Yes they do and far more than u'd think being the premiere institute for management and whatnot
Here goes:
They have one entire year to come up with the CAT paper. 75 questions these days.
And they cannot get it right!
These guys are about to coach the smartest brains in the country and they cannot set a paper that does not have mistakes.
For two years in a row the paper had right-in-front-of-your-eyes errors that can easily be pointed out in two minutes. But a normal guy holds the IIMs in very high esteem. He doesn't expect the IIMs to make mistakes. He thinks its probably a calculation mistake on his own part and might can end up loosing very precious minutes. In a test where timing is everything - spittable.
And look at what they are dishing out in the Verbals section.
The examinee has too to deal with questions that do not have right and wrong answers but most appropriate answers or closest answers.
Two of the top coaching institutes couldn't come to a consensus on the answers, out of the 25 questions 7 questions had different answers last year and 4 this year.
The best teachers at these institutes had all the time and help they needed.
A typical examinee(i mean a smart guy who has might actually have chances of clearing this) spends approximately 40-45 minutes on the verbals section.
Each question has a scoring of +4/-1 for correct and wrong answers. So difference between getting a question right and getting it right is 5 points(marks, whatever).
So a difference of 7 questions makes a difference of 35 points.
The sectional cutoff for the verbal paper was around 21 last year and is predicted to around the same mark this year as well.
In an MCQ one expects to see right and wrong answers; and not right, less right and more right answers. An MCQ is supposed to be based on clear logic and without ambiguity.
The skill to make the kind of differentiation that IIMs are looking for is best seen in a subjective paper. Here, what they end up having is a case where the examinee gets to the two best answers and guesses!!! In the most important exam of his life where 2-3 points means hundreds of ranks he guesses.
A right answer and he is in, a wrong and he is out.... and he is reduced to guessing.
When the competition is so high; when small differences can lead to such a big difference in a persons' life I would like to think that the people who can ensure a fair chance to all would do so.
