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FAQs Regarding CAT— |
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1.
What do IIMs look for in a candidate? |
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Broadly
the IIMs and other B-Schools use the following criteria to assess the
applicants: |
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CAT
(or Entrance Test) scores Performance in the Group Discussion Performance in the Personal Interview Academic record Achievements and extracurricular activities Work experience Any other criteria are usually institute-specific. In the above criteria, the written test, performance in the Group Discussion and Interview account for as much as 70 to 80%. |
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Apart
from the above criteria, some of the other traits that institutes look
for in the candidates are: |
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Analytical
skills |
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Quick
and structured thinking |
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Leadership
and team building skills |
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Communication
and interpersonal skills |
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2.
How much time should one spend daily on CAT preparation? |
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The
time one should devote to CAT preparation differs from person to person.
Usually 4 to 6 hours of dedicated preparation for 6 months is sufficient.
This holds true for people who have been in touch with basic Mathematics
and English. Candidates who are not comfortable with Mathematics and
English should commence their preparation earlier and should put in
more hours of practice. |
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3.
Which IIM is the best? |
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Though
IIM Ahmedabad has been rated as the best institute in the Asia Pacific
region by Asia Week, each IIM has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.
Given a choice, you should map your interests with the strengths of
the institute and make a decision. |
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4.
Do the IIMs prefer engineers? |
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It
is a myth among students from Arts, Commerce or Science background about
their inability to tackle the CAT entrance as compared to engineers.
It is time to 'demystify' this theory. Even though there are almost
as many engineers in the IIMs as there are non-engineers, the fact of
the matter is that the number of students with non-engineering background
who are serious about CAT is much less as compared to the number of
serious aspirants from an engineering background. |
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A
related and equally lop-sided argument revolves around the superior
mathematical skills of engineering students. It is a known fact that
the engineering syllabus does not deal with school level mathematics.
Moreover CAT does not allow the use of the calculator, which is so much
a part of the engineer's life. This puts all CAT aspirants on the same
platform. |
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5.
How should one prepare for CAT? |
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For
most of the candidates CAT preparation becomes difficult because of
the following reasons: |
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There
is no defined syllabus for the written test. Every year the cut-off for each section changes, as it is relative. The test paper is taken back at the end of the test. Every year CAT throws a surprise in structure and (or) content. |
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All
these factors lead to a lack of authentic information and are the source
of apprehensions in the mind of CAT aspirants. |
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Keeping
in view the above-mentioned factors, you should focus preparation so
as to: |
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acquaint
yourself with various patterns and styles of questions |
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-
which have been coming in other aptitude tests of a similar nature. |
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from a comprehensive courseware designed by the experts. |
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acquire and polish the knowledge base required to tackle the questions
i.e. apart from the concepts you should also learn techniques and short
cuts based on common sense. |
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practice in all the sections with equal concentration and also practice
on possible formats that CAT may offer. |
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prepare yourself in a phased manner and increase the level of difficulty
with increasing level of preparation |
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test yourself in an environment which offers you competition across
the country (if possible!) and help you keep a track of your performance.
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learn to allocate time across the sections appearing in CAT, understand
that CAT is all about speed with an acceptable level of accuracy |
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6.
Do preparatory courses for MBA entrance help? |
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This
question can be re-framed to ask, "Can one really be tutored for
an 'aptitude' test?" Aptitude tests are essentially tests of skills
that have been acquired over a long period of time. A school of thought
maintains that scores on such tests are not influenced by preparation.
The view is no longer valid as testing bodies such as ETS (Educational
Testing Service of U.S.A, develops and administers tests such as GMAT
and GRE) has now veered around to the opinion that appropriate training
does enhance scores on standardised aptitude tests. So preparatory programmes
do help. |
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What
sets CAT apart from these aptitude tests is the ability to manage time
and choose questions intelligently. Every year thousands of hopefuls
appear for the MBA entrance exams (in 1999, 60,000 students appeared
for CAT alone). Several bright, otherwise eligible students are penalised
for being under-prepared, for not knowing critical test taking skills
or for freezing up during the all important entrance test, thus concealing
their true aptitude. Understanding what CAT calls for, a clear sense
of purpose, knowing what style of questions to expect and a systematic
preparatory schedule can help overcome these problems. The content of
CAT is of the secondary school level. Dedicated students know that CAT
content can be mastered with well-planned work of about 6 to 8 months.
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The
real value addition from preparatory courses comes in the form of inputs
on time management and test strategy, apart from the methodical practice,
techniques and short cuts they teach. It is also a well-accepted fact
that CAT entrance exam is designed to be a test of elimination rather
than a test of selection. Moreover your getting through is dependent
not only on the score that you get but also on how your score compares
with that of other test takers. In other words, CAT comes out with a
percentile figure for each candidate, on a national level. |
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