Shiksha Opinion: Changes in MBA exam pattern – too much, too soon?
So far, 2014 has been an eventful year for management aspirants and coaching centres. In January, several CAT (Common Admission Test) 2013 test takers claimed discrepancies in exam pattern (read details here). In April, some disgruntled candidates got together and decided to sue the IIMs for lack of transparency. Cases were filed across the country in various High Courts.
Result: Courts asked the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and test-taking agency Prometric to explain normalisation method (read latest update). This saga continued for the next three months.
Then on July 28, CAT 2014 notification came out. And with it came a sea of changes. The test duration has gone up to 170 minutes while total number of questions has been increased to 100. View CAT 2014 changes here.
Then came Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) and Symbiosis National Aptitude (SNAP) notifications. SNAP has decided to re-introduce admission Group Exercise in its admission process. Rumours of changes in XAT exam pattern are also going around. XAT may introduce new sections in the test (unconfirmed reports).
Suddenly, all the top management entrance exams seem to be changing their exam or admission pattern.
Which leads to the question, why is everyone changing the test pattern and what is the idea behind these pattern changes?
Why?
According to an expert (who chooses to remain anonymous) the innumerable court cases against the IIMs is the primary reason for the dramatic changes in CAT test pattern. “This is not the first time CAT authorities have been accused of discrepancies in the exam. In 2012, IIM Kozhikode also faced similar issues. As the result, the changes were bound to happen sooner or later,” says the expert. SNAP and XAT authorities, it seems, are changing exam and admission patterns based on their own researches and student performance in the previous exams.
Changes in exam pattern over a period are always welcome. But no change should be haphazardly imposed on students. Though many parties are happy with the latest changes in CAT 2014, a huge section of MBA aspirants are at a loss. They have no previous examples / test papers to fall back on or understand the time management issues. In short, CAT 2014 test-takers are like guinea pigs, on whom the next phase of experimentation will be performed.
Pattern changes in national-level examinations should be a well thought out affair. Change should be a gradual and cautious process. For instance, in March 2014, College Board announced changes in the SAT exam pattern which will be introduced in 2016 (Source). Two years! Students will get two years to adjust to the new pattern.
Similarly, GMAT introduced a small change early this year after deep research. LSAT, too, has an experimental section for test-takers. Results of the experimental/new section are analysed over a period of time, before introducing any changes in exam pattern.
The way forward
Test-taking agencies should think through every step. Changes need to be justified. It should depend on correct implementation; not court orders or student movements.
We appreciate the steps taken by IIM Indore and TCS to make it a level-playing field. But the changes were random and unexpected. Many students and coaching-centres are at a loss over how to help students prepare for the new exam pattern. CAT 2014 authorities should at least release sample papers to guide students and inform them about scoring and equating process well before the scheduled exam.
