Bangalore’s B-schools shoo online CAT

The common admission test (CAT) 2009 fiasco has made at least 150 business schools across India see red. Besides the seven Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the B-schools too utilise the CAT scores for admitting candidates to their institutions.

However, with the last four days seeing several thousand candidates not being able to take the first online CAT due to computer glitches and virus problems, the B-schools are now questioning the efficacy of this test conducted without a prior trial to ensure that everything went on smoothly.

On Wednesday, tests at two labs at the Garden City College were cancelled because of glitches. Many students were turned away.

Most B-schools pay a fee to the IIMs to utilise CAT scores for admissions. Per student, these institutes pay around Rs200-300.

The cancellations have made a few institutes want to revert back to the paper-pencil format for CAT. “I would suggest that the IIMs go back to the old paper-pencil system. At least till they are better prepared to conduct an online test, I don't see how hosting a test over 10 days is helpful to students. Like the GRE, they should host the test over a period of three months for the benefit of students,” said Dr KN Balasubramanya Murthy, principal, PES Institute of Technology.

“Candidates who have to travel back and forth because of cancellations are under stress. This will affect their composure, which in turn will affect their performance,” said S Sudeep Kumar, associate professor, chairman-admissions, TA Pai Management Institute.