Increasing aspirants make IIM entry tough

Securing an admission in any of the six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), it appears, is going to be even more stiff for aspirants seeking an MBA degree from these reputed institutions.

Over 1.75 lakh students are expected to compete for the 1200-odd seats on offer at the six IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode and Lucknow.

The number of aspirants for Common Admission Test (CAT) 2005 are expected to rise by around 20 per cent this year. This is because the exam rules for the CAT 2005 have been changed in the interests of students, following an order of the Gujarat High Court.

"This year we expect over 1.7 lakh students will appear for the CAT 2005 as compared to 1.37 lakh last year, and the application forms have also been printed accordingly." Bakul Dholakia, director, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) told Business Standard on Sunday.

This year, students aspiring to sit for the exam are expected to shoot up substantially as the eligiliblity has been widened and it will not only be restricted to the students who graduate from institutes affiliated to the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

As per the latest CAT notification, the candidates must hold a bachelor's degree in any of the universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislatures in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament. or declared to be deemed as a university under section (3) of UGC Act, 1956 or possess an equivalent qualification recognised by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India.

The bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent.

The Gujarat High Court has ordered that the exam rules for the CAT be changed in the interests of students and told the IIMs to delete from the CAT rulebook the condition that students aspiring to sit for the exam had to graduate from institutes affiliated to the Association of Indian Universities.

This controversy erupted after three students of the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT), who scored over 90 per cent in the CAT, were denied interviews by the IIMs as the institute was not affiliated to the Association of Indian Universities. In fact, one of the three students had fetched a record CAT score of over 95 per cent.

Embarrassed by leaks in the recent past and with the number of examinees showing a jump in recent years, holding the test has become even more daunting. The IIMs this year will leave no stone unturned to conduct CAT 2005 in a secure manner.

"All the measures decided by the board in February will become a regular feature to conduct the exam in a secure environment," said Dholakia.

The IIMs have undertaken the task of printing and processing application forms for the CAT and will be undertaking associated tasks like issuing hall tickets, organising venues and conducting the test on November 20 in about 25 cities in the country in a secure manner.

IIM-A will use a different link that will lead students to the CAT results and will negate any attempts by persons to access the results before they are actually decleared.

The institute will also introduce new links to check the results on the institute's website and the name of the link would be only made available on the formal day of the announcement of the CAT results.

CAT 2005 is conducted by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Kozhikode and Lucknow and is the first step in the process of seeking admission to the post graduate or fellow programmes in management offered by IIMs.

This year, CAT is scheduled to be conducted on November 20, over 24 test centres across the country. Around two lakh applications forms are printed this year, however the number of applications forms sold is expected to be a little above 1.75 lakh.

Apart from IIMs, over 50 non-IIM institutes use the CAT scores for shortlisting candidates, who take CAT and seek admission to their post-graduate programmes in management. The IIMs do not have any role either in selecting the candidates for, or in conducting the programmes of, non-IIM institutes.

Last year, of the 1.37 lakh students aspirants for IIMs, less than 5000 students were called for the next stage of group discussion and personal interview. Finally, around 1200 of them were absorbed at the six IIMs, which implies that for 1,200 odd seats less than two per cent of the 1.75 lakh aspirants get through.

Important dates for CAT 2005:
Issue of CAT bulletins by State Bank of India starts: July 18, 2005 (Monday)

Issue of CAT Bulletins by State Bank of India ends: August 22, 2005 (Monday)

Issue of CAT bulletins by IIMs ends: August 26, 2005 (Friday)

Last date for receipt of completed CAT applications by IIMs September 9, 2005 (Friday)

Common Admission Test: November 20, 2005.