Some students prefer preparing for the CAT and the other management school entrance exams on their own instead of than a coaching institute. Coaching institutes of course, provide benefits that individual study might not offer. Working without the classroom environment is easier said than done.

The following tips will help you prepare for the CAT on your own:
1. Prepare a time-table. Decide what topic to study on which day of the week and the deadlines for each topic.

2. Stick to the schedule. If you’ve made the decision to tutor yourself at home, do not be lazy or lax with your time-table. Do not let external factors like phone calls, appointments or cricket matches alter your schedule.

3. Complete the syllabus. Make sure that you cover all topics that appear in the CAT these adequately, whether it is geometry, analytical puzzles, time-speed-distance questions, algebra, and trigonometry.

4. Borrow study material from students who have taken the CAT previously so as to have some practice material. Speak to them extensively to gain knowledge of the topics.

5. Locate a good reference book. Pick out a book that elucidates concepts and has several exercises for practice.

6. Form a group of friends and meet up with them regularly to discuss questions, clear doubts, teach each other concepts etc. The informal meetings will aid learning from each other. Discuss and make note of which questions or concepts the group considers crucial. Solve Mock tests together. This may help you understand the CAT pattern better and be well prepared for the actual exam.

7. Working in groups is also useful while preparing for group discussions (GDs) and interviews. Mock GDs can be organized within the group and perspectives could be shared on important issues or the latest current affairs developments.

8. Mock tests are imperative if one is relying on self-preparation for the following reasons:
• Mock tests are a dress rehearsal of the actual environment that you would experience on the day of your CAT exam, and thus add to your comfort level. Those debuting at the CAT need to answer more of these to avoid nervousness and alarm on the day of the genuine test.
• A Mock test is like a crystal ball that offers a glimpse into some topics that appear in the actual CAT. It creates familiarity with the exam pattern and teaches how to crack it.
• Mock CATs develop skills like allocating adequate time for the various sections etc.
• Mock CATS should be treated as yardsticks for performance. They illustrate one’s strengths and weaknesses and measure the level of preparation. Through a mock test, it is possible to discover which sections are one’s fortes.

To make the most of studying at home, one must prepare thoroughly, exercise self-discipline in the form of a time-table, cover all topics and learn as much as possible from peers.

Management entrance tests comprise of four areas- Maths, English, Comprehension and Reasoning. Some institutes also have an additional section on business judgment or general knowledge. Previously there were four sections in CAT, now there are three. Preparing for CAT in the right way is very important to crack the test.

Start to prepare as early as you can. This way you get accustomed to the kind of questions asked. Spend time developing your vocabulary and reading skills. An excellent way to do this is to read the newspaper daily. Not only will it update you on the latest events and developments, it will also help you learn new words and improve your language skills.

The preparation for CAT can be divided into three stages. Students should start with the ‘basics’ first. Thoroughly browse each chapter and revise your class 10 lessons. Get an idea of figures. Attempt to solve the tricky, puzzling questions in question banks. Working on exercises on each topic and revising your basics usually takes about three months.

Once you are done with basics, you should undertake sectional tests. These tests comprise of 30-40 sums each, and it contains different sums from each chapter. The key is to time yourself and finish one section in about 40 minutes. Initially, you may get a low score, but you can gradually aim for a higher score.

At this stage, it is crucial to practice CAT-type questions. These questions are not available in guidebooks or textbooks. You can gather information and collect it from various sources. There are question banks available in the market. Some specialized institutes offer notes to prepare for CAT. So you can subscribe to such notes and prepare for CAT.

After you clear the first two stages, you can attempt doing mock-CATs. Mock CAT is a similar CAT-like paper that gives you an insight into the exam and trains you efficiently. It is a similar test modeled on CAT. Allot two hours to yourself to finish the entire paper. Check your full test score as well as your sectional score. This will give you a general idea about CAT and where you stand in your preparation.

CAT is difficult to crack. However the right attitude, hard work, determination and persistence is the key to cracking CAT. Cracking CAT is not rocket science. Regular practice and a positive attitude definitely helps.

The CAT just had to go online someday or the other. With the number of students answering the test is increasing every year, offline administration is overwhelming. This increase puts a heavy burden on assessment and testing. Only online testing cannot help. The CAT 2009 will be similar to the GMAT GRE pattern. There’s bad news about the new CAT pattern. These obstacles however, can be overcome with practice and preparation.

More stress on Verbal Ability
If the CAT pattern is intended to be similar to online tests like GMAT, refreshing and building-up verbal skills is crucial for a high percentile. In the past, there have been attempts to make the CAT Verbal Section Centric. The unexpected emphasis of the Verbal Section in CAT 2008 and the fact that 2009 will see a computer-based CAT simply reiterates that one kids to focus greatly on this section. The verbal percentile has a higher impact on overall percentile than the percentile in other sections. So for those of you for whom English is not a strong point, will have to put in more time and effort during preparation.

Getting used to RC on the computer screen
When looking at Reading Comprehension on the computer screen, it appears vertically on the left half of the screen and the right half has questions one after the other. This is of course, a very different experience from doing an RC on paper. The inability to underline the keywords in the passage is a drawback. Hence, write down the keywords, topic sentences and inferential information in the passages on a paper if you wish to answer questions later. Read e-versions of newspapers to become comfortable with reading online.

No underlining of key words
Managing so much data in the DI section without any option of writing or underlining key information on the screen is a difficult task. One will have to either calculate mentally or constantly move the eyes from the screen to the paper writing down the figure for calculations. Hence, the time spent on each question increases.

Cannot be dependent on Paper-based Tests
Since the ultimate test is online, exercise computer-based preparation and practice. With the CAT now going online, expect other tests like SNAP, JMET, XAT, MAT, NMAT, FMS and IIFT to go online soon. Therefore, get acquainted with answering tests on the computer.

But CAT 2009 has a bright side too.

CAT 2009 will actually be easier
The biggest advantage of CAT 2009 is quick access to the tests and preparation material at any time of the day if it is available online. This will offer adaptability and flexibility to the test-taker.

Trainers can help you
Test analytics are available for each test a student takes. Trainers must be trained on how to infer data from graphs and tables so that students can improve the percentiles in the test. Trainers who are well-versed with technology will help in creating an objective approach to answering the CAT 2009. Thorough knowledge of the subject is essential.

An analytical approach to CAT 2009 is the key. So monitor everyday how much closer you are to 99+ percentile, if you want to get a good rank. Whether a chapter-wise or mock test, analyze question by question, topic by topic, strength and weakness analysis of each test that you take, to ascertain your contribution to the ultimate percentile. Good luck!

Common Admission Test (CAT 2009) for MBA Admissions in Indian Institutes of Management in 2009 will be held on November-December 2009 below are corresponding details.

Starting date CAT Vocture Sale: 31 August 2009
Last Date of CAT vocture Sale: 1st October 2009
Exam Date: 28th November 2009 to 7th December 2009

CAT 2009 Notification(Common Admission Test)
CAT has become one of the most competitive exams to judge the potential of the candidates willing to pursue their career in business administration.

CAT 2009 to be Online
The new computer-based test (CBT) will be embraced by IIMs across Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong, and will allow students to select a date convenient to them from a specified period of 10 days. The new system is also expected to help the IIMs cope effectively with the increasing number of candidates every year. While around 95,000 candidates took CAT in 2003, the number rose to about 250,000 last year, reflecting a growth of over 163% and bringing the administrative system under severe pressure. With the online test, CAT will be similar to the GMAT test in its process.

Here’s the gist of information that the IIMs have released till date:
* The CAT will be held online for the year 2009.
* Prometric ETS has been awarded the contract for conducting the test.
* CAT 2009 will be conducted over a period of 10 days.
* Relevant details regarding the structure and the conduct of the examination to be released with the advertisement.
* Mr Subhashish Gupta, admission chairperson IIMB has said that the possibility of CAT 2009 being computer adaptive is quite remote.
* In all probability there will be 3 tests in a day. This means that there will be 30 tests over a period of 10 days.

No one knows what to expect from the CAT. The questions in some sections get more complex than others. While sometimes, the easier sections are flooded with questions that have been framed to intentionally bowl the student over. With CAT going online from this year the situation has become even more unpredictable.

On close analysis, it is possible to ascertain three factors that decide whether the test is easy, moderate or difficult. These are:

1. Total Number of questions in the paper and the number of questions in each section i.e. Quant, Verbal and DI.
2. Total time available and the time you must allot to each sub-section.
3. Degree of complexity of each question.

The constant swapping of these three factors manages to astound the student every year. The degree of difficulty of the question paper varies from student to student. A section that is difficult for one candidate maybe an area of interest and highly scoring for the other. Eventually, cracking the CAT boils down to dealing with three things - time, difficulty and speed. The swapping of the total time allotted to answer, the number of questions and length and complexity of their statement decides whether a set of questions were easy, moderate or difficult. Hence, constant analysis and daily practice is vital.

Let us exercise our analytical skills by closely looking at the CAT from years 2000 – 2008. CAT 2000 contained lengthy and complex questions that were void of high-scoring topics. The questions were also those that had not appeared in the past three-four years. Till the 2004 exam, the level of difficulty varied with each paper. CAT 2004 onward, the difficulty level of the CAT paper was better-rounded with varying levels of difficulty in each section. In some sections, the questions got trickier and sometimes more time-consuming while other sections had a word-per-mark count of 125 words. The questions oscillated between those that are formula-based to others that simply require common sense. The 2007 CAT marked the reintroduction of grammar, para jumbles and vocabulary.

Since CAT 2004, questions have been getting easier to solve but trickier to initially comprehend. Adding to this, assessment company Prometric, which has been roped-in by IIM, has a reputation of presenting crafty and lengthy statement-based questions in the Quant as well as Verbal sections. This means that students must focus on each and every question that they stumble upon through the year. The trick is not to answer a larger number of questions but to consistently answer a balanced set of questions which offer an optimum representation of all areas. Monitor your performance everyday and with each test answered, compare your performance with the best in the country.