By Satyadhar Joshi
Planning for the CSAT Exam
Schedule of events (classes and doubt solving)
Class timing optimized for working professional,
all classes are from 10 PM to 1 AM daily.
Lecture 4
Lecture 4 (on 20th Feb)
CLASS/DISCUSSION SESSIONS FOR
DEVISING STRATEGY TO CRACK
UPSC-CSAT (FEB-JUNE 2011)
http://onlineclasses.nanotechbiz.org/
Tentative Dates of Classes & Target Exam
dates for other exams
UPSC Prelims June
Exam Date AGRE: 8th April 2011
Exam Date GRE: April Last week 2011
Exam Date GMAT: June First week 2011
Content
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Comprehension ( Examples from GRE GMAT CAT on
economics and politics)
Interpersonal skills including communication skills
(grammar & use of basic words)
Logical reasoning and analytical ability (same as CAT)
Decision making and problem solving ( may be like
Business Judgment)
General mental ability (let us explore this)
Basic numeracy (numbers and their relations, orders of
magnitude etc. (Class X level), Data interpretation (charts,
graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. –Class X level) (its like
data interpretation from CAT / GRE)
English language comprehension skills (Class X level) (RCs
and related areas)
Introduction
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Keeping things simple
CSAT – Really ??
Idea behind the change
Importance of the change
Making it similar to other exams
This is not a substitute for full time class but an
option for working professionals who gets free in the
evening and are not able to attend the classes
 Most of the classes will be taken after 10 pm so even
if you do job and attend full time class, you can still
attend it
Strategy & Game Plan
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My first aim to keep things simple
Level and selection of questions
Not to overdo anything
Choosing the right level of questions
Balance of topics
Solving questions from books of CAT but selection of level
of difficulty is crucial
First complete level 1 of all areas, then level 2 and then level
3 (but don’t leave any topic)
Understanding the things in a very simple and effective way
Have strategic depth in you planning
Areas of RC which I think you will get will be from the areas
of Paper 1, I don’t think it will be from the ones which are
asked for GMAT / IIM-CAT
Analysis of Content
Disclosed by UPSC
 The economy of contemporary India
 Following statement and also the conclusions
 Five persons P, Q, R, S, T are sitting in a row
 Smallest one
 Pie charts
 English Language Comprehension
Selection of Questions
 These are the toughest book for CAT
Mathematics & Verbal
 They have question in three levels of difficulty
 We will them but with a game plan and do it
strategically
CSAT 2011 Model Paper
 Structure
 Practice
 Remaining in the domain
 Not overdoing anything
 64 type of question
 Total Marks: 200
Duration : 2 Hours
Don’t go against the wall
 The time & resources are the same with all
 CAT or GMAT people are not going to compete
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with you
Type of questions are going to remain the same
as in model disclosed
Coverage of all areas is important rather than
being stuck up with an area
Chances of analogies, sentence completion, etc
is very less
Chances of RC on technology, Greeks, Romans,
America, is less
About this Class Series
 This class will about the development of material for CSAT.
We will be talking about the new format, and also about the
materials we can study. A critical issue is the selection of
strategy as we cannot play randomly.
 Building a course and will describe a game-plan to study for
the new areas. I will be also introducing you to my future
classes where I have made a strategy to finish Level 2
questions of CAT and then work on Level 3 if time permits.
 Our goal is to pass the fierce completion and strategy will
play a very important role for the exam.
 Linking and using some aspects of other exams in a very
simple way so that you can understand the basics of all the
new sections added.
Comprehension (Lecture 1)
 ( Examples from GRE GMAT CAT on
economics and politics)
 Concepts of speed reading, triggering words,
pre knowledge, adjectives, tones to
understand the intention of the author
 Understanding RCs of Economics, History,
Science & Politics
Important areas of RCs
 Economics
 Defense
 Politics
 And the ones in your general studies paper
 Note that in RCs the vocabulary can be
tough, and triggering words can be intricate,
length can be large albeit the areas will be
same as the other papers
Practice RCs (Matter with
data & strategic depth)
 India’s defense deal with statistical data, and you
have to compute the cost of instrument,
compare then using percentage and faction
 Example of game theory to predict and estimate
the steps taken by our friends and rivals
 Game theory for cooperation with our very close
and special ally Israel on defense and security
 Time series model to work on quantitative
aspects of propaganda politics
Areas of RC (Hints from P-1)
 Current events of national and international importance
 History of India and Indian national movement
 Indian and World Geography- physical, social, economic
geography of India and the world
 Indian Polity and governance – constitution, political
system, panchayati raj, public policy, Rights issues, etc.
 Economic and social development – sustainable
development, poverty, inclusion, demographics, social
sector initiatives etc.
 General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and
climate change-that donot require subject specialization
 General science.
Interpersonal skills including
communication skills (Lecture 2)
 Grammar & use of basic words
 Diplomatic language
 Selection of words (adjectives) based on
intensity
 Tone optimization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_skills
Example
 Use of words (example diplomatic language)
 Are we having (which would you select)
1. Problems with Pakistan ?
2. Conflicts with Pakistan ?
Logical reasoning and
analytical ability (Lecture 3)
 Nearly same as CAT
 Arrangement (CAT Level 2)
 Deriving logic
Decision making and problem
solving (Lecture 4)
 Business Judgment like the ones asked on
economics and government policies in XAT /
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MPMET etc
6 Major question type
Major assumption, objective, etc
Ability of decision making without
compromising with moral and ethical values
Therefore it is ability of value based decision
making instead of taking just facts based
decision. It will reflect the candidates ability to
analyze than ability to memorize.
General mental ability
(Lecture 5)
 Basic mathematical skills
 Statement and also the conclusions
 Comparison of values
 Like exponential, pie, logarithmic, etc
Basic Numeracy(Lecture 6)
 (numbers and their relations, orders of
magnitude etc. (Class X level)
 Data interpretation (charts, graphs, tables
 Data sufficiency etc. –Class X level)
 (its like data interpretation from CAT / GRE)
Important Areas
 Number System
 Percentages and fraction
 Population increase
 Data Interpretation
English language comprehension
skills (Lecture 7)
 (Class X level)
 (RCs and related areas)
 Possible analogies
 Vocabulary based questions
Three Sample papers
 TMH
 Pearson
 CH
 Reference: Competition 360
Conclusion
 Understand the approach
 Making a strategy
 Limiting the areas
 Thinking from the examiners points
 Trying to understand the competition
FAQs
 I would be taking around 10-15 lectures of nearly 1 hour each
for the CSAT, but I will be taking other lectures compatible to
CSAT like post & specify clearly my classes on GMAT/CAT/GRE
and I will about which part of the class is more important for
CSAT
 Time frame would be layer-wise (three layers in three months)
the high probability questions will be covered in 1 month, then
we would cover the whole syllabus, and then the hardest
possible question series
 You will be able to view all recording, and I will be retaking the
classes as well
 Most probably the classes would be free, even if it is paid then
it will be very nominal like around 1 or 2 USD per class. But I
think there are very less chances of paid class, it will happen
only if I take a lot of classes and it takes a huge effort from my
side
Answers
References & More readings
1. Book: Manhattan GMAT verbal Manual
2. Book: Manhattan GMAT sentence correction Guide
3. Verbal workout for GMAT Princeton
4. Winners guide to GMAT Grammar
5. Chandresh Agrawal, CAT Priyanka Prakshan
6. English Grammer by Wren & Martin
7. GRE Barrons
8. GRE Nova
9. Arihant Quantum CAT For Admission into IIMs
10. Quantitative CAT Arun Sharma, TMH
Some books of GMAT / GRE
 Though we will do question of varying
difficulty but we will read theory as to
understand the essence of the subejct
Coming classes on CSAT
 Check out !!!
 Class on application of Game theory for CSAT
 Meditation for success for CSAT
 And on all areas of CSAT as well!!
 http://onlineclasses.nanotechbiz.org/