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EXPERT INTERVIEWS ON CAT 2015 PREP

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EXPERT INTERVIEWS ON CAT 2015 PREP

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Contents

Introduction 3

Dr. Tathagata Bandyopadhyay 4

Experts Take on CAT 2015 6

Quick notes on Top MBA entrance exams 15

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CAT 2015 has been announced with changes. The exam will be con-ducted in a single window in two sessions. Sectional time limit has been re-introduced, on-screen calculator will be provided, and the

number of sections has been increased. Why these changes have been done? What are the benefits of these changes? In this E-book by Careers360 CAT 2015 Convenor and experts share their views, and preparation tips for CAT 2015 changed pattern

Introduction

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Dr. Tathagata Bandyopadhyay

CAT 2015 single-day testing to ‘enhance operational efficiency and bring diversity’, says CAT 2015 Convenor

Dr. Tathagata Bandyopadhyay is Common Admis-sion Test (CAT) Convenor for 2015. Though a formal notification for CAT 2015 is expected by IIM

Ahmedabad, the organizing institution for CAT 2015, in the last week of July only, Dr Bandyopadhyay is readying crucial changes in CAT exam scheme this year, including a 1-day test window to ‘enhance operational efficiency’ of the exam.

In an interview with Careers360, the IIM-A professor shares his plans of turning the premier MBA entrance exam into a single-day test. Along this, he indicates to a likely change in the exam pattern of CAT, the gateway to prestig-ious Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) and over 150

top B-schools in India. Dr Bandyopadhyay also shares his broad perspective towards current market equation and demand for good managers. He also speaks on expected pattern changes and ‘rationaliztion of weights assigned to different components of the test.”

Answering to a question of the objective behind the changes in CAT 2015 Exam Pattern, Dr. Bandyopadhyay hopes that the move will help IIMs bring in greater diversity in the classrooms and will go a long way in enriching the learning experience. “This we hope will create a level-playing field for all candidates, no matter what educational background they come from, and will remove skewness to a large extent

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Read All About CAT 2015

that we referred to above. We believe such a move will help us identify candidates from varied backgrounds who will become future leaders in their chosen profession, and will bring diversity in IIMs”, he says.

CAT 2015 is scheduled to be conducted in a single day window on November 29, in two sessions. According to Dr Bandyopadhyay, conducting CAT in a single window will help in enhancing operational efficiency and quality of the test content. As per the new exam pattern the total duration of the exam is 180 minutes with exact 60 minutes of sectional time limit to answer each section.

The total number of questions is 100, divided into three sections. The three sections will be, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC), in that order.

Candidates will not be allowed to switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section.

QA and VRC will have 34 questions each, and DILR will have 32 questions. Some questions in each section may not be of multiple choice type, instead, candidates have to type direct answers on the screen.

One of the major changes, and also first time in the history of CAT, candidates will be allowed to use basic on-screen calculator for calculation. The tutorial, explaining the CAT 2015 Exam Pattern will be launched on October 15, 2015, for the candidates to have a better understanding of the changed pattern, and the procedures to be followed at the time of CAT 2015 exam.

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Experts Take on CAT 2015CAT 2015: ‘Sectional limit will make decision making easier'

In this interview, VistaMind Education CEO, Arks Srini-vas shares all the implications related to CAT 2015, the strategy the aspirants must follow and the advan-

tages and disadvantages for the candidates. He feels that the changes in the CAT 2015 exam pattern are not new, rather they are a continuation of pattern in which IIMs have always believed in.

Talking about the time bound sections, Srinivas states that by stipulating time restrictions per section the IIMs have made decision making easier for the students. He hopes that in upcoming years if CAT is conducted in single slot as well it would avoid the normalization complications.

Arks Srinivas

Careers360: What is your take on the overall exam pattern?Arks Srinivas: The CAT 2015 three section pattern is not a new pattern at all. Somewhere around 2009, when the IIMs entrusted Prometric with the online testing, the exam pattern moved closer towards the GMAT pattern. From 2014 onwards, the IIMs have re-established control of what the pattern should be. In that sense, this pattern is a continuation of what the IIMs have always believed in.

All the CAT exams between 1999 and 2010 actually have been three section exams and the split among areas is exactly the same, viz. Quantitative Ability, Verbal and Reading Com-prehension and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning.

Careers360: What are the benefits the students will get from introduction of Time Limit and On Screen Calculator?Arks Srinivas: There are certain advantages and disad-vantages to teh changed exam pattern this year.

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Time limit: By giving 60 minutes to each section, the IIMs are doing disservice to the crop of managers that will be pro-duced. The IIMs should have continued to allow students to decide the time they would give to each section. The basic requirement that the student should get a minimum marks (cutoff ) in each section should be good enough of a caution for smart students to allocate the time judiciously.

On Screen Calculator: This is another damaging move that the IIMs have introduced. In the race to be politically correct and to be seen to encourage non-engineers, the IIMs are doing more harm than good to the students. The student, as they normally are, would happily stop working on the speed calculation part and would end up actually taking more time with the calculator than without one.

In addition, the fact that XAT, SNAP, IIFT and a host of other exams do not allow calculators, it is only to the detri-ment of the students that the IIMs have announced the On Screen Calculation option.

Careers360: What might be the thought process behind the introduction of Non-MCQ's in CAT? Arks Srinivas: By announcing that there may be ques-tions which are not going to be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), I am not sure what the IIMs are expecting to achieve. It would be very surprising if these questions are descriptive in nature (such as an essay). At best they will still

be answering the question without the help of choices.

Careers360: Will the changed pattern bring student diversity in IIMs?Arks Srinivas: It is hilarious that the IIMs think that a few cosmetic changes in the pattern would allow them to bring in more diversity. The Convenor of CAT 2015 seems to have forgotten that the paper was a three section paper between 1999 and 2010. They have played with the idea of section time limits as early as 1998 and then again when the paper became computer based in the last four to five years (exception being CAT 2014).

Despite all these supposed changes, this year’s CAT will also throw up the same kind of students as the previous CATs have.

Careers360: How should the aspirants manage the time with 1 hour per section?Arks Srinivas: By stipulating time restrictions per sec-tion, the IIMs have made decision making easier for the students. The student has to consider CAT as a set of three exams of 60 minutes each and maximize his marks in each of the sections.

Careers360: What should be the sectional prepara-tion strategy?Arks Srinivas: CAT 2014 pattern had exactly the same

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split of questions in terms of areas.

Section I had 50 questions, of which 34 questions were from QA and 16 were from DI.

Similarly, Section II had 50 questions, of which 34 ques-tions were from VRC and 16 were from LR.

In CAT 2015, they have taken out 16 questions each from Section I and Section II of the CAT 2014 pattern and are calling it the third section of 32 questions.

Hence, there is absolutely no change in the preparation strategy for CAT 2015 as compared to CAT 2014.

Careers360: Based on the new pattern, do you think it would be able to increase the diversity as hoped by the CAT 2015 Convenor?Arks Srinivas: The answer is an unequivocal no. The IIMs can try getting diversity only by reducing cutoffs for the non-engineering streams, which they have already done. So, there is nothing more that the IIMs will achieve with this new pattern.

The real problem lies elsewhere. At school and 12th class levels, the best students of the school and college take up Sci-ences and end up taking Engineering at the graduation level. A minority few, who are good, do take up arts or humanities at the 11th/12th class levels. These students are the only ones who end up getting into the IIMs by competing with the

Engineers (including the IITians and NITians).

Since the academically good students end up in the engi-neering stream, it is but natural that the maximum students selected by the IIMs tend to be Engineers. And it has very little to do with the exam pattern.

Careers360: The computer based CAT will be con-ducted in a single day window in 2 slots for the first time. Is it a positive development according to you? How?Arks Srinivas: This is probably the best change that the IIMs have brought. I would be extremely happy if by CAT 2016, they conduct this exam in just one slot. The heartburn of flawed normalization techniques would be gone and stu-dents can then compete and get judged on the same platform!

Careers360: Anything else you would like to share on CAT 2015?Arks Srinivas: Another positive development in CAT 2015 is the date of the exam. By pushing it closer to Decem-ber, the IIMs have given sufficient time for students who wake up late. In fact, the CAT exam used to be conducted in December in the 1990s and by signaling this change, the IIMs have given a clear 4 months from the time of notifica-tion to the exam. These four months are more than sufficient for sincere students to Crack the CAT exam.

The pattern is a continuation of what the IIMs have always believed in. All the CAT exams between 1999 and 2010 actually have been three section exams and the split among areas is exactly the same, viz. Quantitative Ability, Verbal and Reading Comprehension and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning"

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CAT 2015 changes will favour well-prepared students: Gautam Puri, VC, Career Launcher

In this expert interview, Gautam Puri, Vice Chairman, Career Launcher elaborates on the new pattern and explains how evolution of CAT pattern over the last

6-7 years has only made it closer to its pattern of 1990’s. He, however, believes that the changes are for good and the single day-testing will help minimize controversies around normalization processes. He also shares tips on sectional strategy and predicts the cutoffs for CAT 2015.

Gautam Puri

Careers360: Now that there are sectional time limits once again, how will it impact the aspirants?Gautam Puri: I think this introduction of sectional time limits (60 minutes for each section) has both positive and negative implications for the students. The good thing is that they now need not worry about how much time to be given to a section and can just focus on maximizing their attempts in each of the three sections in 60 minutes.

On the flip side, it will now not be possible for students to save time in one section and use it in another. In this kind of paper with sectional time limits, the overall cutoff tends to fall because students cannot use the time saved in one sec-tion in another one. However given that most students are poor at time management across sections, this will work in their favour.

Careers360: What should be the sectional prepara-tion strategy for CAT 2015?Gautam Puri: Assuming CAT 2015 to be similar to CAT

Careers360: CAT 2015 has been announced with some major changes. What is your view on the new pat-tern?Gautam Puri: The changes announced for CAT 2015 means that this edition of CAT will be significantly different from CAT 2014. However, most of the changes will favour a well prepared student.

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2014 in terms of difficulty level, I feel that the optimum attempts will be:●● Section 1 (QA): 25 -30 question●● Section 2 (DILR): 20-25 questions (6 out of 8 data sets)●● Section 3 (VRC): 25 questions (2-3 RC passages and

12-15 Verbal)

If one looks at the CAT 1999-2008 papers, most of which were similar to CAT 2015 pattern, the sectional cutoff was in the range of 33% to 40% and I expect the same would happen in CAT 2015 also. Thus around 12-14 net correct answers would be sufficient to clear the sectional cutoffs.

Hence, while In CAT 2015 a score of around 190 was required for 99%ile, my estimate for CAT 2015 will be around 175.

Careers360: For the first time, there will be on screen calculator and some direct questions which would not have answer choices. How far will it be advantageous for the candidates?Gautam Puri: This, I am sure will be welcomed by almost all the candidates. A basic on screen calculator is provided in GRE also and in SAT too students are allowed to use a basic calculator. While many students might interpret that

the provision of calculator will mean that questions will be more calculation intensive but that is unlikely. CAT has over the years transformed itself to a logic based paper and that is unlikely to change.

Careers360: Based on the new pattern, do you think it would be able to increase the diversity of the manage-ment classroom, as hoped by the CAT 2015 Convenor?Gautam Puri: I don’t think the new pattern of CAT should have an impact on either gender diversity or academic background diversity.

Careers360: Do you think the single day window of CAT 2015 is a positive development? How?Gautam Puri: Absolutely Positive. No fears of normaliza-tion and no un-due advantage to students who would have taken CAT at a later date. Considering it’s a single day test, students get an extra fortnight to prepare.

Careers360: Anything else you would like to share about CAT 2015?Gautam Puri: It’s a good change and I think we are mov-ing in the right direction. It would be ideal to have an exam pattern with questions equally divided between English and Maths, like the pattern till CAT’98.

“It’s a good change and I think we are moving in the right direction. It would be ideal to have an exam pattern with questions equally divided between English and Maths,”Gautam Puri,

Vice Chairman, Career Launcher.

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Treat CAT 2015 as a series of three 1-hour tests: Vinayak Kudva, IMS Learning

Careers360 brings to you insights from Vinayak Kudva, Product Head, and IMS Learning. He advises candi-dates to firstly ensure that they are equally prepared

in all three sections and further ensure that they fine-tune their test taking strategy in alignment with the new structure. He says that the aspirants can no longer skip the entire sec-tion or major topics since there would be 3 different sections along with sectional cut off. He also hopes that with the single day window of CAT 2015, the controversies on scaling and equating process would be mitigated.

Vinayak Kudva

Careers360: What is your take on the overall exam pattern introduced for CAT 2015?Vinayak Kudva: The CAT has now changed to a 3 sec-tion test with sectional time-limits - but there is no change in the areas that are being assessed viz Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability. We believe the IIMs have done this to ensure that the test-takers exhibit equal competency in all three sections unlike last year when they could do well in the test even without performing well in Quantitative Ability or Verbal Ability. So, potential test aspirants need to firstly ensure that they are equally prepared in all three sections and further ensure that

they fine-tune their test taking strategy in alignment with the new structure.

Careers360: The sections are once again time bound, with 1 hour each. How should aspirants manage time during testing hours?Vinayak Kudva: With sectional time-limits, test-takers neither have the option to decide how much time to allocate to each of the areas nor to decide the order in which they would solve questions from different areas. Test-takers will now need to look at the CAT as a series of three 1-hour tests, one after the other, wherein they need to maximize their scores in each of the tests.

Careers360: Please suggest the sectional preparation strategy for CAT 2015.Vinayak Kudva: A test-taker must set the target number of questions to be solved in each section even before entering the exam hall - this would obviously be based on the sectional and overall percentile one is aiming for in CAT 2015. The test-takers should know their strengths and weaknesses in each of the sections and accordingly maximize their attempts in each of the sections without compromising on accuracy. Sectional percentiles will be the game changer this year.

Careers360: For the first time, there will be on screen calculator. How far will it be advantageous for the can-didates?

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Vinayak Kudva: We believe the IIMs have introduced the calculator to mitigate the psychological fear of Math that a lot of non-engineering students have with respect to the CAT. While the CAT never had too many calculation-intensive questions in the past, the introduction of the calculator will definitely help students while performing calculations in Data Interpretation and maybe a few Quantitative Ability questions. The focus will therefore be on knowing "what to calculate" rather than "how to calculate". CAT always has been and will still be a test of one’s ability to apply concepts.

Careers360: There will be some non-MCQs as well. How should the candidates tackle those questions?Vinayak Kudva: As far as the TITA (type-in-the-answer) questions are concerned, test-takers will not be able to indulge in guessing - wild or intelligent based on the options provided. However as these questions do not carry nega-tive marking, all test-takers would be advised to definitely attempt these questions.

Careers360: Based on the new pattern, do you think it would be possible to increase the diversity in the B-schools?Vinayak Kudva: The IIMs are hoping that the Verbal Ability section being stand-alone will help the case of non-engineering students thereby increasing the number of non-engineering students in the final mix. However, one needs to remember that the 3-section format is not something new

and was prevalent in the past too - and the outcome in terms of who did well in the test was fairly the same.

Careers360: The computer based CAT will be con-ducted in a single day window in 2 slots for the first time. Is it a positive development according to you? How?Vinayak Kudva: IIMs are slowly moving towards a single window test that would exactly replicate the paper-based test scenario that was prevalent before the CAT went online in 2009. This is necessary to stem all questions that keep com-ing up every year regarding the credibility and fairness of the process used for scaling and equating of scores for tests taken across multiple test slots. Last year they drastically reduced the test window from 21 test days (42 slots) to 2 Test Days (4 slots) and this year they have further brought it down to just 1 Test day and 2 slots. Don’t be surprised if the test is conducted in just 1 slot next year.

Careers360: What would be your suggestion for the CAT 2015 aspirants?Vinayak Kudva: Now that there is enough information available about the test - all test aspirants should focus on their preparation. We welcome the transparency shown by the IIMs this year regarding the test - they have shared the order of the sections and even the marking scheme way in advance. Students are advised to ensure they take enough mock tests before the actual test, and thereby be well pre-pared for 29th November.

You need to firstly ensure that you are equally prepared in all 3 sections and further ensure to fine-tune your test taking strategy in alignment with the new structure. –

Vinayak Kudva,CAT Product Head, IMS Learning

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Sandeep Manudhane

CAT 2015 Pattern: ‘Not too short, not too lengthy, but balanced’, says Sandeep Manud-hane, Chairman, PT Education

PT Education Chairman Sandeep Manudhane speaks on the changed pattern and its possible implications on your preparation. Mr. Manudhane feels that single

day testing is a better idea and hopes that it becomes one-day-one-slot test from next year. For the new pattern, he also shares section-wise preparation strategy.

Careers360: What is your overall take on the new exam pattern?Sandeep Manudhane: It is an excellent pattern. This is what CAT should be like - not too short, not too lengthy, but balanced. However I do not like the sectional time limit thing. It is a bad idea frankly!

Careers360: Now, All the three sections are time bound, with 1 hour each. How should the aspirants man-age the time?Sandeep Manudhane: This is not a good idea as it forc-es candidates to not strategise at a macro level but restricts them to sectional strategising only. There is very little to be done by an aspirant in this case except working on his sec-tional strategy of scan - search - select - solve.

Careers360: Please suggest sectional-wise prepara-tion strategy for each section - Quantitative Ability, Ver-bal & Reading Comprehension, and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning.

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Sandeep Manudhane: For Quantitative Ability, speed is essential. Also, the ability to choose the right question to solve is very crucial. Never get stuck in speed breakers.

For Verbal and Reading Comprehension, try doing eve-rything except very complicated and long (if any) passages.

For Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, avoid the complicated sets if you can (if there are other less compli-cated sets available) as the risk return relationship really gets skewed in this case.

Careers360: For the first time, there will be an on-screen calculator and some direct questions which would not have answer choices. How far will it be advan-tageous for the candidates?Sandeep Manudhane: I welcome this change. I hope one day they make subjective essay writing and GK-CA a core part of the test. If you really want diversity in your class-rooms, this is one tool you cannot do without.

Careers360: According to the CAT 2015 Convenor, the exam pattern change is aimed at creating academi-cally diverse classroom. Do you agree?Sandeep Manudhane: Hopefully yes. But wait and

watch. Huge surprises can be thrown up by the system any time!

Careers360: The computer-based CAT will be con-ducted in a single day window in 2 slots for the first time. Is it a positive development according to you? How?Sandeep Manudhane: Right from 2008 when they (CAT officials) started experimenting wildly with an other-wise (earlier) perfect CAT testing system, the students’ faith on the system has gone down continuously. It is good that they have realised that spreading the test over many days only looks fancy. It is a non-essential frill at the most.

I hope one day they revert back to the solid paper-pencil format. The computer based model has no advantage over the paper-pencil format at all, especially in the Indian sce-nario. But the IIMs keep experimenting for the sake of it! Frankly, I fail to see why they still want to do it in 2 slots - perhaps they want to make a point that they were not wrong all these years about multiple slots! I think a single slot would be great.

Careers360: Your message to CAT 2015 aspirants?Sandeep Manudhane: Stay focussed. If there is any change, it is same for everyone. Relax and give your best!

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1. CAT 2015: Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national level entrance exam for admission to management pro-gramme at 19 IIMs and other 100 B-schools, this year is scheduled to be conducted on November 29, 2015. The exam is divided into three sections namely, Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC). The total duration of the exam is 180 minutes with exact 60 minutes to answer each section Candidates will not be allowed to switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section.

QA and VRC will have 34 questions each, and DI & LR will have 32 questions. Some questions in each section may not be of multiple choice type, instead, candidates have to type direct answers on the screen. Candidates will also be allowed to use on-scree basic calculator for calculations.

2. XAT 2016: Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT), conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, is for admissions to XLRI Jamshed-pur, other Xavier Associate Management Institutes and over 120 B-schools across India. XAT is a paper pencil based test of 3-hour duration. The paper comprises of 2 papers. Paper 1 consists of objective, multiple choice questions from 3 sections – Quantitative Ability, English Language & Logical Reasoning, and Decision Making and has duration of 2 hours 20 minutes.

3. IIFT 2015: IIFT is a national level post-graduation entrance examination, conducted by Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. The institute offers two years full time MBA in International Business, at two of the IIFT cam-puses- IIFT Delhi and Kolkata. IIFT 2015 will be held on Sunday, November 22, 2015. As per the exam pattern of IIFT 2015, the test will be of objective type con-ducted in paper pencil format. The sections of the exam

Quick notes on Top MBA entrance exams

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will be English Comprehension, General Knowledge and Awareness and Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis.

4. SNAP 2015: Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) is a national level post graduate entrance examination con-ducted by the Symbiosis International University (SIU) for admissions into the MBA programme of institutes under this university. SNAP 2015, scheduled on Sunday, December 20, 2015, is an objective type paper-pen based exam, with a total duration of 120 minutes. Each ques-tion will have 4 responses and candidate have to select the right response.

5. NMAT By GMAC 2016: NMAT by GMAC 2016 is the MBA entrance exam conducted by Graduate Manage-ment Admission Council (GMAC). The exam will select the candidates for admission to NMIMS University and 11 other B-schools across India. The exam will be held from October 6 to December 19, 2015.The exam is a mul-tiple choice objective type computer based exam. The duration of the exam is 2 hours and the students have to answer a total of 120 questions. The overall exam will be divided into three sections, Quantitative Skills, Language Skills and Logical Reasoning.

!!!Careers360 wishes All the Best for MBA Examinations!!!