How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 3 of 3

Previous Articles: 
How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 1 of 3 : http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/how-to-secure-rank-1-in-mba-cet-by.html

How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 2 of 3 : http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/how-to-secure-rank-1-in-mba-cet-by_22.html

While writing mock what is important is constant improvement in your scores. There are only three ways of improving, 

• one is improving your accuracy
• the second by improving your speed and 
• the  third is improving your strategy in the exam.

Improving accuracy requires one to completely analyse where one has gone wrong in the mocks and try to improve on that. So if it is conceptual error, try to improve on your concepts. Go back to the books. If you still don't get it then ask your friends. Sometimes it is possible that the sum is too tough and takes a lot of time to solve, in that case you can skip it unless you find a shorter way of solving it.

Another source of error is silly mistakes. This is because one has to be fast and the paper is of 150 minutes and so one could be tired at the last stages of the exam. Try to identify where one is committing the error. If it is error in reading the question, then read the question carefully the next time one solves the mock. Some silly mistakes are fine, but moment it exceeds 3 to 4 marks then it is a cause of worry.

Improving speed requires one to improve ones method of solving. This is only possible if one keeps on looking at better ways of solving the questions. For this reason, when one analyses a mock one has to focus also on the questions one has attempted correctly to get better method of solving and hence save time when one attempts similar questions the next time. To get better methods may not be wholly possible by studying alone. So it is important that you have some study partners or some faculty who can teach you better methods of solving the sums. Group study helps if all the students are motivated and help each other out to improve. I once had a group of 3 students from the same college and class and they used to always study together and come together with their doubts. All three landed in JBIMS. 

Third method is to hone one's strategy. Strategy basically means how one is going to solve the paper. You can solve 1 to 200 questions in a line. But the problem is that if the paper is lengthy, and the easy questions are in the end, you may end up leaving easy questions that are in the end. Difference between a good strategy and an average strategy could be around 25 marks. Strategy basically involves a lot of factors. right from knowing which questions to solve first and which to solve later to balancing your accuracy and speed. What is important in every strategy is that you should be able to see all the sums in the exam and able to pick up the easy ones and leave the difficult ones. But each one is different and so what strategy works for one person need not work for the other. I remember when I wrote the CET for the first time I experimented with 7 to 8 different strategies before I finalised on the one which I used during the exam. You can consult your faculty with regards to your strategy which will be based on your strengths and weakness. I will come up with a separate article on the different strategies that can be used in the CET exam. But remember if someone tells you that a specific strategy is a best strategy, don't believe unless you have experimented with a few different strategies.

So when targeting Rank 1, one has to look at accuracy and speed and improve in both areas. Sometimes you need to balance the two. If your accuracy is very high but have low speed, then can look at just improving your speed even if your accuracy drops a bit, as long as your overall score improves. Sometimes you may need to do the reverse. All the best in your quest to secure Rank 1 in the exam.

CET16 Test Series by Patrick - http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/cet16-test-series-by-quoin-academy.html 

Patrick D'souza is an alumns of JBIMS. He has secured Rank 1 in CET in 2011 and 2012. More than 120 of his students secured admission in JBIMS in the last 6 years.

To join the Free WhatsApp Group with regards to CET Prep with Patrick, WhatsApp your name to 9821316764. 

We do conduct CET Test Series, CET Crash course and CET Shortcuts Workshop (Starting in January). - For all these course Patrick D'souza is the faculty.

We also conduct test series for CMAT and TISS

For details contact: 25394777 / 67120221 / 9821316764.

How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 2 of 3

Previous Article: How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 1 of 3 : http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/how-to-secure-rank-1-in-mba-cet-by.html

One important quality of a student who will score Rank 1 is that he needs to be familiar with the different types of questions that can come in the exam. To be familiar with different type of questions that can be asked, one has to solve a lot of mocks and do a lot of practice.

In CAT preparation old mocks are fine, but in CET ideally solve the latest mocks of different classes as what has been seen is that there are new type of questions in CET every year which is then asked in the subsequent years and that is only incorporated in the latest mocks.

It is difficult to predict the difficulty level of CET exam as it could differ drastically. (The cutoff for JB in written test have varied from 120 to 165 in written test). So it is important to get used to mocks of different difficulty levels so that one does not get surprised by the difficulty level of the exam.

When one writes mocks the focus has to be constant improvement. This is only possible if you analyse the mocks thoroughly and try to get better ways of solving the questions that have come in the mocks.

Number of Mocks that one needs to write can vary from 20 to 50 depending on the time available with the student. So one of the plans for the last 3 months is as follows.

From 12th week to CET to 10th week to CET one can write 1 mock per week (if one has not completed the syllabus) or 2 mocks per week (if one has finished the syllabus). The idea is to understand the paper pattern and find where one needs to work on and focus on the rest of the week on areas one has to improve. also in the initial period one may take more time to analyse the paper. So each paper one writes can be analysed for 5 to 6 hours or even more.

From 9^th week to CET to 6^th week before CET one can write 3 mocks per week. So on one day you can write and analyse your mock, which should take a total of 5 to 6 hours. On the next day you should be able to practice whatever your areas of improvement are so that you can be prepared to write the mock the next day.

From 5^th week to 2^nd week before CET exam you can write 4 to 5 mocks a week. So you can write and analyse mocks on two consecutive days with a days break for preparing for your areas of improvement. 

Last week writing just 2 to 3 mocks would suffice. One should not write too many mocks just before the exam or there could be a problem of burnout.

The focus in the last couple of weeks should be to go through the previous mocks that one has solved and go trough the questions that one has marked or see what mistakes one has done so that one does not repeat the same. One should also be going through the various strategies that one has adopted in different types of paper and try to finalise the strategy that one should adopt in the actual exam. So it is important that after writing each mock one should have a write up on the mock as to what worked, what did not and improvement for the next mocks. Also in the mock mark the questions you feel you should go through them at a later stage.

This plan basically assumes that you have finished with your syllabus 2 months before the exam.

That does not mean that you cannot crack the exam with 2 months left. I had a student by name Ranjan Sharma, who came to me with less than 2 months to go for the exam. He had not prepared for any other aptitude exam before and being a non Engineer had not touched Math for more than 4 years. He ensured that he went through all the important topics in 20 days and then spent 1 month writing mocks and analysing. He managed to secure Rank 9 in CET and made it to JBIMS easily.

I have been harping on 6 hours a day of preparation. But that will be difficult for working people. But working students need to work doubly hard. They need to some amount of their preparation during work – like reading or maybe analysing some part of mock that they have written. Rest of the preparation they need to do at home where they can spend around 3 to 4 hours of preparation time. I had a classroom student Varun Vaze who used to come late from work, sit late at night and write mocks and analyse the mock the next day. He used to write mocks until 12 to 1 am in the night. He made it to JBIMS.

Next Article (Part 3 of 3 of this series) will be on how to improve scores in the mocks.

CET16 Test Series by Patrick - http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/cet16-test-series-by-quoin-academy.html 

Patrick D'souza is an alumns of JBIMS. He has secured Rank 1 in CET in 2011 and 2012. More than 120 of his students secured admission in JBIMS in the last 6 years.

To join the Free WhatsApp Group with regards to CET Prep with Patrick, WhatsApp your name to 9821316764. 

We do conduct CET Test Series, CET Crash course and CET Shortcuts Workshop (Starting in January). - For all these course Patrick D'souza is the faculty.

We also conduct test series for CMAT and TISS

For details contact: 25394777 / 67120221.

MBA CET16 Test Series by Quoin Academy - Prepared by Patrick D'souza

CET16 Test Series

Like every year we will be conducting the test series for CET with 15 mocks. Last few years out of the test series students, we had selected 30 top students and trained them separately for JBIMS. We got great result with many of them making it to JBIMS.

This year too we are planning to select 30 top students and train them as a special batch for getting into JBIMS. Training will be conducted by Patrick D’souza (CET2011 and CET 2012 Topper).
There is usually around 25 marks difference between the written test cutoff for JB and the highest scorer. This batch is to ensure that the group of students score enough marks so that the students do not have to make a lot of effort in GDPI to get into JB.

There will be separate one to one session with all the other students giving them individual feedback as to how to improve their scores.

The student will be given flexibility in writing the test. 

The fees for the test series is as follows

Rs. 1500/- For 15 Mock CETs (online). (Early bird discount - fees is Rs. 1200 for 15 Mocks)

Rs. 1800/- For 15 Mock CETs (online) + 4 Mock CMATs (online) (Early bird discount - fees is Rs. 1500 for 15 Mocks)

Detailed analysis will be provided for the tests.

For more details contact us at 25394777 / 67120221 / 9821316764.

Some of the CET toppers who have been trained by Patrick D’souza include

Dhananjay Shettighar – 2nd Rank CET 2003
Abhay More – 1st Rank CET 2004
Abhishek Puranik – 2nd Rank CET 2005
Sameer Gunjal – 3rd Rank CET 2005
Anish Shrivastava – 1^st Rank (OMS) CET 2007

Ashwant Tiwari – 1^st Rank (OMS) CET 2008

Vaibhav Shinde – 2^nd Rank CET 2010

Harshul Savla - 3rd Rank (OMS) CET 2010

Nikhil John – 4^th Rank CET 2010

Gautam Iyer – 4^th rank CET 2011
SujitKumar - 2nd Rank CMAT 2012 (JB Admission through CMAT)
2013 CET was not conducted but about 15 students of Quoin Academy made it to JBIMS.
CET 2014 - About 15 students made it to JBIMS
2015 - No ranks given - 16 students in JBIMS

From 2008 to 2015 there are 150 students of Quoin Academy who made it to JBIMS.

Testimonials by some of our students

Sagar Patil (JBIMS)

With only 120 seats in JBIMS, one cannot afford to relax ..... I joined Quoin academy  .....  and I thank all my friends who suggested me to join this academy. Patrick sir, being a Bajajite himself, has the experience and knowledge to help one overcome the final hurdle. ...... The fact that most of the students who eventually make it to JBIMS come from Quoin speaks for itself about the academy.

Vishal Yadav (JBIMS)

The coaching given by Quoin Academy is excellent. Chapter-wise test which were conducted after every topic were of great help to me. The mocks also gave me a lot of practise. The various mock GD/PI's helped me build my public speaking skills. I sincerely thanks Patrick Sir, Rochelle Maam and all the members of Quoin Academy.

Rohan Agrawal (JBIMS)

Even though I was preparing for CET for quite some time, I felt that something was missing in my preparation. Then, when I found out about Quoin Academy and their tryst with success in the various entrance exams, I knew this was the place I had to be in. I joined the test series in the month of December, when my preparation for CET was in full swing. The tests at Quoin were designed in such a way that they enabled me to tackle the largely unconventional CET-2011 paper. The detailed analysis and solutions provided after each test were very helpful in understanding some of the tricky questions which Patrick Sir threw at us. I was able to strengthen my positives and do away with my negatives. Also at Quoin, we were encouraged to discuss and analyse the tests amongst ourselves so that each one of us got different approaches for particular type of questions. I am extremely grateful to Patrick Sir and Quoin Academy for the guidance and support they extended to me throughout my preparation.

Janarchan Wagh (JBIMS)

Topic wise tests and full length tests in test series were true replication of management exams, innovative approach to solutions and explanations of concepts helped me to make my base stronger. Personal guidance in special workshops had helped me to identify my test taking strategies and strong and weak areas in sections. I liked the 'solving without pen' approach and speed techniques to solve questions. Because of this test series, I could crack CET. Thank you Quion Academy.

Kamlesh Asrani (JBIMS)

Patrick Sir and Rochelle Maam’s methodology and keen analysis of the mocks helps you understand your weaknesses, build your knowledge and have that confidence. The quality of the students that you interact with here is really good and that adds to your learning.

Anoop Kalothia (JBIMS)

I sincerely appreciate the flexibility of teaching and customized guidance that Quoin Academy provided to me. I was able to concentrate on my strengths and do away with my weaknesses.
I am extremely grateful to both Patrick sir and Rochelle ma'am for the guidance and support that has been given to me throughout my preparations for CET.

Dipali Pingale (JBIMS)

To tell something about Quoin Academy....The test pattern of CET test series was very good. It comprises of both difficult and easy papers. I found that the schedule for test series was going well along with the preparation. Got very good support from staff and sir for GDPI. GDPI tactics were unique and useful. So I would like to thank to everyone in Quoin Academy.

Sai Gadkari (JBIMS)

It was always a dream to get into one of the top B-Schools ........ One of my friends in JB asked me to join Quoin Academy  .....  And I am glad that I got into the right place at the right time.... Patrick Sir’s mentorship helped me identify my strengths and weakness. ...... I’ll take this opportunity to thank Patrick Sir and Quoin

Academy for helping me realize my potential and fulfill my dream.

Ajinkya Kamble (JBIMS)

If I have to attribute my success of getting into JBIMS (converting call to TISS) to one single factor, it will undoubtedly be the association with Quoin Academy. The input and Support that I received was nothing short of extraordinary.

Omkar Moye (JBIMS)

Quoin Academy ..... The individual attention that I received and the quality of fellow batchmates are unmatched .... I have and would always recommend Quoin Academy to any MBA aspirant

Swanand Rajput (JBIMS)

A unique thing about Quoin Academy test series was that it had papers of diferent difficulty llevels which not only gave the confidence but was also helpful while solving the final paper.

Roshan Dandge (JBIMS)

The test papers at Quoin Academy helped me be prepared for all types of papers which helped esp. this year's CET being among the tougher ones. I also want to thank you for the GD/PI sessions as they were very effective & will definitely help me in the long run.

Mandar Shirodkar (JBIMS)

It had always been my dream to get into top B-school and JBIMS being one of them. Thanks to patrick sir i could achieve that. ..... training at Quoin Academy is very comprehensive. Patrick sirs indepth analysis and feedback ....... helped me a lot to improve on my weakness.

Pramod Hol (JBIMS)

'Personal Attention' is the USP of Quoin academy......  I must give my special regards to Rochelle ma'am for providing me with valuable inputs .....

Ankit Agarwal (JBIMS)

I had joined Quoin ...... and I got to admit that the learnings I gathered from this course were immense.
Thanks to Patrick Sir and Rochelle Ma'am who helped me achieve my dream, in every possible way.

Gautam Iyer (JBIMS)

...... the time that I spent at Quoin Academy helped me improve my knowledge  ......  gave me immense confidence to face the actual process.

How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 1 of 3

Since I have twice scored a Rank 1 in CET (in CET11 and CET12), I can advice you on what is required to be Rank 1 in CET. But before that let us understand the importance of being Rank 1. Idea of a student who gets Rank 1 is to secure admission in JBIMS. So lets start with that.

There are a lot of students whom I meet who keep the target as getting into JB or getting a call from JB, but do not end up anywhere near it. I personally feel that this is a wrong target. The target should be to score Rank 1 in CET and no less. Understand this that the difference in the marks of the student who scores Rank 1 and the last students in open category to get into JB is around 25 marks. So the person who has scored rank 1 easily makes it to JBIMS every year even though he had a bad GDPI, whereas the person who makes it last to JB has to really struggle with the GDPI rounds. As a matter of fact in 2011, I scored enough marks in my written paper where the cutoff for JB after the GDPI rounds (that is out of 240) was lower than my written test score. So technically even if I had got a 0 in my GDPI rounds I would have been still 6 marks above the cutoff of JBIMS.

But here I have a different point to make. It is based on the proverb that if you target the sky you will atleast reach the tree top. Similarly if you target rank 1 and work really hard for it and even if your exam goes bad, you will atleast get the marks required to get a call from JB. But if you target just JB and if your paper does not go as per expected you will be nowhere close to getting a call from JB. So right now if you want to make it to JB your focus should be to target Rank 1.

This article is focused on how to get Rank 1. Getting rank 1 is quite different from just getting some good marks and it requires a lot of hard work.

First and the most important thing to get Rank 1 is the belief that you can. No matter what your background, with sufficient practice you should be able to make it to Rank 1. I had a classroom student few years back who was from vernacular background and a non Engineer. His name was Abhay More. His verbal was weak. Apart from his normal studies, he worked very hard ensuring that he read a lot daily and spent enough time to improve his vocabulary that he was able to secure Rank 1. It just proves that hard work can do wonders when it concerns CET exam. But first and foremost you have to believe in your abilityto perform. It is only then you can achieve it. Unfortunately most of the students give up early because they have got low marks in their mocks or they feel there are others better than them, that they are out of the race before even the race has started. To be in the race, firstly believe in yourself.              (to be continued)

Next Article : How to Secure Rank 1 in MBA CET by Patrick - Part 2 of 3 : http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/how-to-secure-rank-1-in-mba-cet-by_22.html

CET16 Test Series by Patrick - http://mbacetprepwithpatrick.blogspot.in/2015/12/cet16-test-series-by-quoin-academy.html 

Patrick D'souza is an alumns of JBIMS. He has secured Rank 1 in CET in 2011 and 2012. More than 120 of his students secured admission in JBIMS in the last 6 years.

To join the Free WhatsApp Group with regards to CET Prep with Patrick, WhatsApp your name to 9821316764. 

We do conduct CET Test Series, CET Crash course and CET Shortcuts Workshop (Starting in January). - For all these course Patrick D'souza is the faculty.

We also conduct test series for CMAT and TISS

For details contact: 25394777 / 67120221.

Importance of MBA-CET Test Series and Mocks by Quoin Academy

One of the most important ways of preparing for the CET exam is to write a lot of mocks. Writing mocks for the CET exam is important for a number of reasons:

- CET is a speed based test, and being familiar with the question types that come in the mocks helps you to be faster.

- With 200 questions and 150 minutes, the strategy to write the paper is different for different students. So many mocks should be written to be able to understand what is the best strategy for you this will come about with experimenting the way you write the mock.

- Mocks also help you to plan for the strong and weak areas. So you can identify which questions to be solved, which to be left and which you should practice more to improve your score.

- 150 minutes is a long time in a speed based test and writing mocks helps one to build stamina to write the mock and be able to concentrate for 150 minutes.

But just writing mocks may not help. There are some dos and donts before you write a mock.

Before mock:

- Plan a strategy for the mock. This is done by deciding which are the type of questions you will solve first and which you will solve later. 

- Plan the time. How much time will you devote to each type of questions.

- Try and ensure you are able to write the test for 2.5 hours at one go.

After Mock:

- Solve all the questions you did not attempt. See if any of those were simple and you should have attempted it during the exam.

- Go though all the questions that you have gone wrong. Identify why did you commit those mistakes. Was it silly mistakes or was it conceptual error. for conceptual error, try to go through those concepts. For silly mistakes identify what type of silly mistakes you commit and try to e careful the next time.

- Go through all the questions that you have solved correctly and see if you could have solved it in a better way and saved time.

- Check whether the strategy that was planned was a success or not. If not then where did the strategy go wrong.

- How can the strategy be changed for the next mock so that you could increase your scores. try to experiment to understand what works and what does not work for you.

- Classify the various type of questions into 4 parts based on accuracy and time :

Type 1: Less time and High accuracy

Type 2: Less time and Low accuracy

Type 3: More time and High accuracy

Type 4: More time and Low accuracy

While preparing, try to focus on type 2 and type 3 questions initially and see if you can increase the accuracy in type 2 questions and reduce the time in type 3 questions.

- Mark the questions you feel were different and you would want to do it again at a later date.

- Make a write up about the mock in terms of what went right, what went wrong, what are your learning and what should you change regarding your preparation and strategy. Yo can go thrugh this write up close to the exam and revise your learning.

Quoin Academy is starting with mock test series for CET. The test series has 15 mocks and the price is Rs. 1200. The test series will include;

- 15 Mock tests (online)

- One to one session with Patrick D'souza (Rank 1 - CET11, CET12) to help plan your strategy for the exam.

- Top performers in the Mock will be selected for a special batch that will be conducted by Patrick D'souza.

Patrick D'souza is an alumni of JBIMS. He has secured Rank 1 in CET in 2011 and 2012. More than 120 of his students secured admission in JBIMS in the last 6 years.

To join the Free WhatsApp Group with regards to CET Prep with Patrick, WhatsApp your name to 9821316764. 

We do conduct CET Test Series, CET Crash course and CET Shortcuts Workshop (Starting in January).

We also conduct test series for CMAT and TISS

For details contact: 25394777 / 67120221.

How should students who prepared for CAT prepare for MBA CET

What next after CAT? The answer will differ from person to person. Some will say that I will focus on only CAT and if not try next year. Some others will say that let's try for GMAT. Others will say let's look at exams like XAT, SNAP etc. I will try and write an article on these options. Right now this article is focused on MBA CET preparation and how is MBA CET different from CAT.

Let's understand this that though the two exams are similar with respect to the syllabus that is covered, but the way you prepare and write the two exams are quite different. CAT is logic based exam whereas CET is a speed based exam. The difference is that for each question of CAT you need to think logically to get the answer whereas in CET you need to be as fast as possible to crack it. So in CAT you have 180 minutes to solve 100 questions which is almost 2 minutes on an average per question, in CET you have 150 minutes and 200 questions which is 45 seconds per question. So the change that has to be brought about is speed. You can't waste time in CET in thinking how to solve the sum. The moment you see a sum you need to be familiar with how to solve it. this familiarity will come with a lot of practice which is required in CET.

So how do you prepare for CET given that you have written the CAT exam? For that let's start by understanding the exam. CET has 200 questions which are broadly broken into the following areas:

Math (20 to 40 Qs)

Visuals (25 to 30 Qs)

Data Intepretation (10 to 25 Qs)

Reading Comprehension (10 to 20 Qs)

Verbal (50 to 70 Qs)

Reading Comprehension (5 to 20 Qs)

Logic (50 to 65 Qs)

First thing is to recognize the new type of questions in CET as compared to CAT. Visuals is a complete new area. A lot of questions in Logic and Verbal are quite different from those of CAT. So these are the initial areas that a person who has prepared for CAT should prepare on for CET. Steps recmmended to prepare for CET are:

1. Can start with writing a mock CET paper. This will help to understand what is the syllabus of CET and the questions that are different. 

2. Prepare those areas which are new in CET. this will include Visuals, Logic and Verbal questions. this can be done from different books that are available in the market. Banking Exam books can be looked into for preparation.

3. Once the preparations are over, focus on writing mocks at regular intervals. In CET, the more the mocks you write the better, as it gives you familiarity with the test. This is important for speed based test. 

4. After each test analyse your strategy and your strengths and weakness. Identify the areas which you can improve. Practice those areas before you start writing the next test.

These steps can be followed for a proper preparation for the exam. I will be writing more articles on preparation of various areas in CET.

Patrick D'souza is an alumni of JBIMS. He has secured Rank 1 in CET in 2011 and 2012. More than 120 of his students secured admission in JBIMS in the last 6 years.

To join the WhatsApp Group with regards to CET Prep with Patrick WhatsApp your name to 9821316764. 

We do conduct CET Test Series (Starting December 13th), CET Crash course and CET Shortcuts Workshop (Starting in January).

We also conduct test series for SNAP, CMAT, TISS and workshop for XAT.

For details contact: 25394777 / 67120221.