2nd December 2009

Dear Sirs,

The IIMs have a well-deserved reputation for being the best B-Schools in the country. A seat in the IIMs is coveted  by lakhs of MBA aspirants. This  puts tremendous responsibility on the IIMs to ensure that students are given a fair chance to get into the IIMs – not only should it be fair and transparent, it should also be seen to be so.

Till last year, when the CAT was a paper & pencil test, there were hardly any complaints from students. However, the various happenings in the current scenario of online/computerised CAT and the way the IIMs have handled the issue is making many students feel that the exam has not been fair to them. And the reputation and the credibility that the CAT exam has – and more importantly the IIMs have – are crumbling.

There are a few issues that are bothering students no end, and the response from the IIMs is leaving them disappointed and confused. The main issues that are causing a lot of angst among the students are given in below:

Cancellation of test slots causing huge uncertainty in the minds of students apart from a lot of inconvenience.

Improper guidance about the test interface (END button on REVIEW screen and deselecting an answer already marked) leading to premature submission of the test for a number of students – for no fault of theirs.

Inadequately trained invigilators causing problems like disturbance to test-takers while taking the test.

Bugs in the testing software leading to some students getting extra time for the test. In an exam where every minute makes a difference in scores and percentiles, this means that some students are getting a huge unfair advantage over others.

Problems with the testing interface leading to some answer choices not being visible in some cases.

Unacceptably poor levels of invigilation leading to examination malpractices including copying – as reported by a number of students.

Questions being apparently repeated from one exam slot to another – as reported by a large number of students who have already taken the test. This is extremely unfair to those who took the exam on the first few days.

The above issues have led to a situation where some students seem to have got an unfair advantage over others.

Also, there is a lack of confidence among the test-takers in the current process making them wonder whether the answers they marked would have been captured properly. This is creating new doubts about the sanctity of the test results that are expected to be declared on the 22^nd of January 2010. The fact that some students who have already taken the test have been called by Prometric and asked to take the test again is only creating huge fear in the minds of all students.

In light of the above, we believe that the computerised CAT should be cancelled for this year – and a paper & pencil test be conducted in its place. This will do justice to all people who have suffered because of the problems faced by them with the computerised CAT. After a series of more thorough dry runs, computerised CAT can be reintroduced next year after solving various problems that are currently plaguing the computerised CAT.

We earnestly request you and strongly urge you to take a decision at the earliest to restore the reputation of the CAT and the IIMs and to do justice to the aspirants of CAT2009.

Thanking you,

T.I.M.E.

(on behalf of its students and thousands of other students)