All about: New MBA entrance test CMAT Will AICTE’s new offering be beneficial or detrimental for students and institutes? Read on to find... by Nitin Jindal Download MAT E-Book now! IN 2010, AICTE, India’s regulator for technical education, announced the launch of CMAT, positioning it as the “mandatory” and “sole” test for admission to MBA & PGDM courses offered by 4000+ institutes and university departments across the nation. It was meant to provide relief to the students who had to appear for multiple entrance tests AICTE'S CMAT: The regulator's foray into the crowded B- like CAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA and School admission test arena state government exams like MAH-MBA/MMS-CET, to name a few. But the move was met with resistance from both state and private institutes. Court judgement The latter united under the aegis of Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), AIMS and Jaipuria Group of Institutions and approached the High Court and subsequently the Supreme Court for relief. “The Apex Court has granted stay against AICTE’s order for 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 in three consecutive orders. In another order dated March 1, 2012, the Supreme Court clearly stated that CMAT is one out of five national tests for PGDM admissions - CAT, MAT, XAT, ATMA, GMAT and CMAT,” explains Dr. H. Chaturvedi, Alternate President of EPSI. “As per the AICTE Act 1986, the regulator should have not done any commercial activity because it is 100% funded by the Union Government. In any sector, the regulator cannot be doing business. RBI can’t get into banking, SEBI can’t get into trading. AICTE is just trying to make money,” he adds. A better quality of student? Prof Nandgopal, Director of PSG Institute of Management, however, has a different take. “While XAT is only for Xavier’s institutions, our experience has shown that a student having a good MAT score is not necessarily a good student. AICTE’s CMAT would hopefully provide us a good number of quality students as CAT is perceived as tough by the average student and has low penetration in Tier II cities,” he shares. Of the 4000+ institutes in the country, only around 300 institutes offer PGDM. The remaining institutes offering MBA, mostly affiliated to public universities, tell a different story. First CMAT 1. Conducted in 8-day window from February 20-28, 2012 as a computer-based test across 61 cities in technical partnership with Aptech; 2. Registrations: Approx 70,000 registrations with an 83% turnout (as per media reports); Registrations for CAT 2011: 2 lakh plus CMAT for admissions in 2013-2014 o AICTE has announced two phases o Phase 1: September 27 to October 1; Registrations: Aug 3 to Sept 2, 2012 o Download admit cards from Sept 15, 2012 o Phase 2: January/February 2013 o List of 2,205 institutes accepting CMAT scores on website State-wise The CMAT website showcases consent letters of only seven states. Closer scrutiny reveals that these are conditional. For example, UP’s letter states that only 20% management seats would be filled on the basis of CMAT scores for the academic year 2012-13. Kerala, which earlier used MAT scores, has now conceded to also consider CMAT scores alongside with MAT. Therefore, one can clearly see that even for the states which have conceded, CMAT remains as an alternative rather than the “sole” and “mandatory” test. However, some national-level tests like IIT’s JMET and FMS’ test, bowed out honouring AICTE’s diktat. Rise in application fees With each application form costing Rs. 1000-1500, the student’s expenditure amounts to Rs. 10,000 on an average, just on application forms alone! Considering that nearly 2 lakh students registered for CAT 2011, this is a whopping Rs. 200 crore market. It’s no wonder that the regulator wanted the lion’s share! It is ironical that the test, which was touted as the single-point gateway to MBA/ PGDM courses, is now yet another test which the student cannot afford to ignore, only adding to his or her misery! AIMA-MAT (MANAGEMENT APTITUDE TEST) MAT is conducted by the Centre for Management Services (CMS), a division of All India Management Association (AIMA). MAT is an standardised test being administered since 1988 to facilitate B- Schools to screen candidates for admission to MBA and allied programmes. Government of India’s Ministry of HRD approved MAT as a national-level test in 2003. Any B-School - national or international - can consider MAT score as an admission input based on the candidates’ Score Cards. The MAT score is valid for one year in case of most of the management institutes participating in it. The registration form is available for Rs. 1200. Eligibility: Graduate in any discipline from a recognised university. Final year degree students can also apply. Job experience is not necessary. Test Pattern & Selection: MAT is an objective type test with multiple-choice questions. A candidate can take the test in two formats: Paper-based Test or Computer-based Test. Both the formats are of 2 hours. Exam Date: December 02, 2012 Website: http://www.aima.in/ *** ATMA - AIMS TEST FOR MANAGEMENT ADMISSIONS AIMS Test for Management Admissions (ATMA) is a test approved by Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India for admission on all-India basis to the MBA/PGDM and other Postgraduate Programmes like the MCA. ATMA scores are valid for one year. Application form is available for Rs. 1050. Eligibility: Graduate in any discipline from a recognised university. Test Pattern & Selection: The test contains 180 questions spread over six sections. Each section is timed separately. Total time for the Test is 3 hours. The questions cover Analytical Reasoning Skills, Quantitative Skills, and Verbal skills. For each correct answer 1 mark will be given and for each incorrect answer 0.25 marks will be deducted from the score. Exam Date: December 09, 2012 (Online), February 17, 2013 (Pencil test) Website: http://atmaaims.com/ *** Integrated Common Entrance Test (ICET) ICET is conducted annually for admission into MBA and MCA courses of all universities in Andhra Pradesh and their affiliated colleges. The AP Council for Higher Education is the organising authority for the same. The test is conducted at over 40 centres throughout Andra and the counselling for seats is done online. Eligibility: Qualifying marks in ICET-2012 were 25% and no minimum marks are prescribed for SC/ST candidates. Candidates should possess a Bachelor’s Degree of minimum three years’ duration. Website: www.apsche.org *** IBSAT (IBS APTITUDE TEST) ICFAI Business Studies Aptitude Test (IBSAT) is an aptitude test conducted by the ICFAI Group with schools in most metros and business centres for students seeking admission to management programmes. The test is across various test centres all over the country. The application form is available for Rs. 1400. Eligibility: Graduates (any discipline) in English medium with minimum 50% marks. Test Pattern & Selection: IBSAT is a multiple-choice-questions, computer-based test of 2 hours’ duration. It tests the applicant’s ability in quantitative techniques, data interpretation, data adequacy, vocabulary, analytical reasoning and reading comprehension. Exam Date: December 15 to January 6 Website: www.ibsat.org *** TANCET (Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test) TANCET is conducted by Anna University, based in Chennai on behalf of the Government of Tamil Nadu for candidates who seek admission to approved MBA programmes in universities and affiliated institutions. Eligibility: A pass in any recognised Bachelor’s degree with (10 + 2 + 3) or 4 years or a pass in any degree with (10 + 3) years diploma + 3 years pattern or BE, B.Tech, B.Arch, B.Pharm degree. Website: www.annauniv.edu *** IIFT (INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE) TEST The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) conducts a written test for students seeking admission to International Business at the institute. At present, IIFT has two campuses; one in New Delhi and the other in Kolkata. It is also planning to set up another campus in Uganda, East Africa confirmed L.D Mago, Registrar, IIFT, New Delhi. IIFT has also applied to the Ministry of Education to become a nodal agency for conducting the IIFT test. However, the confirmation is pending. IIFT is an autonomous organisation set up by Government of India. The written test is conducted across different cities. The cost of the application form is Rs. 1500 (Rs.750 for SC/ST/PH candidates). Eligibility: Recognised Bachelor’s degree of minimum 3 years’ duration in any discipline. Test Pattern & Selection: The entrance examination is a multiple choice objective type written test of 2 hours’ duration. It consists of: 1. English Comprehension, 2. General Knowledge & Awareness, 3. Logical Reasoning, 4. Quantitative Analysis. Candidates will be short-listed based on the Written Test followed by Group Discussion, Interview and Essay Writing for final selection. Exam Date: November 25, 2012 Website: www.iift.edu *** NMAT (NARSEE MONJEE MAT) NMIMS School of Business Management was awarded ‘deemed to be university’ status by the UGC in 2003. The institute offers two-year full-time programmes in MBA Core, MBA-Actuarial Science, MBA-Banking, MBA-Capital Market, MBA-HR, MBA-Pharmaceutical Management at Mumbai campus and PGDM at Bangalore & Hyderabad campuses. The test is conducted across various test centres in a time-frame of 3 months allowing choice of two retakes to the students should any of them wish. In such cases, the best of three scores will be considered. The application form is available for Rs. 1650. Eligibility: Graduate (any discipline) from a recognised university with a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate in first attempt.