Re-experiencing CAT
After the great fall of CAT 2009 in December, the IIM and Prometric authorities tried to manage the damage. Experience of students who took CAT again in January end

By Jyotsna Singh

Shiva Mitra
Why did you have to sit through the exam in the second round?
Well, the Phase-I testing was truly a fiasco for me as it was marred with every possible glitch that existed. To begin with, initially my system refused to log me in and kept on displaying "LOGON INITIALISATION FAILED". My test was scheduled to start at 10:00AM but it was well after 11:30AM that the system budged and allowed me to log in. All this while the proctors & volunteers from Prometric kept on assuring me.

With the test already running I thought that my ordeal was finally over but I was proved wrong within the next 20 minutes, as I went on to the DI section I found out that in some questions there existed only the text with no graphs & figures whatsoever and the designated space just bore a solitary red cross. Again, the Prometric people had no answers. I somehow finished the test attempting lesser no of questions than I would have. Feeling both angry & disgusted I returned home and shot-off emails to Prometric and the directors of all the IIMs. The next day I received two replies, one from prometric and the other from Mr Pankaj Chandra, director, IIMB, both apologising for the inconvenience but none confirming whether I'll have a re-test. Finally, it was on January 12, 2010 that I received an email from Prometric stating that I would get a second chance.

How did your preparation differ due to the same?
Preparing for the 2nd Phase was a bit tricky because I had already exhausted my quota of the Online Mock tests during the initial phase. With no mock-practice the speeds are bound to come down. I had to rely on the older CAT papers.

Do you think you are in a better position than the students who took exam in Nov-Dec as you got extra time for preparation?
No, its rather the contrary. Nov-Dec is the peak-efficiency period as during that period we take the maximum no. of mock-tests, and also the problem solving speeds are at optimal levels. Post that period the efficiency starts dissipating somewhat. Moreover, in my case, I was informed about the re-test only on the 12th of Jan, so had just 18 odd days to brush-up.

How did it affect your time table for the other exams?
Didn't affect the time-table much as the other exams were sub-CAT level.

Any other comments
Serious CAT takers spend a fair part of an year preparing, so this kind of incompetency is simply unacceptable. Though Prometric & the IIMs tried some redemption by holding the 2nd phase yet this fiasco will continue too blotch the brand image of CAT for a long long time to come if not forever.

Chhavi
Why did you have to sit through the exam in the second round?
Firstly, I was informed by Prometric that retaking CAT was optional for me, so I did not 'have to' sit through the second phase, I chose to do so because of a disappointing first experience. In the first phase, my system hung right after the tutorial and after waiting patiently for a couple of minutes, I informed the proctors. They shifted me to another machine. The entire process caused a delay of about 10 mins.

Since the other students around me finished their exam 10mins before me and I had to make room for them to leave. The commotion caused me to lose my focus along with my precious last few minutes.

How did your preparation differ due to the same?
I went through questions from the previous years' CAT papers, from 1999-2004 since their difficulty level was very similar to questions in the first phase.

Do you think you are in a better position than the students who took exam in Nov-Dec as you got extra time for preparation?
I think I was in a better position not because of the 'extra time' but because of the very fact that I had a lot of other entrance exams till then and learned a lot from those experiences. There was no other added advantage, whatsoever.

How did it affect your time table for the other exams?
It hardly affected my time-table. I was to appear for NMAT on 3rd Feb, which also required preparation for an online format so the CAT retest did not disrupt my time-table as such.

Any other comments
Since, I was informed that reappearing for CAT was optional for me, I called up the Prometric Helpline and indicated to them my willingness to appear for the retest. However, at my exam centre, I heard an aspirant, who suffered the same problem as me in the first phase, say that when he called the helpline to say he did not wish to retake the exam, he was told, to his horror, that it was mandatory for him to reappear because his answers were not recorded in the first phase! This is yet another example to cite the scale of negligence shown by Prometric. I believe that CAT '09 will forever be remembered for the question it has put to the credibility of admission to the much coveted IIMs.

Rakesh
Why did you have re-appear for CAT?
Initially my exam was scheduled on December 3, 2009. Within 10 minutes I realized that in the Data Interpretation section, none of the graphics were available. I got a bit panicky. CAT is a big exam. Your entire career is at stake. I informed the invigilators about it. They asked me continue with the test nonetheless.

So, I continued, but my mind was not at peace. This year everyone was saying that the questions are easy and hence, the scores were going to go very high. So, answering each question mattered. The invigilators, meanwhile, were trying to contact the Prometric authorities. After nearly one-and-a-half hours they restarted my computer. Then, then the problem was resolved and my test was over successfully. But I was very disappointed with the way it was conducted. I wrote to the authorities at the IIMs and they said they’ll look into the matter and I’ll be able to take the exam again.

How did this affect you?
This definitely created trouble for me, especially for the other tests. My SNAP score was good. But I missed on applying to SIBM as I was heavily caught up with contacting Prometric and working my CAT exam out. Even worse was that till very late I did not even know if my CAT exam was rescheduled. It was only on January 21 that I was informed that my CAT test was scheduled for the end of the month. Apart form losing peace of mind, I could not fill forms for many institutes which take students on the basis of CAT score. The last date for filling forms for many institutes was over before I was intimated about rescheduling. As the forms cost a lot, I could not fill them based on my December 3 performance which was not up to the mark.