Cat 2009: Re-test date will take a while

Updated on: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

New Delhi: There is further bad news for students who have still not been able to take the CAT-2009 exam. Declaration of the day when the test will happen will yet take some more time.

The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) had said on December 8 that they will declare the final test date within a fortnight. However, it now looks they need more time to figure out the exact number of genuine candidates who were not able to take the test on their scheduled day.

Around 10,000 students will appear for the CAT on the final test date. “According to our analysis till now, we have around 2000 fresh candidates, who have not taken the test at all and around 8000 candidates who will have to be re-scheduled. The process at the end of IIMs and Prometric the agency appointed to conduct the test is to identify genuine candidates who were not able to take their test," said Satish Deodhar, IIM-Ahmedabad faculty and convenor of the CAT Centre, the pan IIM body that is conducting the CAT 2009.

When asked about the scanning procedure, Deodhar said, "We are looking at all the complaints that have been received by us or Prometric. There are around 6000 emails and several phone calls to IIMs and Prometric. Each of these complaints is being supported by a side report provided by us after checking the computer log, the clock time of the machine, timer of the test and other things like these to know each candidates case individually."

"We will maintain transparency in the process and show how the final list of candidates is being made for taking the test on the final test day. We will also made the information public," added Deodhar.

For students themselves, the wait seems endless. “Confusion over the test date has thrown our studying schedule and preparation into chaos. It is difficult to stay motivated at this stage,” explains Tanvi Kalra, a CAT aspirant whose exam was cancelled.

The IIMs had this year started the most widely taken management school entrance test, CAT 2009, on-line. Over 2.41 lakh candidates had registered for the test. The first few days of the test saw major glitches being reported from different parts of the country, at some places the situation was so bad that the centre had to be scrapped. Seems all the students can do now is anxiously wait and hope for the best.

Cat 2009: Re-test date will take a while

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