From IT to IIM - this is the route for a large number of students ahead of the Common Aptitude Test (CAT) scheduled to begin from October 11. Among the top cities for registrations, Hyderabad ranks right after Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The trend has been attributed to the concentration of information technology professionals in these cities.
The number of aspirants applying from Andhra Pradesh has increased slightly from the 15,000 mark registered last year.
“Apart from the metros, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune are the centres with maximum registration as young professionals are increasingly looking at management education to augment their profile,” observes Ramnath S Kanakadandi, course director at TIME coaching institute. “I decided to prepare for the CAT right from final year of B.E with coaching. Now it is more about brushing up what I know as an MBA will definitely place me higher up in the job market,” says Shruthi Agarwal who works at an MNC. Preparing for the examination alongside full-time work is not an easy option, observes the academician.
The four per cent increase in over-all registrations in the country this year at 2.15 lakh has been a consistent feature from 2010, a year after the computer-based-test (CBT) format was introduced.
The previous pattern of two separate sections in CAT involving Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation and another on Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning will continue this year as well. “I would advise students to treat each section as a separate paper and not to let performance of one section affect the other,” says Ramnath. Being conducted by IIM-Kozhikode, the exam will be held between Oct. 11 and Nov. 6 at 61 centres in 36 cities.