CAT 2016: Registration Process unveils new initiatives; cautions against last minute rush

CAT 2016 registration, proposed to close on September 22, 2016 may see heavy last minute rush in next week. Prof Rajendra K Bandi, CAT 2016 convener and faculty at IIM Bangalore while announcing new initiatives for the test takers, has advised the CAT 2016 aspirants to register early. According to Prof Bandi Going by the trends of previous years, there will be a huge surge in the number of registrations in the last 2-3 days, which increases the load on the servers, and can potentially impact the server response time. Therefore, candidates are strongly advised to register early and avoid last minute inconvenience.

The CAT 2016 exam convener has announced following key initiatives for the CAT 2016 test takers
Post Form Submission Mistake correction Option enabled
For the first time, CAT 2016 has enabled an option to correct mistakes, discovered after submission of the CAT application.
Candidates will have an option to correct details like Percentage of Marks scored, Work Experience, and Programmes Selected. No other details can be edited. This option will be available on the CAT Application form Webpage from 1st to 5th of October, 2016.

CAT 2016: Convener offers more facilities to PWD candidates
CAT 2016 convener Prof Bandi has unveiled several initiatives with more facilities for Person With Disability (PWD) candidates so that they have smooth testing process. A few of such facilities introduced as below

--The CAT application Webpage will have a separate Tab to capture the assistance required by PWD candidates. This includes option of using a scribe, request for a wheelchair, request to enable the zoom feature. This option will be available from October 1 to 5, 2016.
-- A dedicated help desk [catpwdsupport@iimb.ernet.in] to assist and answer queries of PWD candidates.
-- For purely visual questions (like graphs, pictures, or maps) alternate questions of equal difficulty will be provided for candidates with visual disability.
-- On the test day, PWD candidates will be given priority access (15 minutes before permitting other candidates) to the test venue for test registration.
-- Every test center, assigned to PWD candidates, will have a PWD coordinator to assist the PWD candidates. The contact details of the PWD coordinator will be provided to the candidates prior to the test.
-- Every test center, assigned to PWD candidates, will have a fully functional wheelchair available for any candidate who may need mobility assistance.
There are more than 1 lakh aspirants still in the waiting mode whether to register for CAT 2016. In fact, the registration number picks up during the last few days and it is expected that these next 7-8 days will see good growth in the registration number for CAT 2016.

Last year also just before the extended closing date for CAT 2015 registration, there was huge dip. The fact was also admitted by CAT 2015 convener who had shared with MBAUniverse.com on Sep 16, 2015 The registration count is indeed less compared to last year till now.

But there was sudden surge in CAT registration during the last few days which broke all the past records. As on Sep 13, 2015 there were only 92000+ candidates who registered for CAT last year even after the lapse of about 40 days from the date of opening of CAT 2015 registration window. In a weeks time from then, the registration count shot-up to 1.60 lakhs and after extension of CAT 2015 registration date from Sep 20 to 25, the registration count made a smart jump reaching 218664 candidates as at the close of registration window. The dip got converted into record breaking achievement for CAT with a mile stone that only IIM Bangalore would like to surpass in CAT 2016 in next weeks time or may be by extending the last date of registration for CAT 2016.

Registration process for CAT 2016 was opened on August 8, and is proposed to close at 5PM on September 22, 2016.
CAT 2016 exam will be held on Sunday December 4, 2016 in 2 sessions of 3 hours duration each in 138 test cities and more than 650 testing venues. IIM Bangalore is convening CAT 2016 with TCS as partnering testing agency.