Hello!
For those of you who don't know CAT or Common Aptitude Test, it is something like GMAT in India to get into the top Indian B-schools. CAT-2010 is underway right now and will end on November 24th. Read the latest on CAT on the BusinessBecause website at http://www.businessbecause.com/mba-life/cat-exams…. Thanks :)
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Isn't the acceptance rate of these schools are like 0.2% or something?
Yes, the acceptance rate is somewhere between 0.1-0.4% - but well, they are the best universities in India (a few ranked top even in the world) so they will take the most talented lot.
The acceptance rate is ridiculously low, but also remember that every Reddy, Patel, and Gupta applies to those schools, which artificially reduces the acceptance rate. There will be a few who don't apply due to self-selection, but there are tons of people who apply just for the hell of it.
Many write it not with the hopes of getting into the top B-school, but simply to get into any B-school really which will take them in! Most require the candidates to have taken CAT and that's why they do it. Taking into consideration the HUGE population of India, it is no surprise that only a very small percentage get into the top schools.
Well yeah, that's my point. IIM ABC are definitely tough to get into, but if you are generally good at standardized tests, getting into these schools isn't as difficult as getting into HSW. The main issue is that if you're not good at GMAT/standardized tests, you basically have no shot at those schools because the cut offs are often at the 99th percentile.
what an insane place to grow up in. 99%ile or your life is pretty much fucked.
@ Jeffrey: Yeah, you're absolutely right. The cut off's are quite crazy. So many keep taking it for 2 to 3 continuous years with no luck! Its just tough.
@ Guest: Yup that pretty much sums it up!
Its not that hopeless either. There are other schools that don't demand academics only, plus there is a trend toward more holistic application processes, ISB being a good example of that. But yeah, if you don't score 99th percentile on the CAT, then you're basically SOL for the IIMs, and even within the IIMs, there are only 3-4 that are super legit. Its really stupid I think that IIM uses the test scores so much. I would say, since they got 100,000+ apps that only the top 10% based on CAT can get in and after that, its up to the interview/grades/work experience/etc. 98+ percentile on the CAT or don't even get a call for an interview/have a chance to even apply seems retarded though. Test scores are only one measure of performance and IIM ABCL will be passing upon hundreds of people who will be better leaders just because some IIT nerd who worked in a back office got in the 99th percentile of a standardized test. Its their own funeral though.
For the 1200 odd seats in the IIM's roughly 6-7K people are interviewed, so the acceptance rate is not that bad. Plus there are100 other institute's that interview people on CAT marks, so everyone appearing for this exam is not aiming for the IIM's. It can be easily said that 3 out of every 4 people appearing for CAT are not trying for IIM's due to various reasons.
Two of my uncles as well as my brother-in-law are from the IIM-A and B and I am sorry to say this but I have noticed a very common trait among all the people who study there- they have no personality whatsoever. They can make you a smashing econometric model (which will never work in real life anyway) but they cannot hold their own in a conversation and have no inter-personal skills whatsoever. As a result a major chunk of them still end up working in IT.
Yes, there are a few exceptions. No, none of my relatives are exceptions- they are just very dull nerdy people, you won't want seated next to you at a dinner.
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