New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) ,the Indian institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Science (IISc) on Friday announced thar they would use common admission test (CAT-2011) as part of the student selection process of their Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and masters in Management programmes from theacademic year 2012-13.
Those having taken this decision are the Indian Institute of Technology at Bombay ,Delhi, Kanpur,Kharagpur,Madras ,and Roorkee and the Indian Institute of Science Banglore.
The Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) previously used for admission by the IITs and the IISC will be discontinued .A recent review revealed that the relatively young JMET is not too dissimilar from CAT and that the effort to organize JMET each year seemed enormous in relation to the approximately 40,000 candidates who took the test each year .
“The intersection of candidates who take both CAT and JMET in a single yaer is quite large.The decision to use CAT for admission into the IITs and IISc will minimize the test preparation and financial burden on candidates,” said professor L.S.Ganesh, former head of the department of the Management Department, IIT Madras. “CAT is an ideal fit for IITs as it is a well evolved, established, standardized and widely accepted entrance exam for admission into PG programmes in Management in India. It is also conceived and developed by the IIMs, which serve as the benchmark for Management education in our country and are highly regarded national institutions like the IITs,” he added.
Welcoming this move, orofessor Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 convenor, said:”This is a major initiative that brings two premier higher education systems together. We anticipate that this will result in closer tie-ups and collaborative research work that will provide both sets of institutions a competitive edge in the long run.”
20-day window
CAT 2011 will be held over a 20 day window from 22 october to 18 november 2011 across 36 cities. Online registration, opened on 17th August, will be available until 28 september 2011. Prometric, a provider of market leading test development and test delivery solutions, is IIMs partner in developing and delivering CAT 2011.