The Faux Pas in competitive exams

The competition is increasing everyday. Everyone is craving to join the rat-race. The only route to success is to be right at the pinnacle. And to get there, the prerequisite is to crack the myriad exams on store. Can life get any more frenzy at this pace ?

Out of these many exams available, the ones most opted for by students after their undergrads are the CAT, GRE and GMAT (don't complain if you are taking something else). Apart from the stiff competition they demand, these exams also have something else in common – their testing mechanism. All these exams test your basic ability in Math and English. And that too to a level of difficulty that would drive you crazy. Sure these exams have been designed by experts and have withstood the test of time, but on second thoughts, is there something wrong in them ? Lets take a few examples and see what the test-makers are trying to find.

In math, you get questions of geometry, measurements and logarithms. How is a question which asks the difference between the curves surface area and total surface are of a cylinder determine which candidate can get a seat in which university and which one misses out ; or finding the area of the shaded region of the pentagon inscribed in an arc of a circle . Is these the sort of things someone has to have in his fingertips to do an MBA or MS in an ivy league institute ? You can call these to be elementary mathematics, but does this mean anyone who doesn’t have an aptitude for math can never do an MBA or MS in a top college ? Knowing if ‘Everyone’ is singular and the antonym of ‘sodden’ is ‘dry’ are other things that one must know to score a 90+ percentile in the verbal sections to clear these exams.

It must be analyzed if all those who have the knack of successfully answering these sort of questions in the exam are successful in their careers they choose. If not, then there is some serious thinking to be done. The skill sets that are required for someone to do an MS or MBA must be determined and defined. Any prospective candidate who applies for such courses should be analyzed based on those skill sets and then a decision has to be made on whether he is suitable for it or not.

Well, all said and done, I guess its high time I get back to my books and sharpen my geometry. I have an exam coming my way!!!