23, Dec 2011

B-schools MBA aspirants, and coaching institutes are wondering what to make of the notification issued by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) about the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT).  B-schools say that they have received no intimation about the new exam, and candidates have been left wondering whether they should register for it considering that they don’t know which b-schools are accepting CMAT scores.

MBA aspirants seem the most confused of the lot, the uncertainly can also be stressful. They are still considering whether they should take the exam at all and if so, they would like to be made familiar with the exam and the syllabus it is based on. Although the idea of CMAT is to help candidates write fewer entrance exams, the general fear is that it might just be another one of those exams they will have to write to apply to colleges. Some want the AICTE to reveal the names of the institutes that will accept CMAT scores, so that they may take a decision to take the exam or not.

Students expect the present ambiguity about the exam to discourage many from taking it. “We should be informed about CMAT-accepting institutes well in advance. Students prepare for an exam only after knowing which institutes are taking its scores. This is just no way to go about conducting national-level exams,” said a student. Another student expressed a similar sentiment: “I doubt that there will be many CMAT test-takers. No information will generate little interest in management aspirants.”

In the absence of any communication from the AICTE on the matter, B-Schools too seem to have no idea what the admissions norm would be. XLRI though has categorically stated that the CMAT will not be part of their admissions policy. Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) is not in favor of the introduction of the CMAT into their admissions policy.

According to the Supreme Court order, AICTE was allowed to start an additional management test; in the notification it is said that AICTE will allocate meritorious students from CMAT test to AICTE-approved b-schools. B-school managements, however, are against AICTE imposing CMAT on institution. BIMTECH for one is clear that until the final SC verdict is out, it will not consider CMAT scores in their admission policy. A similar stand has been taken by the S. P. Jain Institute of Management. They will continue to base their admission policy on CAT, Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT), and Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) scores.

The schools are also clear that the admission policy for the next academic year is already out and thus not open to any change.  There are some b-schools that are still awaiting direct formal communication from AICTE to make changes. They got to know about the notification through newspapers. The Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad, has said that their final decision on the issue will have to wait until there is a dialogue with the AICTE.

Jaipuria Institute of Management, New Delhi, seems to be a rare exception in being inclined to accept CMAT scores, although they are not sure how many seats would be allotted on the basis of these scores. They accept scores of different tests and are not bound by any one single entrance test, hence the openness to the CMAT.

Coaching institutes such as Career Launcher, T.I.M.E, and IMS are already in the process of putting together material to coach students for the CMAT, although they are waiting for more information on the exam. Since it is the first time that coachers are preparing candidates for the CMET, the first attempt would be a learning experience for them as well. The study material is intended to be as thorough as usual, with mock exams added to give a sense of exam taking.

The number of students making enquiries with coaching institutes about the exam is expected to increase as the exam dates draw closer.

When asked to clarify all these issues, the AICTE Chairman, Dr. S. S. Mantha, said that he and his team are in the process of asking institutes to include CMAT test score, but it will take few more days to take a final call on the matter. He said that the list of institutes will soon be made public. Incidentally, registrations for CMAT began on December 9, 2011.