Only 3 days are left to the release of CAT 2016 notification which is to be out on Sunday July 31, 2016. CAT 2016 Convener Prof Rajendra K. Bandi, faculty IIM Bangalore may announce major changes in the structure and content of the exam proposed to be held in the month of November. Aspirants who have begun their preparation journey should be on alert as the CAT 2016 notification could bring perceptible changes and therefore, should change their preparation plan accordingly.
Given to its reputation there is remote possibility that IIM Bangalore would follow the same pattern in conduct of CAT 2016 as was adopted last year by IIM Ahmedabad. The anxiety may not be defused immediately after release of CAT 2016 notification as the changes in exam pattern are gradually announced by the CAT Exam centre.
Common Admission Test (CAT) is the largest entrance examination for MBA/PGDM programmes in India. Not only 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) but also other top B schools will accept CAT 2016 scores as the basic eligibility criterion to shortlist the candidates for final admission round to their MBA/PGDM 2017-19 programme. It is expected that about 2 lakhs candidates will write CAT 2016 given the fact that MBA job market has begun looking up and placement packages in B-schools have gone up substantially in the placement season 2016.
Following could be anticipated in CAT 2016 as the exam can take a different shape with one of the top IIMs - IIM Bangalore at the helm of affairs in conducting CAT 2016.
Extended or shortened Testing sessions
CAT 2016 may have more than 1 day testing window or may opt for since day single session exam. CAT 2016 aspirants have already approached and requested IIM Bangalore to change CAT 2016 testing window from 1 day to 2 days. If the request of the aspirants is acceded to by IIM Bangalore, CAT 2016 may be held in 2 days instead of only in 1 day.
What you need to change
If it is one day CAT 2016, check well it does not coincide with any of other MBA entrance exams like IIFT, NMAT by GMAC among others. Also you will have to see and plan your travel accordingly.
Even if it is a 2 day testing window in CAT 2016, you have no facility to self schedule the exam. More over you may not be aware about your test day and test session till you receive your admit card. So make sure to amend your programme based on the maximum information that you can retrieve from the Notification on July 31.
Scrapping of sectional time limit
In fact among the prominent national level entrance exams, CAT is the only one who re-introduced the sectional time limit which was removed in 2014. Moreover it increased the number of sections from 2 to 3 and the 3rd newly inserted DILR section proved to be very tricky. It is expected that the sectional time constrain may again be removed in CAT 2016.
Get the best out of it
Although the situation will be clear later on this aspect, in case it happens, the CAT 2016 aspirants should plan their preparation strengthening the strong areas further so that they can utilise the time saved from their favourite section to attempt more questions in other section.
An early CAT 2016
Going back to claim the pristine glory during the paper-pencil era of CAT, when it was conducted in the third quarter of the year, it appears CAT 2016 would also be conducted in the last week of October or latest by 2nd week of November. Since IIFT MBA entrance exam is on November 27, CAT 2016 may not afford to lose its applications by convening the exam on the same day. Accordingly, CAT 2016 may be held one or two weeks before that.
Accelerate your preparation plan
The fact will be known to all on July 31 after CAT 2016 exam notification is released. However, we cannot deny the truth that CAT 2016 will be held earlier than last year. If it happens, your preparation period will be short by 15 days or so. If you have planned to improve your speed and propose to take more Mocks only in the second half of November, please change the plan and pre-pone it to the month of October to remain risk free.
2 or 4 sections
Number of sections in CAT 2016 may be restored to 2 or may be increased to 4. This fact will be made available by IIM Bangalore while advising exam pattern for CAT 2016 on its website.
Reading Comprehension may be separated from Verbal Ability or Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning may be separated as individual sections. It is also possible that DI and LR may go back to their earlier respective parent sections of Quant and VARC.
Make changes in preparation
One of the biggest disadvantages arising due to increase in number of sections from 2 to 3, after clubbing DI & LR was that both the tricky parts were placed in one section. Many 99 percentilers who scored well in other 2 sections could not even score the minimum required percentile to qualify for shortlisting. Looking at the plight of the test takers, IIM Ahmedabad had to curtail the minimum required percentile score from 80 to 75 for DILR section.
In case there are 2 sections again in CAT 2016, there is no fear of losing only due to lack of practice in DI or LR section. But if they remain the same or are separated as individual sections, you will need more individual practice on each of these sections to score more so that the required percentile is obtained to get shortlisted by top IIMs.
Apart from above, you should expect many firsts and surprises to occur in the forthcoming CAT 2016 exam convened by IIM Bangalore for the first time. Please remember IIM Bangalore is well known for its different admission process and criteria to award weightage. It is also a fact that structure and content of proposed CAT 2016 exam has already been reviewed by CAT Group, so be prepared for more surprises in CAT 2016.
According to Prof S K Agarwal, CAT 2016 preparation expert the most effective way is to anticipate a little more tricky CAT 2016 with more changes and slightly more difficult test which may also place a few subjective or one line answer questions alongwith MCQs. Conceptual clarity, strong fundamentals and more practice sessions will take you forward irrespective of type of CAT 2016 you may face.
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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2016
