Written Ability Test (WAT): Your Next Step to IIMs

By S K Agarwal

For those who made it through the first round of CAT 2013, results announced January 14, it is time to focus on the Written Ability Test (WAT) and personal interview rounds that take place from February to May.

As the name suggests WAT is a pen and paper writing ability test conducted by IIMs and other top rated B-schools. These institutes shortlist candidates based on the CAT scores, which tests the knowledge of an aspirant and then judges the writing ability through WAT.

B-schools place a lot of importance on the writing ability of candidates. In the top B- schools, weightage of WAT-PI round ranges between 30 to 70%. IIM-A assigns 70%, while IIM-B, IIM-Raipur assign 30%, IIM-C 54% and IIM-L gives it 45% weightage.

Group Discussion substituted with WAT

Most of the IIMs conduct WAT and Personal Interview and have done away with Group Discussion (GD) round. A few like IIM-L, IIM Shillong, have all the three i.e. Group Discussion, Personal Interview and WAT. The six new IIMs at Ranchi, Raipur, Rohtak, Trichy, Udaipur and Kashipur aligned to the CAT in the academic year 2011-13 have substituted GD with WAT.

WAT: Manifestation Of Attitude

Management programmes instill qualities needed to manage the affairs of a corporate. This requires good writing skills. The candidate should be able to express her ideas in a clear, logical and coherent manner. The essay writing by the aspirant tests this skill and attitude. The IIMs expect a test taker to understand the topic along with the key words and then form a piece of writing where the flow of thought, rich in content, is presented flawlessly without beating about the bush.

Know the past WAT topics

WAT could cover any topics under the sun like – Business, Economics, Finance, Sports, Social, Political or Religious. The coverage of these subjects could be national or international. The tone could be imaginative and abstract. Here’s a glimpse of WAT topics from the previous years.

1.  The recent financial crisis highlights the perils of Capitalism

2.  Women's Reservation Bill

3.  Banning politicians with criminal records from contesting elections is against their right

4. India versus Bharat: a divided nation

5. Union Budget is a useless exercise and activities like recession put it off-track

6. Essential services like water, electricity should not be privatized

7. Is disinvestment in profit making PSU's advisable?

8. Should petroleum subsidy go away?

9. Corporate Social Responsibility

10. Discuss the role of Public Private Partnership in India's Economic Growth

11. Voting should be made compulsory

12. IIM should make one year of social service compulsory for all students

13. Should there be reservation for women in MBA colleges?

14. Bollywood is capitalizing on people with disabilities

15. In India, mass mobilization can only be achieved through religion

16. IPL is a death knell to Indian cricket

17. Legalising doping in sports in modern times

18.  Cricket is cannibalizing the space of other sports in India

19.  The greatest tennis star of all time

20.  Vishwanathan Anand is as good a brand ambassador as Sachin Tendulkar

Key Trends

To gauge awareness and fast-thinking, the WAT has a time limit, varying across institutes. The IIMs and IIFT, do not set a word limit but a well worded and properly structured essay might be 300 to 400 words long and should be completed in 20-30 minutes, provided it is to the point. A good deal of practice is required to meet this goal.

IIM-L usually gives an abstract topic in Written Ability Test. The same topic may figure in Group Discussion.

B-school	Time (Min)	Suggested Word Limit	Expected Topics
IIM-Ahmedabad	15-20	300 plus words	Current affairs, Finance, Economics, Socio-Political, abstract topics
IIM-Bangalore	30	400 words approx.	National, International
IIM-Calcutta	20-25	400 plus words	Current affairs, Business, Science, Abstract Topics
IIM-Lucknow	15	200 plus words	Mostly Abstract and National
IIMs - Ranchi, Raipur, Rohtak, Trichy, Udaipur, Kashipur	15-20	300 plus words	Economics, Business, Current, Abstract

 About the author:

SK Agarwal is an author of ‘Build your Basics First’, a comprehensive book on Verbal Ability for CAT/XAT