They may lose anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 60,000 if they get through an IIM and choose to quit the B-school they initially opted for.
The Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) aspirants have only won half the battle by attempting the online Common Admission Test (CAT) this year.
Around 1,700 students joined IIMs last year while this year around 1,900 students are expected to join, thanks to the increase in the number of seats as well as new IIMs coming up. The CAT results, however, are scheduled to be announced only by the third week of February. Hence, admissions will be delayed by over a month. This means the final list of selected candidates at various IIMs would be out only in April. By then, admissions at all the other B-schools would already be over.
The students would invariably have to opt for other B-schools. If they eventually get admissions in any of the IIMs, and quit their current B-school to join an IIM, they stand to forfeit large sums of money. Students, on an average, would lose anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 60,000, depending on which B-school they choose to join, while the rest of the fees would be refunded. The admission process for non-IIMs closes by March.
AICTE-affiliated B-schools refund nearly 99 per cent of the fees, deducting only the processing charges. This works out to around Rs 1,000. Other B-schools structure their own processing fees.
Sumit Agarwal, a student at Career Launcher, who took the computer-based CAT this year, says: “Students cannot wait till IIMs declare the final admission list in April. So we will obviously seek admissions in non-IIMs in case we do not make it to an IIM this year as there is already a lot of uncertainty with the CAT fiasco.”
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ARKS Srinivas, director of TIME Mumbai, a coaching institute, says: “Many students this year will join XLRI, FMS, and even state-run management institutes because they would not know whether or not they would make it to an IIM this year due to the delay in admissions. But the moment they get through an IIM, they would leave the B-school they have been admitted into, which means they stand to lose a large amount that they would have paid to the B-schools they initially got admitted into.”
Madhur Naneria, director, PT Education, Indore, another coaching institute, concurs: “A few of the management institutes like SIBM, have already declared final list of candidates. So, students would obviously join other B-schools due to the uncertainty with the IIM admissions.”
There are more seats for management aspirants in state universities too this year. For instance, the number of seats for MBA or MMS and other allied courses in Maharashtra will be increased by at least 3,000 from the next academic session starting in June. Currently, there are 17,000 seats in 298 colleges in Maharashtra alone which are expected to go up to 20,000 after new colleges are sanctioned by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
Notably, the fees charged by colleges offering management programmes through Directorate of Technical Education are Rs 200,000. Madhukar Shukla, faculty and spokesperson for XLRI Jamshedpur, says: “Our interviews start from February 25 this year and by end of March our final lists would be out. So, if IIMs are delaying the final list this year, a few students may opt out of XLRI if they get into an IIM later on.” XLRI follows the AICTE norm and refunds around 99 per cent of the fees paid, retaining only the processing fee of around Rs 1,000.
IIMs look beyond CAT scores
To combat CAT fiasco this year and the overall uncertainty, IIMs are looking beyond CAT scores. Students too are hoping their academic records will play a significant role. At IIM Bangalore, essay writing will replace group discussions (GDs) during admissions this year. Candidates will have to write an essay in 30 minutes on any topic related to the current political, economic and business scenario or on topics such as sports and those that require more creative thinking.
IIM Ahmedabad had also eliminated the GD from its admission process in 2007. IIM Kozhikode (IIM-K), on its part, will use a ‘profile based’ selection procedure starting this year and will decrease the weightage given to the CAT scores.
The exact decrease, however, has not been specified. IIM-K will lay more stress on criteria such as consistent academic record and work experience of a candidate from this year. The other IIMs have not made any significant changes to the admissions process this year.