Every year all of us prepare for MBA entrance exams where we are convinced we are entering a fierce competition where only the smartest and most strategic survive. But here’s the uncomfortable truth that we often miss and that is these exams aren’t about winning but they’re about not losing. There’s a difference, and it’s massive. MBA entrance exams are not competitive in the true sense of the word. They’re eliminative and once we understand this, our approach and our expectations should shift accordingly.
What’s the Difference?
A competitive exam rewards the top performers. It’s a race to the top where the better we perform, the closer we get to our goal whereas an eliminative exam, exists to screen people out. It’s less about who gets the highest score and more about who makes the fewest mistakes. It's like a game of dodgeball where it's not about who throws the best shots, but about who doesn’t get hit.
MBA entrance exams whether it’s CAT, GMAT, XAT, NMAT function on this principle. We are not being assessed solely on excellence, but on our ability to avoid falling below a threshold in multiple areas at once.
Why This Matters
The question that always comes up is how many candidates are we really competing against? Well we are not fighting for one top spot. We are fighting to not be disqualified. Everyone’s battling a cutoff. And it's not just one but it’s multiple such as total score, sectional scores, sometimes even percentile in specific demographics.
If one gets a 99.2 percentile in quants, a 97 in DI, but a 74 in verbal, then that person is not in. Not because they weren’t good but because they didn’t meet the eliminative benchmark. That’s not competition; that’s systematic exclusion.
The Gatekeeping Machine
The real gatekeeper isn’t our fellow aspirant but it’s the exam’s design. Sectional cutoffs? One weak section and we are out. Normalisation? Our raw scores might be decent, but get unlucky with a tougher slot and our percentile drops.
Profile-based shortlisting? We cracked the exam, but didn’t check the right boxes on academics, work ex, or diversity? Sorry. This isn’t a fair contest of skill. It’s a filtration system that is designed to shrink the applicant pool based on rigid, automated rules.
Shift Your Mindset
Once we completely understand that MBA exams are eliminative, our strategy should change accordingly. We should stop trying to outscore the world and start aiming for consistency. We don’t need 99.9 in one section rather we have to make sure we don't fall below 85 in any. We should learn to manage risk. It’s not about solving the hardest questions but it’s about skipping the ones that might sink our score. Think about it, do toppers always top because they’re the smartest? Or do they top because they avoided dumb mistakes?
The sooner we stop treating MBA exams like a glory hunt and start treating them like a survival test, the better our odds become. Don’t aim to be a hero but aim to be there at the end, when most others have been screened out.
Because in the eliminative world of MBA entrances, the game isn’t about shining the brightest. It’s about not burning out
All the best!!!
Read More
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- VARC Guide For Engineers
- Staying consistent with the 6-month-long CAT journey
- Alternative Options to the CAT Exam
- Avoiding Exam Burnout
- Is this the right Time for an MBA
- Quitting a Job for CAT: Is it the right thing?
- Train your mind for the 2-hour Exam
