The art of Learning

January 21st, 2010

I observe that a huge chunk of student community preparing for CAT and other MBA entrance exams joins coaching institutes of various hues and color in the hope that they would get the best quality faculty, best quality material, excellent experience of service delivery, very good management where their grievances if any would be redressed the moment they mouth the complaint, and the list of their wants goes on.

Did you notice that the entire focus of the students and even most of the coaching institutes is upon improving the above mentioned variables to the maximum extent possible, little realizing that the success of the student (here, securing admission to the B-school of desire, after clearing all the hurdles of the admission process of that B-school) depends only on one person: the student himself (without prejudice to the female gender, for ease of writing). By saying so, there is no attempt on my part to undermine the importance of all the variables. No doubt they are important, but unless the ‘receiver’ of that service is mentally prepared for that, all the efforts of the ‘deliverer’ (which includes all the variables mentioned) come to a naught. And none of these outside variables has any control over the germination of the seed of the mental preparedness of the ‘receiver’.

So, the first requirement for a student to learn anything in any coaching institute (or any educational institute, for that matter) is his mental preparedness. And so the first question which any aspiring student should ask himself is:

Is he mentally prepared for management education and all that it takes?

Only when the student answers it in the affirmative can the next step of learning begin. As a next step, the student after some basic research joins a coaching institute. Once he joins, there is a risk that he may leave the entire efforts of learning to the coaching institute and its faculty, and the moment this happens, his learning immediately stops and what begins is his focus on what is being delivered to him and its quality. If he likes it, he savors it like some sweet fruit; otherwise he starts complaining and expects the organization to fulfill his demands in the next minute. Would it not be pertinent here to ask the big question: WHERE IS THE LEARNING?

Whatever a student gets from the coaching institute are the resources for him and he should utilize those resources to the fullest extent possible. And for that, he must learn the art of learning. That brings us to the next question: How does one LEARN? A faculty teaching any concept in the best possible manner may not necessarily lead to learning of a concept by the student. Student’s learning happens when a particular concept hits him in the deeper recesses of his mind to that extent where he experiences a sort of ‘Aha’. It’s a pleasing experience! The deeper this experience of ‘Aha’ is, the stronger the probability of learning and heightened retention power. To gain this experience of ‘Aha’, one has to spend adequate amount of time with the concepts and this means that merely reading a particular chapter n number of times may not yield desired results. One can understand the importance of this experience when one realizes that such an experience is a result of creation of new networks between nerve cells of our brain. Each new network created means newer and newer learning. Moreover, the stronger the experience of ‘Aha’ is, the stronger the strength of this network and hence longer retention power. At this point, I would also like to mention that such creation of networks between nerve cells is always painful, which explains why any kind of new learning always entails a baggage of pain associated with it. Consciously neglecting this pain with the sole objective of gaining the pleasure of having learnt something new and fruitful is the real clue to the art of learning.

To experience this experience, besides mental preparedness (as already mentioned), one must be genuinely interested in that topic at hand. The interest in that topic may or may not be there already. A faculty teaching that topic in the class usually tries his best to generate interest for that topic in the minds of the students, but may not always succeed for the simple reason that getting interested in that topic lies completely in the hands of the student and not the faculty. If one is disinterested in a particular topic, then no amount of reading that topic or a faculty teaching that topic can create interest in that topic. Student’s interest in a particular topic or subject is either inbuilt or has to be created by himself. And in case the student is not able to create interest by any of the means, it becomes a major impediment to his learning quality for that subject and he continues to remain relatively weak in that area.

There is one more reason why one should be genuinely interested in any topic at hand. By being so, one’s thinking process gets naturally activated which goes beyond what is being written or taught. This step helps a student to experience mental growth with respect to that topic. Once this process happens across various subject areas, the overall growth is achieved and the student takes off to a different platform built on strong foundations. It is this strong foundation which creates scope for further learning and gaining higher level of skills required of in all the management entrance tests.

While we are talking so much on the various aspects of learning, how can we forget the importance of ‘common sense’ which plays an important role in the learning process? I can vividly recall an instance when I was in grade V and in my final terminal exams was asked the following question of Math:

 Q.         Find the value of 23 × 57 × 79 × 0 × 53

 I first multiplied 23 with 57 and the result with 79 and then got stuck with what to do with 0. Nobody taught me how to multiply a number with ‘zero’! Nobody is taught the table of ‘zero’, ain’t it! I had practiced numerous questions on multiplication in my fifth grade in order to gain good marks, but despite that I could not attempt this question and had to leave it as it is. You must be wondering what the big deal in this question is and that the answer is simple: ‘zero’. And when you say so, you are missing the whole point. I am trying to bring out the difference between learning Math and having common sense. The above question is not at all Math question, though it looks like one. If you see Math in the above question, you would never be able to get the answer and will be always stuck up where I was stuck up. But with simple common sense, one need not even do any computation and can easily speak the answer. There is no substitute for common sense in any area of study, leave alone Math. And ‘common sense’ is not and cannot be taught in formal education at all. It can only be appreciated and learnt from experience.

Therefore in any learning process, one must always look inwards, taking all the inputs from outside resources because the responsibility of success or failure in any endeavor rests completely with the person himself and not at all on external agencies.

 Ashu Jain

Ashu is an engineer from the prestigious Punjab Engineering College (PEC) and an MBA from the Pune University. One of the most experienced CAT mentors in the country, Ashu is known for his passionate yet objective approach to student relationship and for his exceptional Quant mentorship skills. At MBAGuru, INDIA’s Fastest Growing CAT Coaching Institute, Ashu anchors Academics.

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Get started with RC

January 21st, 2010

1.    Why RC?

We all know the importance of ‘reading’ in our lives. Just to reiterate the same – ‘Reading makes a man wise’. Some other motivations for reading can be:

  • Advancing your knowledge in general
  • Helping in managerial life
  • Progressing in GDs/Interviews
  • Last, but not the least – ‘Improving your scores in CAT’!

2.    History

Over the years, CAT pattern with respect to RC has changed. Earlier, the focus was SPEED – having a very high reading speed. Questions used to be primarily fact-based. The number of questions was somewhere around 50 and the passage length used to be 1500-1600 words approximately. Now, over the last 3-4 years, the focus has shifted to comprehension, having a deep understanding of the passage, and in-depth reading. Now, there are usually 3-4 passages, each of 700-800 words followed by 4 – 5 questions.  The kinds of questions also vary from title-based, central-idea based, tone-based to inference based. Each question tests in-depth reading.

3.    Reading Speed

Though the focus is on comprehension, a good reading speed is always beneficial. So, keep reading at a decent speeds (250 wpm +), which will help in managing your time well while taking the test. But, comprehension cannot be compromised.  Your primary focus should be on in-depth, logical reading so as to attempt questions accurately. Speed will come with practice and more test-taking.

4.    What to read for at least 1½ to 2 hours everyday.

  • Newspapers, must read: Editorials, Front page, Business page and International page
  • Magazines: Every week to 15 days, read a business magazine and a political magazine.
  • Novels: Read novels of varied topics (1 Novel/2 weeks)

5.    Topics in RC

Any topic under the sun can come, but pay attention to areas like philosophy / psychology/ Arts/ Sociology etc. Variety is very important as you need to familiarize yourself with different kinds of writings.

6.    Always pay attention to the passage rather than using your own knowledge / thinking in the air.

7.    RC is not as abstract and vague as it seems. It can be made as objective as Mathematics and questions can be handled reasonably accurately.

Garima Gulia

Garima is a graduate in English Literature from the Delhi University and has pursued her Post-graduation in management from IIM Indore. At MBAGuru, India’s fastest growing CAT Coaching, Garima is one of most popular mentors for English among thousands of MBAGuru students.

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There’s many a slip between the cup and the lip…..

January 7th, 2010

So you just finished spending three months (which is the ideal prep time) working hard for the GMAT ……you are done with Critical Reasoning and its frustrating question stems, you are also done with practicing more than 150 Reading Comprehension questions and finally sentence correction looked easy, thanks to the intense grammar sessions provided by MBAGuru (I want to stress on this – this is the only place I have seen with such great focus on getting your grammar fundas right!)……

…..And now your test date is about 10-15 days away. From today to the date of your real GMAT Exam, you could end up committing your biggest prep mistake – which is either not appearing for online practice tests or appearing for very few of them.

As we get into the thick of our preparations, we often tend to forget that an examination like GMAT is finally not an aggregate of our knowledge of English and Math. Your GMAT preparation is incomplete without having understood the test dynamics that go beyond all theoretical knowledge.

Remember, the GMAT lasts for about 4 hours which gets stressful and takes a toll over your performance especially in the last one hour or so. The more you practice online, the more you are able to handle the imminent blanking out of your mind during the real GMAT.

Last 15 days before the exam are crucial and a well-planned schedule is a must.

  • Time your preparation in a way that you spare yourself at least 15 days for online test preparation.
  • Appear for at least 4 and maximum 6 tests.
  • Each test will make you more aware of your fatigue level
  • Each test will make your awareness of the test section and structure more and more concrete
  • Excess of everything is bad – am sure you heard that before J – one day, spend 75 minutes doing a full-length English section; next day, focus on some Math topics.
  • Try not to sacrifice the consistency for unplanned and excessive effort in the beginning as you may not see the results in the end. Mix and match your daily practice in the last 15 days – but keep the effort going and don’t stay away from the prep for even a single day.

So avoid the burn out and the anxiety, practice online sample papers, strengthen your base in the required subjects and earn your highest possible score.

Tanya Agarwal

An MBA from the prestigious NMIMS, Mumbai, Tanya is an expert English mentor for the GMAT and the CAT. Her rich experience of mentoring students for the GMAT spans various countries and continents! Tanya currently anchors the development of the GMAT offering at Roots Education and mentors the CAT aspirants at MBAGuru, India’s fastest growing CAT coaching, for the English section and the GD-PI stage.

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Right Approach to Crack Quant

January 7th, 2010

A question commonly asked by students is: “Sir, I am going for a Management Degree Course. In management entrance tests, why am I being tested on my Math skills?”

In this article, we will try to not only answer the above question, but also give you the right direction in terms of preparation for CAT and other Management entrance tests. We will also guide you to build the right approach (which is what matters finally) that will ensure that you crack the Quant section in the CAT or any Aptitude exams.

Before we do that, let us begin with the following question.

Simplify: (19)8 – 17(19)7 – 41(19)6 + 58(19)5 + (19)4 – 384(19)3 + 75(19)2 + 21(19) + 3.

A]        40                        B]      41                        C]      51                        D]      61

Before jumping into solving this question, let’s understand why an Aptitude Test asks questions like these.

1. Is the objective to check your calculations?

A very simple answer to this is a clear “NO”, because you are sitting there for an aptitude test for a management course, or in short an MBA, and after completing your MBA you will become a manager. Of course, you are not expected to find the value of each term (in the above question) and then doing the addition and subtraction to find the answer. That would waste lot of your time and obviously that’s not the objective of the question.

Exam main sirf yeh question karna hai, yah baki paper bhi karna hai !

If you end up solving this question in this manner, you are proving that you are not an effective manager. Have you ever seen a manager doing calculations by hand or mentally? Understand that 10 times more difficult calculations than this can be done within fraction of seconds on a laptop. So, if as a future manager, you would not be required to do such calculations and think the things you don’t have to do in future, would CAT or any other aptitude test ever test you on that? NEVER! So that simply means CAT never tests your calculations or your calculation speed.

2. Is CAT testing your knowledge?

If CAT paper is testing your knowledge, then they should ask the following questions.

In the recent past, the inflation was in negative but still the prices of the commodities that we purchase on daily basis were rising. Can you explain the reason for this?

(relevant to a B.Com/Economics graduate)

What are the marketing tools one should use to advertise a newly launched product?

(relevant to a BBA student)

These questions would be much better questions to gauge your knowledge rather than questions on additions/subtractions.

But then these questions are not being asked to you which simply means that CAT does not want to select you on the basis of your knowledge.

Now a big question is: What does any Aptitude Test actually want to check by giving such questions (as the one at the beginning of this article). To answer this, let’s understand a few things.

After you pass out of a B-school, you will take on the role of a manager in an organization. Therefore, a good Aptitude Test is designed to check whether a candidate has the caliber to become a manager or not. How do they check it and what qualities they look for? Let us understand that.

3. When you become a manager, you will face a lot of complicated situations. An effective manager is one who simplifies those situations and not the one who complicates them further?

Take any 2 multiples of 6 for e.g. 12 and 18

12 + 18 = 30; 18 – 12 = 6

6 and 30 both are multiples of 6.

That means if I have two multiples of 6 i.e. 6a and 6b and if I add or subtract any of them

6a + 6b = 6(a + b), the answer would always be a multiple of 6.

To understand this, no hardcore knowledge is required. The same logic can also be applied to the question given at the beginning. Numbers from (19)8 to 21(19) are all multiples of 19. Hence result of their addition/subtraction would also always be a multiple of 19. That is,

(19)8 – 17(19)7 – 41(19)6 + 58(19)5 + (19)4 – 384(19)3 + 75(19)2 + 21(19)  + 3 = 19n + 3

A question which looked very complicated initially now seems quite simple. The way you look at a problem determines the process to be applied to solve that problem. The only thing required is to start looking at things from a different perspective/angle. Don’t just take a “quant” question as a “mathematics” question (remember that you are not being tested to be Maths professor). Take it as a situation that you need to simplify. Why most of the times the question looks complicated is because the examiner wants to test whether you get scared in a difficult/complicated situation or whether you have the capability to see things differently and make them simpler. Of course, a manager is paid so well not because of hard work, but because of smart work.

One important thing that why these situations are in the form of mathematics questions. The answer is: Whether a person is a vegetable supplier or a CEO of a big company, all have studied the basic mathematics in their life. So quant becomes an obvious choice which could test everyone on the same platform.

Having understood that a manager is supposed to simplify the matters and not complicate them, let us understand the other quality associated with an effective manager: Optimal utilization of all the resources. This would bring in more efficiency in the system.

So an aptitude test also wants to test whether you implement what you say, or do you just say it for the sake of it. When the question was given to you, what are the resources you were equipped with?

Simplify: (19)8 – 17(19)7 – 41(19)6 + 58(19)5 + (19)4 – 384(19)3 + 75(19)2 + 21(19) + 3.

A]        40                        B]      41                        C]      51                        D]      61

The first resource was the information from question which you used and simplified the situation. The second resource was options. Options were also given to you with the question. So CAT wants to test whether you can use your hidden resources and get the work done, or not?

To finally answer the question, let me tell you that once you reach the stage that the expression is of 19n + 3 type, you can use options (read, resources) and realize that 41 is the only option which is of 19n + 3 type. So, the correct answer is 41. You can now realize what it takes to act like an effective manager. You need to train your mind by exposing yourself to such difficult situations time and again, till “being an effective manager” becomes your habit.

4. Another objective of an aptitude test is to check whether you can get maximum output with minimum resource, or can you work under constraints. A manager most of the times has to face a situation where there would be lack of some or the other resource. So a good manger is one who can give the maximum output in those constraint/minimum resources. Now when we talk of the aptitude test, this quality is also tested. You know that if you had unlimited time, you would have solved all the questions in the aptitude test with 100% accuracy. The above mentioned question can also be done by simply calculating if unlimited time was there. But what an Aptitude Test does is to give you restricted time limit and check whether you can give the maximum output in constraint resource. The output are the marks out here and you could only maximize the output not by calculating the values, but solving the questions with the RIGHT APPROACH and that is

When you start an aptitude test, don’t just start calculating. First analyze the situation (question), simplify if by looking at things from a different perspective, solve by using all the resources (including options) optimally and then only you can get the maximum possible output (marks) in the minimum possible resources (time). This can be termed as the TWI Approach i.e. Think Without Ink. This will also help you to improve the decision making skills.

- NIKHIL CHAWLA

Nikhil is an alumnus of NMIMS, Mumbai – one of the top 10 B-Schools in India. A passionate mentor and coach, his energy during interactions with students is to be seen to be believed. Nikhil’s QA sessions are as much of a hit as his motivational sessions which fill the students with tremendous self-belief and positivity.

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The How and Why of ‘Quant’ in CAT/MBA entrance

December 30th, 2009

THE “WHY” OF QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE (QA)

First of all, why do we require QA for CAT or other MBA entrance exams or in a more crude way, does QA actually help in management functions? What is the relationship of those curvy graphs or those functions’ values or those geometric figures with management?

As managers, what we are given is a whole lot of information from which we are required to analyze and come up with certain decisions, which depending upon where we stand in management hierarchy will shape the company’s actions. Our decision making ability is tested by the efficient utilization of resources which are at our disposal. This test happens throughout our life. The resources are the basic formulae as also the options we have, the utilization part is similar to application of these formulae. QA doesn’t just deal with solving problems and presenting equations, nor is it merely a representation of a missing quantity; rather it also focuses on the careful analysis of each data and its structure.

If you carefully notice, the syllabus of QA in most (if not all) of the MBA entrance exams is up to Class 10th. This means we need to have only a basic understanding of the formulae. What we need to focus is the understanding and the application part of the formulae which takes precedence over the formulae itself. The whole world knows that Distance = Speed x Time. But actually if you go a little deep, you will find that:

a. Distance is directly proportional to Time (if Speed is constant)

b. Distance is directly proportional to Speed (if Time is constant)

c. Speed is inversely proportional to Time (if Distance is constant).

Combining these three statements gives us the original formulae. CAT will probe us as to how good we are in the application of these three facts. Either the paper will test us to find any of the parameters or it will ask us whether we need any more data to find those parameters, by giving the statements related to these parameters.

THE “HOW” OF QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

The questions in quantitative section are not textbook questions, which normally test understanding of some formulae or theorem. They are real-life situations where application of QA knowledge is required to find the solution. For example, in heavy discount-seasons, there are many discount offers and schemes to attract buyers. These are perfect situations to demonstrate quantitative skills to identify the most profitable scheme. Your mind has to be thoroughly application oriented whenever you set out to prepare for QA section, which means you should be thorough in understanding the basics of any QA topic.

Don’t have any preconceived notions. One of the common notions is: since I cannot be good in all the topics of QA, let me focus on being selectively intensive. By adopting this approach you are creating a barrier around you which inhibits your learning. Be fresh in your approach while you start your learning of any new topic, and let the mind take over once the basics part of learning is over. Build it up on the foundation laid. At any point of learning of any topic if you find that there is some problem in understanding even after going through it thoroughly, don’t lose heart. Have this belief that if any medium difficulty level question comes on that particular topic, you will get that question correct. The number of unsuccessful approaches also teaches you a lot. Move over to the next problem.

Let’s have a clear cut-approach as how exactly we are to master a particular topic.

1. Clear the basics part first by going through the fundamentals of that topic. Fundamentals include the formulae and applications of those as well.

2. Practice the examples next. Go through the first 5-7 examples by going through the solutions, understanding each step thoroughly. Read carefully and try to understand what is really being asked in each question. This will help you develop the correct thought process. If you solve 7 simple problems on a particular topic, the 8th one will have you thinking in the correct way to solve a CAT problem. So these simple problems are not meant to give you practice for CAT problems, but they tune your thought process so that you can develop the right approach for the problems you will finally encounter in CAT.

3. Try doing the next 4-5 examples yourself. If you are not successful, look at the solution. Try to analyze where exactly you are making a mistake and you will find that either you are making a calculation error or there is a problem with the understanding of the fundamentals itself. If you are making a calculation mistake, promise yourself to be extra careful. If there is problem in understanding of the fundamentals itself, then go through that topic/sub-topic once again to clear the grey areas.

4. Try doing 4-5 very difficult problems on that topic. Give yourself a particular time in which to solve them. Scale it up to 10-12 difficulty level problems and then see your accuracy as well as speed on that topic. Practice on that topic as much as possible. Maintain a regular chart as to how many correct attempts have been made, and if there are incorrect attempts, what exactly is the reason for the incorrect attempts. This will help you gain clarity as to how exactly you are performing.

5. After you have done sufficient number of topics in a particular sub-section (Arithmetic, Algebra etc), try doing a test on that. To avoid being taken by surprise, it is important to do a number of tests on different patterns, within the given time frame. Analysis of each test is a must so as to know the scope of improvement in that particular area. The analysis must have these parameters:

a. Which questions to select?

b. How much time to invest in a particular question?

c. Where am I making a mistake?

At each step, needless to say, time plays a big role in the preparation – so be focused on time. Maintain a time discipline, but don’t be rigid right at the beginning of your preparation. Time does play a role but only after the concepts are mastered to an extent where you can feel that a different approach might save me some time. That’s where you reach a level where you can have confidence in tackling problems which test the approach part. Keep practicing this method. You will see a natural comfort around that topic after some time.

Remember it is very important to set a demarcation between understanding and practicing a certain topic and gearing yourself up in a test mode where the approach part takes front seat.

How to gear yourself for a particular test will be my focus in the next part of this article.

DIPAK MISHRA

Dipak is an MBA from the prestigious IISWBM, Kolkotta – India’s Oldest B-School founded in 1953, and the home of learning for many a distinguished business leader. A QA faculty at MBAGuru, India’s fastest growing CAT Coaching Institute, Dipak is immensely popular among the students as much for his QA fundae as for his affable nature. Dipak also is a designated mentor for students seeking help with institute application forms and guidance.

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