Bouquets all the way for CAT

After brickbats, it’s bouquets literally, for organisers of the online Common Admission Test (CAT) 2010, which concluded on Wednesday.

Business school (B-school) aspirants of Bangalore simply could not stop showering praises on the organisers of CAT 2010, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and their US-based partner, Prometric India, for succeeding in conducting the computer-based test (CBT) without any report of technical glitches. The candidates are highly impressed with the professional approach with which the entrance exam was supervised and organised.

The almost month-long CAT-2010 was kick-started on October 27. About 7,232 candidates had registered for the last day of the test. Both the morning and afternoon sessions of the last day got over smoothly, said sources at Prometric.

Several candidates, who took the test this year, told DNA that it was a very professionally organised exam. The second edition of online CAT 2010 did not report any major technical snags. The first edition of online CAT test in 2009 was a messy affair with report of largescale technical problems faced by the students, while taking the test.

Meena Prabha, a bank executive who took the test, expressed delight at the way CAT 2010 had been organised.

“The organisers have put up a good show. Last year it was messy, as several students could not write the test for three consecutive days in Bangalore,” said Prabha.

Hasini M, a software professional who wrote the test on the first day of the exam on October 27, had her share of apprehension before taking the test.

However, when she came out from her centre at Garden City College, Hasini was happy the way the test went off.
“I was praying that I don’t have to face any technical glitch during the test. All went off well, and I am happy,” said Hasini.

A few candidates who faced minor glitches said that their problems were immediately sorted out. Extra computers were in place in all test centres to accommodate candidates who faced any technical problems.

However, a few candidates lamented the fact that CAT 2010 question papers had too many errors.

“In every slot of the exam, students found errors in one or two questions. That goes against students’ prospect of scoring marks. I wonder how the IIMs are going to compensate the students for loss of marks,” said Shiv Kumar, director, academics, Career Launcher, Bangalore, a coaching institute. To conduct the computer-based test, Prometric used more than 240 labs in 78 test centres across 33 cities, using more than 9,000 computers to deal with all sorts of conditions.

Students were given 40 slots to clear the test in a period of 29 days. Last year, it was 20 slots. Although the window period was for 29 days, the exams were conducted on 20 days and the remaining nine days were buffer days.

However, there had been a sharp dip in registrations for CAT 2010, raising suspicions that last year’s fiasco could be responsible for it.