the solutions made by you or the other members of the group.

Personal Interview

Some of the common questions during the interview round are on: Introduction about yourself, Why you want to pursue MBA, Your awareness about the subjects you pursued in graduation and General Awareness.

For the question on introducing yourself you should give a brief introduction about yourself. Mention your strengths and achievements, your hobbies and interests. But be careful about your tone. It should not sound over confident or under confident.

The way you carry yourself is also of utmost importance. You should dress formally and comfortably. Remember that you are appearing for an interview and all aspects of your personality will be reviewed.

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Some Possible Topics For GD In B-Schools For Admissions In 2011

1. How the stock market works
2. Social issues - education, taxation, social programs, income distribution
3. The foreign exchange rate, liquidity, basic economic theory
4. The role of technology in business
5. India's case for a permanent seat on the security council of UN
6. The Sri Lankan Peace Process
7. Doctors' Accountability to Improve Health-Care
8. Universal Disarmament is a Must
9. Is India Aping the Western Obsession with Celebrities?
10. Exit Options for the US from Iraq
11. Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrants in India
12. Are Live-in Relationships better than Marriage?
13. Should Guys Expect their Educated Wives to be Virgins?
14. India at 60: A Senior Citizen?
15. Unrest in Countries around India
16. The environment - whose responsibility is it?
17. How will the introduction of hedge funds and the liberalization of foreign exchange controls impact our market?
18. Should Animals be used for Testing New Drugs & Medical Procedures?
19. Do NGOs in India Really Work for Others OR Work for their Own Vested Interests?
20. Security Cameras & Privacy
21. Advertisements Cheat People, Hence Should Be Banned
22. Borderless World: A Threat?
23. Basic political theory and ideologies such as capitalism (Adam Smith), communism (Marx), socialism, democracy, egalitarianism, libertarianism, etc.
24. India's 5-Year Plans
25. Advertising - fairness, company responsibility, unbiased information
26. The Indian space programme orkplace
27. The preservation of heritage, culture or customs
28. The "brain drain"
29. Foreign exchange rates, convertibility, currencies and per capita incomes
30. How banking works; common banking terms
31. The global economic scenario
32. Current politics of India
33. Computers result in unemployment.
34. E-Commerce the best thing for India.
35. Know how the stock market works - bonds, investment, etc.
36. Scandals such as Enron, Worldcomm, Arthur Andersen and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
37. The pros and cons of globalization
38. Emerging communication technologies
39. Derivatives trading
40. The India-US Nuclear deal - is it beneficial or not?
41. Principles of political theories, pros and cons of each ideology, how the most important governments function
42. Currencies and per capita incomes
43. Economic reforms in India
44. The advancement of women's rights is the basis for social development.
45. Do you agree or disagree with these statements? Think about the arguments for or against them.
46. Globalization is good.
47. Corruption is the main outcome of democracy in India. NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) such as the United Nations are ineffective.
48. An India free of the caste system is simply a pipe dream.
49. Is materialism good or bad?
50. Is the agrarian economy in India a boon or a bane?
51. What is the role of ethics in industries such as tobacco, gambling and liquor?
52. Should India aspire to be a nuclear superpower?
53. Advertising is a form of brainwashing.
54. What do you think of this firm's (one that is in the news) decision to go public?
55. Is identity more important than policy?
56. Greed is good - it is an essential human quality.
57. Is China a threat to the Indian economy?
58. Democracy has hampered India's progress.
59. History repeats itself.
60. Is management education really necessary to succeed in business?
61. The ends justify the means.
62. Should the concept of arrange marriage still exist?
63. Men and women will always be unequal in the workplace.
64. Is Indian bureaucracy the basis of a government's foundation, or simply a poor leftover from colonial times?
65. Is war with Pakistan inevitable?
66. Borderless World: A Myth or Reality?
67. Secularism has become a Tool to Justify the Wrongs done by the Minorities
68. What is the Difference between People who do Things Rightly and People who do Right Things?
69. Corruption is a Necessary Evil for Success in Any Sphere,
70. Beauty Pageants are a Must.
71. How to Deal with International Terrorism?
72. Are Peace and Non-Violence Outdated Concepts?
73. Indian Army as a Career Option
74. Capital Punishment should be Banned or Allowed?
75. Is Dependence on Computers a Good Thing?
76. Is India a Soft Nation?
77. Should Research on Human Cloning be banned?
78. Should Sting Operations be Carried Out?
79. How safe is Unmarried Fairer Sex?
80. Conditional Access System for Cable TV Watchers: Boon or Bane?
81. Nuclear War cannot be won and should not be fought
82. Is Swapping Terrorists for Hostages an Encouragement to Plane-Hijackers?
83. Brain-Drain has to be stopped
84. Flexi Timings or Fixed Timings - Which is better at Work?
85. Individual Brilliance Certainly makes a Difference
86. Is Paperless Office a Reality or Not?
87. Rules & Regulation Breed Corruption
88. Rivers are our natural resource. All states have equal rights on them
89. Gender issues in society and in the workplace
90. The emancipation of women
91. The effects of globalization and trade on the world and in India
92. Problems which plague developing nations
93. Immigration

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AICTE Banned XAT, ATMA A& MICAT as Entry Point To B-Schools

The latest reforms in All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has shocked all the management aspirants across India by banning top MBA entrance exams like XAT, ATMA, and MICAT as entry points to B-schools approved by AICTE. According to new reforms of AICTE Only state government-run management entrance exams such as Maharashtra CET or ICET in Andhra Pradesh, CAT and MAT are now allowed to serve as entry criteria for aspirants of PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma Programs in Management) programs for business institutes.

However, Dr Prabhat Kumar Sahoo, Director and regional officer of AICTE, Western Region has stated that he will be sending in his suggestion to include XAT in the list of approved MBA entrance exams along with CAT and MAT and there is still a chance that it might get accepted. Till the clouds on XAT clear away, all b-schools will have to accept scores of CAT, MAT or state CETs as their entry criteria for their management programmes.

Autonomous Business Schools such as Goa Institute of Management (GIM), SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJMR) and National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) in Mumbai, Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon, and Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) that had their own admission processes but were offering AICTE-approved PGDM programmes will not conduct separate entrance tests anymore and will accept scores of state CETs, CAT and MAT only.

Since the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are not governed by the AICTE, the new rules will not affect them or their admission processes. B-schools affiliated to different universities or deemed universities such as Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Symbiosis, FMS Delhi or IIFT Delhi will also not be affected by the new regulations, as they are not governed by AICTE.
According to Dr. Sahoo, B-schools who wish to judge students on their specialized skills can always do so at the the GD (general discussion) and PI (personal interview) stage. The move has been made to streamline the process of management entrance and to ensure that seats are filled only on the basis of merit and that quality in education in maintained in all the institutes.

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Quantitave Ability - Averages

 

An Average is a measure that tells us information about a group of things rather than data about individuals.

Mean, median, and mode are all types of averages, although the mean is the most common type of average and usually refers to the arithmetic mean. There are other kinds of means that are more difficult.

The arithmetic mean is a simple type of average. Suppose you want to know what the numerical average is in your math class. Let’s say your grades so far are 80, 90, 92, and 78 on the four quizzes you have had. To find your quiz average, add up the four grades: 80 + 90 + 92 + 78 = 340

Then divide that answer by the number of grades that you started with, four: 340/4 = 85. So, your quiz average is 85. Whenever you want to find a mean, just add up all the numbers and divide by the number of numbers you started with.

But sometimes the arithmetic mean doesn’t give you all the information you want. Suppose you are looking for a job. You interview with a company that has ten employees, and the interviewer tells you that the average salary is Rs. 20000 per month. That’s a lot of money! But that’s not what you would be making.

For this particular company, you would make half of that. Each employee makes Rs.10000 per month, except for the owner, who makes Rs.110000 per month. Nine employees make Rs.10000, so adding those up is 9 x 10000 =90000. Then the owner makes Rs.110000, so the total is Rs.110000 + Rs.90000 = Rs.200000. Divide by the total number of employees, ten, and we have Rs.20000/10 = Rs.2000. Because the owner makes so much more than everyone else, her salary “pulls” the average up.

A better question to ask is, “What is the median salary?” The median is the number in the middle, when the numbers are listed in order. For example, suppose you wanted to find the median of the numbers 6, 4, 67, 23, 6, 98, 8, 16, 37. First, list them in order: 4, 6, 6, 8, 16, 23, 37, 67, 98. Now, which one is in the middle? Well, there are nine numbers, so the middle one is the fifth, which is 16, so 16 is the median.

Now, what about when there is an even number of numbers? Look at the quiz grade example again: 90, 80, 92, 78. First list the numbers in order: 78, 80, 90, 92. The two middle ones are 80 and 90. So do we have two medians? No, we find the mean of those two: 80 + 90 = 170, and 170/2 = 85. So 85 is the median.

Now look at those salaries again. To find the median salary, we look at the salaries in order: 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 10000, 110000. This is an even number of salaries, so we look at the middle two. They are both 10000, so the median is Rs.10000. That’s much better at telling you how much you’ll make if you accept the job.

But the median doesn’t always give you the best information either. Suppose you interview with a company that has 10 general employees, 7 assistants, 3 managers, and 1 owner. For this company, the mean salary could be Rs.5000, and the median Rs. 4000. But you are applying for the position of general employee, whose starting salary is Rs. 1000.

The mode is the type of average you want to know in this situation. The mode is the number that occurs most frequently. In the example for median, 6 would be the mode because it occurs twice, while the other numbers each occur once. In our employee example, the mode is Rs. 10000 because that number occurs ten times, which is more than the number of times any other number occurs.

The most common value found in a group consisting of several readings is called as the ‘mode’. A group of observation can have more than one modal value.

± Mean, median and mode are all good types of averages, and each works best in different types of situations.

In the following example, we will measure the central tendency (that is mean; median, and mode values) of the given group of readings; and later we also will try to understand how these measures of central tendency may change when we add more values to the group of readings.

Example:

A person wrote down the time he spent on the exercises in a week. These readings are as follows.

Day             Exercise time

Monday             20 min.

Tuesday             30 min.

Wednesday        20 min.

Thursday            35 min.

Friday                25 min.

The graph of the data is as shown below.

GRAPH

1. FNow we calculate the mean.

Mean = Sum of the readings/Number of readings = 20 + 30 +20 +35 +25/5

Therefore Mean = 130/5 = 26 minutes

Now we calculate the median, after arranging the given set of numbers in the increasing order we get,

Exercise time: 20, 20, 25, 30, and 35

The median (middle) value is 25 minutes.

Now we calculate the modal value. To calculate the mode we need to see how many times each number is repeating. And then the mode is the number that is repeating for the maximum.

Number 20 is repeating 2 times. Numbers 25, 30 and 35 are repeating only once. Therefore the mode is 20 minutes.

• ± the mean, median and mode must have the same unit that is associated with the given set of readings.

Let’s say the person adds Saturday in the exercise schedule. And on Saturday 30 minutes are spent on the exercise. To calculate the new mean value, add up all the readings and divide the sum by total number of readings.

Mean = 20 + 30 +20 +35 +20 + 30/6 = 160/6 = 26.66 minutes

Or, what we can do is multiply the original mean by the original number of readings to get the sum of the original readings.

26 x 5 = 130

We add the new value of 30 to this to get 160 and divide it by 6 to get the new mean. To calculate the new median, we rearrange the numbers in the increasing order. Therefore we now get,

Exercise time: 20, 20, 25, 30, 30, and 35

However in this case we do not have one single middle value. Instead we have two numbers in the middle that are 25 and 30. In this case we take the average of the two middle numbers to find the median. Therefore average of 25 and 30 is (25+30)/2 = 27.5 minutes.

Therefore the new median value is 27.5 minutes.

To calculate the new mode, we observe that numbers 20 and 30 minutes repeat 2 times. Numbers 25 and 35 minutes repeat only once. Therefore this set of readings has two mode values and the two modes are 20 and 30 minutes.

Example: Find the measures of central tendency for the following readings.

-2, 350%, 12, (-3)2, -80%

Solution: To compute the mean, median, or mode all the readings must be presented in the same number form.

Therefore we will need to convert the percentages into decimal form.

Therefore after converting the given set of readings into same number form, the new set has the following values.

-2, 3.5, 12, 9, -0.8

Now, mean = -2 + 3.5 +12 +9 − 0.8/5 = 21.7/5 = 4.34

Now median of the readings is the middle value of the set after arranging the numbers in the increasing order, which is

-2, -0.8, 3.5, 9, 12

Since none of the numbers repeats more than once, the above set of readings has no mode.

The concept of averages can be applied to problems in slightly different way.

Example: During the week, John watches TV every night after he finishes his homework. The following table shows how much time he spent last week watching television.

    Day          Entertainment time

Monday                 1 hour

Tuesday                 30 min.

Wednesday            30 min.

Thursday                45 min.

Friday                      2 hours

John decided to include his TV time for Saturday and Sunday as well. When he did and recalculated his mean, mode and median he discovered that only the mean had changed. What can we say about the TV time for Saturday and Sunday that would produce this situation?

Solution: To proceed with the numbers, they must be converted to the same units. After rearranging the numbers to get the increasing order for entertainment time, we have: 30 min, 30 min, 45min, 60min, 120 min

Therefore, mean = 285/5 = 57 min and median = 45 min.

Since number 30 repeats 2 times and other numbers repeat only once, we can say that mode = 30 min.

We need to find additional possible values for Saturday and Sunday that will not change the median and mode.

Let us look at the number sequence.

30, 30, 45, 60, 120

If 45 should remain as the median (in the middle), then if we write a number to its left, we must write a number to its right side also. And if number 30 should remain as the mode, then the two more numbers, representing Saturday and Sunday, that we will include into to the data set must be different from 45, 60 and 120.

Therefore we can say if 45 minutes should remain the median value for the entire week, then if John spends more than 45 minutes but neither 1 hour nor 2 hours watching TV on Saturday, then on Sunday he must spend less than 45 minutes watching television. (The amount of time spent on TV on Saturday and Sunday can be swapped).

Average properties

1. If each number in a set of data points is increased by a certain number x, then the average will be increase by x, similarly for incase of decrease it will decrease by x, and in case of multiplication it will be multiplied by x.

Example: In a class of ten students, where the average weight is 50 kgs, if weight of each student is increased by 5 kg what will be the new average?

Number of students = 10, average = 50,

Total weight of class = 500 (50 × 10)

In case each student’s weight is increased by 5 kg, excess weight = 50 (5 × 10)

Total weight of the class will become = 500 + 50 = 550

Average weight = = 55, so average is also increased by 5 kgs

2. The average speed in case of a journey from X to Y at speed of A m/sec and returning back to X at a speed of B m/sec, is m/sec

Example: Sunil travels from Delhi to Noida at the speed of 40 km/hr and returns at the speed of 50 km/hr. What is the average speed of the journey?

Using the formula,

=

= = 44.44 Km/hr

Always remember the units, in what units you have started and in what units you are ending.

Alternative way is by the basic principle of mechanics,

Speed =

Which means Time =

And Average Speed =

Suppose distance from Delhi to Noida is A, therefore

Time while going, T1 =

Time while coming T2 =

Total time = =

Total Distance = A + A = 2A

Average speed = =

=

=

= 44.44 Km/hr

Here are some concepts of various kinds of mean, students are requested to go through the concepts and understand the applications rather that cramming the formulas. There is no direct question expected in CAT on basis of these formulas, But application may be used widely in many concepts especially data interpretation.

Arithmetic mean: As the definition given above, The AM of n numbers X1, X2, X3 …… Xn is denoted by X and calculated as

X =

X =

The S is called sigma, which represents summation, from values 1 to n.

For many values it is difficult to calculate mean using this formula. There is an easier formula for that using two concepts, Assumed mean (a) and Deviation (d) from the Assumed mean

X =

Here di = Xi – a

Example: AM of 20, 30, 40, 52, 96, 34, 36. Let the assumed mean be 40

Xi di

20 20 – 40 = – 20

30 30 – 40 = – 10

40 40 – 40 = 0

52 52 – 40 = 12

96 96 – 40 = 56

34 34 – 40 = – 6

36 36 – 40 = – 4

S di = 28

Mean, X = 40 + = 40 + = 40 + 4 = 44

Weighted AM: If there are two values, a and b, have weights (or frequency) of x and y, then the weighted arithmetic mean is given by

WAM =

What is “weight” in weighted mean?

The weight is the relative strength of a data point, lets take respective an example:

Strength: Suppose there is a paper with four sections of 100 marks each – Maths, English, Social studies and History. Now there are different weightages assigned to each that is Maths – 40%, English – 20%, Social studies – 20% and History – 20%. If a student gets following marks (Maths –60, English – 60, Social studies – 50 and History – 50) in different subjects, what are the net marks out of 100?

Here to get net marks out of 100, the respective marks in subjects have to be treated with its weights as per following table:

Subject Marks Net marks

(marks*weight)

Maths 60 0.4(40%) 24

English 60 0.2(20%) 12

Social studies 50 0.2(20%) 10

History 50 0.2(20%) 10

Total (out of 100) – Mean Marks 56

Let’s also understand what is frequency?

Frequency: The concept of frequency is not the same as weight but can be treated in the same manner. Suppose the marks in English for a class of 10 people are 50, 60, 50, 51, 65, 60, 50, 36, 60 and 65. Here 50 have occurred 3 times, 60 has occurred three times etc, so the times a data point occurs in a set of data points is called its frequency. Now for the above give data points, the following is the frequency and mean calculation:

Marks Frequency Total

50 3 150

60 3 180

51 1 51

65 2 130

36 1 36

Total 10 547

So the mean here is = 54.7

If Weights W1, W2 …..Wn are assigned to the values X1, X2 ….. Xn, then the Weighted AM

WAM =

Example: WAM of 10, 15, 20, 25 with frequency 1, 2, 3, 5

Xi Wi Wi Xi

10 1 10

15 2 30

20 3 60

25 5 125

10 225

S Wi = 10 S Xi Wi = 225

WAM = = 22.5

Mean of means: If the means (M1, M2...) are given along with numbers (N1, N2...), then the mean of means is given by using the Weighted Arithmetic Mean formula, where weights are replaced by respective number:

Mean of means =

Example: The mean marks scored by 60 boys are 80 and those scored by 100 girls are 60

Mean = = = 67.5 Marks

Geometric mean: The other mean is the geometric mean, which is given by nth root of the product of n numbers.

GM of A1 , A2 , A3 , ... An =

Example: GM of 2 and 8 is = = 4

Properties

1. The AM of given set of data points is always equal to or greater than their GM, that is AM =GM

Example: Find the Geometric mean and Arithmetic mean of 2, 8

Arithmetic Mean = = 5

Geometric Mean = = = 4

2. If the geometric mean of one group of “a” numbers is x and that of another group of “b” numbers is y, then the geometric mean of the combined groups is:

Harmonic mean: The Harmonic mean is give by

For two numbers a and b Harmonic mean is given by

HM =

= =

For N numbers (a, b, c … n),

HM =

Harmonic mean is used to calculate average speed, with different speeds for same distance.

Example: Ajay travels from Delhi to Shimla at the speed of 50 km/hr and returns at the speed of 40 km/hr, what is the average speed of the journey?

Using the formula of Harmonic Mean,

=

= = 44.44 Km/hr

Weighted Harmonic Mean: The Weighted Harmonic mean is give by

For two numbers a and b with weights x and y it is given by

Weighted HM =

This is used to calculate the average speed when different distances are covered at different speeds.

Example: A man covers his first 6 km at an average speed of 10 m/s, another 4 km at 8 m/s and the last 3 km at 5 m/s.

Average speed = weighted HM =

Mode: It is the number that occurs most frequently in a given set of numbers.

Example: In set of numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 5, the number 5 occurred the maximum number of times, so the mode is 5.

Median: It is the middle value of a set of data points arranged in an ascending or descending order.

If the number of data points is odd, the median is value.

If the number of data points is even, the median is give by the average of the two middle values, suppose the medium values are a and b, here median is given by .

Here

a = and b = + 1

Example: Median of numbers 25, 22, 30, 29, 36

First the values need to be arranged in the ascending order 22, 25, 29, 30, 36

Median is the value Þ 3rd value, which is 30

Example: Median of numbers 25, 22, 30, 29, 36, 38

First the values need to be arranged in the ascending order 22, 25, 29, 30, 36, 38

The two middle values are = 3 and + 1 = 4, the 3rd and 4th values are 29 and 30

Thus median = = = 28.

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The Effects of Early CAT- The Predictions

As we all know that , the Common Admissions Test (CAT) 2010 will begin in last week of October, a month earlier than the usual November-end. After CAT 2009, CAT has lost its charm but still, aspirants are hoping for the best this time.We all are expecting that this year the MBA aspirants well face glitch free CAT. They will have a better experience of CAT unlike previous Year. As there are a lot of changes in CAT 2010 including early schedule unlike previous year(2009). There are a lot of predictions about early questions. For eg;

How does an early CAT 2010 affect  preparation of aspirants?

 What will be pattern of questions?

Will it be easier paper?

And many more…..

Here are  some predictions by the experts.

1. Lesser  Time To get Prepared to Bell The CAT –  As the CAT will start in OCTOBER this year, preparation time has been reduced by a whole month. Which means that  the students will have to advance their ‘final push’ by about 30 days and concentrate more on studies now. Coaching institutes will hasten to finish their theory classes and move to a full-test practice schedule sooner. If you are person with a job and juggling your CAT preparation with a fulltime job, you should be doing now what you otherwise would have done after one month.

Let's see the other face of coin, the ‘preopening of 30 days’ is more psychological than real. The exam seems like it has been proponed, but you could also be taking the test after November 15, in which case your preparation schedule would be the same as in previous years.

There is a high chance that when it comes to selecting a testing slot during CAT 2010 registration, a large number of applicants will try to book a slot closer to November 23 than to October 27. However, since the slots will have limited seats, there will be a rush to get the later slots and only a few lucky/early ones will get them. Late registrants will have to accept a slot closer to October 27. It would help to keep this in mind when planning your preparation.Those who will be able to get registered for exam on later dates will have some extra time to get prepared well, but still you need to be careful too, as last year many students had reported that the test was very tough. So you need to be careful and prepared for any surprise too.

With the CAT being conducted earlier, the students are advised to take fewer simulated tests but ensure that the self-analysis between two tests is rigorous enough to help you peak at the right time before the CAT,

2. Is CAT 2010 Going to be Easier – The plan for CAT 2010 will require Prometric and the IIMs to create 40 tests with a total of 2,400 questions(assuming 60 questions per paper as CAT 2009). Creating 2,400 questions of high difficulty is a humongous task and as the CAT has been outsourced to PROMETRIC with a purpose to free up faculty time in first place so its quiet less probable that the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) faculty is going to create them.  Professors at IIMs and Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) already tend to have their hands full with consultancy projects and at most they may be involved in approving questions but not creating them. Which logically means that the questions would largely be prepared by Prometric who in according to experts opinion  don’t have the wherewithal to create 2,400 high-difficulty questions. So they will end up making an easier paper with replicated questions which will be more formula-based than logic-based.

Prometric, has however said earlier that they “work closely with IIM professors along with specially trained subject matter experts from other well-regarded Indian universities (for question creation). Each exam question is written, edited and reviewed in an iterative process. All modifications and approvals are tracked electronically in an audit trail.”

Experts implies that although this might be the stated process, it does not seem like it is practicably followable. Mind you, this is just a speculative prediction, though an interesting one to ponder upon.

3. More frequent mock CATs – Even in the case of early CAT, coaching institutes are not going to reduce the number of mock CATs, but they would have to alter the schedule. With lesser time on their hands, one might see more working professionals sign-up for websites that offer online tests anytime and any place at one’s convenience rather than use coaching institute mock CATs which are held on scheduled dates.

4.More prep time for other entrance exams – Those appearing for CAT 2010 in the earlier slots will have a month or even more to prepare for the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) entrance test, Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) and Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET), the latter two of which usually take place in December. The most benefited ones will be those who have not had a satisfactory performance in the CAT and are setting their hopes on the next set of exams in line. SNAP has been scheduled on 19th December 2010 and IIFT on NOVEMBER 28th.

5. Shorter window to buy other B-school forms – Business schools accepting CAT scores such as MDI Gurgaon or IMT Ghaziabad traditionally end their form sales about a week before the CAT exam date. This helps them sell more forms, even to candidates who otherwise might not buy them after experiencing a bad performance during the CAT. In previous years, these institutes have closed their form sales around November 20.

With the CAT 2010 starting on October 27, these b-schools will now have to stop selling forms in October itself. But still we should not forget that IMT, Ghaziabad had started selling the forms again after CAT almost every year.

So the best advise for all the MBA aspirants is - Please study, and leave rest of the things for these about 100 precious  days. Everything will be alright. :) :) :)

For more information, help and support, stay connected to www.mbainformer.tk  .

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AICTE - Ready to Stop Fraud Rampant In B-Schools

Dear friends,

Yesterday we had discussed about all the malpractices which occurs at colleges at the time of admission in order to get more and more students. We had also told you that AICTE has planned to take some serious steps to stop all these things, to save students. But it becomes our responsibility to be careful and save our self.

Colleges are cheating students by making them confused by using a web of words, but it is not like that AICTE is not going to do anything. As AICTE is the governing body, it has made some tools to save students.

Let’s see, what AICTE is going to do:-

AICTE has planned to allot a unique Enrollment numbers to each and every Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM/PGPM/PGDBM, etc) student in every approved Indian B- school and put them on its website in a bid to streamline MBA admissions.

Think of it as a Unique Identification Number project for all MBA students in AICTE-approved B-schools of India. The move would end up curtailing a common type of admissions-related fraud rampant in Indian b-schools, until of course, new loopholes are uncovered.

Now your question may be, “How would AICTE’s enrollment numbers help?”

Dear friends, all you need to do is to check your name and UNIQUE ENROLMENT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER at the website of AICTE under the name of your B-School. If you are a PGDM student and your name does not feature on the AICTE website under your b-school’s enrollment numbers, then you have clearly been fooled by your B-school.

AICTE on its part will smell a rat whenever a B-school submits a list of students more than its approved limit. No b-school will of course, send such a list. But this move will put pressure on private b-schools to get their act together.

Please go through the AICTE notification below, especially the grey box at the bottom. While the idea is a smart one, it relies completely on the student’s initiative to verify the existence of his enrollment number in order to be an effective system. So if enough PGDM students across the thousands of AICTE approved B-schools in small towns and cities do not know about this initiative, they will never check for their name on the AICTE website and that will allow B-schools to continue their racket scot-free.

That’s why we request you to help others, spreed all the information you get here.

Join us in the campaign to make education corruption free.

You can send your suggestions as your suggestions are valuable to us.

If you want to say something please leave us a comment. You are free to send us scraps at Orkut, we are at Twitter and IBIBO too.

It is not that AICTE has not taken this step earlier. According to the Director of a Pvt. B-School running in Banglore, who doesn't want to be named here, " This initiative was taken by AICTE last year too; however, in practice very few institutes sent the names of the students of their PGDM program to AICTE."

After July’s cleanup of the corrupt AICTE top-brass and a more promising Human Resource Development Minister (Kapil Sibal) at the helm, we expect better results.

 We are hoping that very soon, AICTE will run large eye-catching advertisements in newspapers and will use other tools also to inform PGDM students of their role in this initiative.

Thank you

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