True that dream of getting into the flagship PGP 2016-18 batch of IIM A, B, C, L and other IIMs and top B schools may not become a reality unless you score a high percentile in Common Admission Test (CAT) 2015. But we need to know whether IIMs really need only high overall percentile of 99+ or there are certain other factors even more important than scoring 99 or 100 overall percentile in CAT 2015 to get your dream B school in 2016.
After coming to know all about the criteria to get into IIMs, the most important part to win the race is how to overcome the ignorance and succeed in our endeavour. According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2015 preparation, the very first tip to success journey in CAT 2015 is to shed the CAT fear and build up your confidence even before beginning your preparation. Those who are preparing in right direction, understand the pros & cons and weightage of each criterion prescribed by IIMs for admission in 2016, should gear up as they are destined to win the race and would make it to top B schools.
Overall high percentile: Not a necessity
CAT 2015 aspirants should be aware of this surprising fact that IIMs need a high balanced sectional percentile instead of only high overall percentile. All the IIMs fix a minimum sectional cut off. Usually, the minimum sectional cut off is above 85+ for newer IIMs and 90+ for older ones especially IIM A, B, C, L. A candidate scoring 98 overall percentile might have scored 100 percentile in quant and 83 in Verbal. Despite such a high score, his sectional percentile is not to the minimum prescribed standard. He would not be shortlisted by any IIM unless his sectional percentile was above the minimum prescribed cut off point of 85 or 90.
No IIM prefers to offer any grace percentile option and therefore even if you are short of one percentile in scoring the minimum cut off percentile, you wouldn’t be shortlisted nor any generosity from any IIM must be expected in this regard.
On the other hand candidates with good sectional percentile of 85+ in each section or 90+ in each section, despite having lesser overall percentile say 96 or 97 not only receive the calls from older IIMs but also would stand fair opportunity to convert them.
When the results for CAT 2014 were out, happier were the students who scored 97 and 99 percentile and were more or less assured of their admission in top rated B school. The comparatively low overall percentilers were more worried and continued their search, remained in constant touch with MBAUniverse.com for further course of action and guidance about the admission criteria in various B schools across the country. In a turn of events the higher overall percentilers lagged behind the low scorer ones in the final admission round.
How important is to score high and balanced sectional percentile as against the overall percentile is a fact supposed to be known by all. Once knowing the importance, how to achieve it becomes even more important.
How to ensure high & balanced sectional percentile
CAT 2015 aspirants prepare throughout the year with dedication. Some of the working professionals go for a drop year giving up the job to prepare hard. They secure high overall percentile also, but a slip in sectional percentile defeats the purpose.
The calculation of percentile in CAT is different and is based on equated normalization system. A candidate with high percentile of 99 in Quant section and with low percentile of 93 in Verbal section may still score 99+ percentile. On the contrary a candidate with fairly high balanced percentile of 87 and 90 in each section can have overall percentile between 92 to 95.
The irony however, is that the candidate with 99 percentile with too much deviation in sectional, percentile may not be shortlisted for GDPI by older IIMs as against the candidate with 96 percentile with balanced sectional percentile despite having an excellent academic profile and good work experience. Even a candidate with 92 percentile (having balanced and fairly high percentile) with equal academic and work ex profile may get shortlisted by one of the older IIMs like IIM Indore; IIM Kozhikode; IIM Shillong among others.
CAT 2015 Preparation expert on Verbal Ability Prof S K Agarwal is of the strong view that ‘candidates should target a high percentile in both the sections of CAT 2015 exam else it will be difficult to even get shortlisted by any IIM’.
There are two most important angles that would be instrumental to help you achieve the high sectional percentile in CAT 2015 and get you shortlisted for final admission round.
First one-CAT 2015 score
Second one- Your Profile
CAT 2015 score: The preparation angle: 4 crucial months
CAT 2015 is still 4-5 months away and is proposed to be conducted in October/November 2015. You can strive for 99 percentile in each section. With the concerted preparation strategy of regular study and practice, you can score well say 95+ percentile in each section. It does not mean that you have to score 95% marks but relatively your should be ranked a 95+ percentiler in each section. This would award with an overall percentile of 99+ and you are sure to be shortlisted not only by IIMs but also by other top rated B schools.
The very first thing is to prepare with determination and with right strategy. Following 5 Preparation tips being shared by Prof S K Agarwal will be fruitful only when you have the strong will to succeed in CAT 2015.
Be independent: Nothing can match self- study
Whether you are a working professional or a ‘fresher’ there is no match to self study. Grab the right study material; divide the various parts into your strong and weak areas. It’s time to work on your weak topics, read them, understand them, practice the exercises, find where you went wrong and practice yet more exercises. Don’t however forget that the weak parts in your strong areas do also need regular study and practice.
Regularly revise whatever you have been studying. Improve and sharpen your memory. More you use your brain more will it accommodate.
Divide the study material in various parts for example study material on verbal ability can be divided in 4-5 modules like Grammar & tenses required for entire Verbal Ability section and particularly for Error correction in sentences and paragraphs; Different types of paragraphs, summarising the paragraph, picking the out of context sentences from Jumbled paragraphs; choosing among Facts, Inference & Judgement (FIJ) options from the paragraphs; Reading comprehension. Vocabulary questions were not placed in CAT 2014 but it doesn’t mean that they may not again re-appear in CAT 2015 unless specifically advised by the test taking agency TCS or the CAT 2015 conducting IIM Ahmedabad.
Each of four modules will need further fragmentation to facilitate better preparation strategy. Once you begin, focus to finish each, one by one and move on to other. Studying the topics after making their due division will continue making an image in your mind, of the topic or sub topic you have studied and what you need to study more in that.
No negative feeling
Remain motivated. Always read inspiring quotes before beginning your study session. Your study place-be it a room, balcony, roof top, worship room or whatever it is, it should have some inspirational and motivational quotes placed here and there. It must contain the fact what you would be after getting into your desired B school. This is something you should do in the very beginning.
Wish to join Coaching: Join to save time not to waste time
There are numerous types of queries that usually come to our mind. For example there are number of vocabulary words which despite knowing them we don’t know how to use. How to read and quickly answer the 16 questions based on 4 RC Passages in CAT 2015.
There can be topics which consume lot of your time and you are still afraid of them. To overcome this problem, you may join some good coaching. But the decision has to be taken by weighing all the pros and cons. If the coaching consumes 2 hours in commuting, it may cause inconvenience to you resulting in waste of time that could be utilised in other productive study to get good result. Alternatively you may join some weekend coaching where you can get all your doubts cleared.
If you wish to save time and join the coaching also to have clarity on concepts, types of questions, regular exercises, you could go for On-line coaching. It will save time on commuting. With a good laptop and internet connection you can attend the classes regularly with a cup of coffee in your hand, without moving anywhere from the place you are present at the material time. It can be your home, your office, picnic spot, train, car anywhere. It’s like a virtual class room where your mentor will be interacting with you and taking & solving your queries. It will not only save your time but will be cost effective also.
In both the cases, the coaching should be used as support and you should not become fully dependant on it. It will be better to talk to a few successful candidates who really went through the particular coaching.
A mentor in neighbourhood: Good for success
If you have a CAT 2015 mentor in neighbourhood, you can be sure of garnering any help when you really need it during your CAT 2015 preparation journey.
There could be a friend, colleague or family member of yours who may be an expert in any of the four parts of two CAT sections Quant, DI, Verbal, LR. Such experts who are not too professional but have a good depth of knowledge may be available in your neighbourhood also. Identify them, get yourself acquainted with them. They will be happy to help, if you are serious enough in preparation. Please do not try to befool them. If they give you some assignment be meticulous and complete it then get it analysed by them.
It is not necessary that they are expert in entire area of your proposed study domain, but even if they can help you out on one subtopic, you are definitely offloaded to that extent. This will save your time, energy and probably you will be well known to a good person.
Mocks: Tool to judge where you are
Whatever you are studying and in case you are getting guidance from some coaching institute, regularly take sectional mocks now and full length mocks later. Better to analyse your errors and find out the areas that need further improvement. There may be some very small mistakes which are committed due to oversight or in your speed reading you might have skipped them, focus on them and avoid their recurrence.
If you find the mocks beyond your ability to solve, you should know that you have to work harder to understand those topics well. Get the analysis of Mocks done after solving them by some expert and follow the guidance to improve.
None else but you are supposed to hit the target. You are either in or not in. Don’t think of excuses. If you search for excuses, better not to prepare for CAT 2014. Prepare with full devotion and target oriented plan.
Your Profile: IIMs to short list you on its basis
Your profile consists of 3 most important items out of which one is beyond your reach and lies in the hands of God; for remaining two they are also static and nothing much can be done now.
Academic Profile- Your academic excellence can give a boost to your percentile and in converting the call. IIMs award points on a scale of 100 in a range of 8 to 15 for scoring high marks in 10th, 12th and graduation. Good academics mean percentage of marks above 85. This weightage despite being very important is static now and you may not be able to do much about it, in case your graduation final exams are also over. So for shortlisting, the other option left is to prepare well for CAT 2015
Work experience- IIMs award weightage for relevant work experience while shortlisting the candidates for GDPI. If you have work experience of 2-3 years after completing graduation degree, it would go in your favour.
Gender diversity-IIMs will award some points on a scale of 100 to girl candidates while shortlisting the candidates for GDPI after result for CAT 2015 is announced. If you are a girl candidate, you may have better luck. But for others it can’t be helped since whatever gender you are, you are supposed to be throughout your life.
Be aware about CAT 2015
CAT 2015 is the mandatory entrance exam for admission to management programmes conducted by IIMs. The exam is going to be conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad in association with partnering testing agency TCS. CAT 2015 will be a computer based test (CBT) of 170 minutes duration and is proposed to be held in the month of October/November 2015. The test would be divided in 2 sections of 50 questions each on Quant & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & logical Reasoning. In all there would be 100 questions. Since 2014, the time constraint to solve each section separately has been removed and now the CAT 2015 takers would be allowed to toggle between the 2 sections till the entire test time is over.
Each CAT 2015 question would carry equal weightage of 3 marks with 1/3 negative marking for each wrong answer. Usually candidates cracking around 30 answers correct in each section with negligible incorrect answers can hope for a very high percentile in each section.
Expert Advisory
Please remember apart from high overall scores in CAT 2015 both sectional as well as overall, you need to have good writing and communication skills as almost all the IIMs and other top rated B schools conduct Written Ability Test (WAT) in their final admission interview round. Your Verbal communication is assessed in personal interview (PI) round and in the 2 minutes extempore round conducted just before the PI. You should continue honing your writing and communication skills along with preparing for CAT 2015.
Related Article
CAT 2015: 5 key tips to utilize the drop year effectively to score high in CAT 2015 & beyond
CAT 2015: Wheels started rolling; aim for 99+ percentile; Take leads and tips from experts
CAT 2015: Get ready to begin; Collect good study material & mentor; regular in studies
CAT 2015: Beginning your journey to IIMs; how & wherefrom to walk on success path
CAT 2015: Improve the pace of your reading; a must to score high percentile
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2015 preparation
