Concepts for CAT

My PI experience in IIM Lucknow(25th Feb 2011)

2011-02-26T10:33:00.000+05:30

Essay : Religion is the only way to attain Spirituality
Topic:
Number of Ppl present 7
Time: 15 mins
Brief Snapshot of the attempt:
GD Time given : 10.5 mins
Was a good GD. Entered twice. Good group. no fish market Everyone helping everyone else.
Rate your preparation(0-5):3
Rate your performance(0-5):3

PI:

Me: Good Evening Sir.

P1: Can i Have your documents please.
Me: Here they are sir.

P2: So jaydev, Please tell me something about your academics from School.
Me: I was in R C Patel School in Borivali and completed my SSC in the year 2001.

P1: You stay in Borivali?
Me: Yes sir. Then i joined a diploma course in S B M Polytechnic. It was a 4 yrs course with a one year internship integrated in the same.

P2: Why did it take 4 yrs for your 12th?
Me: Sir, as i told i did not go for 12th but did a 4 yr Diploma course in Digital Electronics from S B M Polytechnic in Vile Parle which is equivalent to 12th. On the completion of the course i got admission in K J Somaiya COE.

P1: Was it because you did the diploma? I mean there are several colleges which give you admission in the Degree course if you've done the diploma from the same right?
Me: No sir, we have a centralised procedure for admission where after the completion of the diploma one needs to apply for admission in the Degree colleges. Based on the score one has in the Diploma, they get admission to the concerned colleges. I got my admission in K J Somaiya COE through this process. I completed my Graduation in the year 2008 and have been working with TCS since then.

P2: So it was 3 yrs?
Me: No i have been with TCS for 2 yrs and 3 months as of now.

P2: No, I am asking about the degree course.
Me: Yes sir, after completing the diploma, we get a direct admission into the 2nd year of engineering.

P2: Its mathematics that you'll lose out on right?
Me: No, I wouldn't say that. Its just that in Diploma, we have mathematics only in the first 2 years and then no maths for the next 2 yrs. This gap is probably why some of the diploma students do not do good in maths. But i feel personally, i did good in mathematics.

P2: OK. So tell me something about your extra curricular activities.
Me: I was the Cultural Secretary for S B M Polytechnic and handled the various inter college events. I was also the PRO in IETE at Somaiya COE.

P2: What are your Hobbies?
Me: I like playing chess, reading Novels.

P2: Which novels?
Me: I like Harry Potter, LOTR, Bartaemius Trilogy, Inheritance Series, Novels by Dan Brown and other such fictional novels.

P2: You don't read Gujarati Novels?
Me: No. I haven't read any till date.

P2: You do know how to read and write in your mother tongue right?
Me: Ya, I do know how to write in Gujarati. My Grandfather had taught me the same.

P2: Thats good atleast. But you never felt like reading a gujarati Novel?
Me: No. I haven't read one till now.

P1: Why is your latest salary less than your first salary (Laughing)?
Me: The first salary was for around 2 months and the same is reflecting in arrears (smiling). Hence the difference.

P2: So tell me which are your other hobbies?
Me: Its reading, playing chess.

P2: You watch movies or some tele shows?
Me: yes, I occasionally go for a movie with friends when we have some time.

P1: Yes, timewould be one big issue

P1: So tell me, Why would you like to go for an MBA leaving your current job at TCS?
Me: Blah, blah, blah... (Don't remember much of it myself )

P2: So you've applied for ABM as well. What was your motivation for the same?
Me: Blah, blah, blah...

P1: What is the crop grown in Gujarat? In Dahisar(Mumbai)?
Me: Clueless :(

P1: Which other calls do you have? What would be your preference in PGP and PGP-ABM?
Me: answered.

My PI experience in SIBM Pune (6th Feb 2011)

2011-02-11T11:06:00.001+05:30

Hello All,

Please go through the following interrview and let me know how you'll rate the same:

College: SIBM Pune

Candidate: EXTC graduate working in TCS for 27 months

Interviewer1: HR Faculty from SIBM

Interviewer2: An Industry expert (Laywer by profession)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interviewer1: Tell us something about yourself.

Candidate: I am ... from Mumbai. Born and brought up in the city, i live with my parents. My father is an Estate agent and my mom is a homemaker. My sibling is currently pursuing his CA course. he has completed his Company Secretarial Course. I completed my graduation from K J Somaiya COE and have been working with TCS since the past 27 months.

Is there something specific you are looking for?

I1: Tell us something about your hobbies(Smiles).

C: I like reading novels and also playing chess.

I2: So you play chess regularly?

C: I used to play chess regularly till my junior college. But after getting into Engineering, i was unable to devote adequate time to the same.

I2: Have you played in any tournaments?

C: In my junior college, i did represent my institute in a college level competition.

I1: How would you rate yourself on a scale of 10 when it comes to academics?

C: I would rate myself somewhere between 7 - 7.5

I1: And what about extra curricular activities?

C: I would say, it would be around 8.5-9

I1: Any reason why you would rate yourself higher in extra curriculars?

C: I had been actively involved in the extra curricular activities during my college. I was the Cultural Secretary in the students cuncil in Junior College.

I was also the PRO for IETE council and had also acted as the Comparer/Host for several college events besides participating in the Chess competition.

I1: Tell us something about your job.

C: I am working in TCS for the past 27 months and am currently working as a Module Leader. I lead a Team size of around 5 members.

I1: When you are already in such a good designation, why would you want to leave the firm and join a full time 2 yrs course. You would need to resign from your organisation for this right?

C: Its not the case. TCS encourages its employees to go for an MBA and are willing to retain the employees as a part of the organisation during the tenure of their academic course. The employees are on Leave wihout pay but still a part of the organisation. The motive behind me to go for an MBA is to learn the various aspects of an organisation. Currently I concentrate only on the technical aspects. I would like to learn a great deal of the various other activities like how the Marketing team functions. What are the dyanamics on which the project costings is decided and so on so that i have a better insight and i can manage things better given the opportunity.

I2: Can you give us an example of failure in your life? And also how you tackled the same.

C: (Thinking) I would say it came at the onset of our project when we were just being allocated our modules. I was very keen to be a part of the main module of our Project say Module1. However when the team segregation happened i was assigned to Module2 which was relatively a simpler module compared to the Module1. I was very dejected due to this and considered this as a personal failure as i was unable to ramp up my skills in the Java coding set so as to be considered for being a part of the Module1 team.

I2: And how did you tackle the situation?

C: As i told you i was dejected at the beginning and took a few days to get back to normal. But then i considered this as a blessing in disguise and concentrated my energy on ramping up my Jave skills and also at the same time being an active part of the module2. The efforts paid off and i was recognised for the same when the project went into support. I was promoted as the Module Leader for both support of the entire project and was able to tackle the issues arriving in the Module1 as well.

Now when i look back i feel it was for the better that i was not assigned to the Module1 as it required a lot of knowledge and deep understanding of the Java coding, which at that point of time i lacked. I very much made up for the same in the coming months while working on the second module.

I2: Why would you feel your coding skills were relatively weaker compared to your contemporary?

C: It may be primarily because i came from EXTC engg. while my colleagues were from Comp. Engg. stream. This gave them an edge when it came to coding.

I2: Then Why did you opt for joining the IT industry after completing your graduation in EXTC?

C: It was due to several factors primary amongst them being that i completed my graduation in the year 2008 when there was a huge crisis in the market and the jobs were hard to come by. During that time when i got the offer from TCS i was more than willing to take up the challenge. Plus there was the Brand TATA associated with the company which made the offer even more lucrative.

I2: So was it because of an absence of Jobs in market of for Brand TATA that you joined TCS?

C: I would say it was a combination of several factors, but these two were the primary.

I2: If you were given a choice between TCS and TATA Telecom during that time, Which one would you have opted for?

C: I would have opted for the TATA Telecom offer.

I2: Have you been to your native place?

C: Not in the recent past. We have our entire family settled in Mumbai and do not have any relatives in our native place. Also the property there has been sold off years ago and hence have not visited the same since ages.

I2: But have you visited any rural areas?

C: I most certainly have. We visit a village in Gujarat for a yearly occasion when we go for a Pooja at one of the temple's.

I1: That should be it. It was a pleasure talking with you.

Cube of a number-Solution

2011-01-26T00:53:00.002+05:30

Question

Solution:
The smallest 10 digit no starts with 1 and is followed by 9 zeroes. When we take the cube of it, we get a 28 digit no.

Also, the smallest 11 digit no. starts with 1 and is followed by 10 zero's. When we take the cube of it, we get a 31 digit no.

Hence, the no. of digits in the cube root of a 29 digit number should be b) 10.

Cube of a number

2011-01-26T00:52:00.002+05:30

Question:

The cube of an integer consists of 29 digits. How many digits would the original number have?
a)11 b)10 c)9 d)8 e)cant say

Click here for Solution

Simultaneous Equation Solution - 1

2011-01-24T15:38:00.004+05:30

QUESTION

Solution:
Total No. of fruits initially in the basket = 11

Avg. Cost per fruit in the basket after replacement = 19.27...

Logic:
Let the no. of pears be A and that of peaches be O.
Let the cost of an pear be x and that of an peach be y.

Total cost = Ax + Oy = 248 .... Given
Avg cost of fruit = (Ax + Oy)/(A + O) = 248/(A + O)

Adding an Pear the equation becomes : (248 + x)/(A + O + 1) = Avg. + 2
Adding an Peach the equation becomes : (248 + y)/(A + O + 1) = Avg. - 1

Subtracting the above equations : (x - y)/ (A + O + 1) = 3
i.e. x-y = 3 (A + O + 1)

Also after the replacement of 2 pears by peaches the avg cost per fruit:
(248 - 2x + 2y)/(A + O) = 16
(248 -2(3(A + O + 1)))/(A + O) = 16
(248 - 6 - 6(A + O))/(A + O) = 16
242/(A + O) = 16 + 6
Therefore, A + O = 242/22 = 11

i.e Number of fruits initially in the basket = 11.

Avg cost after an pear is replaced by peach:
(248 - x + y)/(A + O) = (248 - 36)/11 = 212/11 = 19.27....

Simultaneous Equation Question - 1

2011-01-24T15:33:00.007+05:30

Question:
A basket containing a certain number of pears and peaches costs Rs. 248. If 1 pear is added to the basket, the average cost per fruit in the basket increases by Rs. 2 and if 1 peach is added to the basket, the average cost per fruit in the basket decreases by Rs. 1. It is also known that if 2 pears are replaced with 2 peaches, the average cost per fruit in the basket becomes Rs. 16.Find the total number of fruits in the basket initially, and the the average cost per fruit in the basket after an pear is replaced by an peach.

SOLUTION

Finding the square of a number between 25 to 75

2009-03-21T18:07:00.002+05:30

The earlier trick for finding the square was a more generic one and can be implemented to find out the square of any number. You can find the trick here:

http://conceptsforcat.blogspot.com/2009/03/trick-for-squares-of-number.html

However, at points it is time consuming and needs good multiplication skills.

This trick is a more specific one to find out the square of any number between 25 and 75.

The only pre-requisites for this trick is the knowledge of the squares of 1 to 25.

So it goes this way:

1. Assume the number to be X.

2. Let the difference of the number from 25 be Y i.e. Y = (X - 25)

3. Let the difference of the number from 50 be Z i.e. Z = (X - 50)

4. The square of the number will be [(100 x Y) + (Square of Z)].

The above trick can be explained from the following examples:

Eg1. Let the number be 33 i.e. X = 33

Hence, Y = (X - 25) = (33 - 25) = 8

Also, Z = (X - 50) = (33 -50) = - 17

Therefore the square of X = [(100Y) + (Square of Z)]

= [(100 x 8) + (-17 x -17)]

= 800 + 289

= 1089.

i.e. Square of 33 = 1089.

Eg2. Let the number be 53 i.e. X = 53

Hence, Y = (X - 25) = (53 - 25) = 28

Also, Z = (X - 50) = (53 -50) = 3

Therefore the square of X = [(100Y) + (Square of Z)]

= [(100 x 28) + (3 x 3)]

= 2800 + 9

= 2809.

i.e. Square of 53 = 2809.

A Trick for finding the Square of a number

2009-03-10T20:59:00.006+05:30

Here is a trick which everyone will find greatly useful for finding the square of any given number.

The basic steps are as follows:

1. Assume the number to be X.

2. Find the nearest multiple of 10 from the given number. Let it by Y.

3. Let Z = X - Y

4. Find X + Z

5. Multiply Y with X+Z.

6 Add the square of Z to this product.

You get the desired result.

It appears a bit confusing but can be explained with the following examples:

Eg 1. Let the number be 23 i.e. X=23

Hence Y = 20(Nearest multiple of 10 from 23)

Therefore, Z = X-Y = 23-20 = 3

Now X+Z = 23+3 = 26

Y.(X+Z)= 20(26) = 520

Square of Z = (3 x 3) = 9

Hence Square of 23 = 520 + 9 = 529.

Another example:

Let the number be 29 i.e. X=29

Hence Y = 30(Nearest multiple of 10 from 29)

Therefore, Z = X-Y = 29-30 = -1

Now X+Z = 29+(-1) = 28

Y.(X+Z)= 30(28) = 840

Square of Z = (-1 x -1) = 1

Hence Square of 29 = 840 + 1 = 841

The trick is very useful and can help you save a lot of time.

However, it requires a good amount of practise. But once perfected it can be a very lethal weapon in your arsenal for belling the CAT.

If any doubts feel free to post your message and i will reply ASAP.

Strategies for Mocks

2008-07-21T21:09:00.004+05:30

I just recently came across some great tricks and would love to share it with everyone.
So here they go:

VA general strategies:
1.Read an RC as if you are the author. Blank ur mind when u start the RCs. Ur individual opinion while reading/doing an RC is useless. So is you prior knowledge. The questions are asked from the viewpoint of the author, and you’ve got to answer them in that sense. Remember, for RCs, You DO NOT have any knowledge/opinion.

2.Read newspapers and enjoy them. Don’t read stupid weird articles just because you want to improve your VA. Read funny, sexy articles that you like and enjoy. It’s a much better way of improving your English than reading up on the etymology of words from thick red books.

3.Word-lists are stupid and a waste of time. They are not important for cat. Burn your word-lists.

DI general strategies:
1.Do NOT spend more time on a set just because you’ve already spent some time on it. Wasted time does not merit more time to be wasted. If after 20 minutes of reading a set, you do not understand it, the LEAVE it!

2.Practice! Practice only from mock-cats. The BRM's are generally for ppl who are going to give cat in 2010, and I expect none of you are like that.

QA general strategies:
1.Make sure you read ALL the questions! Even if they are from pathetic topics like PnC or Probability. This way, you’ll never feel like a fool later for not having read a question completely.

General strategies:
1.Give equal importance to the three sections in terms of time. This simple rule, whenever violated, has caused havoc. Do not allot less than 40 minutes for any section, whatever be the compulsion.

2.Your primary aim in all these mocks is to clear ALL the cut-off's in every paper. If you can clear ALL three cut-off's in cat, there’s a 99.99% chance of you clearing the total cut-off as well, and making it to the next stage.

3.Do not bother whether the paper is tough or not. Your job is to make sure that by the end of the paper you have read all the questions and feel happy that you’ve given it your best shot.

4.Remember, the Real competition is with yourself and your past scores. The zillion other people writing the mock are not your problem. It’s their problem that you are writing the mock as well.

DI Caselet No.3

2008-07-16T21:00:00.011+05:30

A very intriguing case which i came across a couple of days ago and found seriously worthy of a mention.

In the following addition each capitalised letter stands for a unique digit from 0 to 9.

Further a particular digit may be represented by only one of the alphabets.

...A B C D
+ E B C B
------------
A F G A G

Q1. What is the value of F?
1) 6
2) 4
3) 1
4) 0

Q2. What is the value of BADGE?
1) 76183
2) 61738
3) 71638
4) None of these

Q3. What is the value of C?
1) 0
2) 3
3) 6
4) 5

Solution within a week.

Quant Question No.1

2008-07-14T22:03:00.005+05:30

Here is a question which was a bit ambiguous and several found difficult.
Try it out.

Q. Find the no of ways in which 14 identical and indistinguishable balls can be divided into 3 groups?

1) 16
2) 17
3) 18
4) 19
5) 20

My approach:
there are 14 balls which are to be divided into 3 groups.

It is not mentioned that the the groups are distinct or the balls are to be placed in 3 different sacks or something like that.

It implies that we are just supposed to separate the total of 14 balls into 3 different groups and the groups are indistinguishable as well(Mentioned this as i saw a lot of confusion on the earlier pages).

So now we separate the balls into 3 groups in the following manner:

1. (1,1,12)(1,2,11)(1,3,10)....(1,6,7) ....6 ways
2. (2,2,10)(2,3,9)(2,4,8,)(2,5,7)(2,6,6)...5 ways

Note that i have not considered the case of (2,1,11) as it will be similar to the one considered in the previous iteration.

3. (3,3,8,)(3,4,7)(3,5,6)......................3 ways
4. (4,4,6)(4,5,5)...............................2 ways
5. (6,6,2)........................................It should not be considered as already considered in iteration 2.

Add up and you get a total of 16 different ways of representing the 14 balls into 3 groups.

DI Caselet No.2

2008-07-09T22:43:00.003+05:30

Four companies- Bharti, Hutch, Tata and Reliance bid for four projects A, B, C, D the bids for which were opened in that order. For each project the companies are ranked 1 to 4, with the company having the highest bid ranked 1 and the company with the lowest bid ranked 4. No two companies have the same rank for a particular project and each company has a different rank for each of the four projects.

Further,

(1) (1) Neither Hutch nor Bharti had rank 1 for project A or project D.

(2) (2) The bids for the project in which Reliance was ranked 3^rd was opened before the project in which Tata was ranked 3^rd but after the project in which Bharti was ranked 3^rd.

(3) (3) Tata was ranked 2^nd in the project A.

(4) (4) The bids for the project in which Hutch was ranked 2^nd was opened before the project in which Reliance was ranked 2^nd but after the project in which Bharti was ranked 2^nd.

Q1. Who was ranked 3^rd in project C?

a) (1) Hutch

b) (2) Bharti

c) (3) Reliance

d) (4) Tata

Q2. In project D, Reliance was ranked?

a) (1) 1^st

b) (2) 2^nd

c) (3) 3^rd

d) (4) 4^th

Q3. In which project was Hutch ranked 1^st?

a) (1) A

b) (2) B

c) (3) C

d) (4) D

Q4. In which project was Bharti ranked 4^th?

a) (1) A

b) (2) B

c) (3) C

d) (4) D

Solution will be posted within a week.

DI Caselet No. 1

2008-07-09T21:48:00.006+05:30

There are 5 players- Sachin, Gopichand, Dhanraj, Paes and Anand- playing a different game among Cricket, Hockey, Badminton, Chess and Tennis. They live in 5 different cities- Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad. The following information is also known about them:

(1) (1) Paes plays neither cricket nor chess

(2) (2) Gopichand is not a chess player.

(3) (3) Anand does not play tennis and the tennis player is not from Delhi.

(4) (4) Anand and Dhanraj do not live in Chennai or Hyderabad and neither of them plays hockey or chess.

(5) (5) The person living in Chennai plays neither tennis nor badminton.

(6) (6) Sachin and Gopichand do not play tennis or badminton and they do not live in Delhi or Chennai.

(7) (7) The cricketer does not live in Hyderabad or Mumbai.

Based on the information given answer the following questions:

Q1. Who plays Badminton?

(1) (1) Gopichand

(2) (2) Dhanraj

(3) (3) Anand

(4) (4) Paes

(5) (5) Sachin

Q2. Who lives in Hyderabad?

(1) (1) Sachin

(2) (2) Dhanraj

(3) (3) Gopichand

(4) (4) Anand

(5) (5) Paes

Q3. Which of the following statement is FALSE?

(1) (1) The player who plays chess lives in Hyderabad.

(2) (2) The player who lives in Kolkata plays cricket.

(3) (3) The player who lives in Delhi plays chess.

(4) (4) The player who plays tennis lives in Mumbai.

(5) (5) None of the above.

Solutions will be posted within a week.

Accuracy really matters

2008-06-30T12:51:00.005+05:30

Accuracy is very important to improve your overall score and thereby bring about an increase in your percentile as well.

Let me explain you with an example.

In a paper having 75 Questions with 25 in each section; 4marks for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong one; an individual will not be attempting all the 25 in each section (unless of course he is specially gifted).

So assuming that you attempt 15 questions in each sections(This brings down your attempt to 60 marks in a section).

You will be scoring a total of 60 only when your accuracy is 100%.

If you fare with an accuracy of 80% your score will end up at45(-3 for wrong ones and 48 for the correct)

But if you accuracy slumps below 60% you will not be able to score above 30 and probably will miss out on the cut-off's.

So, effectively, its not only the attempts that matter but also the accuracy.

Concept 1: Square of ...5

2008-06-18T00:28:00.001+05:30

As far as finding the square of any number ending with 5 is concerned there is a short-cut trick with which we can always find the square without putting much of an effort.

There is a mathematical relation between the digits of the square and the actual number. For finding out the square of the given number ending with 5, we first split the given number into 2 parts separating out the least significant digit (which always is 5) from the rest of the number and discarding it. In other words we simply remove the 5 at the end of the number.

For example if the given number is 45 we consider only 4 or if the given number is 125 we consider only 12.

Now we multiply the number so obtained by its succeeding number. In mathematical terms if the number obtained is ‘n’ we perform an operation and get the result x=n. (n+1)

We take this resultant number and attach a 25 at the end of it.

Hence the square of 45 will be equal to 4*5=2025 and that of 125 can be given as 12*13=15625.

You can check this trick out for any number ending with a 5 and you will always get an accurate result.

An Introduction

2008-06-08T14:27:00.000+05:30

This Blogspot is dedicated to all those who want to Bell The elusive CAT and get into the prestigious institutes of India.

I would love to share as many concepts as i have and also put as many good Questions and caselets that i come across. Any suggestions from your side are cordially welcomed.

Hope you find this site helpful in your persuit for the CAT.