Commerce grads all CET to lead the race

Updated on: Thursday, February 24, 2011

Engineers have always been ahead in the race when it comes to taking MBA entrance tests. But Maharashtra has beaten the trend this year. More commerce graduates have signed up to take the state’s common entrance test (CET) for admissions to management courses.

According to data provided by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), there are close to 25,000 commerce graduates who will be taking the MBA-CET on Sunday. “The number is significant considering only a little over 22,000 engineers will appear for the exam,” an official said. “Unlike the all-India exams, our entrance test gives equal importance to all the sections. There isn’t undue weightage given to mathematics,” the official pointed out.

In fact, all the BSc graduates put together make up the second largest contingent of MBA aspirants after commerce. In all, 23,798 of them, including those who have specialised in computer science and information technology, will sit for the exam.

Those who study management at the undergraduate level are often told that they are trained to take up managerial-level jobs. Clearly, many students felt otherwise and the fourth largest group of candidates that will take the test comprises BMS graduates.

In all, 92,167 candidates are taking the test, a slight drop from the previous year’s 1.05 lakh. According to DTE director S K Mahajan, recession and poor placements had led to a drop in applicants. What also took a beating was the number of candidates who applied from outside the state.

“With several business schools coming up in different parts of the country, we have seen a drop in applicants from outside Maharashtra,” added Mahajan. This year, 18,916 candidates from out of Maharashtra have signed up for the MBA-CET.

Interestingly, unlike the other larger country-wide tests like the Common Admission Test that is conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management, the state’s CET has seen a good share of women candidates too. “Every third candidate is a woman,” the official said.

DATES TO REMEMBER

MBA-CET:

February 27 (Sunday)

Declaration of result:

April 11 on the website www.dte.org.in/mba at 5 pm

Registration for group discussion and personal interview:

April 19-30

Group discussion and personal interview:

May 10-31

Commerce grads all CET to lead the race

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