After all the work that has been put in, all the procrastination that has been done, all the concepts mastered, new words that have been learnt, MBA aspirants finally have a tangible feel of what they were awaiting. They can sense that the time is now.

There are still 90 days to any MBA exam, you say. So why this early you ask? The answer is simple. It’s staring you in the face, rather you are staring it in the face. Two dates of utmost importance are approaching.
26th July, 2015 may be the most important date for all CAT aspirants this year. It’s the day when IIM Ahmedabad will formally announce the exam pattern, duration and dates for this year. While the number of questions and exam duration is unlikely to change, the early indicators are that Engineers won’t have any undue advantage. That coupled with the fact that few IIMs aren’t impressed with the low percentage of attempts in the Verbal section, might mean one of two things:

• The weightage to Quant Reasoning and Data Interpretation is reduced by getting them together or into two different sections. This would leave Verbal and RC together in one section. With sectional cut-offs at play, this forces every student out there to attempt Verbal and RC more and with greater accuracy.


• The second option is something that the IIMs don’t enjoy doing. They have done so only once or twice in the last 18 years – Differential marking for questions, thereby increasing the weightage for Verbal and RC. This too will have a similar effect of ensuring students to attempt more from Verbal and RC.

Thus, all aspirants out there will be waiting with bated breath to hear and read what IIM Ahmedabad has decided. Either which way the students should be ready for some sort of change.
While 26th July is still a fortnight away most students have already started worrying at something a lot more tangible and in the present. NMAT Registrations have started, officially raising the curtain for the start of the 2015-16 MBA season. The NMAT exam begins from 6th October and students have a definitive day to look forward to.
While 500 seats in the Mumbai campus are up for grabs, the number of seats has increased in the Bangalore and Hyderabad campuses as well. As always NMAT exam can be taken thrice during the exam window and students would do well to take their first attempt within 15-20 days of the window opening. This gives them sufficient time to take a second or third attempt, if need be.
This is the time to speed up your preparations and enter into the fifth gear. The MBA season is upon us and as always it will be the survival of the fittest. Like the Ashes this year, the game will be played more in the head than on the field (in the centres). Calmness, composure and trusting your technique (basics) will see you through.

PS: All aspirants are encouraged to go through the links below and get their doubts clarified
To know all about the NMAT Exam, read here /cat-mba/exams/nmat.html
To know all about the NMIMS, Mumbai, read here /cat-mba/bschools-eligibility/nmims-eligibility.html