Brushing up the Verbal and Written Skills for B-School Admission

In India, every year nearly 1.75 lakh students join the force to give CAT exam to enter B-School. This is, however, the first stage for the entry, the second stage includes Group Discussion (GD) and Written Ability Test (WAT) along with Personal Interview (PI).

In last few years, group discussions have been replaced by WAT, which is considered as an effective tool to gauge the display of communication, clarity in thoughts and expression. However, the candidate also needs to provide academic record. While the weightage is largely given in the 2^nd stage and also varies from school to school. The role of the second stage is to test aspirant’s analytical, aptitude and seriousness in pursuing the course. Newly aspirant students need to know certain steps that could help in preparing for WAT.

What Exactly WAT is?

Written Ability Test assesses candidates on several different parameters including social, ethical values, clarity in thoughts and effective expression. Candidates need to understand the topic closely before proceeding to express thoughts. WAT is now being considered important part of admission process for MBA in B-Schools.

How to Prepare?

The main part in preparing for WAT is to get back into essay writing process. Start with simple topics and then proceed to the tough one. Reading of articles and other key developments that have undertaken in recent times can be considered for essay writing practice. While writing, emphasizes more on logic and grammar. More importantly, write in active voice and should carry a flow.

Also while writing essay, avoid using examples regularly. Avoid using gender, regional and communal expression that will put you in bad stage. The number of words in essay can be around 500-700 words. Moreover, need to grasp the topic fast and should be able to complete in the allotted time. IIM-B gives 30 mins, IIM-L gives 15 mins and IIM-A as 10 mins.

Points to Remember:

There are certain points to keep in mind like:

·         Developing and Collecting ideas in vivid details

·         Organize the idea

·         Develop the idea

·         Expressing them in concise way and reviewing it.