CAT aspirants to be given a tutorial prior to test

With the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 less than two weeks away, Prometric, the company that will administer the first computer-based CAT, has issued guidelines for students taking the test. The exam will take place between 28 November and 7 December this year.

Prometric has put up the guidelines online, but considering the fact it is the first time that students are taking the CAT online, it will also give a 15-minute tutorial prior to the start of the test to students.

“The actual duration of the test is 2 hours and 15 minutes and the tutorial will familiarise candidates with the layout of the screen and functionality available during the test.

Candidates are advised to go through this tutorial even if they have viewed the CAT Demo as it will demonstrate how you use a mouse, select, change or de-select your response, mark a question for review, move from one question to another, highlight text within a passage and end the test,” says Prometric in its ‘A Practical Guide to the CAT 2009’.

Besides tutoring students on how to review questions, the tutorial will also teach them how to select and highlight any text within a passage for easy reference. “There will be an opportunity during the tutorial to try out this highlighting feature.

You will notice that the question number appears at the top centre of the screen,” said the guidelines. The test comprises three sections and about 60 to 70 multiple choice questions that evaluate a candidate’s quantitative, verbal, and logical and data interpretive abilities.

Questions about CAT 2009

Is it possible for me to navigate between different sections?
Yes. You will also be able to skip questions, go back to questions and change your answer choices for questions that you have already marked.

Will the CAT be an adaptive test like the GMAT?
No. CAT 2009 will not be a computer adaptive test like the GMAT. All the candidates at a centre taking the exam in a given slot will see the same set of questions. The order of the questions as well as the order of the answer choices, however, may be jumbled. 

What is the difference between an online test and an adaptive test?
An online test is simply a test that is taken on a computer. In other words it is digital or a computer-based test. A computer adaptive test, on the other hand is one that attempts to guess or estimate the candidate’s intelligence and throws up questions that match the intelligence of the candidate.

Do candidates who take the exam in the last few days have an unfair advantage, as they may have more information about the format, pattern, etc?
Not necessarily. The IIMs have already stated that the CAT 2009 will have three sections and will have between 60–70 questions in total. Further, a short mock test is available on www.catiim.com which gives you a feel of what the test will look and feel like on the day of the exam.

Will I be able to take a break in the middle of the exam?
No. The entire process of the tutorial, test, etc, will take around three hours. You are strongly advised to use the washroom, eat a snack, etc, before you enter the testing area. Unless in extreme circumstances, you will not be allowed to leave the test centre.

What will happen if I am late in reporting for exam?
In the past candidates who have turned up late for the exam have not been allowed to write the test. This is likely to be the case this year too. I would strongly suggest that you are on time for the test.

Courtesy: Jaideep Singh Chowdhary, Sr Member of the Academic team, T.I.M.E.