MBA Rendezvous

What will be judged in WAT ?



CAT 2012 is almost over and now candidates are looking forward to result on 9th January 2013 very anxiously. Selected candidates for PI will be called for written ability test in a stipulated time of 15 minutes.

In WAT you will be judged on domain knowledge, hand writing, grammar, creative writing and expression of thoughts.

Each and every ingredient of WAT is necessary to be understood and you need to practice a lot. It is not just expression of thought which is necessary but hand writing is also very crucial. 

You need to ensure that there must be a message which should be loud and clear to the readers of WAT. With this not only you will be able to compete in WAT but you will be also building a base for your personal interview in which selection panel might ask few questions out of your WAT.



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Difference between WAT & Essay



CAT aspirants who have just gone through written examinations must be ready now for written ability test. On your getting short listed based on your percentile, IIMs will send you invitation letter for PI but before that you need to undergo for WAT in a stipulated time of 15 minutes.

Let us be clear that WAT is not essay and you need to write 150 – 170 words on an assigned topic which you need to close with a take away message for the audience of WAT.

Essay needs formal introduction in opening para followed by body of the essay and later conclusion whereas in WAT you need to immediately come up to the message for the topic.

Practice can only get you success in WAT



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What will be judged in WAT?



CAT 2012 takers are aware of that after getting shortlisted; IIMs will call you for written Ability test

In computer based test of CAT 2012 you have already been tested for your domain knowledge, analytical skills, aptitude and focus areas of accuracy and speed. 

Now you will tested for your soft skills like communication, creative writing, handwriting, expression of thoughts, and clarity of thoughts.

You need to have very strong communication as you need to write WAT in 15 minutes. It is always better to conclude WAT with some take away message for the reader and this will also help you in PI as selection panel might pick up questions from your WAT for PI.

It is time to practice for WAT on variety of topics so that you can feel confident.



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Why WAT after CAT ?



Till a year before CAT aspirants were subjected to Group discussion to understand their soft skills on communication, body language, and over all personality. But over a period of time test prep institutes have conditioned most aspirants with their training in such a way that most of aspirants look alike and it became  difficult for selection panel to judge candidates and on the other hand GD was getting subjective for judgment. 

New IIMs also thought of giving opportunity to candidates who are coming from smaller towns to excel as sometimes they may not have that confidence in speaking because of less exposure as compared to candidates hailing from metros.

From last year IIMs thought of taking only WAT to judge actual communication power. 

Those who will get shortlisted after CAT 2012 will have to go for Written Ability Test.



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Nature of CAT



CAT aspirants must have adapted for exam by now. Those who are undergoing exam are realizing that whether to choose exam date early or late in given date window doesn’t matter much and even trends of exam also doesn’t help much. 

Having understood nature of exam it is a realization that CAT will remain tough and will keep on surprising you because CAT is not testing your only knowledge but is testing your attitude of doing best with accuracy within stipulated time. 

Let the result be out and you will have to be ready for WAT and PI. Time is ripe to focus on these areas now including personality development and grooming yourself with fresh ideas to achieve mission admission IIM