1.8 lakh CAT vouchers sold; Last week rush may push numbers beyond 2.5 lakh, says CAT Convenor

With about 15 days yet to go for CAT registration, the number of sold CAT vouchers has already crossed 1.8 lakh even as IIMs expect the last week rush to push the CAT 2013 number to a record level beyond 2.5 lakh this year.

Talking to MBAUniverse.com, CAT 2013 Convenor Dr Rohit Kapoor said that there seems to be a greater level of interest in CAT this year and the response so far has been very encouraging. He expects the numbers to cross the figure of 2.5 lakh as CAT aspirants still have more than 10 days to buy the CAT vouchers.

The number game:
We have sold more than 1.8 lakh CAT vouchers so far. Going by the current trend, we are hopeful to get more than 2.5 lakh candidates as we expect the CAT vouchers sale to shoot up in the last week, Dr Kapoor said.
The last date for CAT 2013 voucher sale is September 24. The on-line registration for CAT, however, is open till September 26.

The online sale of CAT vouchers which has been introduced from this year itself has received a huge response with online vouchers sales outsmarting the offline sale. According to official website for CAT 2013, the total number of online voucher sale is more than 95 thousands as on September 11. The online voucher sale has received a good response from the MBA candidates. The online voucher sale has more than 55 per cent share of the total CAT vouchers sold so far, Dr Kapoor said.

IIM Indore, which is conducting CAT 2013 on behalf of all IIMs, has set up its own team for CAT registrations unlike the past years where external agencies had been involved in different operations.

With the number of CAT applicants likely to increase this year, the competition might get tougher for entry to IIMs and other top B-schools. The number of CAT takers dipped significantly since the year 2008 and only showed a sign of revival last year when the number grew to 2.14 lakh. In 2010 and 2011 the number of CAT applicants was 2.04 lakh and 2.05 lakh respectively.

Speaking on the trends in registration for CAT 2013 testing dates, Dr Kapoor said that most of the working executives are going for the testing slots during weekends. He, however, added that more centres are being added to the cities where centres and testing slots are getting filled early.

CAT Testing preparation:
Dr Rohit Kapoor said that IIM Indore is working with Prometric to cross-check technical efficiency at all the test centres to pre-empt any inconvenience to the test-takers. We are working along our testing partner Prometric to ensure a smooth testing experience for candidates at their respective centres, he said.

In an interview earlier, Prometric India MD Mr Soumitra Roy had told MBAuniverse.com that Training and certification of all test centre staff will be completed before the start of the testing window to ensure they are well equipped to assist candidates during the test. The agency has also built in contingent capacity in all locations to cater to any unforeseen technical issues that cannot be resolved immediately, he had said.
The gateway to the prestigious IIMs and many other top B-schools in India, CAT is scheduled to be conducted in a 20 days window between October 16 and November 11, 2013.

The trend of voucher sales for CAT 2013 indicates to a continued revival in the number of CAT applications. While this may be a welcome trend for the B-schools which are struggling to fill their seat capacity, the growing applications will make the exam more competitive for MBA Aspirants.

Simultaneously, the IIMs have also increased capacity to accommodate more students from this year. The 13 Indian Institutes of Management have altogether added 115 more seats for admission year 2014. This years CAT Aspirants will have greater opportunity for admission into the IIMs, Dr Kapoor said, adding, Across all IIMs, 115 seats have been added for B-School admissions this year, taking the total number of seats in IIMs to 3,335.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news and updates on CAT and other MBA exams.