Karnataka - Bangalore   

CAT candidates ready for surprises this year

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

MUCH-WANTED REFORMS: A file picture of students coming out of a Common Admission Test centre in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: With barely three days to go for the Common Admission Test (CAT), thousands of management seat aspirants across the State are in their final, frenzied moments of preparation.

Across the country, about 2.3 lakh candidates are expected to appear for next Sunday’s test, which will decide who gets into the seven Indian Institutes of Management and a hundred other B-schools.

A huge majority of candidates will be vying for the 1,600 postgraduate diploma in management seats offered by the IIMs in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, and the newly launched institute in Shillong. This year, about 120 additional seats will be available for students keen on the institutes at Bangalore and Shillong.

Last year, about 1.8 lakh students had taken the CAT throughout India.

Despite months of preparation, candidates were in for a shock last year when the CAT pattern was changed to reduce the number of questions from 90 to 75.

Doing away with three sections of 30 questions each, the new pattern had three sections of 25 questions each. The differential marking system for the questions followed for CAT 2004 and 2005 was done away with last year. In the latest format, all the questions carried four marks each.

To boost transparency in admission process, the IIMs had, for the first time, published the answer keys on their websites.

But the keys came much after the test. “Answer keys should be published immediately after the test. That way, the students can analyse their performance and apply to only those institutes where they stand a chance,” said Arindam Lahiri from Career Launcher.

With institutions charging between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,200 for the application forms, the students could hope to avoid unnecessary expenditure.

Going by last year’s experience, nobody is willing to predict what is in store this year. But Mr. Lahiri was certain that surprises could be expected this year too.

“CAT has moved towards reasoning-based questions. We expect that trend to continue. Even internationally, tests such as GMAT are following that pattern,” he said.

While most students go for long-term or crash courses to prepare for the D-day, there are some who try to bell the CAT on their own.

“I am attempting CAT for the first time. I think it is all about logic and speed. I find it difficult to accommodate these coaching classes in my schedule. But I am positive that I will do good on my own,” said Vivek K., who will be appearing for CAT this year.

Mr. Arora of TIME coaching classes does not disagree, but said that for an average student it was tough to face the examinations without coaching and preparation.

“We conduct 20 mock tests with different patterns of questions. They are exposed to talks and seminars by experts, it helps them strategise as well as build confidence,” he said.

For the first time last year, the CAT duration was extended by half-an-hour and patterns were changed. It was difficult to make any predictions regarding the pattern, but it was advisable for students to expect anything and concentrate on getting through their papers as fast as possible.

“It’s all about time-management,” said Mr. Arora.

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