NO. Am not referring to the slim, sly and stray animal that managed to form an image of itself in your mind.
An academician or for that matter any graduate with a brief information about the leading open entrance tests would be quick to form a different image of the CAT. Like its living counterpart, it is witty, it is quick and it is stray (it can’t be tamed very easily!!!). Unlikely, it is a dream to bell the cat for almost two lakh aspirants every year. Its associated with hard work, determination, time management, goal setting, patience, adaptability, dreaming big, risk management, taking up responsibilities and many more things. The Common Aptitude Test as it is uncommonly called, is a test of all the above mentioned qualities. It’s rated as one of the toughest exams in the world. All right, it is conducted to filter people for the admissions to premier B-Schools of the country like the IIMs. But what one misses is the way the exam tests a person. If you are clearing it, you are already a manager. No? I will tell you how.
If you clear it and manage to get a call from the IIMs, it means you have the all the potential to become a future manager.
You are a great time manager. Managing time across various sections and ensuring a cut off in each section is not a cake walk. You need to be strict about timings.
You are patient. The problems do not give way to the solutions. One needs to think, calculate and wait till the solution arises.
You take calculated risks. Guessing blindly is not a game here. Otherwise we would have at least 5 percent lucky people clearing the CAT every year just by the grace of lady luck. If you are guessing, it is an intelligent guess and it means you are taking a chance of getting it wrong and loosing important marks. There are negative marks and nobody knows prior to the test how many negative marks would be deducted per question.
You are adaptable to changing scenarios and flexible. The CAT changes its structure and difficulty every year. There are more surprises packed in it than the similarities carried forward.
You are very analytical and logical. These are the basic areas of test. So you have to be great at it all.
You can maintain your calm and perform to your best under adverse conditions. That’s what the D-day is all about.
So all in all, the IIMs already take the cream layer from amongst the aspirants. No wonder they get paid the highest later.
So are you still thinking CAT s an intelligent person’s cup of tea? It is for those who are smart and are born with some inherent management skills. The rest the B-Schools will take care of. Ready to fly high? Take the CAT. Am taking one. And I hope to tame it.
