CAT Examination looses value

The latest Press release issued by IIM Ahmedabad today has announced that the “CAT 2009 result declaration has been deferred to end of February 2010”. Many of the CAT 2009 test takers were expecting the results to come out either today or tomorrow, as the IIMs had earlier announced that the results would be declared by the third week of February 2010.

This delay and uncertainty is raising the anxiety level of the CAT 2009 candidates. Thus many MBA aspirants are this year considering the MAT or the Management Aptitude Test and not the Common Admission Test to get admission in some of the top management institutes.

The MAT exam is held four times a year and is quite convenient to prepare for. Those who took the MAT exam in December were given their results within a month’s time. The results of the CAT exam though conducted in the same month have been delayed by yet another week…..So the results would be declared even after the next MAT....that is the February MAT results come out.

Due to this delay of the CAT results many MBA aspirants who have quit their jobs may have to take admission on the basis of scores of either the December or the upcoming February MAT results. The chaos that marked CAT online exams prompted many to not wait for the results, but to look for other opportunities.

Due to the failure of the online CAT there are also reports coming in that some non-IIM colleges are not considering CAT scores too seriously. This entire tedious process of the CAT 2009 has led to change of plans among many MBA aspirants. Those who thought of taking CAT next year are now apprehensive due to the unsatisfactory turn of events. They are now considering the MAT exam and other entrance tests to a greater extent. The CAT may finally be loosing its status as the ultimate MBA entrance test.

CAT Test Failure

The Head of IIM Ahmedabad just recently said to the Hindustan Times: “We have failed in delivering an error-free system … We feel responsible and will move forward (in correcting those errors). Read it again...this is IIM saying they have Failed. As we all know by now the CAT exam on its first online attempt had been a total failure. Prometric had been the organization that has been conducting the online CAT this year and have themselves admitted to the failure of their system. Now instead of being on just one day the test is being held for 10 days, but instead of being an easy affair it has become a very disturbing experience for the test taker.

At least 45,000 students had enrolled for the test in the last three days out of which 8,000 could not take the examination due to technical problems. From many experiences some points noted below have been gathered regarding the new test.

- Due to a virus many were not able to even log in and were told that their test would be rescheduled
- Many found it quite similar to the SNAP online test
- This year the difficulty level was much lesser that earlier CAT’s
- Total questions were 60.. so even if 30 are attempted and are accurate it would be fine
- The time factor is important as you need to keep track of the time
- Do as much manual work you can. Do not depend only on the review button to identify the question you want to go back to. Make a note of that question on the rough paper.

After such a disaster it would really seem like the IIM’s are overrated. It would be much better to go for the MAT test which is conducted both as a paper based test as well as an online test. Also the wait for the MAT is much less as it is conducted four times in a year. So next time your looking for a B-School, do try got yhr MAT test.