Want to do self-study for CAT 2009? PT Education recommends books, guides and more

Self help is the best help! Thats what our elders tell us. But when it comes to preparing for a tough entrance exam such as CAT, how should an MBA aspirant go about it? What management entrance exam preparation books should one study, how to keep oneself motivated? In the last few weeks, hundreds of MBA aspirants asked these questions from MBAUniverse.com.

To provide our readers with answers, MBAUniverse.com spoke to leading experts in the MBA coaching & testing domain. In this article, Manish Saraf, COO and co-founder, PT Education provides extensive guidance to the aspirants opting for the self-study mode of CAT exam preparation. He suggests the names of the important management entrance exam preparation books for the different sections, on time management as well as PT Educations postal services on CAT exam materials.

Lets start with what Saraf has to recommend for the Verbal Ability section and then move on to Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section.

Books, Media & Guide for Verbal Ability section: High School English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. Verbal Ability by Arun Sharma. A Communicative Grammar of English by Geoffrey Leech. A Word A Day: A Romp through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English by Anu Garg. Business English and Communication by Clark Grade C. All about Words by Rosenblum and Nurenberg. 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis. The GRE and GMAT exam preparation books like Kaplan GRE Verbal, Princeton GRE Verbal, Princeton GRE Verbal and Kaplan GMAT Verbal. Magazines: Business and Management Chronicle by Chronicle Publications, Business Line by The Hindu Group, Competition Success Review, Business Today by India Today Group, Business World Newspapers: The Hindu, The Times of India, Economic Times, The Statesman. A pocket-size dictionary which truly is the best investment. Chapter-wise 12 Years Solved Paper by Disha Publications CAT Topic-wise 15 year Solved Papers by Disha PublicationsBooks & Guides for Quantitative Ability Section: The NCERT Maths Books of class 8 to 10 Any one of Objective Arithmetic, Mathematics for MBA, Quantitative Techniques all by R.S.
Agarwal How To Prepare For Quantitative Aptitude For The CAT by Arun Sharma (TATA-McGraw Hill publications). Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Sinha (Pearson publications) Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Kumar Verma (Arihant publication) Quantitative Aptitude for MBA Entrance Examinations by Abhijit Guha (TATA-McGraw Hill publications).Books & Guide for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section: How to prepare for the Data Interpretation for CAT by TATA-McGraw Hill publications. How to prepare for the Data Interpretation for CAT by Arihant Prakashan. Verbal & Non Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal (S. Chand and Sons publications). Course In Mental Ability and Quantitative Aptitude by Edgar Thorpe. Analytical and Logical Reasoning by B.S. Sijwali (Arihant publications). Reasoning and DI for MBA Exam by Arun Sharma. Fundamental of Reasoning: A Logic Book by Robert M. Johnson.How to divide time on preparing for different sections:Time is an important asset for everyone, especially for CAT exam aspirants who are preparing on their own. It is all the more important to allocate time accordingly for different sections. Saraf gives an outline for time allocation for the different sections. The time allocation over the various testing areas depends on the students weak and strong areas. Ideally at this point of time, a CAT 2009 aspirant should devote four to five hours on preparations, Saraf said.

Lets focus on different sections of CAT exam.
While preparing for Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, basic fundamentals of Arithmetic topics (Numbers, Percentages, Averages, Profit and Loss, Work and Time and all other topics), Permutation and Combination, Probability and Trigonometry should be understood. The tables up to 25 (preferably 30), squares up to 35, cubes up to 20, fractions should be remembered by heart. Practice of various short techniques of Arithmetic, DI is necessary, said Saraf.

For Verbal Ability section, Saraf suggested learning the standard list of vocabulary. See good programmers (in English), telecast on the channels like Discovery, National Geographic, History Channel, BBC News etc. It helps you develop GK as well as understand the RC passages, he said and added, Apart from this, solve at least one Mock CAT exam per-week and analyze it thoroughly. What PT Education offers?

Regarding PT Educations postal services, Saraf said, There are two courses available the Pinnacle Total Postal and the Pinnacle Regular Postal. The Pinnacle Total Postal courses prepare students right from the basics, while the Pinnacle Regular Postal course is designed to provide advance level preparations. A Pinnacle Postal student also gets additional services like the Online e-Prac-CAT exam, informed Saraf.

Must dos in a day:Saraf suggested a students daily routine. In order to be mentally healthy and a sharp memory, taking six to eight hours of intense sleep is necessary. Four to five hours should be dedicated to enrich the knowledge bank as well as the emotional quotient by reading good books, watching good movies and programs in Discovery, National Geographic and History channels. Apart from this regular practice of four to five hours daily on the various test areas of CAT exam like Arithmetic, DI, DS and LR and solving and analyzing of one Mock CAT exam per week is sufficient, said Saraf.

Keeping the motivation for CAT 2009:Keeping oneself motivated is very important and is a challenge for the MBA entrance aspirants, said Saraf. Getting fewer marks in a tough test should not de-motivate you. Remember it is a game of percentile and not marks. If you found the paper tough, others would also feel the same which would possibly not affect your percentile, he explained. Aspirants should always remember that nothing is impossible. We can achieve whatever we decide with some extra effort, what one man can do, others can, Saraf said, while stressing on the motivational factor of the aspirants. Saraf also suggested watching a motivational movie per week as it really helps.