WAT or Written Ability Test is one of the two shortlisting rounds conducted by b-schools to assess the candidate's reasoning abilities and written communication skills. The WAT concept started anew last year by top IIMs of the country (Indian Institute of Management) to replace the group discussion round (GD). Many other B-Schools followed the lead of this protocol and have incorporated WAT as one of their selection parameters for MBA Admissions. Major IIMs and other top b-schools of the country award a significant weightage to the WAT round (more than 20%), the second stage of their shortlisting process. This article summarizes all the tips and strategies devised by CL experts to help you with your WAT preparation. Without further ado, see how one should take necessary steps anent WAT Preparation to crack it successfully.
WAT (Written Ability Test) is a written examination that includes one unique essay question a student needs to answer within the time bracket of 10-20 minutes. This round is conducted somewhere between early afternoon to late afternoon. The style and type of the essay differ across several institutes. The WAT round's primary purpose is to evaluate the candidate on four major proficiency strands, i.e., understanding, fluency, problem-solving, and reasoning. This round is similar to an essay competition. Several IIMs (including new IIMs and Baby IIMs) have replaced the original group discussion round with the WAT round. The reason for this modification was threefold; the inability of candidates to creatively construct their opinions during the earlier group discussion round, GD room's chaotic environment, and lack of confidence amongst candidates to speak up their part without any hesitance.
If candidates believe that there is only one type of topic in the WAT round, they are highly mistaken. There are various categories of essays that are modified to evaluate criteria the panel believes to be most important. Here is a descriptive overlay of the most important topics and the significant points of focus that can strengthen your WAT preparation subject to modifications:
Current Affairs | Philosophical | Abstract |
Resources to Prepare from:
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Resources to Prepare from:
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Resources to Prepare from:
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How to Structure:
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How to Structure
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How to Structure
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Here are a few guidelines or protocols you should keep in mind in order to give substance to your WAT preparation.:
Specific mentoring can get you far and beyond the IIM barriers. Grasp selective GD-PI-WAT cracker's tips and tricks by clicking here.
Here are the necessary steps to win over the WAT round:
Here is a detailed stepwise approach to lay the groundwork for WAT round.
WAT is an inextricable part of IIM Admission process. During the WAT round, the candidate is either handed over an essay topic or a case study. Further, a candidate has to analyze the topic and frame an opinion around it. In keeping with this, the candidate should also ensure they do not surpass the word limit (generally 200-300 words) and time limit. The time constraint for WAT varies from institute to institute. Some IIMs have added WAT rounds along with group discussion rounds for their various Management programmes. Here is a summation of the time frame allotted by IIMs and other top most b-schools of the country:
Name of IIM | Estimated Time Limit |
IIM Ahmadabad | 20 minutes |
IIM Bangalore | 30 minutes |
IIM Calcutta | 25 minutes |
IIM Lucknow | 20 minutes |
IIM Kozhikode | 15 minutes |
IIM Indore | 30 minutes |
New IIMs (IIM Kashipur, IIM Raipur, IIM Ranchi, IIM Rohtak, IIM Trichy and IIM Udaipur) | 20 minutes |
XLRI | 20 minutes |
IIFT Delhi | 20 minutes |
AWT (Analytical Writing Test) is the same as WAT (Written Ability Test). IIM Ahmedabad specifically conducts the AWT round to shortlist candidates' logical and reasoning abilities. In other words, AWT is IIM Ahmedabad's version of WAT. The primary intent of IIM A behind renaming this process was to make it clear amongst candidates that this round would examine both their writing skills and ability to analyze and fractionate the question logically. AWT questions can be up to 2-3 short paragraphs that put forth the author's arguments at the candidate's disposal. The candidates must pen down better ideas either in favor of the author or against the author. IIM Ahmedabad has not released individual weightage of the AWT round but instead computes an FCS score (final composite score) of the candidate who appears in the AWT round and PI (Personal Interview Round).
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