Students face difficulty in filling up CAT online forms

[sajiv]

Students face difficulty in filling up CAT online forms

Students will be given adequate time to make all changes in their application form"

CHENNAI: With the online registration for the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2009 beginning on Wednesday, some candidates seem to have had difficulty in completing the online application.

Suneet Saxena, for instance, wanted to change the choice of institutions in his application in retrospect.

"I had not seen the option 'non-IIMs' while choosing the institutions I wanted to apply for. I think I missed it while scrolling down fast, and could not change it."

K. Kalpana, another candidate was not sure how to interpret some sections in the online application form and thought that an option to edit would have helped, just in case she had got something wrong.

According to Jaideep Chowdhary, spokesperson of the Triumphant Institute of Management Education (T.I.M.E), some candidates who wished to edit their entries were unable to go back to the previous page and do so. "Some students said the official website had earlier said that there was no option to edit and that they had to purchase a new application form for Rs.1,400," he told The Hindu.

However, the website later carried a message that said "Candidates will be allowed to edit their personal profile and their application data in about a week's time leading upto the end of the registration window. The exact date and instructions shall be announced in a few days from now."

Syed Saleem, manager (operations), IMS Learning Resources, said though students said they had problems, they did not have to worry since the issue was addressed later in the evening.

Satish Deodhar, convenor, CAT centre, Indian Institute of Management – Ahmedabad, said they did not anticipate that students would make inadvertent mistakes.

"Some students may have got tensed... some said they had made a mistake while selecting the male or female box and realised it only when they got their admit card via e-mail."

After feedback from candidates through the toll free number and e-mail, they decided to give them an opportunity to edit their application forms.

Describing the registration and CAT, being held online for the first time, as a "mammoth task,"

Prof. Deodhar said that those students who had already purchased a new application form to make changes would be reimbursed the cost.

"We are writing a new code and the details will be given soon. Students will be given adequate time to make all the necessary changes in their application form," he assured.