Belling CAT is a lot harder now

Number of IIM aspirants shoots up by 25,000 from last year.

The common admission test (CAT) for entrance to the six Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) will be a tough nut to crack this year. The number of aspirants for the test has gone up by 20 per cent to 150,000 from 125,000 last year. The number of seats, however, remains unchanged at around 1,150.

The IIMs added 200 seats last year. This is a pittance, considering the fact that the number of students appearing for the CAT has more than doubled in the last five years.

The test will be held on November 21 at 24 centres across the country. Of the 165,000 applications forms printed this year, a little above 150,000 are expected to be sold.

"The rush is too much. Even the two new IIMs at Indore and Kozhikode have not helped matters. The ministry is planning to set up another IIM," says D Chakraborty, administrative officer (admissions), IIM Lucknow.

Aspirants need to clear the CAT for admission to post graduate or fellow programmes in management offered by the IIMs. IIM-Ahmedabad offers the maximum number of seats, 290. This comprises 260 seats for the master in business administration (MBA) programme and 30 for the agri-business management course.

The IIMs have allowed 54 other business schools to use the CAT for shortlisting candidates. Only 10 of these institutes feature in the A-category of B-schools, offering around 1,400 seats.

Last year, only 3,500 of the 130,000 candidates who appeared were called for the next stage, which consists of group discussions and interviews.

Finally, around 2,500 candidates, including 1,850 at the top 15 B-schools, were shortlisted. The success rate for the CAT, therefore, works out to less than 2 per cent.