3 things to Ace WAT for IIM Interviews

3 things to do to ACE WAT?

What is WAT?

How to Ace WAT is what we are looking to answer in this article. To start with we need to understand what is WAT. WAT is written ability test. WAT has in some sense has replaced GD (Group Discussion) in most IIM Interviews. WAT is a test of:
1. How do you think and structure your thoughts.
2. How coherent can you pen down your thoughts.

Lots of important WAT Topics (as PDF) can be found & downloaded from this page: https://online.2iim.com/IIM-CAT-GD-PI-WAT-Interview/

Fancy Vocab?

You do not require fancy vocabulary to write verbose essays. The essay needs to be clear, crisp, tacit, concise and to the point, unlike this statement. The essay is not to test you on your literary skills, but more on Current affairs, How can you think, How do you communicate your opinions etc.

Right Structure to Ace WAT?

Your essay cannot be a 400 word one paragraph. It needs to be broken into at least a few paragraphs. There needs to be some form of Introduction, followed by Body of the passage and then Conclusion. Introduction is pre-thoughts on what you are going to write as a part of the essay. Conclusion is post-thoughts on what you have said in the essay.

Word Limit?

Practice a lot with the correct word limit. Practice about 3-4 essays each with varying word limits, for instance, 250, 300, 400, 500 words. Practice helps like nothing else can. The more you practice 300 word articles, better your final 300 word actual WAT is going to be. You do not want your WAT to look like this:

If you can know before-hand the word limit for a specific interview WAT, know that. It helps a lot. People take this for granted, but it could be a make or break thing in your WAT.

Transition Words:

Transition words are brilliant way to connect your essay from one idea to another. Examples include Firstly, secondly, on the other hand etc. Use of these words adds clarity to the structure of the essay written.

Takeaway:

Key takeaway is that, WAT will test you on Common sense, thinking ability, writing ability and current affairs (in most cases). It is not to test you on your language skills. Make sure to structure your passage with at least a few paragraphs and not make it tough on the eyes to read. The better your presentation is, (doesn’t have to be fancy, just easy on the eyes), better possibility of getting marks on the same.