But hey... wait... hold your horses for a second! You will first have to lock your brains with the CAT (Common Admissions Test), then make your presence felt in a group discussion, and finally go through an interview where a few IIM professors grill you to the brink of tolerance. If you survive all of these, IIM is the next roadblock (that's two more years of working like a donkey), after which your six figure dreams will bear fruit.

The first stumbling block for admission to the IIM is the CAT. Applicants to any one of the 6 IIMs (Amhedabad, Calcutta, Bangalore, Lucknow, Calicut, Indore) are first required to give the CAT. Held annually on the second Sunday of December, this exam essentially skims out the incompetent applicants by testing their mathematics, language, logical and analytical skills.

"The CAT examination is somewhat like the GMAT," enlightens Kuresh Khambatti, who gave the CAT examination in 2002. "There are about 185-200 questions over 4 sections that a student has to solve in 2 hours. The CAT is only for those who are effective time crunchers."

APPLYING FOR THE CAT

This year, the CAT is going to held on Sunday, the 30th of November. By now, you should already know through the process of applying. For those who need to familiarise themselves with the process for next year, here's a brief description of what's been happening this year.

Starting August 14, 2002, applicants procured bulletins and forms from a few selected nationwide branches of the State Bank of India. Both the bulletin and the form collectively cost Rs. 1000.

In the form, along with the basic details, applicants checked the IIM's they wished to apply to. Depending upon their choice of a test centre, they were required to send their completed CAT form to a particular address provided in the bulletin. The last date for sending in applications was October 04, 2002.

In the first week of November, after the forms have been processed, a "Test Admit Card" will be sent to each applicant. On the final day of the test, the applicant must produce the Test Admit card.

SECTIONS IN THE CAT

The four sections in the CAT examination are

1.  
Comprehension - This section requires examinees to read passages (about 700 words in length), following which they answer three to four questions relating to the passage. Rachita Loke, who gave the CAT exam last year, says, "This section is the toughest, as one has to read the passage with utmost concentration. Answering questions from the passage is even tougher, as they are hidden somewhere deep in the throes. Speed and concentration are extremely necessary here." Grimly, Kuresh says "It takes about five minutes to read a passage, leaving us with only 30-40 seconds to answer each question. That's injustice!"
 
Mathematics - This section has questions that deal with the basics of algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Being an expert in mathematics, Rachita had no problem in solving this section. She says, "Each question in this section looks simple and straightforward, but on closer inspection, there was a smart trick cleavaged behind each query. I had to keep my eyes wide open to identify such stratagem." About his experience in solving this section, Kuresh says, "Practise made me perfect. After solving dozens of practice test papers, I identified where I made mistakes, and worked on rectifying them. When I did the Maths section in the CAT, I felt I was on home stretch."
 
Verbal - In today's corporate world, having good language skills are extremely important, especially in English. The "Verbal" section tests the grammatical and verbal skills of an applicant to check their understanding of the English language. Included amongst the questions are small passages (of which the examinees are expected to draw inferences), analogies, antonyms and synonyms, fill in the blanks, correcting sentences, arranging sentences in order, etc. Kuresh says, "This section was no sweat." Rachita agrees. Fondly remembering her CAT days, she adds, "In fact, I didn't know I was this good in English."
 
Data Interpretation - Popularly known as "DI", this section tests the analytical and logical skills of examinees by seeing how well they interpret data, which is in form of graphs, charts and tables. Explaining this section, Kuresh says, "We were required to answer questions based on the data available in graphs and tables. Analyzing the tables took some time, but once I got the hang of it, it was a breeze." Rachita was disappointed by the way she performed in this section. "It took loads of time to deal with the first 3 sections," she says, "so I wasn't left with a minimal amount of time to solve this section. I didn't answer a lot of questions because I wasn't sure of some answers. My logical skills took a thorough beating."

While answering a question, an examinee has to choose one out of four choices provided. This rule is consistent in all four sections.

Like all the exams, the CAT also has a few surprises in store. "While solving the CAT," says Rachita, "I realised that a few questions in the paper were completely new, as I didn't encounter them in the study material. It seems like the paper-setters of CAT don't follow a rigid structure while setting the test paper."

MARKING AND RESULTS

Every year, the number of questions in the CAT exam varies between 180-200. The 2001 CAT had 185 questions, and the 2002 CAT had 195 questions . Hence, the number of questions in the 2003 edition of the CAT cannot be guaranteed.

There is a two-hour period to answer all the questions, which is spread over 4 sections. However, solving all the questions in this time period is considered impossible by many. "Speed is of utmost importance in the CAT," feels Rachita. "While trying to keep a tab on my speed, I committed many errors, which ultimately cost me a few points!"

To be considered for admission to IIM, a minimum of 20 points is required in each section. An overall score of 120 points (On 185 or 195) is considered to be competitive enough. Guessing a wrong answer can cost points, as the examiners deduct 1/4th (one-fourth) of a point for every wrong answer. That translates to one lost point for four wrong answers. Don't guess too hard!

The results of CAT are not disclosed to the students. The scores are sent directly to the IIMs where you have applied, and they are the ones who see an applicant's CAT score. Based on the score, the IIM will then call you for a group discussion and a personal interview. If you do not get a call from any of the six IIMs, then just assume that you have done badly in the CAT. In the end, it is only the institute that gets to see your CAT score, not you.

PREPARATION

There are some institutes that offer study material and preparatory classes for the CAT.

Institute of Management Studies
1/45 Tardeo AC Market Building
Tardeo
Mumbai 400 034
Tel 4953100 / 4954637
Fax (022) 4931584

KITS (Khurana Information and Trading Systems)
United Business Center
311 Balaji Darshan
Tilak Road
Santacruz (W)
Mumbai 400054
Tel: 6492592. 6492595, 6051642
Fax: 6051643

CONCLUSION

IIM is not the only institute that considers the CAT score a criterion for admission. Management Development Institute (Gurgaon), BITS, MICA and others also depend upon the CAT for the admission of students to their courses. Some institutes prefer an applicant's CAT score over their own entrance test scores. That shows the importance of the CAT if you are trying to gain admission into management.