IIMs lose students over admissions

A couple of weeks ago 21-year-old Samkit Shah was on top of the world after receiving admission calls from four branches of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM). Today he faces a unique quandary.

With IIMs deciding to defer admissions till the quota issue is resolved, several students like Shah are confronted with a problem over which they have no control. The final admission depends on the overall CAT scores of the aspirants.

“I received calls from Kozhikode, Indore, Lucknow and Kolkata. But since I don’t know when the admissions will start, I am forced to keep other options open,” he told DNA.
“I have also received a call from FMS Delhi and have already paid up Rs10, 000 as deposit, which isn’t refundable.” Saurabh Bhansali, who has got admission calls from four IIMs, says, “My net loss amounts to Rs35,000. I have paid this amount as a non-refundable deposit to the SP Jain Institute of Management. Nothing prevents IIMs from announcing the list of general category admissions.” Riaan Rodrigues, 26, has a similar problem. “I have paid a deposit of Rs90,000 to IFT Kolkata. As and when the IIM admissions take place I will lose 10 per cent of the deposit,” he says. “Due to the delay I have kept other options open.”