MBAUniverse.com Analysis: CAT foxes Experts; MBA Test-prep institutes offer clarifications

MBAUniverse.com had published a story on November 21, 2008, highlighting that according to our analysis of answer keys published by four major test prep institutes (IMS - Mumbai, TIME - Hyderabad, Career Launcher – Delhi and PT Education – Indore), answers to as many as nine CAT questions don't match. Responding to our queries, MBA test prep companies have acknowledged the differences amongst their answers, and have their reasons for the mis-match.  

The questions (of CAT series # 111) where the CAT experts are disagreeing are: 39, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 64, 86 and 90.

Responding on behalf of IMS Learning and offering explanations for their answers to CAT questions, Vinayak Kudva, Product Head-Test Prep, IMS Learning Resources said, "Note that Q 39 mentioned in your list is not a discrepancy as even IMS has stated both [1] and [4] to be the correct options. In fact, IMS was the first institute to mention the error in this question when other institutes were talking about an error in another question, which was later found to be correct. We have even given a detailed explanation for this question as to why both the options [1] and [4] are correct. (Visit http://220.226.203.68/cat_2008/pdfs/CAT-error.pdf)."

Mr Kudva added, "In the verbal section, Q 57, 58, 59 and 62 have sentences that have been picked from various sources on the internet, and the IMS answers provided are in accordance with the usage in the source.

The rest of the discrepancies in the Verbal section are mainly due to the subjectivity involved in the interpretation of the questions and the options. Except for Q 61 and 64, which are debatable, there should really be no discrepancy in the rest of the questions."   

Responding on behalf of Indore based Professional Tutorial, Subhasish Mitra, Vice President – KRG, PT education said that problem is arising because of increasing number of "inference based" questions in language section, which are open to subjective interpretations. Said Mr Mitra, "The mismatch is primarily in the case of the Language questions, in which there has been an increase in the number of "inference-based" questions. Now in these questions, depending on the perspective of the reader, there can be multiple inferences, nuances and assumptions; and depending on these, different answers can come up."

Offering an example Mr Mitra added, "In one of the questions, wherein we had to choose the most appropriate word, one of the sentences reads as: The minister is obliged / compelled to report regularly to a parliamentary board. Now, depending on what you want to say, both the words can be correct. Here, we can have one other problem. Even if we all agree that "obliged" is the correct word, it might be proved false, if the IIMs say that "compelled" is more appropriate."

Mr Mitra further added, "Sometimes, there are ambiguities in the questions - like in this year's paper, in the only DI question in which there is a mis-match, it is because of an ambiguity in the question itself, rather than any interpretational difference."  

Responding on behalf of Career Launcher, Mr Shiva Kumar, Director, R&D, Career Launcher, Delhi simply said, "We feel that these are the answers to the best of our judgement."  

MBAUniverse.com comparison of "ANSWER KEYS" by 4 major MBA test prep institutions

When asked how students, who have taken the CAT and are on tenterhooks, should plan their next steps, Mr Kudva of IMS said, "A student should look for indicative percentiles and not absolute percentiles. In any case, no institute can accurately predict a test-takers actual percentile and hence every test taker should exercise some discretion while taking important decisions based on the predicted percentiles. A student getting an estimated 90 percentile should probably apply to colleges having cut-offs between 85-95 percentile."  

IMS further added, "We, at IMS believe that the only solution to the problem is if the CAT and the rest of the selection process are separated from each other ala GMAT."

Mr Mitra of PT Education said that situation is "very difficult" for students and "they will always work in a range of score. Say, from the "worst case" to the "best case" scenario."  

In the given circumstances, shouldn't the IIMs publish the official answers to the questions soon after CAT is over? There isn't a general consensus on this moot issue. According to the official CAT website, the results will be declared only on January 9, 2009.  

Supporting the move to declare answer keys early, Mr Mitra said, "Definitely. It would go a long way in clearing the confusion in the student community and help him to apply to the different CAT allied institutes in a more satisfactory manner."

 Differing on the issue, Mr Kudva said, "We strongly believe that we should not be dictating terms to the IIMs. We need to respect their sensibility and if they are doing certain things, they must definitely be having valid reasons for doing so."