 "IIMs finally bell the CAT")
Next year, Indian Business-schools are likely to have more diverse classrooms. The changes brought to the Common Admission Test (CAT) means B-schools could have more female students on campuses, more students from non-engineering backgrounds, and happier recruiters.
“The changes are welcome and we think it will allow us to have more diversity in class. So far, our classrooms had a majority of engineering students. Now, we can look forward to students from arts and commerce backgrounds as well. Besides, this could encourage more women candidates to appear for CAT,” said D P Goyal, dean (graduate programme) at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon.
He added that diversity in class has been a long-standing demand from recruiters. MDI uses CAT scores to admit 240 students to its postgraduate programme in management, 45 students in the postgraduate programme in international management, and 60 students for a postgraduate programme in human resources.
B-schools and recruiters have often complained this has created an imbalance in the labour market.The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) administer the CAT and nearly 170 B-schools accept the scores to select students. According to IIMs and institutes using CAT scores for their admission process, the revised format will allow candidates to attempt multiple-choice as well as direct answers, giving students from non-engineering background a more level-field.
To improve their global quotient and attract more foreign students, the IIMs had lowered the graduate management admission test (GMAT)’s cut-off score for the flagship two-year management programmes and one-year full-time management programme for executives.
IIM directors had said that the GMAT cut-off used by IIMs, at over 700, was too high for candidates to even qualify for interviews. IIM-A, which used to carry a cut-off of 760, has brought it down to 700. GMAT is administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a US-based organisation. Although a few years ago the IIMs were learnt to be exploring the possibility of conducting CAT round-the-year on the lines of GMAT, the testing window has now shrunk from a 20-day period to one day. Unlike last year, CAT 2015 will be conducted on a single day, November 29, across 136 cities comprising 650 test sites. Further, against 170 minutes in the previous edition, the duration has been increased to 180 minutes this time.
There will now be three sections - quantitative aptitude; data interpretation & logical reasoning; and verbal & reading comprehension. “The decision is taken keeping in view that the three sections are supposed to test different abilities of the candidates,” said Tathagata Bandyopadhyay, convenor - CAT 2015, IIM Ahmedabad.
This year, the students will be given exactly an hour to complete each section. The test will automatically move to the next section once a candidate spends an hour in a section. Also, a candidate cannot switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section. This is another change from the last year’s test.
Talking about the changes, Bandyopadhyay said, “We have decided to introduce a few questions, which will require candidates to solve the problems and key in the correct answer/s instead of just selecting the right options among the given choices. This we are planning to introduce for reducing the impact of guess work on the performance. Also, during the examination, the candidates can use basic on-screen calculator for computation. This has been done to help the candidates focus more on the problem than on the computation.”
An advantage of conducting the examination in November is that students who were not considering to appear for CAT 2015, will now be able to consider it.
Ramnath K, national course director (CAT) at Triumphant Institute of Management Education, said, “The changes are definitely good. The examination is in November, so students will get more time to prepare.” According to him, with an uptick in the economy and the job market looking bright, enrolments for CAT will go up this year.
Among other changes in CAT 2015, candidates will be given the option to select four test cities in order of preference and hence need not rush to block slots and sites in the initial days of registration.
“The changes are welcome and we think it will allow us to have more diversity in class. So far, our classrooms had a majority of engineering students. Now, we can look forward to students from arts and commerce backgrounds as well. Besides, this could encourage more women candidates to appear for CAT,” said D P Goyal, dean (graduate programme) at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon.
He added that diversity in class has been a long-standing demand from recruiters. MDI uses CAT scores to admit 240 students to its postgraduate programme in management, 45 students in the postgraduate programme in international management, and 60 students for a postgraduate programme in human resources.
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IIMs have long grappled with the issue of CAT being a test biased toward engineers. With CAT’s examination pattern skewed towards the mathematical ability of a student, experts have long argued that it helps engineers.
B-schools and recruiters have often complained this has created an imbalance in the labour market.The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) administer the CAT and nearly 170 B-schools accept the scores to select students. According to IIMs and institutes using CAT scores for their admission process, the revised format will allow candidates to attempt multiple-choice as well as direct answers, giving students from non-engineering background a more level-field.
To improve their global quotient and attract more foreign students, the IIMs had lowered the graduate management admission test (GMAT)’s cut-off score for the flagship two-year management programmes and one-year full-time management programme for executives.
IIM directors had said that the GMAT cut-off used by IIMs, at over 700, was too high for candidates to even qualify for interviews. IIM-A, which used to carry a cut-off of 760, has brought it down to 700. GMAT is administered by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a US-based organisation. Although a few years ago the IIMs were learnt to be exploring the possibility of conducting CAT round-the-year on the lines of GMAT, the testing window has now shrunk from a 20-day period to one day. Unlike last year, CAT 2015 will be conducted on a single day, November 29, across 136 cities comprising 650 test sites. Further, against 170 minutes in the previous edition, the duration has been increased to 180 minutes this time.
There will now be three sections - quantitative aptitude; data interpretation & logical reasoning; and verbal & reading comprehension. “The decision is taken keeping in view that the three sections are supposed to test different abilities of the candidates,” said Tathagata Bandyopadhyay, convenor - CAT 2015, IIM Ahmedabad.
This year, the students will be given exactly an hour to complete each section. The test will automatically move to the next section once a candidate spends an hour in a section. Also, a candidate cannot switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section. This is another change from the last year’s test.
Talking about the changes, Bandyopadhyay said, “We have decided to introduce a few questions, which will require candidates to solve the problems and key in the correct answer/s instead of just selecting the right options among the given choices. This we are planning to introduce for reducing the impact of guess work on the performance. Also, during the examination, the candidates can use basic on-screen calculator for computation. This has been done to help the candidates focus more on the problem than on the computation.”
An advantage of conducting the examination in November is that students who were not considering to appear for CAT 2015, will now be able to consider it.
Ramnath K, national course director (CAT) at Triumphant Institute of Management Education, said, “The changes are definitely good. The examination is in November, so students will get more time to prepare.” According to him, with an uptick in the economy and the job market looking bright, enrolments for CAT will go up this year.
Among other changes in CAT 2015, candidates will be given the option to select four test cities in order of preference and hence need not rush to block slots and sites in the initial days of registration.