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Take care of cut-offs in CAT

IIMs have minimum cut-off marks in each section of CAT. The new cut-offs are 25 per cent in each section and 33 per cent in the overall paper

There are three additional issues that should be considered while attempting the new format of the CAT. One is the number of sections in the test paper, the second is the cut-offs in each section, and the third is the selection process.

In the past, CAT did not specify the number of sections in the paper either in the notification or in the bulletin. Students would know about the number of sections only when they received the CAT paper. This year, however, it has been mentioned in the notification that there will be three sections in the paper. Though there is no direct mention of the number of sections, the indirect mention of there being three sections in the paper is categorical. Also, there will not be any time limit for each section.

The IIMs have a minimum cut-off in each section for selection and the cut-off could be different for each IIM. This has never been confirmed by the IIMs except through general statements like, "You are expected to show your competence in all the sections."

For the first time, there has been a mention in the CAT bulletin of the minimum score required in each section of the CAT paper. IIM Ahmedabad has clearly mentioned in the selection criteria that the students have to score a minimum of 25 per cent in each section and 33 per cent overall in the paper to be called for group discussions and interviews. The actual cut-offs could be higher than these figures depending on the performance of the students in the CAT.

To understand this a little better, let us look at the cut-offs that the IIMs may have considered for CAT-2005. The cut-offs for the three sections -- VA & RC, Quant, and DI-Reasoning were 12-13, 10-11, and 9-10 respectively. The maximum mark possible in each of the three sections was 50. Now, with IIM-A specifying that the cut-off will be at least 25 per cent of the marks in the section, it will be 12.5 out of 50 marks.

If you look at the cut-offs for last year and then consider the fact that another 30 minutes will be available to the students this year, the cut-offs are expected to go up to the 25 per cent level. Same is the case with the 33 per cent overall cut-off that IIM-A specified for this year, which works out to 49.5 out of 150 compared to the cut-off of 44-45 in CAT-2005.

So, when you look at all the issues associated with CAT-2006, there is almost nothing new while everything appears to be new. Go right ahead and concentrate on your preparation and practicing the All-India Mock CATs (AIMCATs). And yes, do not forget that there could be something new in the test, some nasty surprise. All it requires is to be mentally prepared for it!

Selection process

We have been saying for the last decade-and-a-half that there are five parameters for final selection into the IIMs -- CAT scores, GD performance, interview performance, academic performance, and work experience. The IIMs have confirmed this in the recent past. In addition, some IIMs give weightage to extracurricular activities too.

However, some IIMs are using only the CAT scores for short-listing for GDs/interviews whereas other IIMs are using academic performance and work experience also in addition to CAT scores.

For the PGDCM programme of IIM-C, in addition to the parameters mentioned in the table for Stage II, performance in the Aptitude Test in Mathematics (ATM) is also taken into account for final selection.

Not specifically mentioned in the CAT bulletin but included based on what has been observed in the past few years of IIM-K's short-list for GDPI.

While no separate details have been provided in the CAT bulletin for selection of students for Stage II by IIM-I, there might be weightage for academic record and work experience.

Director, TIME

(This is the second and last part of the article on tackling the changed CAT. The first was published last week)

P. Viswanath

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