Applying for CAT annoy aspirants

Updated on: Friday, September 11, 2009

Mumbai: The application process for signing up to take the Common Admission Test of the Indian Institutes of Management may have gone online, but little has changed for aspirants. Agitated students said that they could not call back the form if a mistake crept in, they were asked to buy another form by shelling out Rs 1,400.

Students had to buy vouchers before they could log in and register themselves online. Despite the fact that registration opened on Wednesday and would go on till October 1, sources said that thousands of aspirants submitted their applications as they wanted to book a seat for the last slot 3.30 pm on December 7.

In fact, the prime slot is no longer available to aspirants wanting to write the test from Delhi, where there are close to 14,000 seats available per slot across computer testing centres. This year, the IIMs will conduct the CAT online for ten days from November 28; there are two slots available per day, but each student can take the exam only once.

'Students had a lot of complaints regarding the registration process. It was not user-friendly. After details were punched in by students, there was no validation on whether the information given was enough or wrong,' said Arks Srinivas, director TIME, a coaching class.

Srinivas added that the form also notes that students have to fill in their names as they appear on their SSC (class X) certificate. However, the site does not accept a form if the box for surname is left blank (several south Indians do not have a second name), leaving students like Vanita from Bangalore in a quandary.

'My SSC marksheet only has my first name. But the CAT online form insists on a surname and also states that my details must match with what has appeared on my SSC marksheet. My form was not accepted without the second name,â€™' said a hassled Vanita from Bangalore, who works for an IT firm.

Applying for CAT annoy aspirants

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