Crying foul over the allocation of last among the 4 preferred choices in CAT 2015 Admit Card to take the test, candidates are approaching MBAUniverse.com how and why CAT Centre 2015 instead of allotting one of the 2 top preferred test centres has allotted one of the last 2 choices.
One of the CAT 2015 aspirants who filled in Delhi as the first choice and Meerut as the second choice got only Meerut instead of Delhi; 2 candidates studying in Delhi opted for Delhi as the first choice and Jaipur and Alwar as the 3rd and 4th choices but instead of first choice they have also been allotted the one of the 2 last preferred test centres - Jaipur and Alwar respectively in Rajasthan.
LuvKush Raj, the candidate from Jammu had the order of preference as Jammu, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Greater Noida but got Pathankot which is about 215 Kms away from Jammu and takes more than 2 hours to reach there. This candidate is also appearing for other exams and therefore judiciously selected his order of preference but ended up in messing up his plans to take other tests in time.
Was earlier process better?
Number of candidates who shared the problem with MBAUniverse.com thought that the earlier system of self-scheduling the test centre at the preferred city was better as the candidates could choose and plan the test city, test date (Not applicable now) and test slot at the time of completing their registration for CAT exam.
Many CAT 2015 aspirants who have not been allotted the first choice of test centre to appear in the exam have shared that in their view CAT Centre 2015 has not adhered to its commitment as it said “We will try our best to assign candidates their first preferred city. In case it is not possible, they will be assigned a city following their given order of preference. However, candidates will not be able to select the session because it will be assigned randomly.”
Since last year when TCS took over as new CAT testing agency, the facility of self-scheduling the test slot, centre has been withdrawn. Till 2013 this facility was available with CAT aspirants. It worked on first come first served pattern and to get their most preferred choice prospective CAT takers used to register early to avoid any disappointment in getting the most preferred test centre. Now in CAT 2015 the CAT Centre 2015 itself has categorically suggested the aspirants “Candidates will be given the option to select 4 Test Cities in order of preference and hence need not rush to block slots and sites in the initial days of registration.” This was one of the reasons also due to which the CAT 2015 registration number could not pick up in the initial days.
The plight of CAT 2015 aspirants
Most of the CAT 2015 test takers have also applied for IIFT 2015 to be held on Nov 22, 2015. They chose Delhi as the test centre for IIFT entrance exam and for CAT 2015. While IIFT has allotted Delhi as test centre to them, many of them have been allotted CAT 2015 test centre 200 Kms away from Delhi. They will have to attend the IIFT exam in Delhi, and will have to the test city in Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh to take CAT 2015 next weekend. Since it will be the peak time to prepare, even a few hours of disturbance might distract the attention. Besides, the time spent in taking the journey, fatigue generated due to it, cost of journey, cost of accommodation are also involved.
Many test cities lack connectivity
TCS in fact has more test centres in the suburbs, it appears. For example, till 2013 Noida was one of the prominent test cities to take CAT. Since 2014 there has not been any testing site in NOIDA to take CAT and the situation persists in CAT 2015 also. Instead Greater Noida which is about 15-20 Kms away from Noida has been designated as the CAT 2015 test centre.
The key fact that connectivity and conveyance facility to Greater Noida is not yet so good as that of Noida where you find not only Metro rail connectivity but also regular bus service from Delhi, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Aligarh and many other places including rural area. The features and presence of number of PGDM/MBA institutes in Noida goes more in favour of Noida to be included as one of the CAT 2015 test centres. But is has not happened.
This situation goes true to many such cities where test centres are situated in remote areas instead of in the city area.
650 testing venues not suffice
CAT 2015 is being conducted in 136 test cities at 650 testing sites. However, since more candidates have been preparing for CAT 2015 in bigger cities and metros, it would have been better to have yet more number of testing venues in these cities to accommodate the CAT 2015 test takers.
Prospective CAT 2015 test taker would like to take the test where he/she is preparing for it. Accordingly, Delhi, Mumbai and other preferred cities are their first choice as they expected to be allotted the same. But either due to fewer testing sites or short sightedness of TCS, all the CAT 2015 aspirants could not get their first choice.
Expert advice
MBAUniverse.com experts suggest to CAT 2015 aspirants to make well planned itinery to take CAT 2015 without any pressure. Whatever journey reservations, accommodation facility they wish to plan, plan it now.
You cannot roll back the things and with the passing of time it will be difficult to get journey reservation, proper accommodation facility as more number of candidates would be trying for them. So plan and finalize now.
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