PGCET comeback raises hopes of colleges

With the Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET) for MBA/MCA courses being reinstated this year, many colleges offering the courses are hopeful that it will go a long way in preventing seats from going vacant this year.

Last year, thousands of MBA and MCA courses were left untaken due to the confusion caused by various factors. Firstly, the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), a national-level test conducted by the AICTE, replaced the PGCET as the only gateway to such courses in the State.

However, the transition was done without much publicity and in a hurried manner leading to lesser people registering for the new exam. Other problems included clashes with dates of college exams and confusion over exam centres.

M Prakash, secretary, Karnataka Private Postgraduate Colleges Association, a consortium of management colleges, was of the opinion that it was mainly the lesser-known and newly established colleges in smaller cities that bore the maximum brunt of the confusion leading to very few seats in such colleges getting filled.

“Most of the prominent colleges hardly felt any effect of the confusion last year and in fact had a good intake. However, there is a general feeling of order and optimism felt by everyone now,” said Prakash.

The MBA departments of around 70 colleges, with approximately 5000 seats, are affiliated to Bangalore University, according to M K Sridhar, Reader, Canara Bank School of Management, Bangalore University.

“We tried our level best last year to fill as many seats as possible. However, a substantial number of them went unfilled. Towards the end, we managed to fill a few seats with the additional exam conducted after the CMAT,” said Sridhar.

In addition to the CMAT, a last-minute exam was conducted by Visvesvaraya Technological University due to the huge number of vacant seats.

“The PGCET is being held at an appropriate time when students are making decisions about the choice of course. Also, there are no multiplicity of tests like last year causing confusion,” added Sridhar.

Test schedule announced

The dates for the Postgraduate Entrance Test (PGCET), 2014 for MBA (Masters of Business Administration) and MCA (Masters of Computer Application) courses have been announced.

“The test this time will be conducted by a consortium of colleges, both private and government, headed by Rani Chennama University,” said Karnataka Examination Authority, Executive Director, Rame Gowda. The Consortium for Conduct of PGCET – 2014 has B R Ananthan, Vice Chancellor, Rani Chennama University, Belagavi (RCU) as its chairman and Rame Gowda as the secretary.

Application forms will be available from June 6 on the RCU website: www.rcub.ac.in. Last date for submission of forms is June 24 and hall tickets will have to be downloaded on June 27 from the University’s website.

The test will be conducted on June 30 and the timings are 11 am to 1 pm for the MBA test and 3 pm to 5 pm for the MCA test.

The answer keys will be put up on the website on July 1 and the ranks will be declared on July 7. The process of document verification and counselling will start on July 12 and classes will begin on August 1.


The entrance will be both for government quota as well as management seats in the courses. However, aspirants from only Karnataka will be eligible for government quota seats while management seats are open to all.

For more details on eligibility and the process of applying, visit RCU’s website. Students can also call the helpline number, 08453755282 or office number, 9483505203 or send a mail to the [e-mail]