Weightage dilemma in CAT is indeed weighty

CAT aspirants are worried about the technicalities of the question paper. Last year too the students faced a similar issue. Prometric India, IIM’s partner, however, has ensured that there will no technical glitches.

Some feel the question paper pattern is vague.

“Candidates are unsure of the weightage being given in certain sections,” said Srinivas Belvi, academic head of Career Launcher.

For instance, as the quantitative analysis and data interpretation come under one section, students are not sure if the questions will be equally divided.

“Candidates are just doing a guess work and the IIMs haven’t disclosed it nor are there details provided on the website as of now,” he said.

Another doubt is about sectional cut-offs. “Candidates want to know if there will be sub-sections and whether there will be different cut-offs for quantitative ability and data interpretation,” he said.

For some, location of test centres is a problem. “Most of the centres are far away from the centre of the city, which involves long travel on the day of the exam,” said a candidate.

However, with regard to technical aspects, heads of coaching centres feel that, over the years, the testing system has improved a lot.

“Although in 2009 the test was a disaster, they have learnt a lot after that and there has been sufficient planning since then,” said Belvi.

“Training and certification of all test centre staff will take place before the start of the testing window to ensure that they are well equipped to assist candidates during the test. We have also built in excess capacity in all locations to cater to any unforeseen technical issues that cannot be resolved by the onsite technician,” said Soumitra Roy, MD, Prometric India.