Sunday, November 16, 2008

CAT 2008 Cut Offs - Overall & Sectional Cut-Offs

Expected Sectional Cut Offs for CAT 2008

Quant Section - Likely Cut Off: 33-34
Verbal Section - Likely Cut Off: 47-48
DI Section - Likely Cut Off: 29-30

Overall Cut Off for CAT 2008

You can expect an IIM call at a cut-off point of 125 or more, provided you also meet the sectional cut-offs. CAT 2008 candidates with a good academic + work-ex background can expect calls at slightly lower scores in the CAT.

* These are only predicted scores, and the actual cut offs as decided by the individual IIMs may differ, though unlikely to differ by a great margin.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Last Minute Tips for CAT 2008

All ready for the big day? CAT 2008 is less than 72 hours away, and with so much at stake, and the immense competition to face, you might fancy this handy tips - nothing great or earth-shattering about them, but helpful nonetheless.
1. Tell yourself that you can always write CAT 2009 or GMAT or that there is XAT 2009 to follow - it will reduce the pressure, the last thing you want to do is to crumble because of the sheer pressure that you exert upon yourself.
2. If there are sudden surprises, don't panic - Remember that the changes are not for you alone, each one of the about 3 lakh students writing the CAT 2008 will face the same changes. The few thousand who will cope best with the sudden challenges will be the ones getting the calls from the IIMs - give yourself a minute to think over, don't rush into things - plan it out.
[ Note: If there are sudden changes or the paper is abnormally tough, the IIM cut-off as well as other b-school cut-offs are likely to dip. ]
3. If you have been employing a certain way of going about handling the Mock CATs for the last few months and that way has been working for you, don't give up on it suddenly. What has worked for a few months and many times over should work today as well.
4. If you are from an English-medium/convent background, or have been good at English otherwise, listen to your gut-feel in 'Verbal/RC'. Don't forget that you have been a student of the language for over 14-15 years now, and chances are that your 'gut is giving you the right feeling'.
Don't overdo Point no.4 or if you are happy ignoring this point, that is okay.
5. No one knows the cut-off while writing the CAT. The previous cut-off are at best an indicator, which may or may not mean anything. So don't keep chasing an 'unknown' number. Therefore -
"Read the Instructions Carefully" - If it says like it always does, then allott approximately equal time to all sections. If there are some major or minor changes in the instructions, give yourself a minute or two to formulate a plan to go about writing the CAT 2008. Believe me, it will be a minute worth spend.
All the very best,

Saturday, November 01, 2008

MICA Admission Cut Offs | CAT 2008 | GMAT

For years it has been a suspense as to what the cut off for Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA) is - whether it's 80 percentile or 85 or 95? God knows how many times I have been queried about the sectional cut-off requirement for MICA. "Does MICA only check your Verbal Score?", somebody would ask. Yet others wondered if MICA had any sectional cut-off in the CAT for quant or DI or not. The suspsense is now over, and officially so.

MICA CAT Cut Off for Admission to the 2009 - 2011 PGDCM batch

MICA will shortlist candidates for the MICAT, Group Exercise (MICA holds GE instead of a GD) and the Personal Interview on the basis of their performance in the Common Admission Test ( CAT 2008 ) - Overall CAT 2008 Percentile cut off will be 90 and they will need a minimum sectional cut offs of 50 percentiles in both Quant and DI sections in the CAT. In the Verbal (VA) section that comprises Grammar, Language and Reading Comprehension, MICA aspirants will need to clear a minimum cut-off level of 60 percentile.

MICA GMAT Cut Off for Admission to the 2009 - 2011 PGDCM batch

A minimum GMAT score of 600 obtained on or after 1st January 2007

MICA aspirants can hence write either the CAT 2008 or the GMAT to get a call for the second round of the admission procedure. Unlike last year, MICA has removed XAT from its list of written test options.

Another Change in MICA Admission Process:

Unlike the previous years when all shortlisted candidates were called for the MICAT, Group Exercise/GD and Personal Interview, the 2009 - 11 admission process will be 3-stepped. Candidates shortlisted from CAT 2008 and GMAT will first write the MICAT, and only the candidates further shortlisted will be called for the Group Exercise and Personal Interview.