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ShareAhmedabad: Every MBA aspirant in the country dreams of belling the CAT (Common Admission Test). Considered the most important and prestigious management entrance examination in India, CAT has always surprised aspirants with changes in pattern or number and type of questions in the recent past. Not knowing what lies in store, applicants are never able to breathe easy before the exam. With the test going online from this year, many are all the more tense.
The CAT will be held over a period of ten days (November 28 to December 7), and this, aspirants say, will give advantage to those sitting the test on the later days, as they would know the exam pattern and type of questions being asked. "Aspirants taking the test on later days will be more confident and definitely have an advantage as they can discuss the positive and negative aspects of the test and take feedback from their friends," says Lokesh Chauhan, who will sit the test, and added, "No matter how well prepared they are, candidates appearing on the first day will be under more pressure and tense than those who would take the test later."
Aspirants are also worried about how the IIMs will maintain the same (difficulty) level of questions for all the batches. Another CAT aspirant Rubin Mehta says, "Earlier when there were different set of test papers, candidates had the satisfaction that no aspirant would get undue advantage. However, in the new online format where the test will be held for ten days, there are good chances of test papers varying in degree of difficulty." The organisers have not made any announcement in this regard till now.However, Career Launcher director Abhishek Chaturvedi is hopeful that the IIMs will do justice to all the aspirants. "Though no information in this regard is available on the IIM websites, I am sure that the organisers are experienced enough to keep the same standard of questions for all," he said.
Many aspirants also feel that it is not knowledge but their unfamiliarity with the online format that is likely to affect their performance. Coaching institutes conduct online mock tests once every fortnight. This gap between two tests affects the speed and efficiency of the aspirants. Charu Kari, who will sit the CAT, says, "Before the examination, aspirants take mock tests only eight or nine times which is not sufficient to boost their confidence."
Used to the conventional method (paper-based test) of writing exams, the online format would pose new challenges to the candidates. "Candidates who are comfortable reading comprehension and graphs on paper would find it difficult doing the same on computers," said Priti Kothari, another CAT applicant.
Also, the organisers have not asked for mark-sheets from the candidates this time and this is creating doubts in the minds of aspirants as to how will the merit be calculated. Will CAT scores be the only criteria, unlike previous years when some weightage was given to graduation and school education?
The selection of colleges as test centres in Jaipur too has surprised aspirants. "I stay in Jagatpura and both the test centres are far away from my place. Travelling over 30kms for an exam like CAT will affect my performance. Those who stay near the test centres will have an advantage," feels Rajul Chordiya. It is true that aspirants have lot of apprehensions about the new format. However, they would be served well if they put all these behind them and focus on their preparations with determination to clear the test. They should know that there is always a first time and this year, it is so for all the aspirants.
