TNN | Aug 24, 2011, 01.54AM IST
MUMBAI: For the first time ever, all the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have jointly decided to discontinue the joint management entrance test (JMET) that they conduct for admissions to their post-graduate management degree programmes (MBAs).
Instead, admissions to these courses will be based on scores in CAT conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).
Admissions to PG management programmes in six IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Roorkee, Kharagpur and Madras) will be based on CAT scores. Though an official advertisement is yet to be released by IIT-Madras to notify students, IITs have been told about the decision. IIT-Madras was supposed to conduct a JMET this year. The institute's website already mentions that "only students with a CAT score will be eligible to apply". IIT-Delhi and IIT-Madras have already announced on their website that JMET stands cancelled and students have to check individual websites of departments/schools of management for other eligibility criteria.
According to Narayan Rangaraj, IIT-B professor, who also was in-charge for the entrance test, the IITs have jointly decided to do away with JMET. "JMET was only the qualifying exam. Instead of the JMET score, the CAT score will be considered for admissions. Apart from the CAT score, individual IITs will have their own criteria like conducting group discussion and personal interview. Others might still conduct a qualifying exam for the international students. However, IIT-B has decided to use CAT for the base qualifying score, IIT-Madras will be officially releasing advertisements announcing the new policy to students," said Rangaraj.
An official from IIT-B said, "The decision was taken in order to reduce the burden of multiple tests on students. CAT is a well-established qualifying exam for management aspirants. So, IITs being autonomous have decided to consider CAT scores for our admissions too." IIT-Madras, which has already put up the criteria on their website, states that performance in CAT, group discussion and personal interviews, previous academic qualification and work experience, if any, will be considered for the selection process.
From IIT-B zone, around 5,596 students applied for the JMET last year. More than 26,000 students appeared for the exam from all over the country last year and close to 5,500 students qualified for the admission. Apart from the six IITs, Indian Insittute of Science, Bangalore also uses the JMET scores.
CAT 2011 convener, JanakiramanMoorthy, from IIM-Calcutta, said, "This year in addition to over 150 institutes that use CAT scores, IITs also have decided to use our scores. An official release, however, is still awaited. Xavier's institutes, which conduct the Xavier's Aptitude test (XAT) will also consider CAT scores from this year onwards."