IIM, Indore chief promises smooth CAT this year

'Controversy over normalisation of marks last year was one-off'

Allaying fears of candidates appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) this year for entry into the Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) and other top B-schools, Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM, Indore, said the controversy over the normalisation of marks in CAT 2013 was “one-off” and the “freak” incident will not be repeated this year. IIM, Indore, is conducting the exam for the second consecutive year

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Krishnan was speaking with Deccan Herald on the sidelines of a programme here on Sunday. He said “full-fledged announcements” on normalisation of marks will be made soon, but did not specify what the announcements would be.

“A lot of effort goes into conducting the CAT and it is a prestige issue that is closely related to ‘Brand IIM’. We therefore take it very seriously,” Krishnan added.

He also expressed faith in a number of changes made to the exam this time in an effort to make it smooth and error-free. “The whole exam has been collapsed into two days with four sittings and the problem of normalisation of marks that arose due to the long conduct of exam (last year) has been reduced. The number of centres has also been increased this year so that students in small towns have a good chance to appear for the exam without much difficulty,” he said. 

Asked if the gradual decline in the number of candidates taking the CAT over the years was a sign of low interest level in the exam, Krishnan said: “I don’t think interest is declining. Rather students are more focussed now and clearly know what they want to do. People are realising that top institutes are very tough to enter and they are now realistic about their expectations. We are in any case not worried about the numbers.
“However, we certainly want people to have a good experience in writing the exam,” he said.

As many as 1.96 lakh candidates registered for the test that will take place in November.