Want an MBA? Prepare for these exams

Phew! CAT 2006 is finally over. Most of you must now be pouring over answer keys, percentile estimation, college application issues and wondering what to do next. Right then, let us look at precisely that.

• Taking CAT in 2007?

There are three things you need to do now:

a) Apply to B-schools accepting CAT results, depending on the score and percentile you expect.
b) Prepare for the other exams coming your way in the next couple of months.
c) Prepare for the group discussion and personal interview.

Close to 80 B-schools accept the CAT score. The Indian Institutes of Management accept students who have scored at least in the 98 percentile, while schools like MDI, NITIE take students in the 96.5+ percentile range. So, the first step is to convert your score into a percentile. You can use this conversion table.

The next step involves deciding which colleges you can apply to, based on your percentile. Here are some additional factors you need to consider:

• If you have not fared well, will you take CAT again? Or will you join a college that was not originally on your shortlist?
• Work experience from a good company for 1.5+ years will marginally increase your chances at most colleges.
• (For people with work experience) Will your career after an MBA from a particular college be significantly better than your career now? 

If required, do take expert guidance while making the above decisions.

The table below gives the likely percentiles that 25 MBA schools, other than the IIMs, are expected to accept this year. Your percentile needs to be in the 98+ range if you plan to apply to the IIMs. 

Your other option is to give the other MBA entrance exams a shot. Here is a brief look at the various exams held post-CAT and the institutes that accept the results of these entrance exams:

JMET

3 section paper (150 questions, 2 hours)
Cut-offs for sections (for the first time this year)

Negative marking: 1/4th mark
Ranks are given and you may apply to institutes based on the ranks
Institutes you can also apply to: IIT-Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Kanpur, Chennai, IISC, in that order

NMAT

200 questions, 150 minutes

Institute you can apply to: NMIMS

FMS

Pattern varies (175 questions, 2 hours)

Marks per question: +4 for the correct answer and -1 for the incorrect answer.

Institute you can apply to: FMS

SNAP

3 sections (two sections have questions with one mark each; the remaining section has questions with two marks each) 
165 questions, 2 hours

Negative marking -- 1/4th mark per wrong answer

Institutes you can also apply to: SIBM, SCMHRD, SIIB, in that order

XAT 2006

127 questions, 150 minutes.
Negative marking, graded negative style

Preparation for the above exams is similar to CAT in many ways. However, you will need to change your strategy. You will need to understand the pattern of each of these exams and adapt yourself to the speed requirement.

Most of these exams are different from CAT in terms of the speed requirement and difficulty level. Except XAT, most of these exams are expected to have questions of a lesser level of difficulty as compared to CAT. At the same time, the number of questions that needs to be solved will increase dramatically.

In CAT, the speed element was not the most important whereas lack of speed in these exams could be one's undoing.

Institutes conduct All-India MOCKs for some of the above. It would be very useful to take the exams and analyse your performance.

As all these exams (except XAT) have the General Awareness (or a close approximation thereof) component for which you will need to update your knowledge about latest events. All the best. Wish you a great career.

-- The authors are directors at T.I.M.E. T.I.M.E prepares candidates for courses like MBA and MCA and competitive examinations like CAT, GRE and GMAT.

DON'T MISS!

• Fared badly in CAT 2006?