Issue 01 · 2026
The Karma Yogi Journal. Field notes for the long grind.
- Essays
- 94
- Exam tracks
- 5
- Topics
- 63
The Lead
The essay we keep coming back to.
The Archive
Everything else worth reading, ordered by date.
Page 1 / 10 · 93 entries
CAT Past Papers vs SIMCAT: The Same Score, Two Percentiles
Eleven of my 39 scored CAT mocks landed between 59 and 65 raw marks. Their percentiles ran from 66.91 to 98.46, a 31.55-point spread from a 6-mark band. The five that were real past papers sat between 91.04 and 96.62; the six coaching mocks were everywhere. Here is the whole table, what it can and cannot tell you, and the one rule I now follow before trusting any mock percentile.
CAT Section Accuracy Across 39 Mocks: Quant Fell, VARC Held
Across 39 scored CAT mocks my VARC accuracy sat at 50.6% and barely moved, DILR rose from 65.1% to 71.7%, and Quant accuracy fell from 78.3% to 67.4% while I attempted one more question per paper. The total score rose anyway. This is the section-by-section table, why a rising total can hide a falling section, and the two numbers I now log after every mock.
Connect Your CAT Mock Log to Claude: What It Can Do
Karma Yogi runs a connector that lets Claude read your sessions, mocks and goals, and log or correct them, without ever deleting anything. Here is the setup in five steps, the thirteen tools it exposes, what it did when I pointed it at 40 logged CAT mocks, and the limits you should know before you trust it with your data.
CAT Mock Scores Rose 6.6 Marks, but the Ceiling Did Not
My mean CAT mock score rose from 64.9 to 71.5 between the first 19 and last 20 of my 39 scored mocks. The improvement is real, and it is not what I expected: the bad days got less bad, the good days did not get better, and the gain arrived as one step in August rather than a steady climb. Here is the full breakdown and what it changes about the next four weeks.
XAT's Unattempted-Question Penalty: The 8-Question Rule
XAT does something almost no other exam does: it penalizes you for skipping too many questions, separately from penalizing wrong answers. Eight free skips, then a cost for every one after that - here is exactly how the rule works.
XAT Decision Making: The Section With No Formula
XAT is the only major MBA entrance exam with a dedicated Decision Making section, and it does not reward the same preparation as Quant or Verbal. Here is what it actually asks, and why treating it like a fourth aptitude section is the wrong plan.
NMAT Time Management: Three Sections, Three Different Clocks
NMAT has no negative marking, which removes the guessing dilemma most aptitude exams create - but it replaces it with a strict, non-transferable time budget per section. Here is where that budget actually goes.
NMAT's Three Attempts: Why 'Best Score Counts' Is Not Always True
NMAT lets you sit the exam up to three times in one season - and most aspirants assume the best of the three always wins. It does not, for every college. One well-known exception changes how you should actually use your three attempts.
How IELTS Band Score Rounding Actually Works
Your overall IELTS band is not just an average of four scores - it is an average with a specific, asymmetric rounding rule that always rounds up, never down. Knowing the exact rule tells you which of your four section scores is actually worth chasing half a band higher.
IELTS Academic vs General Training: Which One Do You Need
Two sections are identical between the two versions of IELTS, and two are not - and picking the wrong version means sitting the wrong test for your actual purpose. Here is exactly what differs, and why the decision is about your purpose, not your skill level.
Colophon
Written between mocks. Edited between sits.
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