Tag: COMMON ADMISSION TEST

Standardised Testing and the Coaching Class Culture

A better love story than Twilight.

Standardised testing. A serial dream killer. Hope undermining, man-made catastrophe.

The need for an absolute overhaul is inevitable for the sake of sanities of many. A change in the thought processes of the society would be the apt stepping stone for such a revolution.

As we approach the third decade of the twenty-first century, I guess it’s time to do away the standardised testing as a measure to test the overall capacity of an individual. Following such ancient methods of evaluating young minds in such a fast paced world is absolutely bonkers, we, should know better.

Experts across the fields have endorsed the need for knowledge based learning over memory based learning. But still many are capitalising on the status quo. With millions at the receiving end having it for the worse.

We all have at least appeared for one or the other such tests in our lives. There’s no denying that, the education system is wired in such a manner that there’s no other way around it. Best to succumb to it and make it out in one piece.

It’s saddening to the very least to admit to the fact that many of our dreams were often short-lived by courtesy of such devious measures. Figuring out one’s capacity to follow up his dreams and aspirations over memory based evaluations. Preposterous.

We all have friends and acquaintances who were not able to tread upon a path close to their hearts due to their inability to mug up and show up for standardised tests.

We might even know significant numbers of people, who could’ve been significant figures in their respective favourite fields if they haven’t had fallen prey to the societal norms and ambit of such tests to pursue mainstream degrees and careers.

If you’re somebody who has not been shot down by such a measure, count your blessings. You’re indeed one of the rarest of the rare.

With every passing year, millions of students are pushed into the rat race of such tests by the pressure implied by their guardians, mostly. The crazy obsession over a few courses and institutions in lieu of a trend that has long passed, but is still not accepted by the masses. People are suckers for a safe and secure career that is entirely overrated. 

With the passing of each year, new and newer coaching centres for prepping the kids for such exams are coming up in every nook and corner of our societies. Coaching centres are definitely and will be the black for a while. 

Another number synonymous with the pass numbers of such institutions are the suicide rates among the ones that go there. With the crammed up schedules to only learn and nothing else, millions of kids are traumatised by the agony inflicted upon them.

The only good, such institutions do are their unbridled role over building smaller economies. Pressured with the need to cater to the high numbers of students joining such institutions, they’re forced to establish bigger institutions to accommodate the same. 

Hence, they resort to remoter areas where land is cheap and set up shop there. With more and more families trying to put their kids through such a process, they move closer to such institutions and play their part in fuelling the growth of such rural economies.
A blessing in disguise for many.

We live in a country where the education policies are over three decades old. Since then we’ve liberalised the markets, had massive growth of population and numerous other socioeconomic changes, but this sector falls short to such changes.

With every passing year, education becomes more political than the year before. Higher passing percentages are a matter of concern for political parties to market false bravado. Unaware of the millions who fall prey to such a process.

Rewarding students based on their abilities to rot learn and awarding them with grace marks for selfish reasons might seem reasonable in the short term. But in the long run, bringing out generations of students proficient, theoretically, would just drag this great nation to the dirt. 

“A stitch in time saves 9”, better act up before it’s too late.

Do express your views in the comments below.

CAT A DOOR OF IIM

Cat is a very popular exam for enrollment of MBA, every year many of students conduct this exam for taking admission in their dream college.

 CAT is the entrance examination for management aspirants at the national level and is carried out on a rotational basis by the Indian Institute of Management. The cat examination will be tentatively conducted in the month of November in various cities across India.

The CAT examination opens the doors for candidates not only to be admitted to 20 IIMs but to more than 1000 B-Schools across India, making it one of the most crucial examinations for every management aspirant.

Apart from the IIMs, the CAT is also a prerequisite for admissions into numerous other prestigious management colleges across India which includes institutes like S.P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Management Development Institute (Gurgaon), Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), International Management Institute (IMI), National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) and several others.

CAT is one of the most important exams, and its preparation should not be taken lightly. One of the first questions that strike the mind of a candidate sitting for this examination is whether to prepare independently or take the help of a coaching center.

Before taking any important decisions regarding your preparation, you must reflect on your behavior in previous situations. You must evaluate yourself and think of whether you are disciplined and can stick to a plan or are more prone to procrastination and over-thinking. Depending on your caliber, you may clear CAT in a short duration, or it might take two to three attempts to crack it.

Depending on your tendencies, you must make the appropriate choice. The flexibility of self-learning is best suited for those candidates who are well aware of their learning and can set goals and achieve them, while also improving the performance.

CAT Exam Eligibility

  • Should Hold a Bachelor’s Degree and have secured a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA. The students belonging to any of the reserved categories like Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC), and Persons with Disability (PWD) or Differently Abled (DA) category must have at least 45% marks.
  • The degree has to be awarded by any of the Universities included by an act of the central or a state legislature in India, or any other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or are declared to be deemed as a University under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, or hold an equivalent qualification recognized by the MHRD, India.
  • Applicants who are appearing for the final year of their bachelor’s degree and the candidates who have completed their graduation degree requirements and are awaiting results are also eligible to apply.

·         CAT Exam Syllabus

CAT Quantitative Aptitude

CAT Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation

CAT Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension

·         Eligibility Verification

Mark sheets and Degree Certificate

Reservation Category Requirements

Candidates in the Final Year of Graduation

It should be noted that individual IIM shortlists candidates for their second stage of selection independently. The selection process includes a Written Ability Test (WAT) and a Personal Interview (PI). The performance of individuals in CAT exam will be an important component in the overall selection process. IIMs also consider previous academic records of the candidates, relevant work experience and other similar inputs while shortlisting and ranking the candidates at various stages during the admission process.

Throughout the journey of CAT preparation, you use to ensure that your mind is stable, and you can cope with the entire ordeal of studying long hours and putting in your all for an examination.

There is no proven methodology in CAT for scoring a good percentile. There are plenty of students who worked alone and cleared the CAT in their first attempt.

Cat exam need your hard work, dedication, and how much time you devote for crack this exam it’s all up to you, if you decided to clear this exam so you can do, but you should study for this exam with smart work and lots of focus. Before investing any amount of time or money in coaching, assess yourself and crack this exam with a target of get admission in IIM’s.