Online CAT: No hitch in changing answers

Updated on: Thursday, November 26, 2009

Kolkata: With the Common Admissions Test (CAT) going online, those aspiring to study at the IIMs and other leading B-Schools will have the luxury of re-thinking their answers. Earlier, once an answer was marked by blackening a circle on the answer paper known as Weimer sheet, even if the candidate realized it to be the wrong choice and changed it later, there were chances that the computer would still select the first choice.

Now, with the test going online, only the option a candidate finally clicks the computer mouse on will be read as the intended answer. A candidate needn’t worry if he or she clicks on one option but then quickly goes on to click another option. The option to be clicked last will be considered as the candidate’s intended answer.

“Since the computer-based test (CBT) for CAT was introduced, computers often misread answers. Computers would take the answer a candidate had ticked first though he or she had changed the answer by ticking another option,” said a senior CAT core committee member.

Some 2,47,000 students will be appearing for this year’s CAT which will be held from November 28 till December 7. The number of those taking this year’s test is less than last year’s.

“You could blame it essentially on the economic recession,” says former CAT chairperson Aashish Bhattacharya. “Not many students get into the IIMs —a chunk get into the less known B-schools. The fees at IIMs and other B-schools is extremely high while placements in several smaller institutes have suffered following the economic slowdown. Probably, many students are waiting to see what kind of placements are offered to students in the institutes which are ranked lower than the IIMs,” he adds.

Another reason for the reduction in numbers, Bhattacharya said, is that many potential candidates are not computer savvy. “Though this cannot be proved, I feel that some students are feeling jittery about taking the exam online this time,” Bhattacharya points out.

Candidates will be able to take the examination in greater comfort this year with every exam centre air-conditioned. “No more will the students be required to sit on cramped benches and take the three-hour examination. We have specially concentrated on improving the examination environment,” a source said.

The actual examination will be for two hours and 15 minutes with a 15-minute tutorial prior to the test. This tutorial time will be used to familiarize students with the new exam layout and ways to answer questions on the computer.

CAT going online is a boon from the security point of view. “Earlier, there was so much human labour involved from setting question papers to carrying them to centres across the nation. We were apprehending that the number of CAT aspirants could have reached nearly three lakh. Ensuring security and sanctity of the exam would have been a problem had the paper test continued. Now, with the exam going online, a better security is ensured,” feels a senior IIM-A faculty member.

Candidates no longer take the exam on a single day. Instead, they can opt to take it on any one of the 10 days — from November 28 till December 7. They will have to go to a specified centre and appear for the examination.

Online CAT: No hitch in changing answers

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