The CAT 2016 registration window is extended by 5 days to September 27, 2016. While, for obvious reasons, it seems that a tepid response may have been behind this move, CAT Convenor says he is content with the registration numbers.
“The primary reason for the extension is to facilitate applicants who are still in the process of completing their applications. There are many applicants in this stage and we have been getting a lot of requests from them,” said Rajendra K. Bandi, Professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and the Convenor of CAT 2016.
On September 22, at about 3.30 pm, CAT office had received 2,08,000 applications. This figure comes as a cropper since the total registrations of CAT 2015 were 2,18,664.
However, Prof Bandi explained that if one were to compare the figures at the same time last year, CAT 2016 shines. “As of 3.30 pm on Thursday, the number was 2,08,000, this is far in excess of the applications for the comparable period last year,” he explains.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that CAT officials have extended the registration window. This happened last year as well. CAT numbers have been on a decline for the last few years. While in 2007, the numbers were a good 2,30,000; by 2014, they had dropped to a measly 1,67,830.
They did inch up a bit after that but in 2009, when CAT went online, it was besieged with a whole new set of problems as
computers and computer centres came into the fray. Logistical problems arose and infrastructure become a part of the list of woes for CAT exams.
Going by the CAT Convenor’s words, it is true that aspirants often fill forms on the last day, though for no apparent reason. However, it is no secret either that MBA has lost its sheen. The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have gone to the grind trying various measures to increase the lot but nothing concrete has come of it.
From allotting higher marks to women and non-engineers, to doing away with GDs – the numbers just refuse to increase. Thanks to a plethora of other ‘study’ options available, MBA is not the raging option it was.
Besides, with the high interest on education loans, the ROI is not the most attractive after an MBA in India. Still crowded with engineering aspirants, good career options exist, generally, if you are part of the better IIMs or institutes like XLRI. Beyond that, the story reads like – four years of engineering, two years of MBA and then selling soaps for a career.