By IANS,
New Delhi : As the Common Admission Test (CAT) results, out Friday, show, the seven prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) this year have given weightage to the candidate’s performance in school in addition to the scores in the examination.
“The general performance has been on expected lines. People who got scores above 130 points have mostly gotten calls. Obviously weightage has been given to academic record also,” Shiv Kumar, director of research, development and academics at Career Launcher, told IANS.
“People who performed well in their Class 10 and 12 board exams evidently got extra points while the calls were being sent from most institutes,” he said.
While in IIM-Ahmedabad, 25 percent weightage was to CAT scores, 33 percent was to academic performance; in Bangalore, the institute attributed 25 percent to CAT, 40 to academics and 10 to work experience.
In IIM-Lucknow, 30 percent weightage was to CAT scores, 15 percent to academics and 10 to work experience, and in Calcutta, the weightage was given purely to CAT scores in the main management course (PGDM), but 25 percent weightage was to academics and work experience for the computer aided management course (PGDCM).
IIM-Kozhikode was an exception, with 50 percent weightage to CAT scores and five percent to work experience.
“While the calling process is transparent in the website of these institutes, the selection process in Indore and Shillong institutes is not clear,” Kumar added.
The CAT is an annual test conducted by the IIMs and is the first step in the process of seeking admission to the 1,800-odd seats in the institutes at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Shillong. Besides this year, six new IIMs are due to start.
Around 270,000 aspirants across the nation appeared for the test Nov 16.
The IIMs have implemented a quota for candidates from the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) from this year and have increased their seats.
CAT is considered one of the most important national standards for entrance to management institutes. Apart from the IIMs, over 50 other management institutes use the CAT score for short-listing candidates before filtering their admission with group discussions and personal interviews.
All institutes, barring Ahmedabad and Calcutta, had also made clear how much weightage would be laid on the further selection rounds of group discussions and personal interviews, according to Kumar.
“For students who have received calls from the institutes, the key points for keeping them in the clear would be confidence levels, ability to communicate clearly, knowledge level in subjects and working environment. Aspirants must work with their strengths,” he advised.