WHAT IS WRITTEN ABILITY TEST (WAT)?
Written Ability Test (WAT) is conducted with the supreme mission of testing/analyzing the writing ability of a candidate in the grounds of expressionism, grammar, thought projections, efficiency of conclusions, and more. While normal essay writing gives you the leverage of adding foreign sentiments, WAT on the other hand, requires strict adherence to the topic given.
WHY WRITING ABILITY TEST (WAT)
- Most IIMs have replaced Group Discussion with Written Ability Test (WAT) to enhance the space for laying down individual thoughts, and to help express it better.
- The test goes on somewhere between fifteen-minutes to about half-an-hour.
PREPARING FOP WRITTEN ABILITY TEST (WAT)
- Preparing for WAT has become crucial because of the fact that many other top management schools other than IIMs have begun to switch to WAT from Group Discussion (GD).
- WAT topics varies, but some of the broad topics which can be expected are current happening topics such as: present Indian economy, business and commerce, social issues, national news, etc., (please refer to the section below for more)
- Because of WAT time limit, practice/try to write a polished content of 300 to 400 words in 20 minutes or less.
- Given the variability of topics, dress your preparation with all past topics/possible topics to have maximum leverage on your side.
- Keep up with the news channel/newspapers/world news/media/online articles/etc., to stay aware and updated about all things current.
- While practicing the art of weaving smart lines, avoid overly colorful words to keep it simple, and on track.
- Practice the art of writing the negative points in a neutral tone to avoid coming out too aggressive.
- Stay away from errors like wrong punctuation, unreadable handwriting, statement terms/derogatory terms, and alike.
- Write a vibrant opening, crisp & informative middle, and a brilliant conclusion i.e., brilliant summarizing.
WRITING ABILITY TEST (WAT) TOPICS
Writing Ability Test (WAT) topics are versatile. It can be anywhere from social issues to current political picture to stocks and markets and more. The previous year’s WAT topics (2018 WAT) consisted of many traditional but vibrant topics such as Union Budget, demonetization, Make in India, GST, budgets of different ministries, and more.
To give a brief view as to what kind of topics should one expect, few past WAT topics asked by IIMs and other top B-schools are mentioned below in no particular order.
- Railway Budget
- How social are social networks?
- How beneficial is Indo-US relation for India?
- Digital India
- Climate Change Summit Paris
- Imagination is more important than knowledge.
- Human Resource in India
- Demonetization
If you have been wondering what is the next step after CAT exam, start with GDPI/WAT preparation.
For information on Career Launcher’s GDPI program, click here.
Disclaimer
Career Launcher (CL) bears no liability over the information provided in this article.
