IIM Indore will host CAT exam 2014 with Rohit Kapoor as CAT Convenor, expect surprises

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
May 22, 2014
The CAT 2014 exam will again be conducted by Indian Institute of Management Indore while IT major TCS will be the new CAT exam testing agency.
IIM I host CAT Exam 2014
Yes, IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2014 and I will continue to hold the position of CAT Convener

The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2014 will again be conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore. Confirming this development with MBAUniverse.com, Dr. Rohit Kapoor CAT 2014 Convener said, "Yes, IIM Indore is conducting CAT 2014 and I will continue to hold the position of CAT Convener"

He also confirmed that IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will be the testing-agency for CAT 2014.

MBAUniverse.com was the first portal to announce the news of Tata Consultancy Service to be appointed as the new CAT 2014 exam testing agency. Our headline on January 31, 2014 ran - CAT 2014: TCS set to replace Prometric as new CAT testing agency

IIM Indore will hence make history by conducting two CAT exams in a row. While the IIM and CAT Convener remain the same, their partnership with TCS is expected to bring new surprises and positive changes in the CAT exam process. There are many areas in CAT examination process (like controversial score normalization process) that require a re-look, something which is high on the agenda of IIMs and TCS.

Expected significant changes in CAT 2014 exam
CAT 2013 saw various ups and downs both during the CAT exam and also after the results. CAT Aspirants can expect a lot of significant changes in CAT 2014 exam.

Key areas that need to be addressed by IIMs & TCS for successful CAT 2014 exam are:

Scoring Issues and Court Cases
CAT aspirants are quite confused on the Normalization scoring process of IIM. Soon after the declaration of CAT 2013 results, various petitions were filed in courts over discrepancies in CAT results. At present various cases are still pending while courts have given notices to IIMs, IIM Indore and Prometric- the testing agency.

In CAT 2014, both TCS and IIM Indore have to come out with a transparent solution regarding evaluation of CAT, normalization scoring process or disclosure of raw scores to avoid this confusion and litigation.

- Boost total number of Registrations
 CAT registration numbers has dipped significantly over the years and IIM Indore must make sure to boost the total number of registrations for CAT 2014.

IIM Indore introduced Online CAT Registrations for the first time in CAT 2013, which provided a lot more convenience to the aspirants. The online voucher sale received a good response from the MBA candidates had more than 55 per cent share of the total CAT vouchers sold.

But the total registration for CAT 2013 exam saw a dip of around 9% than its previous year. When the registrations ended on September 26, the last day of online registrations, around 1, 96,000 vouchers were sold, while the total registrations for CAT 2013 closed at around 1, 94,000.

This is to be kept in mind that the number of CAT takers has dipped significantly since the year 2008, when there were 2.76 lakh applicants. This number was reduced to 2.04 lakhs in 2010 and 2.05 lakhs in 2011. This trend showed a sign of revival in the year 2012, when the number grew to 2.14 lakh.

IIM Indore and TCS should continue to make CAT registration process more convenient for candidates. They should also engage with potential applicants with aggressive digital marketing.

- Avoid Technical glitches

CAT exam has been marked with technical issues and delay in exams every year.  In CAT 2012, a number of incidence of technical failure, shifting of CAT test centers and delay in Biometric scan, were reported in various testing centers across Delhi NCR.

Although, last year there were no reports of any such technical issues during the 20 day window of CAT exam. The new CAT 2014 testing agency, TCS will have to make sure that CAT aspirants are not forced to face any such situation in during CAT 2014 exam.

-  Avoid Error in Questions
An error in CAT question paper was reported on the first session of Day 10 on October 28, 2013. MBAUniverse.com was the first portal to report the error and inquired the same with Prometric (the agency which conducted CAT 2013).

Responding to the MBAUniverse.com query, Prometric said, An error has been detected in one question, in a DI item in CAT 2013, during the morning exam of Oct 28th. This single question publishing error impacts 2.5% of CAT 2013 candidates.

Both IIM Indore and TCS will have to make sure that incident similar to this must not appear during CAT 2014 exam.

CAT 2014 exam highlights:
- Apart from 13 IIMs namely IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, IIM Shillong, IIM Ranchi, IIM Kashipur, IIM Trichy, IIM Rohtak, IIM Raipur, IIM Udaipur, other top rated B schools like FMS Delhi, SPJIMR, JBIMS, SIMSREE, KJ Somaiya,  MDI, IMT, IMI, BIMTECH, TAPMI, Great Lakes, LIBA, and many others accept CAT scores.  

- CAT has total time duration of 140 minutes. The exam is divided in two sections of 70 minutes each. The first section of Quantitative Ability and data Interpretation contains 30 questions and the second section of Verbal Ability and logical Reasoning also contains 30 questions.

Notification for CAT 2014 registration is expected to be announced in the month of July. CAT aspirants can find details about CAT 2014 registration leading newspapers and website of IIMs as well as on MBAUniverse.com portal.

- Apart from sale of CAT2014 Voucher at designated Bank branches, Candidates can now register, apply online and can make online payment of the requisite fee.

- Dr. Rohit Kapoor has retained his position as CAT Convener form last year. Dr Rohit Kapoor is a faculty in the Operations Management and Quantitative Techniques area. He is a Fellow of IIM Ahmedabad. His research interests are in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Production Planning, Inventory Control and Network Design.

- Dr Rohit Kapoor was credited with making CAT 2013 registration process online, which was much appreciated for its ease by candidates.

In CAT 2013, a total of 194,516 candidates registered for the CAT exam while around 1.74 lakhs gave the test in 76 secure test centres across 40 cities over a 20-day testing window from 16 October to 11 November 2013. CAT 2013 results were announced on January 14, 2014. 

MBAUniverse.com has always been the first portal to bring out confirmed and latest news on CAT 2014 exams and CAT 2014 exam preparations.

Stay tuned to MBAuniverse.com for more news and updates on CAT 2014 exam and CAT 2014 exam preparation.