CAT Fact

1.38 lakh didn’t turn up for CAT in the last 3 years

BANGALORE: The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) which administer the B-school entrance test have come out with a shocking revelation: In the last three years, 1.38 lakh candidates who bought CAT bulletins did not turn up for the test.

Data provided under the RTI Act shows that every year the number of CAT forms sold has been steadily increasing, but so is the number of “no-shows” on the D-day.

Last year, for instance, IIMs sold 2,70,551 CAT bulletins, but the number of CAT takers were only 2,09,326. In other words, over 60,000 candidates who bought the CAT forms did not appear for the 2.5-hour test.

The fee for CAT 2008 prospectus has been hiked from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,300 for general category candidates and from Rs 550 to Rs 650 for SC/ST applicants.

Between CAT 2005 and CAT 2007, the sale of CAT forms went up by 47 per cent but on the other hand, the number of candidates skipping the CAT shot up by a whopping 134 per cent.

Even after accounting for the number of applications that get rejected by the IIMs, the difference between form sales and CAT takers is staggering (see table). During CAT 2007, as many as 5,410 CAT applications were rejected by all IIMs.

Subhashish Gupta, chairperson (admissions), IIM-B says the figures fluctuate at every stage of the exam. “There will always be a difference between the number of CAT forms we print and the actual sales. A few candidates who buy the forms do not submit it for whatever reason. Further, IIMs also reject some applications as they do not match with our requirements.

And, there will be a difference between the number of admit cards issued and those who take the test.” With an increasing number of candidates applying for CAT, the IIMs have done away with the practice of giving candidates an opportunity to rectify the errors.

“We stopped doing that because it became impossible for us to handle the number of applications. Moreover, we felt that candidates often took this as an opportunity to correct the errors later on,” Gupta added.

At IIM-Ahmedabad, not a single application was rejected during CAT 2002, but last year, 1,150 applications were turned down.

The numbers have been steadily increasing at IIM-Kozhikode too. Compared to 74 applications that were rejected during CAT 2002, the numbers soared to 394 during CAT 2007.

This year, IIM-B alone has rejected about 2,000 CAT applications.