CAT nearly over, but problems persist

Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 is coming to an end but the fears continue. On Tuesday, students who failed to write their test due to technical glitches and could not be rescheduled within the original testing period took the test.

Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 is coming to an end but the fears continue. On Tuesday, students who failed to write their test due to technical glitches and could not be rescheduled within the original testing period took the test.

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But there were still some who had not received any communication from Prometric, the official international organiser of the online test, after they failed to take the test due to the system crash earlier.

“I couldn’t write my test scheduled on December 5 due to a server crash. I have not received any communication from Prometric as yet,” said Nivedith M., a CAT aspirant.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Prometric had decided to extend CAT 2009 by a day beyond the original testing period of 10 days (November 28 to December 7) to accommodate such students.

Shrey Wason was one of the lucky candidates who made it to the test in the nick of time.

“I received a mail at 8 this morning and rushed to the test centre. It went well but the whole process could have been managed better.”

Jyoti Kohar, another aspirant who was to take the test on November 28, said, “I am quite relieved now. The past few days have been very tense as I kept waiting for the re-allotment.”

“I was informed about the new date and venue day before yesterday. I wish that they had conducted trials before making the test online. It would have spared us all the tension.”

But hope still persists for those who couldn’t make it even after an extra day to take the test.

A joint press statement by Prometric and the IIM has said that any registered candidate, who has not been able to take the test, will be “intimated of a subsequent date and venue for testing over the coming weeks. All candidates can be assured that they will receive an opportunity to test”.

But even as CAT 2009 draws to an end the students are a skeptical lot.

“Though I wrote my test on the scheduled day without any glitches, I don’t know what results to expect. As I clicked on the review button, I found some answers I had marked had got deleted, so I had to mark them again. I am not sure if my answers got recorded properly,” said Ankita Singh, a III-year student of Delhi University.

Sabeera Chandok, another student who had appeared for the test earlier, said, “The online test was supposed to be swifter but instead I found it very time consuming and tedious.”

“I prefer the paper-pencil format, which is easier, and there is no fear of any technical error.”