Three additional issues of interest in CAT

There are three additional issues that should be considered. One is the number of sections in the test paper; the second is the cut-offs in each section, and the third is the selection process.

Number of sections : In the past, the CAT did not specify the number of sections in the paper – either in the notification or in the bulletin. Students would know about the number of sections only when they would receive the CAT paper. The only statement that would be made in the bulletin was that the paper would consist of “several sections ”.

This year, however, it has been mentioned both in the notification and the bulletin that there will be three sections in the CAT paper. Though there is no direct mention of the number of sections, the indirect mention of there being three sections in the paper is categorical. Also, there will not be any time limit for each section.

Cut-off : Historically, the IIMs have never confirmed that a minimum cut-off in each section is required for selection and that the cut-off could be different for each IIM. All they said was, “You are expected to show your competence in all the sections”.

For the first time ever, there is a mention in the CAT bulletin of the minimum score required in each section of the CAT paper. IIM Ahmedabad has clearly mentioned, under the head ‘selection criteria’, that test takers have to score a minimum of 25% in each section and 33% overall in the paper to be called for Group Discussions (GD) and Interviews. The actual cut-offs could be higher than these figures depending on the performance of the students in the CAT.

To understand this a little better, let us look at the cut-offs that the IIMs may have considered for CAT 2005. The cut-offs for the three sections – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Analysis and Data Interpretation-Reasoning were 12-13, 10-11, and 9-10 respectively. The maximum mark possible in each of the three sections was 50. Now, with IIM-A specifying that the cut-off will be at least 25% of the marks in the section; it will be 12.5 out of 50 marks.

If one looks at the cut-offs for last year and then considers the fact that another 30 minutes will be available to the test takers this year, the cut-offs could well go up to the 25% level. Same is the case with the 33% overall cut-off that IIM-A specified for this year, which works out to 49.5 out of 150 compared to the cut-off of 44-45 in CAT 2005. So, one need not harbour any apprehensions about the cut-offs being high. This is in line with what has been happening over the last few years.

So, when you look at all the issues associated with CAT 2006, there is almost nothing new while everything appears to be new. Go right ahead and concentrate on your preparation and practicing the All India Mock CATs (AIMCATs). And yes, do not forget that there could be something new in the test, some nasty surprise. All it requires is to be mentally prepared for it!

Admission process / selection process: There are five parameters for final selection into the IIMs – CAT scores, GD performance, Interview performance, Academic performance, and Work Experience. The IIMs have confirmed this in the recent past. In addition, some IIMs give weightage to extracurricular activities too.

However, some IIMs are using only the CAT scores for short-listing for GDs/Interviews whereas the other IIMs are using academic performance and work experience also in addition to CAT scores for short-listing students for GDs/Interviews.

Related Articles :