Testing, testing

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is an exam that really tests your nerves. We have IITians come up to us to prepare for them

For the Common Admission Test (CAT) coaching industry, it is nothing short of a shake-up. In July, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore announced changes to the CAT for 2014. The number of questions will go up to 100 from the current 60 and the time limit will increase to 170 minutes from the current 140. That is not all. Students were hitherto expected to devote equal time to the two sections, 70 minutes each. Now they may choose. So if you are good at maths, you can finish that quickly and devote the extra time to English.

As always, the news was met with the surprise and anxiety that anything the IIMs do generates in the CAT industry. Some said the changes were for the good. Others disagreed. Students, meanwhile, had difficulty making up their minds. (Except perhaps to showcase worry on the all-important question of the city in which to take the exam. Unlike earlier, when CAT was administered over 20 days, this time only four sessions have been kept.)

It all comes down to this. The CAT coaching industry has expanded so fast that the only way to differentiate oneself from other players is to work harder at spoon-feeding customers, viz, aspirants. Everyone has an opinion, notwithstanding that the aspirants are adults who should be able to decide how to tackle a new format. If it were the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) we were talking about, with its adaptive software playing tricks with students' preparation (and minds), I would understand. But CAT?

Yes, strategy matters. If one can decide time limits, it's a different ball game to earlier when it made sense to solve every question. Now, with 50 questions choice comes into play, which can be tricky. A little help is fine. But the way the CAT industry responds it would seem we are dealing with a bunch of toddlers. No agency is left to the students' imagination. Every last bit of work is done for them, and then advertised with much relish in myriad seminars, which are mostly free - another ready technique to attract fresh customers.

Now GMAT, there's an exam that really tests your nerves. We have IITians come up to us to prepare for them. On the surface, this should make no sense. IITians have tapped into the depths of maths to reach where they have, so why seek assistance for an exam that tests basic quantitative skills? That's precisely it. Too much complexity can ironically play havoc with applying basics. What was that joke about Einstein digging three holes for the mother cat and her two kittens?

One of the sections in GMAT is data sufficiency (DS). A problem is asked, say, "Is x>2?" Two conditions are given, say, "x-squared >4" and "x>0". The question expects the examinee to determine whether the stem can be answered with the two conditions, either alone or in conjunction. In this case, "x-squared >4" implies x could be either greater than 2 or less than (-2). With the second condition, "x>0" we can say for sure that "x>2". That means both conditions together are sufficient to answer, but not either alone.

This was straightforward but DS questions can be complex. Funny, but give a student a complicated problem on permutations or probability and chances are he will solve it. All the data is provided and some head scratching will ultimately yield the solution. (That is why CAT, where there is little to no DS, is easier.) But expect the student to figure out if the information is sufficient to answer the problem, and he will be at sea.

Little wonder, the GMAT coaching market is buzzing with action. Some of the major players, such as Veritas, Manhattan Prep, Stratus Prep and Optimus Prep, are American companies that charge as much as $200 for an hour of online tuition! While this may sound delicious for the tutor, it is not easy to crack the code, as it were. First, the instructor must score in the 99th percentile on the test, which translates to 760 and above on the GMAT (on 800).

That this is difficult is probably an understatement. Unlike CAT, which is difficult throughout - and, therefore, paradoxically, easier - GMAT becomes progressively difficult if you are on the right track. So, by the end of the exam, you are facing complex questions from coordinate geometry and irrational numbers. When I took the test, I managed a measly 740, perfect for admission to a Harvard PhD, but not worth the consideration of the likes of Veritas and Kaplan.

I tried Optimus Prep, who were okay with discussing matters at my score. One's location, I wagered, should not count in GMAT training because anyone can teach from anywhere online. Apparently not. "We cannot use you for our American and European markets," the lady at Optimus said, "because students there insist on having native tutors." That is, tutors whose first language is English. I tried to reason that I speak English well, and without an accent, but she was adamant.

Drat! Turns out I will be conducting those "CAT has changed" seminars after all.

The author has switched too many jobs in the past and hopes he can hold down this one