By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The IIM Shillong which has 120 seats, could admit only 106 students, recently. In all 55 seats from IIMs across the country have gone abegging because of the peculiar admission process followed by the IIMs. The newer IIMs namely Shillong, Trichy, Rohtak and Kozhikode have become victims of this skewed admission process since most applicants opt for the older IIMs that have proved their mettle.
The reason why the seats have gone unfilled is because the Common Admission Test (CAT) the all India entrance examination conducted by the IIMs for the management programmes for all 13 IIMs happen simultaneously. Admissions also close on the same date.
Students who are waitlisted, therefore, have no option to join in the other IIMs. Admissions to all IIMs happen in the first week of July. If the newer IIMs can defer their common Group Discussion and Personal Interview which are also part of the entrance tests by a fortnight then the present problem of vacant seats could have been averted.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, a source from IIM, Shillong said, “This becomes a national loss as the 55 students who could have joined any of the other IIMs this year would have to wait for the next CAT. IIM, Kozhikode suffered the most with maximum vacant seats.
The CAT process is problematic since the 13 IIMs in the country are actually admitting only 1% of the total applicants. Sources say the admission process itself is caught in a catch 22 situation. As a result students who have the wherewithal opt for other premier B schools, said the source.
It may be mentioned that the Ministry of Human Resource Development had earlier proposed a common counseling test, which the IIM Shillong has rejected. There was also a demand for two main admission criteria being followed apart from CAT by the IIMs before admitting a student. It is learnt that the 13 IIMs have a total of 2700 seats for the postgraduate programme.