.For faster calculations

1. The first requirement is to mug up tables till 30, reciprocals with respect to percentage and decimals, squares & cubes till 30, square roots and cube roots till 7.

2. Practice various questions to become comfortable with the various types of problems and understand by which method you can solve a particular problem faster. Exposure to various types of questions is required so CAT does not come as a surprise to you.

3. Be very thorough with basics of all arithmetic topics like profit, loss and discount, ratios, basic number theory and formulas.

4. Take sectional tests and analyse your performance. This helps you to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Remember, a test is not conducted to tell you that you perform at 80% efficiency but to point out the 20% area where you are making mistakes.

5. Try vedic maths and learn short-cut methods that work for you. Also, try doing mental calculations and minimise the use of using pen and paper.

6. Approximation is the best tool to arrive at answers quickly but using it is an art, you will have to learn this through trial-and-error and practice.

7. Often you can arrive at the correct answer by the process of elimination. For some questions you may see that two or three of the given options are pretty far fetched and it is easy to select the right answer. Again, this method needs practice to perfect.

8. Whenever you try to calculate faster then your comfort zone speed, you are bound to make silly mistakes. So, try to build up your speed slowly so that it peaks in November when all the entrance tests are about to begin.