The countdown has begun for the Common Admission Test scheduled for November

16, 2006.
We have alread covered !eading Com"rehension, #erbal Abilit and $uantitative
Analsis.
This time we loo% at &ata 'nter"retation and (ogical Abilit) &ata *ufficienc.
Normall, &' accounts for 2+ to ,0 mar%s and (A) &* accounts for the rest. -owever,
these das, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between &' and (ogic. 'n CAT 200+,
there were no &ata *ufficienc .uestions.
Skills needed for this section
The trend has shifted from eas/to/understand/data/with/difficult/calculations to more
logical .uestions with lesser calculations.
Though the trend has moved awa from long and com"licated calculations, it0s not
advisable to attem"t CAT without being reasonabl good at .uic% calculations and
a""ro1imations.
To start with, ou should %now how to inter"ret various data formats. Tables, line gra"hs,
bar gra"hs, "ie charts, three dimensional gra"hs, flow diagrams and cumulative
fre.uenc tables are some of the data formats that have featured in CAT over the ears.
2ut one of the most critical foundation s%ills ou need to develo" to do well in CAT
is understanding "ercentages. 3ou should have a ver good idea of "ercentage
calculations, com"arison of fractions 4to determine highest) lowest "ercentage5, average
annual growth rates and related conce"ts li%e mar%et share, mar%et share increase and
decrease, etc.
DI problem solving
&' is a s%ill and it re.uires continuous "ractice. 3ou ma notice that our im"rovement is
slow for the first few wee%s6 then it "ic%s u". 7a%e sure ou s"end some time on &'
ever two to three das das, even if it is onl a cou"le of hours. 3ou need good .ualit
"roblems to "ractise on.
8nfortunatel, there is a dearth of .ualit 0logical0 &' "roblems that is the trend in CAT
these das. ' would suggest 7oc% CATs as a source.
't is ver im"ortant to analse an e1ercise or test ou have solved. 9ocus on the
method of solving and the clarit with which ou are able to understand the "roblem. The
second and third time ou solve a "roblem is when ou see it with clarit.

Logical ability
The %e to doing well in logic is similar. 3ou need a methodolog or a""roach to logic
.uestions, as well as regular "ractice in solving a wide variet of .uestions.
The basic a""roach should focus on:
8nderstanding data and re"resenting %e data in smbolic form, so that ou have
a summar of the given data before solving the "roblem.
9ocus on what the .uestions re.uire of ou, before starting the solving "rocess.
8nderstand the "roblem t"e. 9or instance, linear arrangement, circular
arrangement, distribution, binar logic, etc. ;ach "roblem t"e has a certain
common a""roach which will ta%e ou "art of the wa towards solving the
.uestion
To some DI appears to be toughest puzzle of all. I received so many queries on DI that I devout a
two phase strategy to discuss it. First phase is on general funda and second on specific funda.
Today is first funda general gyaan.
General Funda
Data interpretation yes! Its a test of interpretation and not on calculations. !eep it in mind " DI
is not a test of data calculation. #ome of you tend to avoid this section my request " DONT
AVOID!
If you can grasp it, its one of the most scoring sections and you can score a lot of mar$s here!
%ow that &'T is three months away( spend atleast two wee$s on data interpretation what are
the questions and why did you avoid them analyze thoroughly. Two wee$s of only DI I bet
you can crac$ at least half of the questions in &'T)* if you were a perpetual avoider till now!
Dont panic looing at the pro!lem its not roc$et science and it can be solved even without
using pen and paper. "es, you heard it right # $%& of the DI pro!lems can !e sol'ed (ithout
using pen and paper.
For that you need two things "
Idea about fractions and percentages
Thin$ smart " (here you can a'oid calculations # A'oid it!
+ets ta$e the possible problems one by one,
)* Graphical interpretation
-ere mostly youll get line graphs( bar graphs( pie chart( . D graphs( flow diagrams( etc. To
familiarize you have e/cel which can generate all the above graphs and tables.
%ow"a"days( &'T e/ams focus less on comple/ calculations and more on interpretation.
0y funda is "
Try to attempt where there are 12 questions for a pair or a graph
Ta$e first 1 seconds to loo$ at the graph
Ta$e ne/t 31 seconds to read the questions. 4hat do they want from you5
%e/t .) seconds loo$ at the graph from question point of view try to analyze what you
need to do to answer. 6oull need fractions and percentages to answer most be it
growth rate or interest!
%ow answer. "oull need less than +% seconds per ,uestion* -ence, youll sol'e total .
,uestions in /.01.0+%0+%2.341)% seconds or 51 seconds per ,uestion # (hich is ,uite
impressi'e!
Try it!
-ere if theres a comple/ graph with one or two questions to answer then try to avoid it if
possible. %ot because its comple/ because itll eat out your time! If all questions are li$e that
then you are left with no choice but to answer!
Try not to use pen and paper for sol'ing # use mental calculator to sol'e # itll sa'e a lot of
time*
1* Analytical 6easoning or 7ogical 6easoning
#ame principles apply here. 7ead the questions first and then loo$ at the table( mentally chal$ out
your strategy how you are going to solve it and then solve. 0ost of these tables are a bit tricy
so read the questions carefully what is e/pected of you. 6ou can use your paper and pencil here to
do rough calculations if you are not able to trac$ the question mentally.
It is 'ery important to understand the structure of the ,uestions in this section* If you can
understand the structure the actual thing e/pected from you this part is fairly easy to
solve. Dont panic looing at !ig ta!les*
+* Data 8ufficiency
%o one is e/pecting e/act answers from you in this section. #o( no need for paper wor$. For those
who get confused here( this is what you should be doing "
6ead the ,uestion first # follo( it carefully # (hat you need to ans(er* Is it only 9 or
!oth 9 and y: ;e clear on it!0any a times e/aminees 8ust loo$ at the equations
without a single glance at the question as$ed thats a big big mista$e! 9ven when you
$now eveything you 8ust pic$ the wrong answer.
7oo at the first e,uation only # !loc the second one (ith your palm* &an you solve
the above question with this equation5 0ar$ yes or no there.
No( loo at the second e,uation* 'gain( can you solve the question as$ed with only
this equation5 0ar$ yes or no.
No( loo at !oth # together* &an you solve the question as$ed with both5 0ar$ yes or
no.
Tally the yes and no<s* 6ou have already got an answer!
'll these hardly ta$es .) seconds to do! #ee its simple. Only thing you need is a structured
pattern to ans(er them!
8o, (hats the !ottomline:
Try sol'ing pro!lems in your head
No need to sol'e # for some pro!lems =ust a careful loo (ill sol'e it
Follo( a structure to sol'e the pro!lems*
AND >6A?TI?@!
%ow that &'T is 8ust three months away use your time to revise what you have done till date
and chal$ a strategy. 4ithout a pre"defined strategy youll be lost in &'T this is the opportune
time.
Aait for the second part (here Ill discuss sol'ing specific pro!lems in DI!
All the !es
lmost ever 2/school as"irant %nows that the CAT is a test of com"arative intelligence
and N<T individual e1cellence. *till man test/ta%ers s"end 60 "er cent of the time
measuring individual "erformance in the regular tests. 7oreover, with the CAT 0=
becoming a com"uter/based test this ear, the share of com"arative intelligence tests is
e1"ected to decrease further to 20 "er cent because of the lac% of "re"aredness of
man national CAT "re" organisations.
What is comparative intelligence?
Thin% about ourself and another 2.>+ la%h waiting for the 10 deciding das of CAT 0=. A
number of them would have some trainer directing them for the big da6 the will have a
dee" %nowledge of the "revious CATs. Then what ma%es ou su"erior to them? -ow will
ou be the first among e.uals? 2eing first among the e.uals re.uires ou to com"ete
regularl with all of them rather than s"ending the last two months learning and
achieving "ercentiles.
And that0s the reason CAT as"irants are turning towards online test "roviders more than
those who offer mere learning e1"erience that lac%s 0benchmar%ing0 on a larger scale, on
dail basis. 7oreover, man have alread @oined one online testing "rogramme over and
above the classroom "rogrammes in order to sta abreast on both fronts.
Comparative intelligence in Quant DI
$uantitative abilit and data inter"retation have consistentl been rated as difficult and
challenging. ;ven though there have been times when "eo"le find the verbal section
e1tremel difficult, still .uant and &' have alwas been characterised b the 0tric%0 and
0logical/in"ut based0 .uestions. Thus, in order to ensure a balanced score/card one has
to give due im"ortance to achieving com"arative intelligence in these two 0logic0 based
sections.
Therefore, the im"ortance of measuring and im"roving our s"eed, accurac, attem"ts
and "ercentile in each online test that ou ta%e cannot be over/em"hasised. The dail
online "ractice and evaluation of the abilit to calculate faster will not onl hel" in
s"eedil maintaining the blend of s"eed and accurac but also in reassuring ourself
that ou are read for Tech/CAT. -ence, e1"ertise in $uantitative reasoning abilit needs
to be reassured on dail basis through regular online testing and analsis.
This ma%es it vital to stud not onl the nature of $uant and &' sections in a CAT but
also to learn was to master them online.
!eeting daily ranking challenge
's it reall a challenge?
3esA 't is, es"eciall for those who are struc% in the middle of their CAT offline
"re"aration and e1"ected to have access to online resources onl after *e"tember 0=.
7oreover, offline organisations that res"onded faster to the com"uter/based CAT
challenge are still struggling to "rovide the right testing interface to their students.
At this crucial @uncture, websites li%e TCYonline.com are tring to fill the need/ga" b
offering a free online CAT course
4htt":))www.tconline.com)cat200=)catB"re"aration."h"5. The "rogramme also "rovides
audio/visual lectures, test analsis and dail ran%ing 4www.TC3online.com)subscri"tion5
in each test. There are lso tools li%e the Test Cenerator 4www.TC3online.com)CreaTest5
and Challenge Done 4www.TC3online.com)(et8sChallenge5.
Whatever be our testing vehicle for CAT 0=, ou have ou ensure that ou are testing
ourself on a dail basis.
!eeting Quant " DI challenge
;1"erts from www.TC3online.com offer the following ti"s to hel" recall tools to counter
the challenges at this stage of our "re"aration:
#$ !ethod%s& of solving 'uestions
3ou can use an of these four methods to answer the .uestion in $uant or &' section.
&irect or convectional method as ou did in our school das, going from the
.uestion to the answer. This method, however, is least "referable.
;liminating the o"tions or going with the o"tions. This is alwas the best and
.uic%er wa to reach the re.uired answer.
*ubstitution of some values in the .uestion. This method is ver much useful for
algebra "roblems
8sing the direct method and elimination method simultaneousl.
($ Selection of 'uestions
<ne needs to be careful while selecting the .uestions to attem"t. 'n e1ams other than
the CAT, the focus is on solving the ma1imum number of .uestions. <n the other hand, it
is "ossible that a test/ta%er leaves nearl half the .uestions and still ma%es it to the to".
The abilit to select .uestions with eas statements and not/so/close answer choices
can be develo"ed b analsing our 7oc% CATs regularl at this stage. The e1"ectation
that CAT 0= will be linear and N<T ada"tive further em"hasises the need of better
selection of .uestions.
)$ Improving speed of calculation
The time s"ent b a student in $uant and &' section on calculation is about 20 "er
cent and the rest is s"ent on com"rehending the conce"t of the .uestion. *o beside our
basic conce"ts ou should have to wor% more on our calculations. 't is recommended to
s"end at least 1+ minutes dail on "racticing addition, subtraction, multi"lication and
division. Also the abilit to recall tables, s.uares and cubes u" to ,0, and multi"lication
between some common numbers li%e 1, 1 12, 1E 1 2F etc will be hand in getting the
best out of that 20 "er cent.
*$ +ccuracy
The time constraint does not "ermit test/ta%ers to solve all the .uestions. Therefore, it0s
im"ortant to ma%e sure that one solves 6+ "er cent of the .uestions at an accurac rate
not less than E0 "er cent rather than doing E0 "er cent of the .uestions with a 60/"er
cent accurac rate.
,$ Dodging traps in the language of the 'uestion
A well/"re"ared student can fall into the tra"s of a few .uestions in CAT. 3ou have to
clearl see what is being as%ed in the .uestion. 9or e1am"le, consider the following
.uestion:
Question- A student is e1"ecting of getting =0 mar%s in the math "a"er and overall >+
"er cent mar%s in five "a"ers but he actuall gets onl E0. What "ercentage of mar%s
does he finall get if the mar%s in other four "a"ers are the same as e1"ected?
Solution- Well, the ver first answer from ma@orit number of students will be >,
"er cent as the themselves imagine the ma1imum mar%s of a "a"er as 100, which is
the tra" in the .uestion. This ha""ens because in man e1aminations ma1imum mar%s
are 100, but this does not hold true in this situation.
*o the answer for these .uestions will be 0data insufficient0 or 0can0t be determined0.
.$ /reparing for a changed C+T0Quant pattern
2e "re"ared with ever t"e of "ermutation and combination for the "attern of CAT
200=. Will it have + or F o"tions "er .uestions6 is it going to be 1)Fth negative or 1),rd
negative for a wrong answer6 will the number of .uestion decrease or increase6 will the
sections have sub/sections and further sub/sub/sections with varing mar%s "er
.uestion or not6 which to"ics will be more visible in the CAT 200=6 what ad@ustments
should be made in the attem"t "attern if there are more .uestions from an une1"ectedl
less "referred to"ic li%e time and wor% etc. All these uncertainties should be addressed
and discussed with our online trainers at this stage onl in order to be "re"ared for the
same.
'n order to reach the ==.== mar% it becomes im"erative not onl to have familiarit with
different was of managing the attem"t and finding the answers to the o"timum number
of .uestions but also adding a "roven strength to the "revailing methods of testing to get
dail ran%ing vis/a/vis the rest of 'ndia G 'mages H.
TCY (www.TCYonline.com) features the most advanced and user-friendly online
testing engine and a host of FREE services like FREE online CT course and
numerous tests for other e!ams like "T# $%&# ''FT etc( Test )enerator( TCY
nalytics and udio-*isual +ectures for CT ,- .re.aration.
actics you (ill need to adopt (hile attempting Data Interpretation
Data interpretation questions are solved in four basic steps.
#elect the #et to be solved. 4hen you have multiple sets( focus on the sets which you can
understand( are familiar and appear solvable in reasonable time. #uch 8udgment has to be
developed by practice. 'nd your choice may not always be correct. #o after say .": minutes( if
you are stuc$ then quit and attempt another set of questions. It is important here to note that it
may seem to be the right strategy to concentrate on two sets and try solving all questions from
those sets than spending time on all sets.
The problem with the above approach of doing only two sets is that you are spending too much
time in those two sets and even if one of the sets go wrong( then your chance of getting into the
II0s will get postponed by an year. It is always advisable to spend certain in each set and then
depending on whether or not the set is easy and the questions are doable in reasonable time( you
give a little more time or quit.
;nce a set is selected( understand the data. Dont rush towards the questions. #pend some time
understanding the data and how it can be read.
<nderstand the =uestion. 4hat is it that we need to calculate5 4hat is the data required for that
and how it can be obtained.
>ic$ up the pencil and solve the question. +oo$ at the simplest method possible and dont
calculate things that are not required. 't this stage $eep an eye on the answer choices. These will
help you decide the level of appro/imation or accuracy required in the calculations.
7emember that you need not solve all questions in a set simply because you have attempted that
set. #olve the easy and medium questions and then move onto the ne/t question rather than
getting stuc$ on one difficult question.
7ogic or 6easoning
7easoning is a vast area that has been traditionally given in &'T along with some other area in
the recent years along with Data Interpretation and not as an independent section. -owever( this
area has more to do with commonsense and speed of thin$ing rather than with any formal
$nowledge of +ogical 'bility.
Tactics to !e adopted for 6easoning ,uestions
#imilar to DI( you need to first select the set that you will attempt. +oo$ for familiarity and the
degree of comple/ity in the question. For e/ample a question on tournaments with 7ound 7obin
question with four teams playing each other is far less comple/ than one involving ? teams. 4ith
: teams playing each other you have ? matches overall. 4ith si/ teams you have @1.
Then again while solving a set if you are stuc$ at any point assess whether you are li$ely to crac$
the set in the ne/t few minutes. If not sure( quit.
>lease ma$e sure all data is noted down correctly from the question. ;ne mista$e there can ruin
si/"eight minutes of your time as well as give you negative mar$s.
Aetween DI and +'( allot time based on your comfort level with each area.
In ?onclusion
'pplication of #trategy requires a solid foundation in terms of concepts( application( problem
solving accuracy and speed.
#mart strategy can ma/imize the score in the critical 3 hours and @1 minutes.
#trategy has to be customized for every candidate based on ones strengths and wea$nesses.
The strategy should be developed and practiced in the 'll India 0oc$ &'Ts
+earn how to handle pressure. !eeping a cool head will pay rich dividends
If you prepare well and have the right strategy( you wouldnt need it( but best of luc$ all the same.
(The article has been written by Director of T.I.M.E. Mumbai ARKS Srinivas)
aths B 6easoning
0ost &'T aspirants have an inherent phobia of mathematics even if they come from an
engineering bac$ground. 'nd loo$ing at the weight accorded to the =uantitative and Data
7easoning #ection( it is imperative that you have a rational approach towards these sections.
The entire section can be categorized under the following sub"sections( although distinctions
between them are blurring with each passing year. 4e have seen logic based problems in the
=uant section( D# in the =uant section( so who $nows( what will happen in ?AT 1%%C!
=uantitative 'bility
+ogical 7easoning
Data Interpretation
Data #ufficiency
Duantitati'e A!ility
The quantitative techniques section in &'T is more of an application of the fundamental rules of
mathematics in real life situations. The questions would be concept based( and will be as$ed in a
disguised manner. The real test is of ones analytical s$ills to fathom what is being as$ed.
Tips for this topic
Know your limits an ca!abilities
7ather than( at this point of preparation for &'T( focusing on all the topics( try and select a bas$et
of topics with which you are more comfortable. 9ven those who are self"proclaimed 0athematics
haters Bmisomathematics55C would do well to identify some topics in which they are conceptually
sound or those that are formula driven( li$e ."D 0ensuration etc. Aear in mind that in a 31
question per section paper( you do not need to get D"@) BnetC correct answers to meet the II0 cut"
offs and even less when you thin$ of the &'T allied colleges.
#o( rather than e/pending energy in trying to solve each and every question( a cool and calm
approach( where in you spend :"1 minutes in scanning the section and selecting questions from
your area of strength( would ma$e more sense.
Im!rovin" s!ee of calculation
D)E of the time is spent on crac$ing the concept in any question( 3)E is spent on calculation. To
ensure speedier calculation( everyday in the morning Bfor at least five days a wee$C one must
practice calculations li$e addition( subtraction( multiplication( and division for about @) minutes.
This practice can save a lot of precious time in the actual e/am.
#ractice$ #ractice$ #ractice
-ow does one learn the art of driving( or swimming or any other activity5 !nowledge of traffic
rules or symbols Bat least for drivingC does help. !nowledge about ones bi$e also helps and
$nowledge of how to swim also helps. Aut all this contributes 8ust @E. The remaining **E
success is achieved by actually getting on to the road or by 8umping into the water. #o( get on the
&'T trac$( gear yourself up( and its 8ust the perfect time for you to get( set and go!
%ourtesy , >T 9ducation
' candidate appearing for any 0A' entrance e/amination must ma$e hisFher foundations in
different sections of the test very strong. The popular entrance tests li$e &'T( 0'T( and G'T etc
gauge the standard of the candidates with regard to their ability in various topicsFsections viz.
9nglish >roficiency( =uantitative and %umerical 'bility( 7easoning( Heneral Intelligence and
Data Interpretation etc. -owever( among all these sections Data Interpretation is widely perceived
as one of the toughest hurdles to cross.
The concept of DI can be best understood from our daily life e/periences. 4e usually come
across figures( statistics and statement of all sorts used to prepare e/penditure details of
companyFindustryForganization etc. These Figures( #tatistics involved in the process are $nown as
Data and finding meaningful information from the data is called Data Interpretation.
Data Interpretation involves scientific methods for organizing( summarizing and analyzing data as
well as drawing valid conclusion and ma$ing reasonable decisions on the basis of such analysis.
It is thus necessary to understand the characteristics of data interpretation so as to be able to
deduce accurately from the given data.
Data Interpretation is based on some information BdataC from which new information can be
deduced. =uestions under this section test the ability of students to read quic$ly and correctly the
data represented by various $inds of Hraphs( charts( Tables etc. The data is usually presented first
and then some questions are given which are to be answered by drawing inference from the given
data. <sually the data pertaining to any situation can be presented in one or more of the following
ways.
@. %umerical Data Tables
3. Aar Diagrams
.. >ie"&harts
:. &artesian graphs
%ormally( DI accounts for @1"3) questions in &'T and 3)"31 questions in 0'T. &'T 3))I had
3@ questions on Data Interpretation which tested students ability for speedy analysis and
calculation. The format of &'T 3))D is e/pected to be the same and students are advised to
prepare accordingly.
To brush up your $nowledge and improve your s$ills in attending questions from DI section( ta$e
@))>ercentiles Free Practice Tests for &'T( 0'T( G'T etc. 6ou can also purchase
@))>ercentiles 0A' Test #eries and study materials for leading 0A' entrance e/aminations viz.
&'T( 0'T( G'T( F0#( #%'>( IIFT( J09T( %0'T etc. The course content has been developed
in partnership with >T 9ducation the countrys premier institute for 0A' entrance test
preparation. For more details
If you are into &'T( you will $now the terms KData InterpretationL and K+ogical reasoningL.
#ome wonder if it would be more appropriate to club both into the category of KData reasoningL.
4e will try to figure out how best to address this area.
+et us begin by ta$ing a 8ourney through the DI"+7 sections of &'T in the last few years.
The toughness of questions in DI"+7 has been increasing in the last few years. 9arlier( DI
question sets were a test of ones computation speed and accuracy. They were attempted after
addressing a few D# questions( depending on the time available. ;ne did pic$ up a couple of +7
sets in the end and( if one was luc$y( a few would be crac$ed. -owever( a bul$ of the average and
the high average students felt that attac$ing +7 was a waste of time( while a more deliberate
effort at DI fetched better returns. The pattern has changed now and most of the DI sets have an
element of reasoning inbuilt. ' similar level of effort has to be put in to obtain mar$s from DI and
+7.
In one of the previous years( Kdifferential mar$ingL was introduced. 4ith this( the old adage(
KThe sensible person pic$s the easiest questions( since there are equal mar$s for all questionsL
went out of the window. The student had to e/ercise his 8udgement in choosing between the two"
mar$ questions and the one"mar$ ones. The one"mar$ question generally comprise a 8udicious
mi/ of easy and tric$y questions while the two"mar$ question sets demand good reasoning
comprehension s$ills to correctly interpret the data and the force of logic to crac$ them.
;verall( students found a fair mi/ of manageable and difficult questions.
The above is all history( but it is lessons learnt from it all that really matter. &onsidering the fact
that less than four wee$s are left for &'T 3))D( what one really needs to do is,
aC 7epeatedly practise questions covered in moc$ tests( ensuring that they cover the last ? to D
years of all %ational level 0A' entrance tests Bli$e >Ts and )%%>ercentiles >rac<?ATsC.
bC -ave an open mindset and do a time available versus number of questions analysis for every
full"length test. It is recommended that one should wor$ on ?)E M @)E of questions given to
determine the time available per question. Aased on this( arrive at the number of sets you need to
attempt and the time available per set.
cC Thoroughly read both the factual passage and the detailed e/planation for interpretation. -ave
a loo$ at the questions and their option choices and consider these as part of your data
information.
dC Ae sure to read all the response choices carefully before choosing one.
eC >ay special attention to words li$e KallL( KsomeL( KnoneL( KonlyL( KunlessL( etc. These words
can play a crucial part in precisely specifying the facts to be used in your reasoning.
fC >ay attention to negative prefi/es such as Knon"L( Kun"L( Kdis"L etc. These can be crucial to
specifying the basic facts in the paragraph.
gC Dont be obsessed with problems you cannot solve. +earn to avoid such questions and
concentrate on more manageable questions.
't the end( all I can say is that &'T is a battle of the mind and the one who believes he Kcan do
itL will sail through with flying colours.
)* Eonitor yourself
It is unnecessary to study for over two hours a day. 9/periment by studying at different times in
the day to find what time your mental 8uices flow. This will help you later( when you need to
youll $now e/actly when you feel at your freshest and concentrate best. 'ttempt tests on
#undays and holidays. This practice tunes you to answering a &'T"type test at any time of the
day.
1* 6ead ne(spapers and ne(s magaFines
&ultivate reading. #i/ty per cent of the Nerbal 'bility section in the test paper comprises 7eading
&omprehension passages. 9ven if you solve only 7& with an achievable accuracy of I) per cent
you can clear your N' cut"offs without even having to attempt the grammar section.
7eading daily newspapers or news magazines increases your speed of reading. It also ensures that
you can grasp relevant points in even abstract passages. It also broadens your horizons and all the
current affairs and other information that you have read about( gives you something to tal$ about
in the Hroup Discussions and >ersonal Interviews
+* 8tudy in !ursts
It is required that you can switch your concentration on and off. Dont do the same thing for more
than :)":1 minutes. This is why the &'T paper has three sections( instead of one long section.
>ractice studying in short productive bursts of :1 minutes " ?) minutes with brea$s in between.
't first( it will be tough to regain concentration immediately after you resume your brea$( but
soon you will become accustomed to it.
5* Go !ac to !asics
0any of us are rusty in terms of our high school math. #et a wee$ aside to go over math formulae
as well as a few basic proofs that you will require to use. This allocation of time is especially
beneficial to wor$ing professionals. 'void doing things that are complicated. #tic$ to the basics
and allocate time efficiently.
.* De'elop a proper test<gi'ing routine
&'T puts pressure on you by giving you less time to solve the paper than is required. 'ttempt
each practice test li$e you would the actual paper. If you dont 8oin a classroom programme(
ensure that you ta$e several practice tests online and analyse your performance in every test with
the help of detailed personalized reports and study guides. 'ttempt to clear every sectional cut"off
and hence( overall cut"off in every paper. Do not attempt only one section well in a paper at the
cost of the others. Time yourself while attempting the practice test
G* Heep e9perimenting
&onstantly change things li$e which section you attempt first( the target number of questions you
want to attempt or the time you spend on each section. The right way to solve the &'T is to have
a balance between speed and accuracy. 9nsure that you clear all cut"offs.
I* 8tart doing cross(ords, logic puFFles etc
#olving the daily crossword Band chec$ing the solutions the day afterC increases vocabulary.
#olve logic puzzles if you need some help with the +ogical 7easoning questions in DI.
C* De'elop a ho!!y
There is no need to study round the cloc$. Ta$e up a hobby or indulge in an interest in your spare
time. -obbies help in creating a wholesome personality which also ma$es you loo$ interesting at
your personal interview!
$* A'oid o'er<preparation
Ta$e a brea$ when you feel that &'T is getting to you. It is important to en8oy answering &'T if
you want to crac$ it. +oo$ at solving &'T as a challenge( not a routi