Delhi-NCR, Bangalore lead CAT registration numbers

With 10 days still left for buying CAT vouchers, Delhi-NCR and Bangalore lead the top cities with highest number of candidates registering for CAT 2013 even as some of the test cities came closer to their full capacity well before the last date of registration, CAT officials said.

According to the official mid-trends of CAT registration, the other cities among the top 10 places with highest number of registration include Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad.
Some of the CAT test cities are also getting their capacity filled, the trend suggested. Testing centers in Delhi NCR, Bangalore and Hyderabad are closest to meeting their full capacity and will soon be closed for registration. These cities are followed by Surat, Bangalore, Pune, Patna, Kolkata, Udaipur, Jaipur, Mumbai and Ranchi, said an official release from Prometric.

CAT 2013 convenor Dr Rohit Kapoor attributed the CAT rush in the metro cities to the continuing interest in MBA education. Interest in gaining an MBA continues to be high, and CAT registration follows that trend, said Dr Kapoor. Students see value in the ROI of attending the IIMs. They see how placement salaries at IIMs compare favourably, not just in India, but even internationally when compared with the tuition fee, he added.

Talking to MBAUniverse.com, 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 with more than 1.8 lakh CAT vouchers sold so far. 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 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 97 thousands as on September 13.

Speaking on the mid-trend on CAT registration, Prometric India General Manager Soumitra Roy said, We are reaching a point in the registration process where students need a sense of urgency while preferred testing locations remain available.

Prometric is testing partner of IIM for CAT 2013.

While online CAT vouchers are available at official CAT 2013 website, the offline vouchers can be purchased from select Axis Bank branches until 24 September 2013 and the registration window will be open until 26 September 2013.

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.

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.

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