List of CAT Tutorials: The Challangers (Online only)

Since CAT has gone online...number of web based CAT tutorials and Test Series providers have mushroomed. It reminds me of the dot com days when a number of players emerged with a similar business model and many of these players failed to survive when the expected number of users failed to materialize. I suspect the same fate will befall most of these guys too. Barring 2-3 most will not survive. I can also visualize the scenario where 1 or may be even 2 of these players (or maybe a new entrant in online world) will make it big. Perhaps big enough to challenge the more established classroom players. So without much ado...lets review the list. Here we go:

1. Test Funda (http://www.testfunda.com): The most well known online site. Good prep material as well as test UI. Very very focused on CAT. Very active community too...but why do I get the feeling that most of the users are dummy users?
2. TopCATCoaching (http://www.topcatcoaching.com): Clean UI and good test material. Very good reports. Seems to be an online company with deep pockets. The Top Coaching is well diversified with other online courses too.
3. TCYOnline (http://www.tcyonline.com): One of the earliest entrants to online CAT coaching. The offering and tests are not differentiated.
4. CATIndiaonline (http://www.catindiaonline.com): Offers full course including a crash course. Tests are unimpressive and reports look cluttered.
5. Snapwiz (http://www.snapwiz.co.in): Clean UI, good tests and reports and very easy to navigate and use. Drawbacks: offers tests only and no course.
6. CATION (http://www.cation.in): Seems to have good content including recorded video. Video quality frankly sucks!
   
7. YesICan (http://www.yesican.com): Another site with tests and smattering of subject tests. Overall OK but nothing to write about
   
8. Complore: Free tests...but you get what you pay for.
9. Fireup (http://www.fireup.co.in): A dog in the online world. Test interface is unimpressive and so is the test content. The tests have 90+ questions whereas the official CAT is supposed to be 60-70 questions. Clearly out of depths with reality.
10. TestMerit (http://testmerit.com) : Another dog in the world of online cat prep. Very slow site...nothing positive to write about it.
    

List of CAT Tutorials: The Challangers

Who are these guys? These are the upstarts. Perhaps one day some of them would be the leaders of tomorrow while most others will land in the dog pen. Who are they?

Here is my list of top 10:

1. Ascent: Run by an ex-IIMC guy. Good online presence though sadly no online course.
2. Byju's: Most CAT coaching institutes of the reputation of recyling the same old stuff. Except Byju. They are renowned for their original approach and content for CAT coaching. Byju himself is a 100 percentiler on CAT. However it may not be ideal for general junta. If you are already scoring 90-95 percentile in CAT, you may go to Byju for that extra 3-5% edge and blow a whole lot of dough in the process.
3. MBA King/CATKing: New mumbai based company. Good faculty and good experience
   
4. Alphanumeric: Started by Ex-CL and TIME faculty. One thing struck me. None of the founders ever went to IIMs themselves.
5. Cerebral Heights: Up and coming Indore based CAT Prep institute. Known for good content.
6. Success Guru: Big in Pune. Pune dudes swear by it..I have no idea who they are or how good they are.
7. CATalyst: Started by the charismatic Munira Lokhandwala. Frankly I have heard more about her and her creds rather than her course material. She is definitely something to watch out for.
   
8. SharpMinds: Good media presence. Who knows the course is good too!
9. Erudite: Enjoys a good reputation in Kolkata
10. Testfunda: All online! Top challanger to classroom courses in India. Someone to watch out for!
    

List of CAT Tutorials: The Leaders

I have divided the CAT tutorial providers into 4 buckets:

1. Leaders: These are the super boys in the CAT coaching club. They have nationwide presence, large distribution network, financial muscle and what not.
2. Challengers: These are niche players or new players who may one day become the leaders or also ran.
3. Also Ran: These are yesterday's leaders and resemble a shaggy lion who was once an able bodied male. The statement "khandahar bata rahein hain ki imarat kabhi buland thi"...is basically a fitting tribute to them. They are a shadow of their former self.
4. Dogs: These players never mattered much. They are best ignored like straye dogs, pests and flies on the ground. I wouldnt even bother to compile the list of dogs!
   

So here is the list of leaders:

1. T.I.M.E: Nothing much to say...they are the 800 lb gorilla in the market.
2. Career Launchers: Nothing much to say either...they are the 600 lb gorilla in the market.
3. IMS: These guys have been around for a long time and they were numero uno at one point not so far back in the past. I think T.I.M.E and CL have blown way past them. Watch out IMS! You dont want to end up in the "Also Ran" bucket.
4. Career Forum: Well they are not a gorilla. Not just yet but I will classify them as leaders never-the-less because of their nation wide presence.
5. PT Education: PT just about makes the cut for being a leader. I say they lack brain power (they are not known for their content) but have the necessary brawn (ambition man!) to expand their distribution. Strong in certain regions but lack a nation wide brand and profile.

List of Top Resources

Earlier I posted about my decision to write CAT. Now after deciding to write CAT, next thing is to find resources for CAT prep. Not just any resources, mind you. I am a cheapskate and a sucker for free resources on the internet. So here goes my top 5 list:

1. PagalGuy: Without question the #1 destination for everything MBA in India. Highly recommended for anything MBA related be it prep buddies, general question and advice or prep strategy the "puys" at PG, as PagalGuy are known, are always there to help.
2. IIM CAT Site: The official site for CAT. Very informative about the exam as well as the new CBT format that has been introduced.
   
3. Complore: Free site for test prep. Now this is not the the site for serious CAT prep. Afterall you get what you pay for. However if you want to explore CAT stuff, sample questions, guage difficulty of questions, etc., check it out. Overall pretty crappy site but it does have lot of content.
4. Merriam-Webster Tools for Firefox: Great tool for building vocabulary. All you need to do is highlight a word and right click. I use it whenever I encounter a new word (very frequently)!
5. Feedreader: Another software tool. Very good to consolidate content from all the good blogs (like this one!) into one single place. Besides CAT prep I also subscribe to blogs in business and economy, movies, etc. Reading surely helps not just CAT but overall.
   

Did I miss anything?

My First Post: Why I am writing CAT

This is my first post on Top CATalyst. I will be appearing for CAT in 2010 and I thought of creating this blog as a journal of my preparation. The article on this blog will be presented only as lists. Hence the title of this blog: Top CATlyst. All Lists for CAT are fair game here. Let me start off the post with the "top 5" reasons why I am writing CAT and want an admit into IIMs:

1. Change of career: You guessed it. I am a bored software engineer tired of pounding the keyboard late at night
2. More broad based options: Ahh! The flexibility of choosing a marketing, finance, operations job in a variety of industries. What degree can beat that?
3. More Money (how can I forget that): Now notice that this is not the top of the list
4. Bragging rights: Need to impress people with IIM creds
5. What caused the credit crisis: I want to understand the finance jargon and alphabet soup such as CDO, CDS, LBO, etc.