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JNU to Introduce MBA Course from 2019, Will Accept CAT Scores

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Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to embark into the management and corporate world, offering admissions into it’s MBA program based on CAT results.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Delhi has announced that the scores of Common Admission Test (CAT) 2018 will be accepted by the varsity for admission to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme offered at JNU. The news came on Monday, 30th July 2018, with a tweet from the Vice Chancellor of JNU, Dr. M. Jagadesh Kumar.

Established in 1969, JNU is one of India’s best institutions known for its multidisciplinary approach to education and commitment to social justice.
The MBA programme, one of the 34 Post Graduate Programmes available at JNU, will be offered through JNU’s newly announced School of Management and Entrepreneurship. 2019 will be the flagship year for the MBA programme, and the session is scheduled to commence in July 2019. School of Management and Entrepreneurship at JNU aims to benefit the society in general and aspirants from underprivileged background in particular, as they get access to education and skills on international standards.  CAT scores are accepted by many business schools in India, and this decision on behalf of the management is expected to increase the transparency of the admission procedure.

The Common Entrance Exam 2018 is scheduled to be held on Sunday, 25 November 2018. Here are the Important dates:

  • Registration process: August 8
  • Registration ends: September 19
  • Admit cards download begins: October 25
  • Test day: November 25
  • Declaration of results: Second week of January, 2019

 

More information at https://iimcat.ac.in.

DU Beat wishes all CAT Aspirants the very best!

 

Nikita Bhatia

[email protected]

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News

Result of CAT 2017 are Out

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Today afternoon, the result of Common Admission Test (CAT), which was conducted on 26th November 2017, was announced. Candidates can view their result on the official site by logging on using their user ID and password.

CAT is a computerised aptitude test conducted annually and is a crucial criterion for admission into the country’s top IIMs and other prestigious business schools across the country like S.P Jain, Management Development Institute (MDI), Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi (FMS), and Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS). It tests students in their areas like Quantitative ability, verbal ability and reading comprehension, and Data interpretation and logical reasoning. The test is conducted every year by one of the IIMs based on a policy of rotation. This year, the coordinating college was IIM Lucknow.

IIM Lucknow has revealed that a total of 199,632 candidates appeared for the notoriously tricky exam in 2017. 20 students have scored a perfect 100 percentile out of which two are females and three are non-engineers. Last year, 20 students had scored a 100 percentile too, but all of them were male engineers.

The CAT result is just one impediment overcome to gain the coveted seat at one of the IIMs. A list of the candidates shortlisted for the next level of selection will be made available on the website of the respective IIMs. Each IIM will then send interview letters to the shortlisted candidates directly. The criterion for shortlisting varies from IIM to IIM, as different weights are allotted to factors like work experience and past academic record.

 

Feature Image Credits: Byju’s

Vijeata Balani

[email protected]

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News

Server Failure During CAT Exam Creates Havoc

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CAT 2017 was conducted last Sunday in 140 cities across the country. In the most parts of India, the exam ran without any hassle. However, around two hundred aspirants who appeared at a Kalkaji Centre in Delhi suffered major delay and confusion.

In a shocking incident, around two hundred candidates appearing for CAT 2017 at On line Edu Solutions, a test centre at Kalkaji, Delhi were unable to take the test in their designated slot due to technical glitches. Owing to the delay, students whose exam was scheduled for the morning slot (9 a.m. – 12 p.m) could write their paper at 4:30 after they were moved to other centres at Noida and Greater Noida.

Candidates at the centre had to sit for one hour after the commencement of the exam as the systems started failing. They were told that the technical glitches are being faced by all the centres in the country. Around noon, when the candidates started getting restless the head of the institution informed that only their centre was facing the server failure and not all the centres in the country. This irked the students and parents.

P.N. Shivani, a CAT aspirant who had to take the exam in the second slot in the same centre, witnessed the whole scene. Speaking to DU Beat about the state of confusion and stress which unfolded at the venue she said, ‘There was a lot of commotion and ruckus outside the examination centre. Parents were worried and wreaked havoc at the centre out of anxiety.’
At around 2 p.m. in the afternoon, six buses were reportedly arranged for the candidates to be moved to other test centres in Noida and Greater Noida. Out of 250 students, only 60 students could take the exam during the scheduled time period.

 

Feature Image Credits: India Mart

Sandeep Samal
[email protected]

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DUB Speak

Nothing ‘Common’ about the CAT

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Why run the Rat Race when you can run the CAT Race?

The cat is out of the bag! CAT results for 2016 were declared on 9 January. As per data, the top 20 performers who scored 100 percentile are male engineers. But this hardly comes as a surprise as, for at least the past three years, all 100 percentile scorers have been men from the engineering background, with the exception of one female engineer scoring a centum in one of those years.

However, what is dispiriting is that in spite of recognising the need to promote diversity in Indian B-schools, the trend of male engineers getting admission to premium institutions still remains unbroken.  Earlier last year, the administration redesigned the test pattern to create a level playing field for applicants across all streams. But clearly, either their efforts were insincere or there still exists a lacuna in the entire system.

The disparity that prevails in the process of selection for a management degree in India is so heartbreaking that on becoming aware of it, I quickly abandoned my plans of pursuing MBA in India, and started planning for higher studies abroad.

I am a student of commerce. Like many others from my field, my decision to study economics and commerce at the graduation level was guided by my intention to pursue MBA and eventually find a place for myself in the corporate world. I chose commerce over engineering not because I was incapable of pursuing science, but because at the time, this path seemed only natural.

But at that tender age, how was I to know how paradoxical the Indian formal education system is! At one end, we laud our growth and progress by quoting the decline in the number of students opting for science and engineering, and the parallel increase in the number of students taking up commerce and humanities instead; at the other end, our society still rewards science students in the form of relatively lower cut offs for admission to degree courses and a clear edge in major entrance exams.

Indeed, it is rather ironical that there is nothing ‘common’ about the Common Aptitude Test (CAT). Ideally, it should be a test which gives an equal opportunity to students from all academic backgrounds to secure a seat in a management school. But what it actually does is give the science takers an edge over others and confer them with an opportunity to study in elite B-schools on the basis of past training.

This is extremely problematic at the macro-level, let alone the micro-level, of the individual. Disenchanted, MBA aspirants then choose to pursue their degrees overseas, eventually securing work and settling down there. The brain drain causes a dent to the country’s potential human resource and hurts India’s intentions of achieving supremacy as a global economic powerhouse.

My grouse as a commerce student is simple. Our education is devised to equip us with the knowledge and temperament of a corporate professional. Yet, when it comes to the CAT Race, the science students overtake us. Not because we’re any less; but because we’re running a race to win, but somewhere along the course, the rules change, swinging it in favour of another category of contenders. Patently unfair! Is anybody listening?

Kriti Sharma
[email protected]

Image Credits: DU Beat

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Interviews

In conversation with DU students who achieved 99 percentile in CAT

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Though this was her maiden attempt but she surely went near to hit a century in her CAT exams. Meet Nandita who has achieved 99.36 percentile. Currently pursuing B.Com (H) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, she credits her success to sheer determination.

DU beat catches up with Nandita in a free-wheeling interview.

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When did you start preparing for CAT?

Nandita: I started preparing in November 2012. This gave me ample of time and I could study without any pressure. But I got really serious about CAT in August and that is when I did most of my preparation.

What was your preparation strategy for CAT?

Nandita: My basic strategy was to take as many mock tests and Aimcats as possible. This helped me to identify my weak points and then I worked on them. I never took a lot of pressure or studied for long hours. Since I enjoy reading novels, my VA was already pretty strong. For quant, the study material from coaching institutes and the mock tests helped me.

Was it difficult to prepare for CAT with College?

Nandita: It was not at all difficult to do that. College used to be over by around 3-4 and since my CAT classes used to be after that, I could easily manage both. Although I did miss a lot of classes due to my internship, it didn’t affect my preparations a lot. Surprisingly, I scored very well in my college exams also this time.

Which management institutes are you vying for and why?

Nandita: Right now I have calls from IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. I am vying for Ahmedabad because of its high rankings and good placements. Also, the shortlists of other colleges like FMS are still not out, which I am waiting for.

How are you preparing for WAT/GD/PI?

Nandita: I am reading up as much as I can. Reading newspapers and keeping myself updated on the latest happenings. I am also polishing my interest areas, i.e. finance. Basically, I am gathering as much information as I can on various topics so that I am well prepared for any question that the interviewers put up.

Any advice for our readers? OR Any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Nandita: I would suggest that don’t take too much of pressure. Identify your weak areas and work on them. Most people tend to work on their already strong areas because they enjoy solving questions which they can easily solve. I never did that and that worked for me. Instead of studying for long hours, take mock tests with proper time constraints as managing time is very important in cat.

Next we have in store for you the success secrets of Prakhar Jain who scored 99.24 percentile in CAT 2013. He is in final year of his Graduation from SRCC and credits his success to a modest upbringing and family support.

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When did you start preparing for CAT?

Prakhar: My CAT coaching started from July 2012 but effectively I started preparing around mid 2013.

What was your preparation strategy for CAT?

Prakhar: Initially my strategy was to ensure conceptual clarity. Once I was sure about all the concepts I started practicing questions from different sources.

Was it difficult to prepare for CAT with College?

Prakhar: Preparing for CAT was my priority and I prepared a schedule to make sure that I get some time for CAT preparation after college which made it quite comfortable for me to manage both the things.

Any advice for our readers or any tips for future CAT aspirants?

Prakhar: The only advice I can give to future CAT aspirants is to practice a lot. It is the only thing that helped me.

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Campus Central

Interview with Arnav Das-CAT 2013

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We earnestly extend hearty congratulations to you on your resounding performance and a thunderous applause to your hard work that has paid off. In order for us to share your success story, please respond to the following questions.

Q. Please give us some information regarding your academic background, hobbies and anything more about yourself that you would like to share.

I am a student of St. Stephen’s College, pursuing Mathematics Honours. I have pursued Science stream in class 12 from DPS RKP and class 10 from St. James’ Calcutta.
My hobbies include web-designing and travelling. Also I am an integral part of debating society in college (winner SRCC’s Gambit 2010), placement cell and Finance and Investment Cell (VP) in college.

Q. Sometimes reality exceeds dreams and vision too. Was your scorecard a similar situation or was it close to your expectations?

CAT – 99.60 (Quant-96.63, Verbal-99.77)
I was always expecting a good score in verbal but was apprehensive of the quant results as my paper had not gone too well. Final results in each section were slightly higher than my expectations but I certainly did not expect the overall to be skewed the way it was towards my verbal score!

Q. What was your mantra for preparation for this extremely competitive exam and how long have you been preparing for it? Did you bind yourself to a rigorous schedule?

I had been preparing for 6 months and not very rigorous. I made sure that I was relaxed (followed 6 TV shows regularly online) and not neglecting my other interests such as college societies. I did not even take the day before my CAT off (was in college helping prepare for an event we organized).

The simple mantra for success is to not get caught up in the nitty-gritty of the material (mugging formulae of grammar rules) but instead to get a broader idea of the subject. This will enable you to solve questions in CAT that you have never seen before.

Q. What level of proficiency is required for each section of the paper and how do you suggest it can be achieved?

Verbal, I believe, is a section that can be perfected with intense reading of fiction (and maybe non-fiction) literature. No amount of ‘studying’ or ‘practicing’ shall help.

In quant, try to gain exposure of various kinds of questions by practicing from books of various coaching institutes. Also, try to do as many questions as possible conceptually, without pen-paper and without using formulae!

Q .Where all have you secured admission and what criteria are you going to follow to narrow down on your institute for admission?

I have secured admission to ISB through YLP. Hence I have not applied beyond IIMs. Will select A/B/C over ISB, or else stick to ISB.

Q. What is your ultimate aim and what is going to be the next rung in your ladder of success?

Ultimate aim is to be happy and content. Reasonable money in an exciting and challenging job environment would be an ideal end! I might even opt for a start-up in the long run!

Q. How important is formal coaching to crack CAT? What advice do you want to give to the future aspirants?

Coaching becomes essential to acquaint yourself with the format of the paper and certain tips and tricks. It also helps to benchmark against other likeminded people. For me, it was essential in ensuring that I was in touch with my CAT syllabus all through!

Thank you for your time and effort!

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Campus Central

Belling the CAT 2012!

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The road to the IIMs and many other reputed B-schools in India starts off with the all India CAT examination. This year, over 2.14 lakh candidates registered for the exam, a growth from the 2.06 lakh forms sold last year.

The dates for CAT 2012 are scheduled between the 11th of October and the 6th of November. The exam consists of 2 sections, the quantitative ability and data interpretation section and the verbal ability and logical reasoning. Each section includes 30 multiple choice questions. Many students opt for coaching classes for the exam, with TIME, IMS and Career Launcher being popular options. “Taking classes helps to organise and structure the preparation. Instead of tackling it in a haphazard manner, they help students lay down a plan of action. It also develops a competitive spirit in you when you’re studying in a class with around 40 other MBA aspirants!”, said Randeep Mahajan, a third year BCom (Hons) student in DU.

The weeks leading up to the exam saw a flurry of tips, dos and don’ts on various websites and Facebook pages to help maximise CAT scores. Though there were not too many students appearing for the exam on the first day, those who did, gave mixed reactions. While some reported it to be an easy, typical first day paper, others complained about the difficulty of the quantitative section. The results of the exam will be announced in January, next year.

Though it remains a popular course, the craze to acquire an MBA degree has lessened considerably in the past few years. Students are no longer blindly sitting for management entrance exams simply for the sake of it. As Amogh Dhar Sharma, a third year Economics student at Hindu College puts it, “MBAs are straight-jacketed to meet the needs of the corporate sector. I’m not sure if I want to pursue such a specific degree. I would rather get some work experience and then consider it”.

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