Shot in the arm for CAT, as B-schools seek credibility

A review meeting in June, decided from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to end the entrance exam Joint Management Committee (JMET). The review ten years, a qualifying event for admissions to business schools operated by the IIT and Indian Institute of Science has now given way to the common admission test (CAT), supported by the Institutes Indian Management (IIM).

IIMS are enthusiastic about the growing popularity of CAT. In the maze of a dozen studies to meet management, CAT is the only one that attracts a few lakh aspirants every year. "And 'encouraging to see the quality of institutions such as IITs also join the bandwagon cat adoption qualifying examination. This strengthens the credibility of the cat. This not only pushes the popularity of the cat, but also increase participation by 25 percent" said Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT convene in 2011.

JMET death can be attributed to the fact that it was not too different from CAT in its content. Most students who take JMET also appear for the cat. Also, it is 30 000 students were enrolled in 2010, against 40,000 in 2009. In 2010 saw around 206,000 registrations chat. But after a decline in the number of students in CAT over the last two years, says IIM they expect to see growth this year. The computer-based version of the third annual test conducted by IIM through Prometric partner, is expected to witness a 25 percent increase in applications. In 2008 appeared around 276,000 candidates for the CAT. This fell to 240,000 in 2009.

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Expectations of such an increase in applications can also be caused by a cat without a hitch last year after a chaotic start in 2009, when the IIM and Prometric have to run the test in two phases, after thousands of candidates Some technical problems in several centers. Prometric also suspended its partnership with NIIT after the first stint and moved to attach with MeritTrac and Everon.

Ten new non-IIM B-schools accepting CAT scores this year, increasing the total number of results IIM Institutes accepting CAT more than 165. While the IIM schools registration to use CAT scores first pay a fee of 2.5 lakh rupees, regular business schools pay Rs 2 lakh per year for that.

IIMS will do research at the international level, in the future, and to do all year. They have received international B-schools to visit the CAT to them.

IIM also intends to disincorporate a cat separately. "But it will be back in a year or two from this year, we intend to focus solely on improving the test. Having a separate entity for CAT, IIM can focus on management education, while the first will make the first test, "said Moorthy.

As part of the consolidation and to provide greater convenience for candidates, three new cities - Bhilai, Jammu and Dehradun - were added to the above 33 test sites. This will help the northern states of CAT. Now, candidates will also be able to buy a good CAT 2011 Axis Bank branches, an increase of 30 outlets, said Moorthy. CAT Registration which began this month is open until September 28.

This year the CAT will be conducted in a new format, with only two sections instead of three. The first part will focus on the ability and interpretation of quantitative data, the second of verbal ability and logical reasoning. These two sections will be conducted sequentially, with deadlines. The review will be 140 minutes, in which candidates have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions in each section, which will have a countdown on the screen. Once the timing of the first section, proceed to the second and not return.

"With the introduction of a new form, we want to see how it will help the candidates to focus on specific content. The new format, the candidates can focus on any of the sections are working, and gives an unfair advantage to be candidates for a role particular, "said Moorthy.

Source [Business Standard]