Student's corner

Dear Students,

LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think if CAT goes global it will be beneficial for students?

BEST RESPONSE

CAT is known for its out of box thinking and works as a filter to get the best mind in the country at one place. If CAT goes global, the country will be able to attract more foreign intellectual students and help the co students to understand the culture of students around the globe. At the same time, the IIMs should increase their standard to a greater height so that it can give justice to their work in comparison to other universities around the world. However, CAT authorities should take rational decision on the basis of Indian students.

- Harsh Mehta, St. Kabir Institute of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

OTHER RESPONSES:

Many consider getting into the IIMs more difficult than getting into an Ivy League institutes, with 2.14 lakh candidates attempting for just 2016 IIM seats. Having said this, none of the top Indian B-schools rank prominently on any World ranking of B-schools. CAT by going global, could benchmark against the top institutes of the world and their respective entrance exams, thus benefiting the Indian B-schools and students in the long run. Considering the brilliant candidates who apply every year for CAT, this competition would help us open many foreign opportunities and improve the overall competency of the potential B-school students in India.

- Dennis Joseph Koshy Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME).

CAT is recognized globally and it is the most toughest MBA entrance exam in the world. Getting a global exposure is required for an MBA graduate. Making CAT global will help the students to get that and it also helps in increasing the competition among the students. As there will be two sides of the same coin, there is even a disadvantage associated with this. The students  in our country might loose an opportunity to study in the top B-schools. The government before implementing this should make sure that Indian students will not loose the opportunity to study.

- Harika Garapati, NITIE, Mumbai.

Anything which increases competition and opportunity is beneficial. Once CAT will go online there will be multifold increase in competition thus bring the best out of students. Students will also get an opportunity to get them admitted not only to Indian B-school but also to foreign B-School. Moreover, it will enhance cross-cultural learning thus shaping better manager in the age of globalisation. On the other side, Institutes will immensely gain from the diversity of students in its campus. It will not only add brand value of institute but will holistically improve learning environment in the campus.

- Nilaya Mitash Shanker, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

There has been transformation in the mode of CAT exam being conducted, from manual form to computerized form over the past three years. Due to this, there is a lack of transparency in the evaluation system of the exam. Compared to paper-pencil format, the computerized exam performs scaling of the raw scores of exam and then computes the final scores. This makes it almost impossible to compute the real scores, thereby giving a lot of surprises. Since most of the coaching classes lack the necessary technology for inculcating the necessary practise, I feel this won't be beneficial for the students.

- Arun Sundar, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore.

CAT is most competitive exam in current scenario. If it goes global then it will be beneficial for students because it will increase the potential of students, and it will increase the competition. Then students will know the knowledge level of their own and where they stand in competition. By this colleges other than IIM’s will also improve their education facility, infrastructure, faculty, etc.

- Sagar Rawalani, Jhunjhunwala Business School, Faizabad.

CAT going global will help students. It will lead to our students having exposure to foreign culture, new ideas, business practices. Indian colleges, even IIMs have no global ranking, this step will overcome that shortcoming. Moreover I believe just like IT sector Indian education sector has a huge potential to bring in foreign revenue. Our students will get more global job opportunities, our colleges would be globally known, as their students will go to every corner of the world to work. All this will ultimately help our students only.

- Animesh Sharma, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore.

Ever since the CAT went online i.e. 2009 the transparency of the exam has reduced drastically. The number of glitches that CAT faced since then was high. Many students who had average percentiles in mock exams conducted by training institutes ended up with high scores. However; it’s really beneficial for students if CAT goes global. Non resident Indians (NRIs) and people of Indian origin (PIO) will be allowed to appear for the test. It still needs to be made clear if students can take CAT several times in an academic year. Also the grading system needs more transparency as well.

- Glorin Sebastian, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

CAT going global is highly attractive. It will lead to high standardisation as CAT has been going through many glitches each and every year.For students,competition will get hotter as the number of students fighting for IIMs will increase(2016 seats considering top 5 IIMs). Getting Access to International B-schools will be a big bonus as there are many B-schools similar to that of IIMs. Going Global leads to enhanced Brand building and awareness about the IIMS and other premium B-schools in India ,which can lead to an increase in turn out of international companies coming for placements.

- Rohith Mohandas, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

CAT going global will be beneficial for the students in the long run as when Indian students will get international competition which will improve their skill and efficiency. Moreover, most of the students do not take GMAT and other international exams because they do not have sufficient resources to study abroad or they want to study in India only. If CAT goes global it will give these students a tag of taking international competitive exam. Moreover, countries can also learn from technologies being used in other countries.

- Anurag Mishra, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Now that HRD ministry has given more autonomy to the IIMs, IIMs are ready to take a considerable leap to give GMAT a run for its money by crossing shores. Students who dreamt of IIMs rather than going for a mediocre b-school in their country now get a chance to fight for their dream. CAT which discriminates at the top will come up with even a higher quality cluster of elite students which will account for higher competitions and this ‘survival of the fittest’ will result in churning out of world beaters, not to forget the cultural exchange between students.

- Tushar Kanti Acharya, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Globalizing CAT may turn out to be a long-term strategy to define CAT’s uniqueness. It would attract foreign nationals to participate in a bench-marking examination process. It will lead to improved transparency with fair competition thereby, cat distinguishing itself from other tests conducted internationally. Cat will foster international integration in a distinctive way and provide equal opportunities to all critical for success in today's dynamic global environment. Global expansion will increase quality. Cat going global is literally a maze of untraveled roads and can result in proper flow of education if the approach is carefully executed with commitment, purpose and direction.

- Rishav Dugar, Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

Looking at the glitches that CAT is encountering every year, may it be in terms of technical problems or the normalizing pattern followed, a lot of effort needs to be made before it is launched on a global scale. As far the students are concerned, it is not going to be a value add as the competition in our country is itself fierce with over 200,000 people writing it every year, which brings the best out of our students. Keeping a poor student in mind, the cost of going global will be the straw that broke the camel's back.

- Sowmya Safeena, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

There might be hurdles while you move forward, but that shouldn't stop you from moving further. CAT has moved from a paper-pencil format to online format, not a smooth transition though, but, yes we moved forward. Now, the time has come to expose our students to International competition. If CAT goes global, we will have larger participation of foreign students in India which will enrich the learning experience of our students outside the academic world. World is slowing moving towards an integrated stage and CAT going global will only equip our students to stand the competitive edge.

- Thrinath Reddy M, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Bangalore.

CAT going global is an example of the fact that 'changes are inevitable and necessary'. It is indeed a welcome step as all the aspirants, regardless of their nation, would be writing a same exam to get a place in the prestigious IIMs. Along with this it may also attract several global management institutes to accept CAT scores and would thereby increase options before CAT takers. But to compete with multifold benefits of GMAT it has to bring some changes in its pattern, validity of scores and number of attempts that will keep aspirants appearing next years on their toes. 

- Girish Changulani, Jhunjhunwala Business School, Faizabad.

Your responses should reach us at edu@business-standard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Do you think the multiple offer system introduced by IIM Calcutta will actually help students and recruiters alike?