Aspirants seeking the admission to coveted B schools must gear up without wasting any time further and begin their preparation for GD PI WAT. Out of above three, WAT is the most important as it forms the basis of questions in your Personal Interview round also. Besides those who are also preparing for XAT 2014, to be conducted on January 5, 2014 will have to encounter a 20 minutes’ Essay Writing Test which will form the part of main XAT examination. Whether it is WAT or Essay Writing Test both are similar with a difference that XAT has included it with the written examination and CAT associated management colleges conduct it after the declaration of written test round.
CAT 2013 concluded on November 6, 2013 and probably aspirants must have been giving some serious thought on WAT preparation. MBAUniverse.com provided an insight article that number of IIMs and other leading B schools are either gradually substituting GD by WAT or concurrently holding both the rounds i.e. WAT as well as GD.
IIM Admission Criteria 2014: No GD round, Focus on WAT & PI
Now learn the important aspects on WAT and essay writing from Prof. S.K. Agarwal, expert in preparation of WAT and PI
How important is WAT in IIMs or Essay Writing in XLRI
CAT 2013 written test result is going to be declared on January 14, 2014 and immediately after that successful candidates will be called for the next round of admission, the WAT. If this Writing Ability Test is casually taken by any aspirant, there is no way he or she can expect some miracle. The weightage is more than anticipated.
While CAT has tested your skills in quantitative aptitude, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning, what remains to be tested is your writing and communication skill. One may be an expert in a particular subject or topic but it is not necessary that he will have the same skill set while writing down coherently with a clear and relevant flow of thoughts. It therefore, needs to be tested in the writing ability test where the candidate will have to write extempore on a given hot topic in a few minutes’ time.
Accomplished and well worded writing skill always makes good managers who reach the top corporate positions. Realizing this fact, the top Management B-schools such as IIMs, XLRI, IIFT, that earlier focused on Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI), have substituted the Group discussion with Essay Writing and some of them have added this feature for admission to their various Management programmes.
MCQs don’t require you to go on writing with a goal to communicate your thoughts but the writing ability test does.
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Need for WAT
Why is such a change of focus so much needed in the second or final admission round to the most coveted B-schools? The need is obvious. GD although gives an opportunity to discuss pros and cons of a topic, it, during the course becomes a free for all “fish market” where it is difficult to understand anything in the ‘din’. This leaves a bad impression and the moderator has to intervene sometimes. Even if you have the ability to express your ideas in an effective manner, some ‘bully’ in the group may deprive you of the opportunity. This is one of the major reasons of substituting GD by WAT which brings out your inherent qualities of thought expression.
Future managers must be aware of the importance of error free writing without ambiguity of thought and to make it clear, the top business schools have been resorting to conduct Writing Ability Test, before granting admission to the world renowned MBA programmes.
How and what to prepare
The essay writing by the aspirant is a firm display of his coherent flow of ideas as well as manifestation of his skill and aptitude. It checks the thought process, communication skills of the aspirant. Besides it conveys whether the aspirant is free from biases and is able to understand the things without prejudice.
Those with positive attitude always pour down better thoughts. Whether it is a case let; situation analysis, current affairs, national/ international, controversial, abstract or some grim topic with negative appeal – Writing Ability Test aims to take the best out of you. With positive writing one can turn the tables in his favor and can interlink the personal experiences which become the best part of writing ability test.
You are supposed to prepare on numerous topics and the clue is to go for versatile reading. Read the articles, editorials, letters to editor and pick out any topic, begin writing on it say for 15 minutes or so. After completion, check how many spelling mistakes, mistakes of sentence formation, punctuation, grammar, subject verb agreement you have made. Write again this time more cautiously, your mistakes will be reduced by more than half.
One is supposed to practice it every day and 7 days a week without any gap, if one really wishes to get into your desired B school.
Click here to score high marks in GD PI WAT at Top B school for Admission 2014: http://www.mbauniverse.com/gd_pi_preparation/gd_preparation.php
Key topics
Concentrate on topics based on
ii) Social- How safe are women, social media, social activism, Lokpal Bill; corruption-how to address it; Rising gap in the society; Is MBA necessary to become a good Manager
iii) Business and Economics- Policies to curb inflation, Policies by New RBI Governor, Economic development-causes of slow growth rate; Will India remain way behind China; CHOGM summit in SriLanka, FDI in multi retail business;
iv) Political- Recent rise of Aam Aadmi Party-will it define future of the country; crumbling or revising democracy in India; State sponsored Terrorism or Terrorism is a subjective thought; The type of Government India needs; Should pre election opinion polls be banned
v) Environmental-Global warming; Himalayan Tsunami; Developing countries are more concerned on environmental issues than the developed ones.
The topic can be anything under the Sun. Please improve your reading and writing skills to be successful in essay writing or WAT.
The Evaluation of WAT
It is expected that the candidate should be able to express his ideas in a clear, logical and coherent manner. In fact, most of the candidates have been practicing and working on electronic devices like desktops and laptops, leaving, the writing skills behind in the process. The mind, as we read more and more becomes a Jungle of wandering thoughts, difficult to be interlinked. A person who knows very less can cook up good stories with an empty brain but a learned mind, full of rich thoughts needs to be the store house of organised expressions.
The essay that has balanced and systematic approach gets better rating than the one with unorganised or repetitive thoughts. Writing beside the point, in an ambiguous manner or criss-crossing the ideas, even if with lot of reflected knowledge will not bring the desired result. Hence the need is to communicate effectively and put forth the view point in an impressive manner.
Time Management in WAT and essay writing
An essay of 200 words in 15 minutes to an essay of 400 words in 30 minutes may be considered good enough, provided it is concise, to the point and meaningful else it will be a futile exercise and may become the cause of volley of troublesome questions in PI round. It is advisable to adhere to time limit and write coherently only that much which you can explain.
WAT is all about writing in a different but interesting manner to make your point home and not deviating from the thought process than that on the crux of the topic.
| WAT Related links |
XAT 2014: 8 key points for effective Essay Writing
XAT 2014 Essay Writing and WAT in IIMs: Role, Importance and Weightage
XAT 2014 & WAT: Know 10 Important Don'ts for Essay writing
WAT Topic for MBA: FDI in multi brand retail is a boon or bane
| GD Related Links |
GD Topic for MBA: New Lokpal will be effective in curbing corruption
GD Topics: Gender bias in portraying Women in Advertisements
GD Topic for MBA: RBI's new governor has taken adequate steps to improve Indian Economy
GD Topic for MBA: Corruption is the root cause for Indian Economy slowdown
GD Topic for MBA: The rise in vegetable prices is a man made farce
GD Topic for MBA: Opinion Polls be banned in pre election period
GD Topic for MBA: Should business lobbying be made legal in India?
GD Topics: Will India remain way behind China?
Click here to score high marks in GD PI WAT at Top B school for Admission 2014: http://www.mbauniverse.com/gd_pi_preparation/gd_preparation.php
| IIMs Admission Criteria 2014 |
IIM Ahmedabad Admission criteria 2014-16
IIM Bangalore Admission criteria 2014-16
IIM Calcutta Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Lucknow Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Kozhikode Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Indore Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Shillong Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Tiruchirappalli Admission Criteria 2014-16
IIM Shillong Admission Criteria 2014-16
| GD PI WAT Preparation for MBA Admission 2014 |
Know 10 Important Don'ts for Essay writing
GD Topics: Will India remain way behind China?
GD Topic for MBA: Should business lobbying be made legal in India?
8 key points for effective Essay Writing
GD PI: Importance and Role of Group Discussion in MBA Admission 2014
GD Preparation: 7 Effective Do's to win GD for MBA admission
Personal Interview: Model questions & answers for MBA Admission 2014
GD PI: 10 important Personal Interview tips for MBA Admission 2014
Essay Writing and WAT in IIMs : Role, Importance and Weightage
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Prepare General Awareness section for MBA exams |
| Other Exam Preparations |
XAT 2014 Decision Making: Focused approach & practice questions for this crucial section
XAT 2014: 30 minutes Verbal Error correction on Articles
NMAT 2014 Exam pattern, Paper pattern and Test schedule
SNAP 2013: Analytical Ability can fetch 33% marks in SNAP 2013
IBSAT 2013: ICFAI B Schools, IBSAT 2013 exam Pattern and key dates
CMAT 2014: Dates announced, exams to start from Feb 20, 2014
MAH CET 2014 Exam pattern and updates
MICAT 2014: Admission Criteria and Test Pattern
