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.

Times Business School Placement

TBS provides career counseling and guidance to students keeping in view changing market requirements through a well organized Corporate Development and Placement Cell. The Placement officer guides the activities of the Cell

For the all round development of students, the Institute lays special emphasis on personality development workshops, business communication and Presentations. Students are given thorough exposure to the recent trends and development in the corporate realm through guest lectures, corporate presentations and industrial visits. Workshops and seminars in collaboration with the corporate sector are a regular feature. The Student Affairs Cell undertakes such activities in addition to its normal role of coordinating various students.

The tbs Placement cell plays an important role in arranging resource persons for these activities. The Corporate Development and Placement Cell besides final placement of the budding managers, also facilitate summer Training, project work and industrial visits as an Integral part of regular programme

Major Recruiters:

Some of the Major Recruiters at Times Business School are:
ABN- AMRO Bank Citi Bank HSBC ICICI HDFC Standard Chartered Reliance Retail Aditya Birla Group State Bank of India Larsen & Turbo HCL ITC Limited Bharti Enterprises Mahindra & Mahindra Limited Reliance Communication Videocon Hero Honda Maruti Suzuki Globus UTV Software Communications Ltd. Deccan Adlabs films Limited Cinevista Limited Sahara One Media Mukta Arts Ltd SAB TV PVR Ltd Fame Adlabs Fun Republic INOX PVR Mc.Donald Pantaloon Wills Lifestyle Dominos Barista Music World Planet M Trent Pyramid ABB Airtel Mobile Store NDTV Media Guru New York Life India Bulls Nestle India ING Vysys Bank Zee Telefilms Tata Indicom Candid Marketing P & G Cadilla Vishal Megamart Raymonds Wipro

Freshers party at tbs

Saturday, 22nd August, was the Freshers Party at tbs. I got the honour of being one of the judges at the event. It started at around 2:00 pm, when all the students started arriving in the dress code: strikingly casual, with some coming in formals...though not looking less striking. The morning was quite hectic for the tbs team with all the planning and stuff but all was done and ready for the new tbsians.

The first round was the intro round of all the participants. The second round was the talent round which was superb. We, the judges were quite surprised at the students confidence and talents...with the dancing, singing, jokes, acting, sher-o-shayari, own poems, etc. The third round was the Q & A round which ultimately made winners of Joheb and Swati who were declared Mr.Fresher and Ms.Fresher....Congrats guys!

All then took to the dance floor and danced to the latest rocking bollywood and punjabi numbers with many clicking photos and taking video's which they would treasure forever!(phone mein sambhal ke mat rakho....virus aa jata hai .......send them to me...the best pics will be displayed and if u want to say just anything send me a mail at : catherine_tbs@rediffmail.com