More focus by IIMs is placed on social, political and economic issues in the Written Ability Test (WAT) in their Personal interview round. The Group Discussion (GD) is being gradually substituted by WAT in most of the top rated B schools like IIMs mainly because CAT is not able to assess a candidate for his good writing skill in this computer based exam.
In fact a candidate is very well tested on his knowledge in MCQ type examination and can also be assessed well how good he speaks and can convince others in the personal interview round but without WAT it may not be possible to judge him on his writing skill. Written Ability Test in IIMs and other important B schools is a 15 to 30 minutes’ exercise.
Written Ability Test is not a part of CAT computer based test and therefore IIM Ahmedabad; IIM Bangalore; IIM Lucknow; IIM Calcutta and other IIMs as well as non IIMs individually put the candidate to take WAT in a time duration of 15 to 30 minutes. The expectation in WAT is whether the candidate has understood the topic in accordance with its key words and is able to form the piece of writing in a logical and coherent manner. It accounts for 10 to 20 percentage points in final admission round. Candidates may expect questions in their Personal Interview round out of their written essay of 300 to 400 words.
Important Past WAT Topics
Topics in WAT are mostly based on current affairs, socio political happenings, business and economics, International affairs, philosophy. Following past WAT topics that appeared in IIMS and other top rated B schools will provide a glimpse of the recent trends in PI round
1. How can we make youth politically more active
2. New innovative courses like MBA in Disaster Mgmt are coming up-what are the advantages of these courses for a graduate?;
3. Explain the popularity of reality TV shows and television game shows;
4. Food security act is because of inefficiency of public distribution system ;
5. Is reading no more a leisure thing? How has the advancement of technology affected the concept of leisure?;
6. Is privatisation in education sector an only solution to improve the quality of higher education in India ?;
7. Rise in the number of terrorist activities;
8. Are there any other reasons than Tourism why the historical places should be preserved and protected? ;
9. The recent financial crisis highlights the perils of Capitalism
10.Women's Reservation Bill
11. Banning politicians with criminal records from contesting elections is against their right
12. India versus Bharat : a divided nation
13.Union Budget is a useless exercise and activities like recession puts it off-track
14.Essential services like water, electricity should not be privatized
15.Is disinvestment in profit making PSU's advisable?
16.Should Petroleum Subsidy go away?
17.Corporate Social Responsibility
19.Discuss the role of Public Private Partnership in India's Economic Growth
20.Voting should be made compulsory Many More
Time limit for WAT in B schools
This is the most crucial part in WAT. You have to write a good essay with rich contents in a short time. Every B school has prescribed its own time limit in a range of 15 to 30 minutes. Some of the IIMs make this time limit comprehensive i.e. the time is for WAT followed by discussion round on the same topic for example IIM Kozhikode. Let us know the varying time limits
B school Prescribed Time limit for WAT
IIM-A 15-20 minutes
IIM-B 30 minutes includes discussion
IIM-C 15 minutes
IIM-L 15 minutes followed by discussion
IIM-Kozhikode 30 minutes (15 minutes for WAT+15 minutes for discussion)
IIM-Indore 15-20 minutes
IIM-Shillong No WAT only PI
Six new IIMs namely 15-20 minutes (Common WAT & PI going to be coordinated
IIM Trichy; Kashipur; Ranchi; by IIM Udaipur for admission 2015)
Raipur; Udaipur; Rohtak
FMS Delhi NO WAT; 15-20 minutes to GD
IMT Ghaziabad Caselet discussion and summary writing (20 minutes)
IMI Delhi Psychometric test, PI with Extempore speaking on a topic
The key writing tips
Final admission depends on WAT and PI round to a great extent. According to Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability Expert and Mentor on CAT preparation, if an essay is written with a clear and coherent flow of thought with rich contents, it may get the candidate through the last round of admission procedure. The score and the thought expressed in essay then serve as a ground to the selection in B schools listed in CAT. The crucial role, this essay writing plays, is the candidate’s ability to face the Board and answer the penetrating questions based on whatever was expressed in the essay.
4 important assets you need for WAT
a. Good command over the topic/subject
b. clear and Coherent flow of thought
c. Ability to recollect the facts and examples, and insert them at the appropriate place
d. Ability to write effectively with correct use of grammar, spelling and punctuation in good handwriting
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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on WAT 2015 in IIMs
