MBA in India Vs MBA Abroad

As far as higher education is concernced, the educational scenario has changed dramatically in India in the last decade. In the debate of an MBA in India versus abroad, as a student currently pursuing my MBA in India, I believe that an Indian MBA scores over an international MBA on several counts.
The main advantage is the cost. An MBA from any good B-school in the US or UK costs anywhere between Rs 25 to 50 lakhs, whereas Indian MBA schools charge ten per cent of the same amount. Secondly, when living abroad, you spend far more than you would in India, and as a result need to work there for at least a few years to recover the amount. This severely hampers your prospect of returning to India after the completion of the degree.
On the other hand, a student from a reputed Indian B-school always has the option to work at either place, since all premier B-schools have a significant amount of foreign placements taking place each year. Also, India is a vibrant economy today and corporates the world over value the pool of talent that exists here. In fact, people opt for positions in India to be a part of the growing economy. Lately there has been an increase in the number of NRIs coming back to India. In this thriving scenario, it makes sense to get your degree from an Indian B-school.
There has also been a steady increase in the number of tie-ups between Indian and foreign universities. Some of them include the SP Jain Institute of Management and Research with Virginia Tech, the Indian School of Business with the Wharton School-Kellogg School of Management, the Management Development Institute with Cambridge College, Great Lake & Yale, Welingkar College with Temple University, the Institute of Management and Technology with Fairleigh Dickinson University, Great Lakes and Yale University. Thus, with more and more premier international education its way to Indian shores, one can experience the benefits a international education and a lesser cost.
Also, Indian MBA courses have been expanding and growing significantly in recent years. MBA graduates from Indian B-schools have proved their mettle in the global working environment and are offered top positions in several organisations. Considering the purchasing power parity, initial expenditure (cost of the programme), initial placements, and growth in salary as inputs in decision, MNCs do not have to think twice before coming to India in search of middle and senior management talent.
In every Indian B-school, participants with two to five years of IT industry experience always fill a certain percentage of the batch. These students often have international exposure. Their multicultural experience adds value to the entire batch and programme as a whole. And to a certain extent, it compensates for the rich diverse cultural experience that is associated with a US or UK MBA. Finally, Indian B-Schools are more open to non-experienced candidates than international B-Schools, and thus prove to be advantageous to most people. Hence, keeping in mind today’s scenario, I believe that an Indian MBA is the way to go.

Next Generation GMAT Exam

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) will add an innovative new section designed to measure people’s ability to evaluate information from multiple sources.

The new integrated reasoning section, scheduled to be introduced in June 2012, will provide business schools with a window into how prospective students respond to the kinds of complex challenges they will encounter as managers in today’s information-rich business environment.

The coming enhancements to the GMAT exam stem from multiple surveys of business school faculty conducted during the past four years by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), owners of the exam. GMAC solicits input from faculty as a regular part of its commitment to continuously improving the GMAT exam.

The integrated reasoning portion of the GMAT will capitalize on innovations in technology and assessments and feature questions that further enhance the validity of the test. These questions include information from multiple sources, such as charts, graphs, and spreadsheets. Examinees will be asked to analyze information, draw conclusions and discern relationships between data points, just as they must do in business school.

“The new integrated reasoning section of the GMAT will be a microcosm of today’s b-school classroom,” said Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC. “These questions will provide critical intelligence to schools about the ability of prospective students to make sound decisions by evaluating, assimilating or extrapolating data.”

The overall length of the GMAT exam (three and a half hours) will not change. The new integrated reasoning section will be 30 minutes long and replace one of two essays that are part of the GMAT’s analytical writing section. Admissions officers have stated and GMAC research has shown that performance on the essays is closely aligned, making a single essay acceptable for predicting performance.

The GMAT exam’s verbal and quantitative sections will not change. As a result, when the new section is introduced in June 2012, tests will be scored on the same 200–800 scale used today. Test takers will receive a separate score for the essay—as they do now—and another distinct score on the new integrated reasoning section.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (http://www.gmac.com) is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools worldwide dedicated to creating access to and disseminating information about graduate management education. The GMAT® exam was created in 1954 and is used by nearly 5,000 graduate management programs at approximately 1,900 business schools around the world to assess applicants.

More information about the GMAT exam is available at www.mba.com.

Mumbai to get new MBA institutes

MUMBAI: The race to get into a management college just got easy as several new MBA institutes will be opening their doors to aspirants. Moreover, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has given a nod to five colleges in the city to offer lectures in a second shift.







Across the state, the total seats have crossed 33,000—an increase of 50% as compared to the last academic year.






With the demand for a degree in management rising, the AICTE permitted colleges to run another shift in the afternoon. "Colleges will need to recruit staff for the second shift," said DTE director S K Mahajan.






The AICTE has allowed new colleges to have batches of 120 instead of 60 studen

Critical Reasoning Basics- 3: Syllogisms

From totalgadha.com

With my ITT JEE rank of 433, I would have got Mechanical engineering at both IIT Kanpur and IIT Delhi. My mother obviously assumed I would choose IITK as it was very near to my home. I was also sure about joining IITK. But the day I attended a counselling at IIT Kanpur, a place 18 km away from the city, I decided I did not want to be cloistered in place where the only thing I could do was to study. So I chose IIT Delhi over IITK. If I had not come to IIT Delhi, I would have never felt embarrassed about my English-speaking skills by looking at my suave sophisticated batchmates. I would have not taken the decision to learn the dictionary or to read novels. If I had not started reading- the love of my life- I would not have discovered another love of my life: Writing. I took all the writing courses offered at IIT Delhi; Dr. Alok Rai, Makarand Paranjpe, V. Sanil, etc. were some of the luminaries under whom I studied literature. Not only that, if I had not come to Delhi, I would not have discovered one more love of my life: the game of Bridge. With one of my IIT batchmates, I travelled without ticket in trains to Lucknow or Jaipur to play bridge tournaments. We were the youngest players in the national arena. We won our first national championship at Chandigarh. Got our pictures in the newspapers too. In fact the passion for the game became so strong that when the rest of our batchmates were writing GRE or taking CAT in our final year, we were dreaming of playing in the Bermuda Bowl, the world bridge championship. There were only two countries we used to dream of going to- US and Italy, the meccas of bridge. In fact, after two years in my job, and having played in three nationals, I got a chance to go to Italy, and I jumped at it. Where most Indians, going abroad for the first time, dreamt of girls and booze, I dreamt of learning bridge under the experts. And I did the same. I played bridge every day of my life in Italy. Unfortunately, my visa expired and I had to come back. And I landed in India, unemployed. If I had not gone to Italy, I would have been still working in my plum job. The next thing I knew, I joined a premier institute for CAT, as a student. I soon got an offer to join as an instructor and since I was jobless I accepted. In 2005, on suggestion of my boss, I took GMAT also besides CAT. I scored a 770 and cleared CAT also. I decided to apply to top BSchools through the former score in 2006 and let my CAT score go. By 2006, I had started TotalGadha.com. My experience as an instructor and my writing skills gathered throughout these years both played a huge part in shaping TG.com.

What is the point of this narrative? Simply this- today when I look back, my present is related to so many ifs, so many decision, and so many moments in the past that it is hard to decide whether it is fate or it is only me writing my own destiny. What if I had not come to delhi? What if I had not learnt English? What if I had not loved bridge and gone to Italy? What if I had not prepared for CAT or joined as an instructor? What if I had joined an IIMs and ignored my GMAT score? Not only that, what if I had never met Dagny (we met in our CAT coaching)? So many questions. If this is not fate then what is it?

While you reason this out, here is the tool of logic that our Kumar Sir is providing through his critical reasoning series. This chapter deals with reasoning through premises. It is called syllogisms. - Total Gadha

Broadly, you need to understand two types of arguments. We have already come to see what arguments look like. Now it is time to comprehend some ‘categories’ of arguments.

Analyse this, (P1= Premise 1, P2= Premise 2, C= Conclusion)

P1 – All men are buffoons.

P2 – Ravi (poor chap) is a man.

C – Ravi is a buffoon.

This kind of argumentation is known as deductive reasoning. Here, the conclusion arrived at, is a logical ‘necessity’, which you will find me referring to henceforth as an LN. The structure of the deductive argumentation is simple. We picked a set, gave it a characteristic (P1), picked an element from the set (P2), and with certainty, arrived at the conclusion that the element shall show the same characteristic.

P.S. I hope you understand that my sympathies with Ravi have nothing to do with the argument.

Now, the second type,

P1 – Ravi is an engineer.

P2 – Ravi is a fool.

C – All engineers are fools.

While many of you may express surprise, nay, even disdain for such argumentation, it is still deemed a valid form of argumentation. So much so, that we would not have had the evolutionary history if mankind had refused to allow room for such argumentation. Appalled? Do not be. All knowledge has been attained and transferred through this form of reasoning for thousands of years now in the evolution of ‘life’. This form of argumentation is known as ‘Inductive logic’. Here, the conclusion arrived at is not an LN but a logical ‘possibility’ (LP). The conclusion that we derived here ‘may or may not’ be true. And hence we call it an LP.

I hope you understand the structural difference between the two types of reasoning. Inductive reasoning suggests that if some (read ‘one’) elements of a set show a characteristic, others will too. In fact, you SHALL find yourself arguing many a time with exactly the same structure. Stereotypes, such as ‘women cannot drive’, ‘engineers are an intelligent species’, ‘politicians are corrupt’, ‘people with work experience have a better chance of getting into a B-School’ etc. are born of the same category of argumentation. While it is easy to refute such an argument as having a conclusion that you do NOT agree with, do understand that it MAY just be true! It is just that we do not possess information about the rest of the elements of the set and hence cannot say for certainty whether the conclusion will be correct or incorrect.

Also, do not be emotional with the variables- ‘engineers’, ‘fools’, ‘men’ etc. They are just representative and should be deemed as X’s and Y’s.

All said and done, when you are attempting a question, you must always try to look for a ‘logical necessity’ as an answer, not a ‘logical possibility’. We mark LP as an answer only if the answer choices do not HAVE a necessity answer choice in the first place.

One more thing before we move on to the next topic. DO NOT include anything external to the premises in the conclusion. For example, if

P1 – All women are intelligent.

P2 – Sita is a woman.

C – Sita is an intelligent woman.

This is specious reasoning. Our P1 does not state ‘intelligent women’, but simply ‘intelligent’.

Takeaways

• In questions, we are looking for LN’s, not LP’s. We shall mark LP as an answer choice only in the absence of an LN.
• Do not take the variables of the questions to heart, treat them as X’s and Y’s.
• Do not add anything external to the premises in the conclusion.

There are four basic premises to understand in syllogisms.

a) All X are/is Y.

b) No X are/is Y.

c) Some X are/is Y.

d) Some X are/is not Y.

Let us deal with each in totality.

a) All X is/are Y.

This statement comes under the ‘universal positive’ category. But that is elementary and not worth keeping in mind. What you really need to understand in this statement is that the usage of ‘is/are’ is not important; whatever verb appears here will be independent of interpretation. The simple translation of this statement is that all the elements of set X will also be elements of set Y.

Another important thing to note is that, even if the statement does not have the prefix ‘all’, (e.g.  x is y) it will have the same interpretation.

Let us also try and understand this with Venn diagrams.

The second diagram shows a possibility that exists, in that the two sets X and Y are overlapping.

While solving questions, you should use the first diagram. And, as I have stated earlier, do not get emotionally involved in trying to picturise the verb. The trick is- find out the verb, then recognise the ‘doer’ of the verb (i.e. the ‘subject’ of the sentence) and put the subject in the inner circle, while the object occupies the outer circle.

For example,

All men are blue.

Here, the verb is ‘are’, and the subject ‘all men’. Hence the set of ‘men’ will be represented by the inner circle, and the set of ‘blue’ by the outer circle.

Sometimes, if one becomes paranoid about being able to picturise stuff, things can get tricky. For example, if the statement were “monkeys have brains”, one would be tempted to draw the outer circle to represent the monkeys. Do NOT be tricked by the verb. Follow the same rule that I have mentioned earlier. The verb here is “have”, the doer of which is “monkeys”. Hence, make the inner circle to represent monkeys and the outer to represent brains.

On a parting note, do remember

• The presence or absence of the prefix “all” does not matter. The statement shall still be treated as mentioned above. Hence “all X is Y”, is the same as “X is Y”.
• Put the subject of the sentence in the ‘inner’ circle.
• For solving a question, use the first diagram. The second diagram is a possibility to be kept in mind for solving CR/ RC questions.

b) No X is/are Y.

This is a rather simpler statement to understand. It means that no elements of set X are elements of set Y. Simply put, the elements of the two have nothing in common. These can be easily represented as disjoint sets, i.e. two circles, not touching each other anywhere.

However, there are some other important things to learn here. Please understand that this premise (which, incidentally, comes under the ‘universal negative’ category) has some misrepresentations as well. Many people try to represent the opposite of ‘all X is Y’ as ‘all X is NOT y’. Now, this is fallacious, since such a negation becomes dubious to interpret and hence ambiguous. Premises in logic cannot afford to be ambiguous, since it is they who set the stage for the conclusion to follow. You just have to try different emphasis points in this kind of negation to understand what I mean.

All engineers are not fools. (Implies that no engineer is a fool)

All engineers are not fools. (Implies that only some of them are. J)

Since it is semantics at play here, such a negation is considered illogical.

Similarly, a negation of the nature “Not all X are Y” has comparable problems, and hence is not deemed a valid negation of “All X are Y”.

Final takeaways

·         The negative of “All X is Y” is “No X is Y”.

·         Can be represented by disjoint sets.

·         “All X are not Y” / “Not all X are Y” are invalid premises.

c) Some X are/ is Y.

Unlike the universals we have been looking at so far, where it was either an all or none case, thereby justifying the usage of the word ‘universal’, we now shift our focus to ‘particular’ premises. These premises have prefixes that look like- some, many, a lot of, most et al. Understand that these words have little representative or absolute value, until pitted against their respective ‘whole’ numbers. Hence our comprehension of the same will have to be careful.

Let us then agree to interpret these two statements by concurring that

·         If some X are Y, then some Y must definitely be X.

·         The interpretation of the prefix “some, many etc.” will be “AT LEAST ONE”.

·         If some X are Y, it does not imply that some X are then definitely NOT Y.

The first interpretation is fairly simple to understand. If some elements of set X are also elements of set Y, those same elements are both X and Y. Hence some elements of Y automatically become elements of set X.

The second point, when elaborated, means that in logic, the prefix ‘some’ in itself means nothing except “at least one”. Even if the prefix is ‘a lot, many, most, several’ etc. our interpretation of the same shall remain ‘at least one’.

Now, for the third point, some logic books state that if the premise states ‘some X are y’, then it definitely means that some X are NOT Y. This is bad reasoning. Just as we saw in inductive reasoning erstwhile, if some elements of a set do show a certain trait, then we cannot for certainty say EITHER that the rest will not show the same trait OR that they will. Hence, to conclude from ‘Some X are Y’, as a necessity, that ‘Some X are not Y’, is simply not correct. And henceforth you and I shall not indulge in such fallacies.

Time for a Venn interpretation.

The first diagram that I have presented below is what we shall use for solving questions. The rest are just indicative of ‘possibilities’ that may exist, and with which we must familiarise ourselves, for they will help us understand things better when we finally arrive at long CR questions.

In this diagram the shaded portion represents the area in which our ‘at least one X’ and ‘at least one Y’ lie. This is the diagram we shall use for solving questions.

Here, the portion of X that coincides with the portion of Y is our area of concern. Also, please understand that one line of argument may state that here ‘‘aren’t all Y’s, X’s too?’’ To this, a logical response is that our premise concerns itself with some of the X’s being Y’s, not Y’s being X’s. In the process, if all Y’s turn out to be X’s, it is just a possibility, and of course not our primary concern. We had started with trying to prove that at least one X ought to be Y, and the diagram does justice to that. (Remember, we are dealing with all the possibilities here.)

Here again, one might point out that all of the X’s are Y’s. However, by now, you and I understand that we had set out to prove that at least one X should be Y, and in the process if all X’s DO happen to be Y’s, so be it. Our one X is still safely within Set Y, and our diagram, yet again, does full justice to that.

Well, if you understood the previous diagram, you would find it easy enough to understand that this too is a possibility that exists. And again, our one X is still ensconced firmly within Set Y.

Synopsis

·         If some X are Y, then some Y must definitely be X.

·         The interpretation of the prefix “some, many etc.” will be “AT LEAST ONE”.

·         If some X are Y, it does not imply that some X are then definitely NOT Y.

·         For solving a question, we shall use the first diagram.

d) Some X are/is not Y.

This statement has several interpretations across the globe. But we shall treat it as a logically inconsistent premise. Although the statement “Some X are not Y” CAN hold true as a conclusion, it falls flat as a premise. (Hope you remember the distinction between ‘premises’ and ‘conclusion’ well enough by now!!)

For instance, let us try with

P1 – Some boys are not mature.

Immediately with this premise you will have to go with three possible diagrams simultaneously, i.e.

 P2 – Some mature are fools/ All matures are fools/ No mature is a fool.

You understand that any of these three premises will have different impacts on the three possible diagrams that we have made. With such a scenario we shall NOT be able to arrive at a sustainable conclusion at the third stage. In syllogisms, as you must have noticed earlier, we do arrive at a conclusion at the third stage. Hence, this statement, we shall treat as an ‘illogical’ premise.

However, this statement DOES have validity as a conclusion.

For instance,

P1 – Some buckets are trees.

P2 – No tree is a fool

Now, in all of the three possible diagrams you can see that as an LN conclusion, we can safely say that,

Some buckets are not fools. (i.e. the buckets that lie in intersection with trees.)

Takeaways

• Some X are/is not Y is a logically inconsistent premise
• Some X are/is not Y has an absolutely logical existence as a conclusion.

Finally,

Only X are/is Y.

This is the only remaining premise we need to get hold of, so far as syllogisms are concerned.

To begin with, if you encounter a statement such as “Only X are Y”, quickly convert it into “All Y are X”. The diagram should be simple now- Y inside, X outside. For solving a question, this much of dope should be enough.

For the sceptics, however, an explanation is just what the doctor ordered!

So here we go! Let us see if the formula works or not.

P1 – Only boys wear trousers.

If this be our premise, isn’t it easy to figure out that the moment I see someone wearing a pair of trousers, without even looking further, I should be safely able to conclude that the person is a ‘boy’? What I mean is that since the premise explicitly states that only boys can wear trousers, then nobody else can wear them. Therefore if someone is wearing trousers, the person OUGHT to be a boy, else our premise falls. Hence, is it not easy to figure out that ‘All trousers can be worn by boys only’? Well, you’ve got it now!

If, “only boys wear trousers”, then “all trousers are worn by boys”! Simple!

Takeaway

• Convert “only X are Y” to “All Y are X”, and then work with what you have learnt from the “all” prefix statements, i.e. make Y the inner circle and X the outer circle.

One final word - While solving questions in syllogisms, do remember that the conclusion should be derived using both of the previous two premises, and not one premise alone. For example,

1. All babies are black.
2. My baby is cute.

Conclusion- My baby is black.

This is incorrect since the conclusion can be derived using the first premise itself.

Time for you to jump into deeper waters!!

Data Sufficiency Questions for CAT

this article is from totalgadha.com

This article comes from our TathaGat Pune team. Yes, TG is in Pune. How many of you MBA aspirants knew that TathaGat- TotalGadha's classroom program- has a center in Pune also besides Delhi? Well, we do. And it is headed by an excellent team of exprienced CAT trainers who are MBAs themselves. This article comes from Rakesh Vishwakarma, our Quant wizard at TG Pune. An engineering graduate from NIT, an MBA in marketing from PUMBA, and an IIM-I call-getter from the last year CAT, Rakesh has always been passionate about teaching. Prior to teaching CAT aspirants, he was teaching engineering aspirants for regional and national level engineering entrance exams.

Do solve the exercise given at the end. You might be surprised by some of the answers but don’t worry, we shall discuss each and every question for the benefit of you guys. – Total Gadha

DATA Sufficiency has been a critical area of testing the problem analysing skills. Yes! you read it right. It is about analysing the problem NOT Solving it.

In GMAT, Data sufficiency questions account for about 1/3, i.e. 12 to 13, of the questions in the quantitative section. These questions are about working out what is the necessary and sufficient data to be able to answer a question- which is very different from the usual problems solving questions you have faced.

Let’s demystify the myth, mystery and enigma of DATA Sufficiency.

DATA Sufficiency Question kaisa hota hai?

DS questions consist of two parts:

1. Question Statement

2. Data statements

After going through the problem and the two statements, we are presented with some options:

1) Statement (A) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (B) alone is not sufficient.

2) Statement (B) ALONE is sufficient, but statement (A) alone is not sufficient.

3) BOTH statements TOGETHER are sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient.

4) EACH statement ALONE is sufficient.

5) Statement (A) and (B) TOGETHER are NOT sufficient to answer the question asked, and additional data are needed.

Meaning of the options:

Option 1: If the data/information of statement A is sufficient to give a UNIQUE solution of the question AND data/information of statement B is not sufficient to give a UNIQUE solution, then we will mark option 1.

Option 2: If the data/information of statement B is sufficient to give a UNIQUE solution of the question AND data/information of statement A is not sufficient to give a UNIQUE solution, then we will mark option 2.

Option 3: If the data/information of statement A alone is not sufficient to give a UNIQUE solution of the question, nor is statement B able to do so, but if we combine the data of both the statements together and get a UNIQUE solution, then this means that the statements alone are insufficient but together are sufficient. Hence we will mark option 3.

Option 4: If from statement A alone we are getting a unique solution and similarly we are getting a unique solution independently from statement B (while using data from statement B alone, we do not have to assume/use any data/information from statement A), we will mark option 4.

Option 5: If we are not getting a unique solution even after combining the data of both the statements, then it means that the data statements given are insufficient and more information is needed to get a unique solution. We will mark option 5.

Let us understand with an example:

What is the value of X, given X and Y are both real numbers in base 10?

(A) X + Y = 12

(B) X - Y = 5

Here we have been asked about the value of x. We have to find whether the statements A and B are sufficient to give the answer. From statement A alone we can’t find the unique value of x, nor with statement B alone. But if we combine both the statements we get a unique value of x by solving the equations. Hence here both the statements are necessary to give the answer.

Option 3.

Quest for a Unique Answer

The objective of a DS question is to find a unique answer i.e. the data statement/s is sufficient only if we are getting unique answers. Let us understand this with the help of another example

What is the value of x, given x is a real number?

(A) x² - 3x + 2 = 0

(B) x³ - 27 = 0

Answer: From statement A, by solving the quadratic equation, we get x = 1 and 2. Still statement A is NOT sufficient because it does not give a unique answer. On the other hand, from statement B alone we are getting x = 3 which is the only real solution of this equation. Hence from statement B alone we are getting UNIQUE solution therefore we will mark

option 2.

NOTE: For a statement to be sufficient it must give a unique answer, else it is not sufficient.

Approach for DS questions

Most of the students struggle in DS not because they lack the concepts but because of a faulty approach. The trick here is that we do not have to find the answer of the question but to select the right options. So even you get the answer there is no guaranty that you will mark the right option. If we follow the right approach we can increase the chances of getting it right. Below are the steps which must be strictly followed for every DS questions.

STEP 1: Always read the statement A first and check whether this statement alone is sufficient to provide a UNIQUE solution.

STEP2: Read statement B alone. While using data from statement B, do not consider any data/information from statement A.

STEP3: If you are not getting solution from either of the statements then combine the data of both the statements and analyse for the sufficiency of data statements for a UNIQUE solution.

Golden Rules for Solving DS Questions

1. ‘NO’ is as good as ‘YES’:

Many a question like 'is x > y?', 'is x an integer?', 'Is triangle ABC right-angled?' etc can have either a definite YES or a definite NO answer and both are acceptable i.e. sufficiently providing a Unique solution. Let us understand with an example.

Is x prime?

(A) X + Y = 20

(B) X = 12

Answer: Following the golden steps, statement A does not provide a unique answer. Hence statement A is ruled out. Now let’s analyse statement B. Here x = 12, therefore x is composite but still we are getting a unique and definite answer of the question that x is NOT prime. Hence, statement B alone is sufficient and we will mark option 2.

2. Different but unique answer from both the statements alone is acceptable:

This is in sync with objective of DS (quest for a UNIQUE answer) that one should examine each statement separately at first. It can happen that both the statements are giving unique answers to the question although the two answers might be different.

Three idiots Farhan, Raju and Rancho together have Rs. 15000. How many rupees Rancho alone has?

(A) Farhan and Raju together have Rs. 10000

(B) Rancho has 40% of the total amount

Answer: From statement A, It is clear that rancho has Rs. 5000. Hence statement A alone is sufficient.

From statement B, Rancho has 40% of 15000 = Rs. 6000 with him. Here also we are getting unique solution from statement B alone although the answers from both the statements are different but since we are getting unique answers from both the statement alone hence both the statement alone are sufficient to answer the question. We will still mark option 4 in such cases. Let’s have an example:

Is x prime?

(A) X = 17

(B) X = 12

It can also happen that in a 'yes/no' sort of question one statement is giving a definite 'no' while the other statement is giving a definite 'yes'. That means both the statements are able to answer the question alone and we will mark option 4 as our choice.

3. Making assumptions is prohibited:

Do not use your own information or make assumptions to answer the question. Do not assume any information about the properties of numbers, geometrical figures etc. unless it is given in the statements. This is the most obvious reason for getting DS question wrong. Remember that DS is about checking the sufficiency of data statements NOT about getting the solution of the question statement. Many data sufficiency questions are made with an intention to lead students into a trap of assumption.

Manish and Rakesh are running on a circular track of 1200 meters. Both started together from the same position on a track with different but uniform speeds. When will they meet for the first time after they start?

(A) Speed of Rakesh is 20m/s

(B) Speed of Manish is 30m/s

Answer: It is clear that both the statements alone can’t give the answer. If you combine both the statements and get a unique answer, you are making an assumption (either both running in same direction or in opposite direction). In the question statement nothing has been specified about the direction in which both are running. Hence even after combining the answer we are NOT getting a unique solution (taking both the directions separately we are getting different answers)

We will mark option 5.

Don’t believe in geometrical figures: In many of the geometrical questions in DS the figure is given along with the question statement, often the figure is not drawn on scale. It’s a trap to push you to make extra assumptions.

Example:

What is the length of BD (in the adjacent figure), if

(A) AD = 10

(B) DC = 10

Answer:  From the figure it appears that ABCD is either a rectangle or square. From statements A and B two sides are equal. Also angle D = 90 degrees.

Now there is the highest possibility that from the data above and the figure we are tempted to assume ABCD is a square. But since nothing has been specified in either of the question statement nor we can conclude from the data statement about what type of quadrilateral ABCD is, the data statements are insufficient to give conclusive a answer. Hence we will mark option 5.

4. Unless very sure, always try to solve the question till the end:

Although it is a common belief that one need not solve a data sufficiency question completely, it is not a good strategy to assume prematurely that a statement will give an answer; we should solve the question till the end and check. In case of equations, logarithms, geometry etc. we should especially solve and check if we're getting a unique answer.

Few problems with application of above rules:

Let p(x) = x² + 40. Then for any two positive integers i and j where i > j, is p(i) + p(j) a composite number?

(A) p(i) – p(j) is not a composite number

(B) p(2i) + p(2j) is a composite number

From statement A: p(i) – p(j) is not a composite number

--> i² - j² is a prime as i, j are positive integers and i > j, (i² - j²) can’t be 1

--> (i + j)(i - j) is prime so i – j = 1

Let p be the prime so i = (p+1)/2 and j = (p-1)/2

clearly p is not 2 hence all p is odd

p(i) + p(j) = 80 + (p² + 1)/2

now p² = 6k + 1, therefore p(i) + p(j) = 80 + (p²+1)/2 becomes

80 + (6k + 2)/2 = 81 + 3k = 3(27+k) so not a prime. Hence question can be answered from statement A alone.

From statement B: p(2i) + p(2j) is a composite number

--> 4(i² + j² + 20) is composite, now i and j can be anything hence can’t make any conclusions from B alone.

Option 1.

What is the value of x?   (CAT 2001)

(A) X and Y are unequal positive even numbers, less than 10 and x/y is an odd integer.

(B) X and Y are positive even numbers, each less than 10, and product of x and y is 12.

From statement A:

We are getting x = 6 and y = 2. Hence statement A alone is sufficient.  

From statement B alone:

12 = 1 × 12

   = 2 × 6

   = 3 × 4

Since both x and y are even and less than 10, the only values satisfying are (6, 2) and (2, 6)

Therefore x is either 2 or 6. No unique solution from statement B.

 Option 1

'n' is a natural number. State whether n (n² - 1) is divisible by 24.

(A) 3 divides 'n' completely without leaving any remainder.

(B) 'n' is odd.

From Statement A: n is a multiple of 3.

Now, say if we take n = 3, the expression is divisible, but in case, we put n = 6 or 12, then the expression is not divisible by 24. Hence statement A alone is insufficient.

From statement B: n is odd.

Now, if we put any odd value in place of n, we find that the expression is divisible by 24. Hence option B alone is sufficient.

Option 2

Kamal, Manish, Rajat, Rakesh and Sanjeev ran a 1000 metres race. Who won the race?

(A) Rakesh finished after Rajat and Sanjeev, but before Kamal and Manish.

(B) There are two person between Sanjeev and Kamal.

From statement A: We cannot find unique answer. The winner is either Rajat or SAnjeev.

From statement B: clear that no conclusion can be made.

Even by combining both the statements no conclusive solution hence

Option 5

Is x² – y² even? (both x and y are positive integers)

(A) x + y is odd

(B) x – y is odd

From statement A: If x + y is odd and given that x & y are positive integers, we can say that for x + y to be odd one of x or y is odd and other is even. In either case x² – y² will be odd. Hence statement A alone is sufficient.

For statement B same logic applies, hence statement B alone is sufficient

Option 4

What is the value of 2^2a where a is a positive integer less than 1000.

(A) a + 1 is a cube

(B) a - 1 is a square

It is clear that from both the statements alone we can’t find the unique solution, let’s combine both the statements; we have

a - 1 < a < a + 1. Where a - 1 is square and a + 1 is cube. The perfect squares less than 1000 are:

1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, …, 961

And perfect cubes are:

1, 8, 27, 64, 125, 216, 343, 512, 729.

From close observation to both the data we can easily find that the only value of a is 26. (25 is perfect square and 27 is perfect cube)

Option 3

If 5x + 2y + 3z = 27 and x, y, z are natural number. What is the value of x + y + z?

(A) 12z + 20x = 76

(B) 15x + 6y = 54

From statement A: 12z + 20x = 76

--> 5x + 3z = 19 putting in equation given in question statement

--> 2y = 27-19

--> y = 4. Also from 5x + 3z = 19 substituting x as 1, 2, 3 we get

for x = 1, z = 14/3

for x = 2, z = 3

for x = 3, z = 4/3

Since x, y, z are natural number therefore only possibly value is x = 2 and z = 3

Hence x + y + z = 2 + 4 + 3 = 9.

Therefore statement A alone is sufficient.

From statement B: 15x + 6y = 54

--> 5x + 2y = 18 putting in equation given in question statement

--> z = 3. Also from 5x + 2y = 18 substituting x as 1,2,3 we get

for x = 1, y = 13/2

for x = 2, y = 4

for x = 3, y = 3/2

Again as in statement A the only possible value of x = 2 and y =4.

Therefore x + y + z = 2 + 4 + 3 = 9.

Hence statement B alone is also sufficient to give answer.

Option 4

Last Tips for DS questions:

1. Be thorough with basics of Number Theory and geometry. This is the favourite area for DS.

2. Always follow the steps to solve DS. Never try to combine the statements at the first instance, you may get the answer BUT will mark wring option .

3. Read the directions given before solving the question. It may happen that the order of marking option is different.

4. Always keep in mind that we have to get UNIQUE solution.

Of anchor questions, leaks and Prometric’s plan for a glitch-free CAT 2010

There will be little change in the base process used behind the creation and evaluation of the Common Admissions Test (CAT) 2010 compared to CAT 2009. Prometric, the testing vendor commissioned by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for conducting the test will continue to use the “psychometric process to ensure that the CAT is valid, reliable and fair.”

Speaking to mediapersons in New Delhi last week, Prometric’s Vice President of Test Development Services Stephen Williams said that he was happy with the content creation and evaluation of CAT 2009. “It went exactly as we would have liked it to be,” he said.

Prometric India’s Managing Director Soumitra Roy was quick to clarify that Mr Williams was speaking only about the academic content and evaluation aspect of CAT 2009 (and not the hardware failures and virus attacks).



Much of what Mr Williams told journalists about the processes and standards used in creation and evaluation of the CAT question papers has been shared in the public domain before. I will summarize the highlights and some points of interest captured during the interaction.



In summary, during the test development phase, “Prometric works closely with IIM professors along with specially trained subject matter experts from other well-regarded Indian universities. Each exam question is written, edited and reviewed in an iterative process. All modifications and approvals are tracked electronically in an audit trail.”



“After the tests are administered, the raw scores are calculated on the basis of a +3 for a correct answer, a -1 for a wrong answer while un-attempted questions are ignored. After equating the scores (read below), they are linearly scaled to a 0-450 range before being presented to the candidates as test results.”



Anchor questions, Cloned questions and question leakages



“Each question paper has four ‘anchor questions’, which are used to adjust differences in difficulty between different question papers. Two of these questions would have appeared in the question paper of a previous slot, and the other two would appear in a consequent slot. All question papers are thus linked together in a sequential chain, the two anchor questions forming the links.” (Mr Williams refused to divulge whether the anchor questions were shared between question papers of consecutive slots.)



The performance of test-takers in these anchor questions is measured to establish a common metric of difficulty between two question papers and then adjust the raw scores accordingly.



So in CAT 2009, which was held over 30 slots (3 slots per day for 10 days), there would have been 60 anchor questions in total.



Mr Williams said that a few more questions similar in nature but different in form – called ‘cloned questions’ – were repeated across slots. A simplistic example is an algebraic problem in multiple versions, each version having a different set of substitution values. In reality, the differences between the versions would be a lot less apparent, said Mr Williams.



Anchor questions and cloned questions have a lot to do with the controversy over the ‘leakage’ of CAT 2009 questions on anonymous blogs, Orkut communities and coaching institute channels. For any candidate to gain an advantage in a future test slot, it is important that the leaked questions fall in the anchor or cloned categories.



Mr Williams played down the leakages. According to him, people tend to have nervous mindsets during a test and their ability to remember questions and reproduce them accurately a few hours later is overrated. “We went through the blogs and Orkut communities that were accused of sharing questions and found that very few of them had gotten it right. There was only a perception that the questions on the blogs were the same as those in the test, but they were not,” he said.



Not all candidates are exactly ‘nervous’, though. Test-preparation institutes, for example, were regularly sending ‘proxy candidates’ (teachers, content developers) to CAT 2009 slots with the intentional purpose of memorizing questions and sharing them with their students. These questions were being shared clandestinely in classrooms and secret email lists with test-takers in later slots.



Mr Williams’ defended this with the explanation that such concerted activity had not worked because “if that were to happen, then statistically we would have noticed strange patterns with the answering of cloned questions which we didn’t.”



Mathematically, the extent of the advantage gained by being privy to an anchor question is an interesting probability problem (anyone?).



CAT 2010 will be held in 32 cities and over fewer centers



The IIMs will release the CAT 2010 advertisement in the end of August, said Mr Roy. Prometric plans to use fewer testing centers this year after its disastrous tryst with India’s hardware infrastructure during CAT 2009.



“We will only choose test centers that adhere to the norms created by us for ensuring infrastructure quality,” he said.



As the testing window will also be longer (more like a month), there will clearly be more number of slots, more number of distinct question papers and therefore a larger pool of questions.

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), used for MBA admissions by a vast majority of business schools across the world will add a new section that will test advanced reasoning skills, starting June 2012.

The new section, known as ‘Integrated Reasoning’, will feature questions that will test skills of data analysis and interpretation, the ability to form relationships between information from multiple sources and form judgments.



Even though the ‘next generation’ GMAT will add another section, the total duration of the exam will remain the same at 3.5 hours (excluding the breaks). However, the Analytical Writing section will have only one essay instead of the two in the present avatar of the exam.



The GMAT exam’s verbal and quantitative sections however, will not change. As a result, when the new section is introduced in June 2012, tests will be scored on the same 200–800 scale used today. Test takers will receive a separate score for the essay — as they do now — and another distinct score on the new integrated reasoning section. The new score would thus look like something on the lines of 800/6/X, where X would be the score of the new Integrated Reasoning section.



“The new test will be launched on June 4, 2012 at all locations worldwide and registrations will begin six months prior, as they do at present,” Ashok Sarathy , Vice President of the GMAT Program told PaGaLGuY over telephone from the US. He added that there will be no change in the price of appearing for the GMAT as a result of the test revamp.



Those joining the classes of 2013-15 at b-schools worldwide would thus be the first batch to receive admits based on the new GMAT.



The Integrated Reasoning section



According to Mr Sarathy, the new section was added after a survey of business school faculty across the world including India about the additional skills they would like tested in the GMAT.

The section will feature questions that would require test-takers to use information from multiple sources, such as charts, graphs and spreadsheets to analyze information, draw conclusions and discern relationships between data points, just as they must do in business school, he added.

A sample Integrated Reasoning question released by GMAC consists of an interactive spreadsheet listing traffic data at 21 airports across the world. Test-takers can sort columns of the spreadsheet to interpret the data from different viewpoints. Questions that follow ask the test-taker to examine a few statements based on the data and determine which ones are true. Questions may also have more than one true statements. Other types of questions would test the ability to assess the reason for, or the likelihood of certain outcomes. Watch the video below or here for a demo released by GMAC

 

Mr Sarathy said that there would also be audio questions in the section, which will test the ability to listen to complex spoken material and form judgments, strengthen and weaken an argument or separate and convert data between arguments.

According to Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC, “The new integrated reasoning section of the GMAT will be a microcosm of today’s b-school classroom. These questions will provide critical intelligence to schools about the ability of prospective students to make sound decisions by evaluating, assimilating or extrapolating data.”

Score scale, number of questions



GMAC has as yet not decided the number of questions in or the scale it will use to score the Integrated Reasoning section. “We are currently in pilot mode and will test the questions with 3,000 more students to determine how many to include in the section and how much of a question bank to create,” Mr Sarathy told PaGaLGuY.



On the score scale for the new section he said, “Once we finalize the questions, we will go to admission directors and ask them to define the scale. Since they have to use the scores, they will know best what scale to use for differentiating the candidates.”



Effect on the Analytical Writing section



In the present format, the Analytical Writing section requires the test-taker to write two essays, one on the analysis of an issue and the other on the analysis of an argument. Post-revamped launch, the section would shrink to just one essay, which could either be on the analysis of an issue or of an argument.

“We have been researching on the scores of these essays and admissions directors have said that performance in the two essays is correlated,” said Mr Sarathy, “so we decided to do away with one.”

Managing the launch



In the 2012 admission season, b-schools would thus receive two types of scores — from the tests taken before the new GMAT launch and those from the new format. “The verbal, quantitative and analytical writing scores would be common to both the old and new GMAT scores. After June 2012, schools will have one additional score component. It is upto them to decide how they will compare the two types of scores,” said Mr Sarathy.



In all likelihood, there would be a rush to take the GMAT in its old format in the months preceding June 2012. GMAC on its part will make the new GMAT sample test material available on its website. “We will also be working closely with test preparation companies around the world to make sure that students are as prepared as possible to take the new format,” said Mr Sarathy.

GMAT vs GRE

In recent years, the GMAT exam has had a growing rival in the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), traditionally used for applying to programs in arts and sciences in the US. The upgrade received by GMAT will help it in strengthening its competitive edge against the GRE.

GRE, though is giving a good fight. It has in the past couple of years convinced some big name b-schools such as Tuck-Dartmouth, Stanford, Wharton and others to accept the GRE score for their MBA admissions. With a revised b-school-focused version of GRE set to launch in August 2011, coupled with their ‘Personal Potential Index’ offering, GRE is aggressively pursuing GMAT’s traditional stronghold.