What is the deal with CAT and Engineers?

There is an insane amount of utter tosh about CAT and Engineers floating around in some of the loonier corners of the internet (website that means education and a website that encompasses the WGSOMM of the MBA-realm come to mind). Every piece of information from the IIMs is viewed with through the glasses "Does it make it easier or tougher for Engineers?"

So, let us take an approach of not sitting on the fence and generally going all out and decimating the two primary myths centered on MBA in India and Engineers

Myth Number 1 - CAT is rigged in favour of engineers

This is humbug. The exam tests basic math, the kind of stuff students are expected to learn in class VI to X. If a keen 10th standard student were to take the CAT, he/she should ace the exam. There is nothing in the exam that engineers have a particular advantage in cracking. There is absolutely no overlap between the math engineers learn in their engineering and CAT. 

Then why do so many engineers crack this exam. Two clear reasons are present for this - Reading this might hurt the good part of the brain a little bit. So, pregnant ladies, people faint of heart and those utterly committed to feeding their delusions are requested to stop reading now.

i. A lot of engineers take this exam. The largest pool of applicants comprises engineers. There is not a stunning revelation, but something a great many fabulously ignore while discussing CAT and engineers. They form a giant proportion of the applicant pool, it is to be expected that they should form a giant proportion of the people joining. 

ii. Most Indian Engineers did not choose to do engineering, they went there because it is considered a good option. Now, this is vital. 90% of Indian 18-year olds do not have a clear idea about what they want to study (90% of the remaining are delusional, but that is an article for another time). Students try to do engineering because it is considered to be among the best options. Now, what this means is that engineering group enjoys a certain pre-selection. A great many try to do engineering. A bunch of them dont get good seats, so do some other course. A further round of pre-selection happens for IITs and NITs. So, the simple truth is that the among the guys who tried to do engineering (a large percentage of the population), some 20% succeed, and within this some 10% get into the very best colleges. Obviously, these guys are the ones who are better-suited to cracking another exam. 

Let me give you a parallel to this. Let us take the leading providers for mock CATs in the Country and select the 1000 guys who have consistently scored the above 95th percentile in one or more of this. The chances are that 50% of these 1000 will make it to one of the top 10. Now imagine a backlash against them where complaints pore in about how the game is rigged in favour of these 1000. Correlation does not imply causality. If you have a large group that has gone through pre-selection, chances are it will do well in subsequent exams. 

Testing basic quantitative ability and verbal ability has been accepted as a decent proxy for gauging ability and smarts. The CAT does a decent job of this. Feeling aggrieved that engineers crack this is akin to feeling aggrieved that the IIMs want smart people. A bunch of IIT-ians and NIT-ians do well in CAT because they are good. Not because they are favoured in any way. The exam is already a level playing field.

The arguments that the playing field is not level should be based on the content of the exam, not on the basis that engineers get in. Contrary to popular belief, the quant tested in CAT is not rocket science. Anyone who took CAT 2014 will tell you this. 

To put differently, "Some people are born to do BA literature, some miss out and land in BA literature, and some have BA literature as the best thing they can do". If you are really smart, and chose to do BA literature rather than have it thrust down your throat, the CAT is the best way to prove it. Asking for a a lower percentile cut off to get into the IIMs deprives BA literature grads the opportunity to prove their worth. 

Myth Number 2. The IIMs in a bid to increase diversity, have rigged the game against engineers

This myth can be exploded with a simple stat. In each of the past 3 years, give or take 95% of the entrants into IIMA have been engineers. Let us take in this stat again. We are not talking about a majority here, we are not even talking about a majority that can push through constitutional change, we are talking about overwhelming, minority-crushing, autocracy-threatening majority here. On the front of game being rigged against engineers, there is no room for even a conversation. 

IIMA, after conducting a rigorous process where they claim to increase diversity manage to select  ~20 students every year who are not engineers. 

So, where does this leave us

If you are not an engineer, shed this persecution complex. Write two things down on a big white wall 1) CAT is not easier for engineers and 2) Correlation does not imply causality. (The second one should be written down on as many white walls as possible)

If you are an engineer, shed this persecution complex. If you are an engineer, you probably have a lot of practice in ignoring stuff written on walls, so do not write anything on a wall. 

CAT tests aptitude, the interview process is also meritocratic. Anyone who puts his/her down prepares with focus and sincerity can crack this exam. (Of course it helps immensely if you have the 2IIM Online Course to help)

Fabulous internet myths on the same theme

1. CAT is rigged in favour of engineers. 

2. CAT has made it extra tough for engineers to get through. 

3. IIMs have increased their focus on diversity this year. (Why this year. Because of astrological reasons)

4. Verbal will be made tougher this year in order to make it tougher for engineers (Engineers are supposedly better at Quant. Why should they be worse in Verbal?)

5. Onscreen calculator has made it easier for engineers (Because they can type in numbers quicker )

6. Onscreen calculator has made it easier for non-engineers (because engineers type in numbers incorrectly)

7. Separate timings for each section has made life easier for non-engineers/engineers 

All of these theories are peddled by people who do not have any better way of spending their time. Thankfully, they are debunked by people who even though they have far better ways of spending their time, have suddenly been so irritated by the amount of "expert gyaan" on silly websites have made it their evening's work to rant on the internet. Have fun preparing for CAT.

CAT Preparation - What do teachers expect from students?

As a teacher, I meet gazillion students every year, and am often amazed at how confident they are now compared to how we guys were 15 years ago. Having said that, going hand in hand with this confidence is a feeling of entitlement that is as puzzling as it is unwarranted. Students these days believe things have to be laid out for them on a platter and that they have to be "inspired" and "guided" to do even the bare minimum.

During this time, we have also seen reams and reams in print on how the education system should change to help students. In all this while, I think we have not clearly articulated what the students are expected to do. Ergo, this post.

Do the drill. 
This "replace hard work with smart work" management-speak has taken students to a point where they do not appreciate the old-fashioned drill. Doing 150 questions on quadratic equations creates links in your brain that are worth their weight in gold when you are practicing for a competitive exam. It is not just the speed that you gain, it is the role played by the automaticity that is priceless. You save energy on the regular stuff and this blesses you with more bandwidth for the trickier bits.

I hate to be this old man narrating his experiences, but I think my experience might be relevant here. A group of my friends and I were preparing for CAT in 2000. We had all cleared JEE barely three years before that (back when JEE was a tough exam) and dealt with Fourier and Laplace transformations as part of our course curriculum. A bunch of the guys had done well in assorted Olympiads and as a group, we were ultra comfortable with math,

Largely because our seniors had given us some material for CAT preparation, we started with some speed-test book. We started with percentages and within 5-6 questions realized that the material was largely BS packaged as genius content (a tactic still followed by the industry) . We still powered through and did all 50 questions in that topic and knocked off topic by topic over the next 2 weeks, practically just for the heck of it. The material did not really push us, but we gave it a go chiefly for the sake of "completion". Now, 15 years later, if you ask me to find 42% of 707, I would think of it as slightly less than 3/7th of the number and guess in the ball park of 300. All because I did gazillion questions rather unscientifically 15 years ago.

Powering through is very instructive. Do not underestimate this. I hate it when students say they get "tired" after doing 4 sets of Data Interpretation. That is just nonsense. The idea of finishing something off, solving ALL possible questions, etc have become old-fashioned notions. Getting questions under the belt can change the dynamic in unforeseen ways.

Retain humility (for some students this should read as "acquire humility")
A simple requirement for learning anything new is to have some humility towards what you are learning. These days I see some students get so cocky by the time they reach level of difficulty of 7 that the brain shuts down for levels of difficulty 8, 9 and 10. Respecting the content also might enable to get some joie de vivre during the preparation process. This again is vital for competitive exams; else the pressure will drag you down.

My colleague, K.S. Baskar has been training students for nearly 20 years and took his CAT nearly 25 years ago. If you handed an interesting question to him today that left him stumped, it would immediately put a smile on his face. Purely out of the joy of having learnt something new. Its a shame that many students do not even get to see this feeling of joy.

Note that I asked for students to respect the content, and not necessarily the teacher. Contrary to popular perception, teachers do not yearn for gratitude or thirst for approval from students. If you learn well and have a great learning attitude most teachers wont care whether you are grateful to them. Or whether you hold them in high esteem.

Dont fret about the imponderables
I am going to start this bit with a personal warning. The next student who asks me "I have scored 75% in 10th, 62% in 12th standard and 65% in undergraduation, what are my chances of getting into IIM-A?" risks serious physical injury.

To get into IIMA is incredibly difficult. Someone who has been mediocre throughout has even less chance than someone who has been exceptional so far. So, if you have a middling record, your chances are low. It is understandable that you think you are way more capable than what your past record suggests. It is also unlikely that IIMA will share this blinkered view. The simplest and most fool-proof way to bring them around is to get a good CAT score. So, work on that.

So, if your track record is sad, you should have a simple rule - Start waffling after getting a decent CAT score.

I had a rather unremarkable CGPA in my undergraduation. Unremarkable enough for me to fret about admissions into the IIMs. I felt so apologetic about this that I avoided mentioning this. I was so afraid of defending my poor record that I dreaded going to the interviews because of this. These days, students talk about a poor record as if they had nothing to do with it.

The poor marks in 10th standard and 12th standard are because you goofed off. Not because of anything else. Dont expect someone to say "You are good in spite of this". You might be. If you want the world  to believe it, prove it.

Dont sit around waiting for a great preparation plan, or worse, for inspiration.
Before you think about having a grand preparation plan that is a ten-step ride through to IIM-dom, actually consider some preparation. Print the following statement and stick it on your bedroom

"An hour of preparation is worth 12 hours of preparation planning". 

Too many students waffle about having a grand plan and start dreaming too early about going places. If half the time spent on early-stage planning were replaced with actual preparation, it would be brilliant. You should not require someone to say "There is a genius waiting inside you" to solve 25 questions in algebra.

And lastly, own your preparation.
Have a simple preparation plan, and execute this well. Do not outsource your preparation entirely. See where you stand periodically, and set ambitious targets for the amount of effort you put in. The result will follow (it always does).

I realize that I risk coming off as a cantankerous old man hankering after good-ol' times. If it were not already clear, we teachers do not really care that much about what students think of us. I think I speak for all teachers when I say "We are here to put hajaar fight for you. But as the old saying goes, one can only take the horse to the pond."

CAT Interview Preparation - Economics: Inflation

We continue with the video series on Economics. In this particular video, we are going to learn about definition of Inflation, differences between CPI, WPI and GDP deflator. We will also touch upon which metrics central banks use for taking policy decisions.

CAT 2014 Notification: What does this mean?

CAT 2014 notification is out .

First up, let us review the facts

Time duration: 170 minutes instead of 140 minutes
Number of questions: 50 per section, instead of 30 per section previously
Dates: Nov 16th and Nov 22nd, two sessions per day, instead of 40 sessions in the previous avatar
Change in pattern: Candidates can shift from one section to another, the time limit is 170 minutes for the overall paper. Previously, we used to have 70 minutes per section. Now, the time limits are not in silos and one can choose to spend unequal amounts of time on each section.

Thankfully, the IIMs have chosen to clarify why they are doing these changes. All these changes have been done to make the exam "aspirant-friendly". They might have changed the format dramatically, it is reassuring to know that the IIMs have at least retained their sense of humour.

How does this change preparation strategy for individual sections?
The study plan remains the same. The syllabus, framework remain the same. Practice the basics, build intensity and take lot of tests in the end. Do not pontificate too much on why these changes have been made. Be happy that the test has been made more aspirant-friendly, and continue preparation with the warm glow that comes from knowing someone is looking out for you.

How does it change the plan for CAT?
1. Stamina matters: Taking an exam for 170 minutes is tough. This is not a college exam that can be taken even with "day-dream spells" in the middle. This is an intense exam. The extra half hour can be sapping. I have been taking CAT in the past few years purely for the experience (the implication being that the pressure is less). I get drained out completely by the end of the 140 minutes. I am so tired that I can barely drive back home. An extra 30 minutes is going to kill applicants who do not have stamina. So, start building intensity and stamina from now on.

2. Time management needs to be better: Given the freedom to shift from one section to another, students might flit from one section to another too many times and kill momentum in both. Have a plan that broadly allocates time across the two sections, and have one buffer for going for playing it safe in case you are worrying about section cut-off. Do not plan to shift from section I to II once every 10 minutes. Just because the freedom has been given , it does not mean one has to use it. Till 2009, CAT gave students the freedom of shifting from one section to another. Those of us who have taken CATs in both forms will tell you that this freedom of shifting from one section to another is a double-edged sword. I used to consistently "steal"  a few minutes from quant and use this for verbal. This did not help my overall performance much. My best results came when this freedom was taken away from students. The pressure of worrying about section cut-offs sometime takes something away from the performance. So, be careful with this new found time-management freedom.

3. Students with one strong suit and one weak suit will have a small advantage: A student who is frightfully good in quant and just about average in verbal can now spend 95 minutes on verbal and 75 on quant and "balance" things out. Because this option is now available, students with sharp variance between the two sections can now plan with this in mind. Just a word of caution though, trying to be too cute can come back to bite you in this exam. Plan to have mild tweaks, avoid major overhauls.

Obviously, you will have to take a few mock CATs to get used to the new pattern. As always, the best place for getting the newer version of mock CATs is 2IIM.

Best wishes for CAT 2014.

Strategies for taking Mock CATs:

Scored 74 in 10th, 82 in 12th what are my chances for getting into IIMs?

I have scored 74 in 10th std, 82 in 12th std, 64 in UG, what are my chances with the IIMs, especially A, B, C? 

This video, in a tribute to Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy more or less says the answer to this question is 42. As the video says, only certainties in life are death and taxes.

To elaborate on this, I am going to start with a quote from Donald Rumsfeld for this one "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know".

Now, why have I written all this? This question, and its sister-questions, cousin-variants, nephews-nieces etc can all be categorized under "No need to know unknowns".

Suppose I were to tell you that to get a call from IIM B, C and L you will need to have 99.68, 99.71 and 99.23 with your profile, how exactly will it influence your CAT preparation? Further let us say, you have attempted 82 questions in the paper with 10 minutes to go. You know that with this attempt number, you should be able to get 99.73. Will you stop right there and say, "I can take rest now. I dont need any more marks."

I took my first CAT (relevant one) in 2000. Back then, the exam was paper-based. There were no percentile scores, no section updates, no new IIMs. We guys took CAT in December. By about February, IIM A, B, C, L would post their interview invites by snail mail (no email either). So, if you did not receive that post, you can assume you just missed out. So, you had to keep the postman in good spirits. There are endless stories of guys nearly missing out on interviews because the post got mixed up.

Now, thanks to this surfeit of information available, there is this enormous temptation to analyze everything and try to get  some 'certainty'. Whether this question gets 100 replies or 1000 replies, whether 'experts' chip in or experienced candidates share their 'wisdom', you are no more likely to know an exact target or a surefire solution than you were before.

So, forget about this, put your head down and prepare for the exam. There is one thing that you can be sure of. Ceteris Paribus, a higher CAT score will give a candidate a higher chance of getting any admit.

As far as your question is concerned, for IIM A, B, C you need 99.6+, for IIM ILK you probably have a shot with 98.5+ (with L requiring more). 96+ should give you a shot with the new IIMs. If you are thinking, why couldn't this guy have given this last paragraph without going on a rant. Where is the joy in that?

Note: I had written the above as an answer to a query on Quora. Since Quora does not protect writers' freedom, I have pulled down the answer from Quora and published it on the blog