CATbite

Ever since the CAT results were declared,and the calls displayed,i have been thinking about it.Not that i was disappointed not to get a call;wasn't expecting one anyway.With me messing up the easiest CAT,i had no hopes whatsoever.I was in a dilemma whether to post this or not,as it might be a case of sour grapes.Still i decided to.

I have gone through the criteria for shortlisting of IIMA,which was like 95.33 percentile in each section and 98.xx overall.Hmm.If you go through the CAT bulletin,there is a note there:"CAT is just one of the many criteria used by the IIMs for shortlisting.Other factors like past academic records,work ex,etc"

this set me thinking.In the CAT form,it does ask about all this details.But it is only Quantitative and not Qualitative.Like,only your percentages are asked and not the college,only no of months of work ex are asked and not the organisation.

So,does this mean,quantity is more important than quality?Only high percentilers are gonna get calls? If yes,then why go through posting all those footnotes??Just mention that score high and get through.No offence meant or taken.

On the other hand,there's an insti like SPJ,which asks you to fill up a lengthy form asking for everything under the sun that you have done.Personally,i feel that they have a more judicious method for selecting people. I know that,its very difficult to scrutinise 1.91 lakh applications,but not impossible.I am not asking the IIMs to follow the SPJ model,its very tough if applied on the scale on which IIMs operate.But,the genius minds they are,they can surely come up with a better way.After all,how can you judge a candidate by measuring his performance over just two and a half hours?

I would like to reiterate that i am not at all cribbing about not scoring in the CAT.i would have said the same thing,even if i had got a call(Only,i would not have posted it till the results came out ;) )Its completely my mistake that i scored only 90.xx percentile.It was just one bad day.I scored better in a relatively tougher XAT.And its not only about IIMs and the CAT,but about all such exams.For every person who gets through to an IIM,there are hundreds of equally talented people,who are left out.Should we not do something for them?