Sending 3 cheers to hundreds of PGDM B-schools, struggling to be placed at par with IIMs, AICTE has taken first step to take CMAT 2016 to the next level among prominent MBA/PGDM entrance tests.
Moving into a swift action mode, AICTE with the opening of registration process for CMAT 2016 today on November 3, 2015 has not only revamped the CMAT 2016 website but has also introduced many changes in periodicity and conduct of exam.
Till late evening on November 2, 2015 the CMAT 2016 site did not share any information about the proposed exam, registration process, key dates among other details, although MBAUniverse.com was able to get and shared the registration process for CMAT 2016 in detail http://www.mbauniverse.com/article/id/9068/CMAT-2016 However in the morning on November 3, 2015, AICTE greeted CMAT 2016 aspirants with a revamped website full of surprises.
Website: More user friendly
CMAT 2016 aspirants while opening the AICTE-CMAT website to register for the exam were surprised to see an all new homepage of fully revamped and user friendly website much on the lines of CAT. All the icons, full of information items are placed uniformly alongwith easy access to registration process. Even the information that used to be hidden earlier is prominently displayed.
Registration is online
AICTE has devised online registration process for CMAT 2016 making it easy to be completed in 3 steps. Registration for AICTE CMAT 2016 will remain open from today November 3, 2015 to December 10, 2015.
One CMAT in a year instead of two
Commencing with CMAT 2016, AICTE will now conduct only one CMAT exam instead of two which used to be held in the months of September and February every year. This will not only help CMAT takers to avoid appearing twice in the exam but will also motivate them to prepare well to score high and get a good B-school instead of taking another chance and continue preparing for it for another 4-5 months.
Single day exam instead of multiple days
CMAT 2016 will be an online computer based test as it used to be in past years. However, with effect from CMAT 2016, the test window of this second largest management entrance exam after CAT will be contained in a single day instead of earlier 4-5 days. CMAT 2016 will be held on Sunday January 17, 2016 and in all probability future CMATs will also be conducted in the month of January every year in a single day.
Single slot instead of multiple slots
CMAT 2016 will be held in a single day and single slot from 9.30AM to 12.30 PM, there will not be two morning and afternoon exam slots. Candidates shall have to report at the test venue at 8AM.
Exam in 62 test cities
Despite reducing the CMAT 2016 testing window from 5 days to 1 day and test slots from 2 to 1 in a day, the number of test cities remains same at 62. AICTE now proposes to increase number of testing venues to accommodate all the CMAT 2016 aspirants in a single slot.
Choice of 3 preferred test cities
AICTE has offered a choice of 3 preferred test cities out of the list of 62 test cities for CMAT 2016. According to AICTE ‘you can select up-to 3 cities in India giving order of preference towards your test city. The first choice of city will be given due consideration and weightage. However, actual allotment as per order of choice will be subject to availability of the slot in that particular city.’
3 days grace in registration last date
Although the registration process for CMAT 2016 will close on December 10, 2015, there is a grace period allowed by AICTE for those who are making payment of registration fee in case. The process is as follows - You can select the option to pay by CASH at any of the designated SBI bank branch. Once you select this option and proceed, you will see a CHALLAN on your screen with your details already filled in it. You need to take 3 PRINT OUTS of this CHALLAN, fill in the details wherever required in all the copies, and walk in to your nearest SBI bank branch with CASH on the next day of generation of Challan. Cash Deposit will be accepted only from the next day of your Challan generation.
For example if you Generate and Print the Challan copies on 3rd November, 2015, you should walk in to the nearest SBI bank branch with Challan copies and CASH from 4th November, 2015 onwards. Similarly if you PRINT the CHALLAN copies on 4th November, 2015, you should walk in to the nearest SBI bank branch with Challan copies and CASH from 5th November 2015 onwards
The important point to note is that the last date to pay CASH in bank is 11th December 2015 and from there onwards to complete registration is 13th December 2015. Submission of final application after payment will not be possible after 13th December, 2015.
Sample Test from Dec 12 onwards
Instead of enabling the obsolete trial test for the CMAT exam, AICTE has announced to enable the new sample test for CMAT 2016 from December 12, 2015 onwards. AICTE is expected to enable full length CMAT 2016 sample test on its site on December 12, 2015.
Admit Card on Jan 5
Admit card after successful registration for CMAT 2016 will be available from January 5, 2016 by visiting the CMAT website aicte-camt.in. The admit card will contain the photo, name and signature of the candidate, CMAT Roll number, test date, time, reporting time at the venue, venue name, venue address and brief instructions for the candidate.
Apart from the ADMIT CARD made available ONLINE on the website, the admit card will be sent to the email address provided by the candidate. It is therefore, mandatory to have a valid email account throughout the selection process.
Since Admit Card is a mandatory requirement in order to take the test, the candidate must bring a print out of the Admit Card to the test centre.
Result within 5 days of exam
AICTE proposes to declare the result of CMAT 2016 exam on January 21, 2016 while the computer based online test will be held on January 17, 2016. None of the national level exams have so far been able to declare the result of the exam in such a short time period of 5 days. Candidates will be able to view, download and take print of their score cards from the date of declaration of CMAT 2016 result.
It appears that AICTE is proposing to make CMAT as popular as CAT and this is the first step in the direction of making innovative changes and taking the exam to new heights. CMAT 2016 aims to select suitable students for admission in management programmes in 400 B-schools across the country.
Making changes in its statement on CMAT 2016 AICTE announces ‘Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is a national level entrance examination conducted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) every year as per the directions of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. The CMAT is a three hour computer based online test which is conducted in a single session to evaluate the candidate’s ability across various segments like Quantitative Technique, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness. This test facilitates Institutions to select suitable graduate candidates for admission in all Management programs. The CMAT score is accepted by all AICTE-Approved Institutions/University Departments/Constituent Colleges/Affiliated Colleges.’
The last line of this statement is more significant as the list of institutes accepting CMAT 2016 scores needs to be updated on the AICTE-CMAT site.
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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on AICTE CMAT 2016.
