Really surprising!! While various CAT preparation institutes with significant national presence and hence scale are thinking to increase CAT prep fee, some online preparation programmes are going on an altogether different track. For instance, TCYonline's FREE CAT course is a matter of surprise for all. Not only are the contents (tests, tutorials, audio et al) comparable in quantity but also ranked very highly by the students. According to company officials ? As the CAT experts all over India admit that they really don't see reason why students would pay for content. It's not about content AT ALL but what happens around that content. What it means is that websites like www.TCYonline.com have captured millions of Analytics (data points) around lakhs of questions by running this course free for the last two years. Around 50,000 prepared for CAT 2008 with TCYonline NOT just because of content but specifically because of Analytics.

With the pace CAT aspirants are enrolling every day for the online courses; websites like www.TCYonline.com expects to enroll more than 1.5 lakh students. While preparation and test results are absolutely free, students can pay as less as INR 365 for unlimited annual usage of the some special technical features. Moreover, such an approach towards online training requires first the trainers to be trained on the ways of helping a CAT aspirant to use analytics to their best advantage. For instance, the classroom trainers of TCY are certified on these Analytics if students want to take advantage of instructor led training. That's highly scientific as only certified trainers can train them & not merely subject experts.

Such free online CAT preparation options are a boon for working professionals like S. Karthikeyan of Chennai, according to whom it is the ?best? resource for all the MBA aspirants like him.

?The beauty of this course is that one can do it at one's own pace ?, he said, adding, ?Thanks to good quality, challenging tests and lectures on the website, I prefer an online course to a regular course.?

Additionally, the course consists of some video recorded lectures and online tests in verbal and quant. TCYonline offers meticulously designed 60-70 video recorded lectures. Equal stress is laid on Quant and Verbal Aptitude, Data Analysis, and Logical Reasoning.

Salient features an Online course:

? Vocabulary and speed reading buildup

? Digital audio lectures and online tests

? Live online technical support

? Subject-wise backiwng by CAT experts

? Downloadable topic-wise notes.

? Test-wise analysis and nationwide ranking

? Mock CATs and previous year's original papers

Shivam Srivastava, working with Infosys at Bangalore, too is all praise for the free CAT course. ?The online course available on TCYonline is exhaustive and at the same time intensive and focuses on the topics well. The best thing about it is that the lectures provided can be attended at any point of time which gives flexibility to the user. The content is also great and covers everything. Also, regular tests and assignments help you benchmark yourself with others.?

The biggest challenge before test-takers is how to prepare and test themselves before the actual exam. If the ultimate test is online, it is high time, with 5-6 months at hand, to switch to computer-based preparation and practice. If not, they will stay fit only for paper-based IIFTs and SNAPs. Moreover, with CAT going online, be prepared for news of SNAP, JMET, XAT (once again), MAT, NMAT, FMS and IIFT also going online soon. CAT has actually got easier. One major advantage that CAT 2009 offers is that one can gain quick access to the tests and preparation material at any time of the day if it is available online. This will offer customization and flexibility to the test-takers preparing for CAT 2009.

Since there is always a surprise element in a CAT exam, keeping in view a steady shift from formula-based to reasoning-based questions during the last couple of years, these types of online tests can better prepare them to face any eventuality. Tools like Analytics are designed to provide an aspirant with not only self growth analysis, but also benchmarking with others at the granular level. It acts as your everyday reality check! by providing you national rankings. You can compare your performance vs. that of toppers and your past performance. Another option for the aspirants is to generate their own tests. One such testing tool with is Test Generator (www.TCYonline.com/Createst). The test generator gives a candidate the facility to create his own test on the basis of the inputs he gets from the analytics thus enabling him a personalized preparation to strengthen his areas of improvement.