Author: Raghib Suleman

For CAT 2020, Tentative dates are released but no confirmation is given by the officials on when the CAT 2020 will be held. 

CAT 2020 EXAM ELIGIBILITY:-

CAT Exam Day Checklist

Candidates appearing for the exam must carry the following documents to the exam centre to get entry inside the exam hall: 

Items which are prohibited in the exam hall are:-

These are the list of items which are prohibited in exam hall in CAT 2020.

COVID-19 Pandemic has changed the whole definition of normal for all the people round the globe. Social distancing, wearing masks, healthy lifestyle and many more things are the new normal. Covid-19 has brought down all the big economies to a record fall and it will not be easy for the big economies to cover this hault. Now, impact on the economies has led to decrease in jobs, paycuts and some companies have even laid off thousands of employees and this has left many candidates wondering that what is the right way to move on. 

Now, it has left many candidates question whether it is worth it?The answer to this question is quite difficult to evaluate but what we can observe now a days is at the time of job cuts, MBA personnels are also experiencing a lot of problems in the corporate world. But what needs to be considered is that impact of COVID-19 on MBA jobs and after MBA scope is much less as compared to other fields. Because if a candidate is passed out from a reputed top B-school, so the chances of getting a placement after that is quite high as all the company’s are now looking closely for the best profiles rather than better profiles. They are now more focusing on the quality. So the candidates who give GMAT also has a better chance of getting into business schools as it helps the universities to check certain abilities of the candidate which is tested by the GMAT exam. Now students can give GMAT sitting at home by booking an appointment on GMAC official site till 17^th July.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) has surveyed more than 1,000 business school candidates, documenting their concerns about how COVID-19 could affect their education and career prospects. According to the survey, 35% of candidates are ‘very concerned’ or ‘extremely concerned’ about the impact of coronavirus on their pursuit of a business school degree. Worries have also emerged over how coronavirus will affect the job market when these candidates graduate. Since the IMF projected a 3% drop in the global economy in 2020—a worse slowdown than the financial crash of 2008—future employment prospects could be affected. Additionally, the coronavirus situation is prompting many to defer their business school applications. According to the GMAC survey, 44% of candidates are considering this alternative. According to GMAC’s survey, 50% of prospective business school students say that the post-coronavirus job market is a specific area of concern for them. MBA candidates seem to be more concerned about job prospects than their business master’s counterparts. 

In this economic crisis, it becomes more important for every MBA candidate to be best in their particular fields because competition will be drastically increased and those with a good business school profile and having expertise in their particular field will not face more difficulty in evaluating and growing in the corporate world.

To Facilitate students in these hard times of Covid-19 so that the candidates could meet the application deadline, GMAT started taking and accepting applications for the Online Exam from April 20^th 2020. Many students are still confused on how it will be held and taken forward and what all security measures will be taken in order to 

GMAT online Exam Structure:-

The GMAT Online exam includes the Quantitative, Verbal and Integrated Reasoning sections (omitting the Analytical Writing Assessment Section). Each section will contain the same number of questions and time per section as the current in-person GMAT exam. The sections are as follows: 

Note:- Sections Order in which the exam could be taken is fixed in Online exam.

Time allotted for the GMAT exam is 3hrs. 2hrs 45 minutes for the exam and 15 min to login in to the online proctored system. An optional 5 minute break is available before starting the IR section.

Whiteboard In GMAT online exam:-

In the GMAT online exam,you will have access to an online whiteboard to work through equations, use for scratch work, and take notes on. With the online whiteboard you will have almost an endless canvas to work on, so there is no need to erase your work as you move through your exam. You can move the whiteboard around your screen as you work on your exam to conveniently reference it simultaneously with the questions. 

Online whiteboard could be used for:-

If you want to practice the online whiteboard before taking the exam, you can refer to

https://www.mba.com/exams/gmat-online/prepare-for-your-exam/online-whiteboard

Security Measures taken in GMAT online exam:-

There are security protocols that will occur at check-in as well as continuous monitoring during the exam. GMAC has listed some of the security protocols which should be followed throughout the exam.

How to prepare the testing environment before taking GMAT online 2020 exam:-

Checklist of the things which you should do before starting with your GMAT online exam :-

1. Run the system test by using tools on the official GMAC site to ensure you can take the GMAT online test.
2. Keep the space clean and do not keep books, notepad, sticky notes, papers, pens, pencils or any other objectionable things.
3. Any extra monitors or mouse or keyboard should be unplugged and any writings on the wall will be thoroughly inspected by the proctor.
4. Water in a clear glass is allowed during testing; however, eating, smoking, and chewing gum are prohibited.

When checking in with the exam:-

1. Your system should have the proper hardware and software requirements. (For full system requirements, refer to GMAC official website).
2. Proper photo identification for the AI to compare your facial image to the one on your ID
3. A current digital photo uploaded for comparison to photo ID. 
4. Workspace verification – you must upload photos of the work space prior to beginning the exam.

If your room does not pass the room scan, you will not be allowed to take the exam.

proper security by having the candidate show around using the webcam of your system. Somethings which should be duly noted are:-

1. Confirm all external monitors and other devices are unplugged
2. Confirm no items or objects are within reach of the test taker
3. Confirm no food or drink is in the vicinity, other than water in a clear container
4. Inspect items on the wall

Security during the online gmat exam 2020:-

During the exam, you will be live-monitored via webcam and microphone by a proctor and the session will be recorded. There will also be an AI-driven monitoring system to identify the test taker during the exam. All applications other than the test taking software, will be disabled.  If any prohibited behavior is detected, the exam will be terminated immediately. During the exam, you may not access the following personal items: mobile phones, headphones or headsets (wired or Bluetooth), handheld computers or other electronic devices, pagers, watches, wallets, purses, hats (or other head coverings), bags, coats, books, notes, or any other materials not specifically approved. Also, you may not use exam-specific materials or scratch paper, erasable whiteBoard, or any other physical writing object, such as a pen, marker, or pencil. All items and devices must be placed out of sight/reach while you take the exam and may not be accessed during the break.

Your exam includes one optional 5-minute break offered before the start of the Integrated Reasoning section (after the Section Instructions). Wait until you see the specific scheduled break message during your exam. Unless you elect to skip the break, your break will automatically start in 60 seconds.  You must return from your break on time. If you are late, time will be deducted from the next section of your exam. During your break, you may leave your desk to use the restroom. If you leave your computer during your exam at a time other than your scheduled break, the proctor will end your session and you will be unable to continue testing. You can only move off camera during your break, so be sure to have a power cord plugged in if you are taking the exam on a laptop.

After Completing the online GMAT exam:-

When you complete the exam, you will not receive a score immediately. Your test data will be sent to GMAC  for scoring. After the scoring is completed, your official score will be available to you on your mba.com account within 7 business days of completing your exam.

Once you receive your official GMAT™ Online score via email or through your mba.com account you will have the opportunity and flexibility to review it before deciding whether you want to send your score to schools. If you choose to report your score to schools, you can select the programs to receive your GMAT™ Online score via your mba.com account.

Due to covid-19 pandemic, the world is seeing things which we would have never imagined. In the management world, GMAT is the key for the students to unlock doors to the best Business schools across the world. Now, due to the uncertainty which has arise due to the pandemic the world is facing, many students were unable to give the GMAT exam because of many factors like Lockdown in many parts of the world, Recession, Loss of learning time and many more. So, It forced many top B-Schools to push their deadlines further for applications for their MBA programs and many are now considering students without the GMAT exam also. But in this article, we will try to understand on whether it is worth it to apply to colleges without a GMAT or should you focus on giving a GMAT exam. 

So, firstly , After the pandemic happened and GMAC(Which conducts the GMAT exam) observed that many B-Schools were short of the applications of students to enroll because they were unable to give GMAT because of the restrictions or safety issues, so they rolled out the idea of conducting the GMAT online. Yes. GMAT is now conducting the exam online till 15^th June 2020 i.e. students can enroll for the GMAT exam and give the exam sitting at home to facilitate the students and moreover to help the students to meet the deadline of the B-Schools to secure their career. For all information about the GMAT online, refer to this blog. 

 Moreover, because of the locations also, as many B-Schools are in US or UK or France which were badly hit by the pandemic, the students were not applying to the top B-Schools . So to counter that, many B-Schools rolled out the notification that they will not force on the GMAT scores for a candidate to get the admission. The candidate would be selected based on the profile. And some colleges even waved off the application fee. For proper notifications of all colleges, refer to this link.

So,Whether a candidate should give a GMAT now in 2020?

 Now what we truly need to understand here is whether a student should consider giving a GMAT or not. So the answer is Yes. They should consider giving a GMAT. Because the main idea of providing this waiver is not to discard the importance of GMAT, but to control the recession which is going to hit everyone and even the universities. GMAT was basically designed to test certain abilities of a student which could prove that the student is interested and moreover have a particular set of abilities that is generally required by the universities. Moreover, as GMAC is giving the facility to the students in giving the GMAT sitting at home, those who do not appear for the test could prove to be a disadvantage. Moreover, no one should ignore the fact that the GMAT score is valid for 5 years, So the students who gave the exam 3-4 years back also would be applying to the B-Schools. So the selection rate of the students with GMAT rather than a profile without GMAT would definitely be higher. So the students should definitely consider giving a GMAT exam because maybe it could happen that the average cutoff scores could be lowered or a student with a low GMAT score could get into a top B-School, but giving a GMAT and attaining a good score is what is needed right now. 

In this coming time of recession, where jobs are becoming less and the degree of uncertaintity has gradually increased, we feel that doing an MBA from a top B-school and having an expertise will open doors to many successful jobs for the candidates. The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Dean Scott Beardsley this week extended the school’s R3 deadlineby more than three months to July 15th from April 6th with the explicit reason to enlarge this year’s MBA applicant pool. “We have just come off one of the most robust job markets of the post-World War II era and now there is a greater degree of uncertainty for some people,” he says. “Maybe now is a good time to go back to school. I think an MBA will be a very strong option for many people who are unsure of what will happen in the next few years. For some people, the opportunity costs of attending school have just dropped. So we want to be able to be here for some of those outstanding people.” 

So choose wisely and prepare well.

Common Admission Test (CAT) and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are both entrance tests accepted by top business schools in India including IIMs. The basic difference between GMAT and CAT is that while CAT is a national level entrance exam, GMAT is a global exam accepted by over 2000+ business schools & 7000 graduate management programs worldwide. GMAT, conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and is accepted by top institutions. 

GMAT & CAT have the same syllabus, both deal with Mathematics and English. Both tests complement each other. Preparing for GMAT helps CAT aspirants in verbal, and CAT preparation helps GMAT aspirants in the Quantitative Section. Most of the sections in both tests are common.

MBA admission is a steep road. It’s important to keep all doors open. It’s good to be confident, but there is a thin line difference between confidence and over-confidence. CAT success rate (% of students getting admission in good colleges) is meager. GMAT, on the other hand, opens doors for almost all the global and Indian business schools.

One more misconception about GMAT is that it’s only for rich. A Business school is not “Global” if it does not keep “Currency Disparity” in their mind. That’s why they offer scholarships to aspirants from lower-valued currency countries. Almost all the Indian students end up getting scholarships to study abroad.

GMAT and CAT comparison:-

Why it is good to prepare for GMAT and CAT both for students:-