Your Coaching Institute is Lying on Your Face , Do You Know ?

Prabhat, a young undergraduate, walked into a renowned coaching institute with his friend Aman. 

Both had very high hopes that with proper coaching and guidance one day they will be able to crack CAT ( Common Admission Test ) and get into one of the IIMs or one of other Top MBA Institutes in India, settle their career and fulfill their dreams. 

Also Read : How to Get Internship at Google

They got counselling, got promised about making them ready to secure a seat in IIMs, a lot of dreams were gifted to them by institute and they obviously made it sound like a piece of cake. 

They got admission too, and what happened in later months, was totally unexpected to them. 

Wish, they could have known the things, they know now before entering the coaching institute.

But its not their fault. The truth, which they realized after 8 months in coaching ins MBA aspirants, who realize the truth later, when almost a year is lost. Only very few could realize the truth at right time. 

The truth, that everyone must know before getting admission in a CAT/MAT coaching institute : 

Their  CAT coaching Institute is making fool of them. 

The institute has been lying on their face since the day they walked into office for very first time. 

They have been nothing more than a bearer cheque of Rs. 70,000 to their coaching institute. 

Here Prabhat shares their experience in their own words. 

"I was a B.Tech final year student while Aman was pursuing his B.Com those days. We were childhood friends, and had our plans. 

Counsellor looking towards me asked, "So what are do you doing ?"

"B.Tech. CS, 7th Semester " I replied. 

"Oh that's great. MBA after B.Tech is a great combination you know. 

Its amazing career choice. 

My boy, IIMs are made for you and students with though process like yours are made for IIMS. 

We will teach you how to get into IIMs. Its very easy with proper guidance from experienced faculty like we have. They are the best. 

Also, there are no benefits of getting MBA from any other B-School other than IIMs. "

"So, is there no scope for B.Com graduates ?" Aman asked. 

Now counsellor got his attention. "So you are doing B.Com ? That is also a great choice. "

"With MBA after B.Com, the sky is the limit ...

He started in a flow, like a recording, with no desires to be interrupted, srepeating the same things that he told me couple of minutes before. 

Later on we realized that, even on that day we could have said any things as our current qualification ( all the degrees from Graduation to Post Graduation ), it could have been a perfect combination. 

After a detailed discussion of 40 minutes, we found ourselves discussing the fee structure for coaching. 

We expected to get it done in 2-3 minutes, but to our surprise, a long rate list was waiting for us. 

"Please wait a minute, Ma'am will explain you the fee structure." he said. 

A young lady had appeared there introducing herself and the counsellor walked towards some new faces who has just entered the office. 

"Look, we have weekend and weekdays batches. Which one would you like to have ?" She asked. 

We expressed our desire to know about both. 

" For weekdays, you need to pay Rs.29,000 only. 

But if you are willing to go for weekend classes then it will cost you Rs.32,000."

It was way to out of our budget. We expressed our inability in paying such a high fee. After all both of us were from a middle class family and this was a huge amount for our parents. 

"Not to worry, you are lucky that, we are offering Discount of Rs. 2000.00 for all admissions this month. You can avail that, but for that, you need to pay the complete fee before end of this month. You can register yourself in offer by paying Rs.5000 as registration amount.  fee at the time of registration." She said. 

But yet, arranging Rs.27,000 in 20 days was not easy. We said sorry, and started getting up while saying, "we will come later. "

Hay, wait wait. We understand you are talented and have dreams. We love to support young students like you.
We have a group discount offer. If you take admission in a group of 3-5 students fee will be Rs.25,500 per student." and the fee will be paid in 3 instalments. Its all that I could do to help you. 

Today we think, they are the people making real money without any MBA. 

( Indirectly, I was giving a business of Rs.1,27,500, to get a discount of Rs.15,00. )

Finally, we got admission, got batches allotted and received our welcome kit with some books and cards etc. 

First day of our class, we entered the room with full enthusiasm and zeal to study hard. 

Couple of days passed nicely, but these days were not going to last forever. 

One day, one of the counsellors ( marketing executives, we had understood by now ), entered the classroom just before the class was about to start. 

He introduced a program : Earn While You Learn.  "We have launched this program to support you guys only. " He said. 

All you have to do is to refer your friends and you will be entitled to get Rs.500 - 700 for each admission. 

( For every business of Rs.25000, you will get Rs.500. Damn !) 

But it just didn't  stop here. 

More programs were launched, all nicely packed to look as they are helping us. For eg : College ambassador program, Coach your juniors program, Boot Camp Program etc. 

Suddenly we had become their marketing executives, and we never understood it. 

Counsellors started visiting our hostels, using us as pass to get it. Meeting our college mates, convincing them to get admission for CAT prep, even when they were planning GATE. 

Our studies at both places was getting full of distractions and we just couldn't see it. 

At institute, the classes never remain constant at particular schedule.

Sometimes the classes were scheduled in such a way that, we needed to take off from college. 

Studies at both places were suffering. 

Time flew by and the date of CAT was near. Our MOCK tests had started. 

Many of us were unable to perform well. With bad scores, most of us had sad faces. 

Well, how we could had scored well, as being a student, we had a lot of work to do other than studies. 

The subject teachers started scolding and the counsellors started convincing us to drop and enroll for next year coaching in new batch. 

All the earlier promises suddenly changed - 

"Everyone cannot go to IIMs."

"Focus on getting into one of top 100 B-Schools. " 

( What happened to me going in IIMs only ) . 

But we didn't give up, pulled up our sleeves and focused on our studies. We started going to coaching only for mock tests. 

But all were not like us. Some, gave up and started focusing on getting into B-Schools other than IIMs and other top 20 B-Schools. 

And, new offers launched to create more distraction : 

“Provide 2 students and get a MAT application form free."

“Provide 4 students and get a MAT + CAT application forms free."

“Provide 6 students and get a MAT+ CAT+FMS application forms free."

And so on, all indirectly forcing students to bring more students. 

All the time, they kept lying and distracting their own students. Treating them nothing more than a money making machine. 

Even in the desperate times, when they could have guided students to study, to focus, they promote them to get involved into money making activities for institute. 

The day was here, we had appeared in test and the result was about to be declared. 

Most of us had scored terribly bad. Even we, after putting all our efforts of las 4 months had been able to score between 75 percentile to 80 percentile. 

Some hadn't been able to cross 50 percentile too. They were the ones who had earned highest in the referral programs. 

We had a feeling that after such a terrible result, finally the institute will take a lesson. But no, they started offering the same students Marketing executive jobs in the institute. 

It was actually worst than it sounds. 

The institute representatives were suggesting students, to join institute as sales and marketing executive.

In their own words, "we can help you in funding your coaching expenses. We have some positions open and you can join us. You will be paid monthly salary and you can fund your coaching fee from that.

To girls, the positions like telecaller, receptionist, counsellor etc. positions were available. 

Today I think, how bad the MBA coaching industry has become. "

Prabhat, stopped here, looking towards the neon glow board of a CAT coaching institute, just opposite the coffee shop we were sitting in. 

But it doesn't ends here. There is alot that Prabhat told. Will share that in another post. 

Prabhat took a break and made to one of the prestigious B-Schools. Today he is starting his own business. Aman too had to struggle but, now he is earning well and doing market research to start his own business. 

Based on experience of Prabhat, we talked to some more students and a lot of shocking facts came to light, including : 

- How you become a bearer cheque to Rs. 70,000 and more for your coachign institute. 

- How you end up paying approx Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 in a year, to your institute without even knowing that, you are paying. 

- How coaching institutes make sure that you follow the path of "How not to get into IIMs". 

After all, the above is only the beginning. 

Have you experienced something same. Share with us.

Wish you the best. 

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The First Step On Your Road To MBA

The entrance exams for a management or business school tests the person's analytical and verbal skills; both are necessary to perform well in a management program and later, after completion of the course, to cope with real life business situations. The tests also require the candidate to write on topics varying from social, political issues to sports and other current affairs. 


Also Read : How to Get Internship at Google

The GMAT and CAT scores are some of the primary criteria for seeking admission to a reputed business school. At most schools, GMAT scores are the single strongest predictor of admissions success. It is probably the only element of your application that admissions committees can use to objectively compare candidates. The GMAT is not the usual test you take in schools. You cannot stay up all night and get full marks. GMAT is a game. Like say chess, baseball, tennis, or any other sport and if you know the tips and tricks to play the sport, you have an edge over those who are comparatively ignorant.

Fortunately, a variety of text books and study material is available at leading bookstores to prepare effectively for both the GMAT and CAT exams. However, do not inundate yourself with too much study material that will leave you confused. The Kaplan 800 book helps students to maximise their GMAT score. A majority of other text books or course material presents similar concepts and question types and therefore do not differ drastically from each other.
The sentence correction bibles, besides the official guide, can help a great deal in scoring well in verbal tests. It
is wise to take up the tests on various courses on the Internet that help put structure into your preparation. They also clear your fundamentals in math or quant as it is known in GMAT language, if that is your low point. Also make sure you give ample time to the analysis of the tests.
The secret to maximising your GMAT or CAT score is in the preparation. Besides the 3Ds that is determination, dedication and diligence, the mantra for scoring well in the exams is Practice, Practice and Practice. Consistency and perseverance really matter. The best way to develop your time management skills is to practise taking the test. It is strongly recommended that you take at least a few mock GMAT exams, in the computer-adaptive format and try to simulate the actual testing environment. So no taking food breaks, engaging in telephone conversations and all that.
Besides, make sure you schedule your GMAT test well. Don't count on taking GMAT at the last minute. Scheduling the GMAT well into the admissions season is also bound to cause undue stress. With proper planning and insight, you can spare yourself these negative energies and instead focus on maximising your GMAT score better.
There are few other things which must be kept in mind like reading the questions carefully, avoid any random guessing and spend adequate time on the first five questions.
To elaborate, one must avoid misinterpretation of questions. You will encounter questions in the exam that include incorrect answer choices that were deliberately designed to exploit likely misinterpretations of what the question is really asking. Don't fall into this trap.
The first couple of questions in any GMAT section are used to determine the range of questions that the program 'thinks' can handle. Thus, your answers to the first five questions will make a HUGE difference in your final section score. Solve these with extra care - double check if you have to. They must not be incorrect. If you are unsure of the answer to one of these first questions, at the very least, take a very good educated guess by eliminating.
To conclude, studying for a test is never fun, but try and turn it into a challenge. Ultimately, these entrance tests are all about practice and essentially test how cool you keep yourself while taking the test. Try and reward yourself for staying on track. Inspire yourself. Be perseverant. In the end the hard work will pay off !

Some Facts

• The GMAT score is valid for five years. Hence it is wise to appear for this examination when you are in your last or second last year of Degree College.
• It is not only applicable for seeking admissions in the B schools abroad but also in a few schools in India including popular institutes like TISS.
• Students from Asian countries tend to score better in GMAT. 
• The GMAT centres are in almost all leading cities of India including New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad etc. In Maharashtra there are three centres, namely Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

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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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MBA or Specialized Degree?

As we recruit prospective MBA students from around the world, a question we hear a lot at The MBA Tour is whether it is better to get a specialized masters degree (MSc in Finance or an MSc in Technology and Innovation, for example) or an MBA.  This is an important question to consider as these are distinctly different degree programs and lead to very different career paths.

The MBA is a professional degree and the program content emphasizes practical application.  The program of study emphasizes general management skills.  MBA programs rarely accept individuals directly after graduation from university as the requirements of the coursework presume that students have faced the practical challenges of the work environment.  In order to participate in class, on study teams, and to complete assignments, students are expected to draw on their own personal experience. 

Learning is often experiential with a lot of the work completed in multi-national and professionally diverse teams.  MBA graduates often comment that they learn as much (if not more!) from their peers as they do from their professors.

People choose the MBA for many reasons.  Most often, people need to develop a range of management skills in order to assume more responsibility within an organization.  The broader understanding of different business functions makes it possible to supervise and coordinate the work of other people and other units.  Many students who enroll in MBA programs have backgrounds in engineering and technology, but it is not uncommon for an MBA class to also include journalists, lawyers, doctors, musicians, bankers, and teachers.  The MBA program develops specific functional skills (accounting, strategic planning, financial management, project management) and critical soft skills (communication, negotiation, human resource management) that senior managers need in any type of organization. 

In contrast, the specialized MS is a very different program.  These programs are very focused and often require a university degree in the same area.  The classes required to complete this type of masters are almost all in a single area such as finance, accounting, operations, corporate communications, etc.  People who enter these programs have (typically) decided on a narrower career path than people who chose to earn an MBA.  There is often more emphasis on theoretical knowledge and research.

The specialized degrees are attractive to some students because they admit candidates directly after university graduation.  It is important to keep in mind that although entering graduate school directly might be very appealing, the opportunities that follow this type of masters program are different than those that follow an MBA. 

The specialized masters is a perfect option for someone who is confident that he or she will remain in the same industry sector and function long-term.  The MBA is a better option for people looking for the flexibility to work in different sectors and different types of organizations.

 “You must carefully consider your short and long-term career goals when deciding whether to pursue an MBA or an MS degree.  Are you interested in pursuing a business management career and assuming positions of greater leadership within an organization? If so, an MBA may be your best option. Or would you like to be a specialist within a particular field, gaining in-depth knowledge and perhaps becoming an industry expert within your chosen field? In this case, an MS may help you achieve your goals. Some MBA programs offer the best of both worlds: the opportunity to develop a general management foundation through a diverse core curriculum, and the chance to develop a functional expertise through selection of a major or concentration.”

Jim Holmen

“There are two key reasons for the difference in work experience requirements between MBA and MS programs.  First, the MBA program experience not only offers the opportunity to increase knowledge in a specific academic discipline, but it also enables students to develop broad-based business and leadership skills.  Prior work experience provides students with a context for understanding the integrated nature of business, as well as for engaging in meaningful discussions with their peers.  Consequently, MBA graduates are able to define more specific goals while also enhancing their potential for future career flexibility.

The second key reason is that MBA recruiters are looking for a broader skill set. Recruiters have an expectation that in addition to the academic knowledge acquired during MBA studies, graduates will bring several years of progressive, full-time work experience.  This combination allows graduates of top-tier MBA programs to apply their learnings immediately upon entering a new position, and in turn, to add value to their new organization from the beginning.”

Julie Barefoot

“When making the decision to pursue either an MBA or an MSc degree, the first - and most important - step is to determine what you would like to do.  If your interests lie in a specific research position or field of study, and can see yourself pursing a doctoral degree, an MSc degree is your best bet as the depth of learning you would receive would far exceed that you would receive in an MBA program.  On the other hand, if you would like to pursue a career in business, then you should take an MBA.  An MBA will provide you with a broad, general management education in all the functional areas of an organization: marketing, finance, operations, human resources, etc.”


Source - Web World

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B School?? Tools To Find Best For You

An MBA program is your opportunity to push outside of your comfort zone, to learn new skills, develop strong relationships, to grow into a leader.  You will grow the most in an environment that facilitates the way that you learn.  This is very personal, and cannot be captured in a number or ranking driven by statistics and weightings that have been deemed important to others as they may not be important - or as important - to you.   Do your own homework.  Start with yourself and what you hope to gain from an MBA program as well as what factors challenge you to push yourself.  Then gather as much information as you can - online, in person, in print, from the schools themselves, independent sources, alumni, and the like.  Develop your own criteria, and then make a point to visit the programs that rank highest on your list.  Experiencing first-hand the culture of a program through interactions with students, faculty, and staff will solidify to you where you will best "fit" and will challenge yourself to grow the most.

One of the major objectives of MBA Informer community is to spread the awareness among all the MBA aspirants about all the available options for them. Soon the results of MBA entrance tests will be declared and the hunt for B-School will begin as per your scores.

Now question is -

How to select the best program as well as institute for you. This article is to tell you about some of the factors that, as an MBA aspirant , you should consider for, while  searching for the B-School for you.

Additionally, we offer suggestions as to additional points to think about and steps to take when deciding upon which programs you will apply to.

Available Program Types

• Two-Year MBA

• One-Year MBA

• Executive MBA

{ Some Institutes offer Distance Learning MBA with PGDBM(AUTONOMOUS) at the name of Dual MBA, never go for it.}

Explore your MBA Options ( Other then IIMs and other Top MBA Institutes)

• Indian Colleges in North India

•Colleges in South India

• Specific Cities

The Rankings – understand what they are telling you

• Internet

• Business Week

• The Wall Street Journal

• The Education Times

But never go only with the words of these sources as there is a maximum probability of getting biased information.

Formal Channels

• The Internet

• Admissions Offices

• Literature

Informal Channels

• Alumni

• Corporate Recruiters

• Faculty

Research, Planning & Preparation are the Key Elements :-

A good Business schools, no doubt offers an unique learning experience, quality education  to the students that spans all management disciplines including the latest research, theories, practices—and, ultimately, a highly regarded degree recognized across the world. Likewise, business schools recognize the valuable dimension, depth and diversity that international students add to their MBA programs. In fact, the insights and perspectives international students bring to the classroom have become integral to the MBA experience. The result is a mutually beneficial experience that enhances all students’ perspectives of the global business community. And the key to realizing the quality education and door-opening opportunities of an MBA program lies in an intensive research, preparation, and planning process on the part of prospective international students.

Qualities and Goals:-

One of your initial steps in pursuing an MBA should be exploring business schools for program types that match your personal style, educational objectives and career goals. Fortunately, there’s a world of information right at your fingertips, courtesy of the Internet. You’ll want to examine the curriculum and various areas of specialization offered at different business schools, along with each school’s unique culture. Equally important is finding out what kinds of services are available specifically for international students. By exploring Web sites for business schools, you can get a good feel for curriculum and campus life. At the same time, you’ll find a wealth of resources specifically to assist international applicants, ranging from admissions requirements, visa information and immigration issues, to English language classes, support networks, scholarships and loan information. In addition, you’ll want to look at the schools’ event calendars for key dates including the admissions information sessions many business schools host around the world. Such sessions provide excellent opportunities to network and learn more about what the schools have to offer.

The Earlier You Start the Better the Result:-

Business school admission is extremely competitive and the earlier you start preparing the better. In addition to practicing your English language skills, you should also be thinking about your application—and interview—long before you actually apply. For starters, you’ll want to make sure your credentials, academic ability and achievement-oriented experiences align with the requirements of the MBA programs you’re considering.  Admissions directors will expect you to effectively position, differentiate and sell yourself in terms of your leadership potential, interpersonal skills and the overall value you will bring to the program.

Your Budget, Be Prepared for it:-

Also keep in mind all the expenses you need to make for your MBA. Its not less than any investment. So be concerned about it. Make a proper planning. If want to go for education loan, check all the available options as well as be careful about all the terms and conditions of banks. Also check all your available funds to make the payments at the time of admission.

You should plan to make contact with those business schools you’re interested in about one year before you intend to apply. This gives you plenty of time to find out each school’s requirements and ensure all required exams  (including TOEFL and the Graduate Management Admission Test [GMAT]) are completed well ahead of their deadlines. With that said, ample preparation for the GMAT is essential. While the GMAT addresses skills that have theoretically been developed over years of schooling and work experience, you can still sharpen your skills by strengthening your foundations and taking practice tests to highlight those areas requiring additional focus.

In the End

The payoff to your comprehensive research, program consideration and preparation, financial aid assessment, and application submission, however, is a comprehensive global experience that will embrace you in a collaborative community, challenge you to reach new heights, forever widen your scope of the world and provide insights that will guide you throughout your business career.

Geographical location and career goals, these are two important points to consider for  all the candidates looking towards MBAs.  Although, there are many programs which have a global focus,  regional knowledge may certainly be enhanced through the location of a Business School and will influence availability of opportunities including field trips, industry speakers, management projects and internships as well.   International exchange is one avenue students might look at to gain exposure to a new geographic region and to strengthen international networks.  While making decisions related to B-School for yourself, you should also assess fit between the School and your career goals.  Looking at diversity amongst the student body, on-campus recruiters and placement data can help candidates do this. You can use the opportunities of GD and personal Interviews to talk with other aspirants, current students and alumni about their experiences.  Lastly, exploring where future opportunities are likely to lie can be extremely important.

Source: {Research Work}

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Verbal Ability - Know how to crack it....

In order to do well in Verbal Ability you need three things, reading, clarity on English grammar basics and building up your vocabulary. Verbal Ability holds a lot of weightage in the CAT entrance exam paper. This section consists of Verbal ability, verbal reasoning and reading comprehension. It consists of questions which are vocabulary based, English and grammar usage, verbal reasoning and reading comprehension. Like Quantitative Ability, this section also tests the Basic English language skills.

CAT 2008 exam threw a huge surprise towards the students by increasing the number of questions to 40. The questions were based on grammar, usage and vocabulary concepts. There were no new types of constructs in VA, while old constructs like fill in the blanks and inappropriate usage made a comeback this year. The only twist in the VA questions was that the grammar-based questions also involved identifying punctuation, spelling and logical errors. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension consisted of 20 questions each in CAT 2008. The passages of the RC were of medium length and easy to understand. The questions were a mix of inferential and direct questions, with a handful of vocabulary-based questions thrown in. It was a fairly easy section and had plenty of chances to maximize scores. CAT 2006 and 2007 exams had 25 questions with four marks each. Of these, 12 to 15 questions were of RC and rest questions were of verbal. While CAT 2004 exam there were 0.5, one and two, marks questions in this section. In CAT 2005 exam, there were one mark and two marks questions in this section.

What is Verbal Ability all about?

The Vocabulary-based questions can comprise of synonyms & antonyms, fill in the blanks, matching words with their appropriate meanings etc. The grammar usage mostly comprises of questions which test your understanding of grammar. It could be questions where you are asked to spot the section of a sentence that is grammatically incorrect or it could be questions where a part of a sentence in underlined and you are provided with four or five alternative choices. You have to select the choice that corrects the error in the underlined part. The verbal reasoning questions could take multiple forms. The most common one is that of rearranging sentences of a paragraph. It could also include paraphrasing what has been said in a paragraph.

This section consists of basic questions of English language. In order to get a decent score in this section, all you need is to be well versed with grammar, words and verbal reasoning. The concepts have to be clear, as well as you should know the right usage of words, sentence construction etc.

Preparation for Verbal Ability

In order to do well in Verbal Ability you need three things, reading, clarity on English grammar basics and building up your vocabulary. You must start growing a strong reading habit for that. In this way, you can get accustomed to various words as well as get an idea about their usages, sentence construction etc. It is a very good habit to read newspapers, especially editorial pages. It will help in improving the RC skills as well as general English usage. Reading newspapers online will help you a lot. That will serve two purposes, it will not only keep you aware of the current affairs and the verbal preparation but it will give you a competitive edge for the computer-based test which CAT entrance exam has been introduced.

In order to increase wordlists and knowing the meaning, context and usages -Find out multiple applications of commonly used words and phrases, if any. While reading, note the context in which words and phrases are used. This helps in tackling a number of Verbal Ability questions. In order to deal with the Reading Comprehensions, especially the unfamiliar topics, the only way is to broaden your reading and get familiar with various issues. To tackle Reading Comprehension passages about unfamiliar topics, broaden your reading to topics that challenge you.

Though extensive reading on all possible subjects and topics is necessary, to retain your learning is more important. Read as much as possible. The idea is to read and comprehend. Reading with the aim of retention and building the capability to identify the keywords, clues and signs. The only way to this is read more and more.

Knowing the words and their grammars is very important. It is also necessary to associate them properly. He suggested associating an image or a context with a word, in that way one can never forget its meaning. For e.g. associate the word Cornucopia (excess) with SACHIN . Don’t try to mug up grammar as set of rules. See the meaning and understand the connection.

In general, focus on building speed and accuracy, through practice, and careful analysis following practice.

Books and preparation material

By now you must have got the idea that the best material for the Verbal Ability section can be anything from daily newspapers, magazines, basic grammar and work books as well as books of fiction. First you have to start reading. Start with anything that you like. It can be fiction, nonfiction or any other book. Then gradually you can shift towards more serious books.

Intensive reading of newspapers, periodicals and reputed books and novels is paramount to tackle the Verbal Ability Section. It is important to understand whatever you read. The ‘Daily Wordlist’ sent by MBA INFORMER helps students to learn new words, their meanings.

“Use basic English grammar books to learn your fundamentals and there are a large number of books and online resources available which would help you to build your vocabulary, besides learning new words from there try and make an effort to use them in your normal conversation, even at the expense of sounding not your usual self to others and importantly build the capability of contextual comprehension, you cannot and are not expected to memorize the whole dictionary.

High School English Grammar and Composition’ by Wren and Martin, ‘Word Power Made Easy’ by Norman Lewis, ‘Verbal Ability’ by Arun Sharma, ‘A Communicative Grammar of English’ by Geoffrey Leech, ‘A Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing, Words in English’ by Anu Garg, ‘Business English and Communication’ by Clark Grade C, ‘All about Words’ by Rosenblum and Nurenberg, ‘30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary’ by Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis, The GRE and GMAT exam preparation books like ‘Kaplan GRE Verbal’, ‘Princeton GRE Verbal’, ‘Princeton GRE Verbal’ and ‘Kaplan GMAT Verbal’.  These books make your work easier.

You can find out the links to some news papers below:-

We feel the following News Sites will add miles to your gyaan.

1 . http://www.indianexpress.com/

2. http://www.hindustantimes.com/

3. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

4. http://beta.thehindu.com/

5. http://news.google.com

6. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/

It is important that you don't get lost in the web of information.

Keep restraint on what you are doing, by periodically asking yourself,

"Why am I doing it?”

 For magazines, he Business and Management Chronicle’ by Chronicle Publications, ‘Business Line’ by The Hindu Group, ‘Competition Success Review’, ‘Business Today’ by India Today Group, ‘Business World’. There are some must have materials.

 Apart from that, you should read and practice the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension.

You should also solve previous years’ test papers to get an idea about the question pattern as well as to rate your performance. “All this should necessarily be supplemented by solving examples from previous exams as well as from books or course material developed by experts exclusively for CAT entrance exam.

Stay connected to www.mbainformer.tk for more on CAT Prep.

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Improving Your Vocabulary-I

Is Vocabulary Important?

In this article, we shall discuss Vocabulary. Although direct Vocabulary-based questions may not make an appearance in CAT (though it definitely does in other entrance exams such as FMS, IIFT etc as discussed later) in the sense that you are usually not asked to choose the correct meaning of a difficult or less-known word or its antonym or synonym from among the options, a good Vocabulary is still quite crucial for doing well in the English section.

It is important to note that CAT does test your Vocabulary indirectly. Often questions have appeared in which you need to choose the correct usage of simple, every day words. Quite often, these common words have multiple meanings, depending on the context of their use, and the CAT has tested whether you understand which all possible uses a common word can be put to. An example will serve to illustrate my point.

Consider a word such as ‘book’. The most common use of the word perhaps is when we use it in the sense of referring to a textbook or story book (fiction or non-fiction). But the word ‘book’ does have other usages. For example, we can say that ‘He booked a ticket’. Similarly, you can say that a show was ‘fully booked’. Another usage is when we say “The policeman booked the errant driver for over-speeding’.

In addition to being prepared for such kind of questions, a decent Vocabulary will be important to do well in the Reading Comprehension section. Your failure to understand or misinterpretation of a particular word could result in your having greater difficulty in understanding the passage as a whole and answering the questions based on it. This is especially true for phrases or aphorisms that the writer may use-very often, these short aphorisms convey a lot in a few words, something which would have otherwise taken several sentences to explain. For example, if the author of a particular passage states that “the chickens have come home to roost”, what does he mean? Similarly, he may state that a particular situation was a ‘Catch-22’ situation. Rather than explain in long sentences what the situation entailed, the usage of the single phrase ‘a Catch-22 situation’, conveys a lot to a reader who knows the meaning of the phrase. Incidentally, this phrase was the title of a famous novel by Joseph Heller.

Of course, the answer options may contain some words which test your Vocabulary to some extent. This is particularly true when you are asked to choose the ‘tone of the passage’. And you shall be in a real soup if you do not know the meaning of words in the answer option!

Non-CAT exams

As mentioned before, the type of questions that you are given in the FMS, IIFT etc entrance tests are a little different. These entrance tests do contain direct Vocabulary questions. The FMS entrance exam, in particular, is known to bowl students over with some really esoteric words, which are not even used all that often in daily conversation! (don’t worry, there will be only a few such words, if any).

Hence, Vocabulary is something that you will need to work on during your preparation. As mentioned, doing well in Reading Comprehension does call for a decent Vocabulary. Plus, some entrance tests do test your Vocabulary directly by asking you the meaning of a particular word, its synonym or antonym etc.

How to Build your Vocabulary

Now let us come to the crucial aspect of how you could build your Vocabulary. What is the best way?

In my opinion, in order to truly be good in Vocabulary (and also, not forget the meaning of a word just a few hours after you have learnt it), you cannot just mug up the meaning of words-after all, how many word-meanings can you just learn by rote? So what then is the best way?

The best strategy is to understand the ‘roots’ or the origin of certain words. From what ‘main root’ has a particular word been derived? If you approach Vocabulary is a systematic manner, you can rapidly improve on it.

Let’s understand this ‘root-based’ approach. Consider a word such as ‘demographics’. What does it mean? If you plan to mug up the meaning, it isn’t a good idea! Instead, look at its root: the root is ‘dem’ in this case.

What does ‘dem’ mean?

This root, from Greek, means ‘people’. We all know that India is a democracy. So it should be easy to remember the root ‘dem’ and people (democracy means ‘a Government of and for the people’.

Now ‘demographics’ refers to a population study, or the study of the various characteristics of the people that comprise the population.

• A related word is ‘Demographist’ : it refers to a person who studies demography

• Let’s take another word with the root ‘dem’: ‘demagogue’. You may have heard it a few times-what does it mean? It has the same root, so it must refer to people. You can check it out in any dictionary.

• Similarly, consider the word ‘demogenics’. It means ‘relating to a society based on citizenship’

• Have a look at these two words: ‘Demophile’ and ‘Demophobe’. While the former means ‘A friend of the people’, the latter refers to a person who has an aversion to people (the root ‘philo’ means to have an affinity for/ to love, while the root ‘phobe’ has the opposite meaning).

Hence you can see that knowing the meaning of the root of a particular word helps a lot-not only in understanding the meaning of that particular word, but also the meaning of words with the same root. If you now come across any word with the root ‘dem’, you shall know it has something to do with people.

In subsequent Vocabulary articles, we shall discuss some other important roots.

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