While gliding through pages of PaGaLGuY one recent news on the fate of CMAT got my eye balls and the reason can be easily guessed. Being a CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, TISS, MICAT, MH-CET, CMAT etc etc. aspirant, these kinds of news are of greater interest for me than those of Rahul-Modi melodrama.

Let’s get to the point. A Delhi High Court refused to exalt CMAT and a latest order deprived it of “Only-MBA” (besides CAT) exam insignia. The reason why the concerned authority filed the petition is CMAT failed to generate interest in candidates. More than 30,000 management colleges have been shut down and 50% of the seats in many colleges are waiting wistfully for students.

My question, and in fact every aspirant’s question: Is CMAT responsible for this? The authority has misinterpreted the system. An exam can never decide the fate of any college. It is actually the quality of colleges, which accept the score of particular exam, that encourages the candidates to take the respective exam. There is dearth of Ivy league colleges that accept CMAT scores. Had there been the colleges of the likes of IIMs or NITIE, there would have been as many students taking CMAT as CAT or XAT.

The intention of AICTE is actually not futile. A country where 100 rs/kg onion can elicit such furore that it may jeopardize the dream of ruling political party to continue to rule for next five years, a CAT/XAT etc. aspirant keeps filling over priced forms one after the other, spending over 15000 Rs. only to get an idea of “what it takes to be in a management institute.”

Setting aside the debacle of money, it is too tedious to give all these exams. A common defense for those who espouse the whole idea of different-exam-for-different-institutes could be that the colleges may want to test their candidates on the pre-decided parameters because it may seek a particular category, a filtered one. Just like IRMA test the candidates on topics related to Social issues, while MICAT has its own unique psychometric test. This seems logical but looking at the bigger picture many other exams are more or less same. It would not be a bad idea to agglomerate SNAP, NMAT, ATMA etc. into CMAT and then let each college have its own set of procedures to admit the student. This would not only increase the number of (good) choices a student will have at his disposal but will also be a lot less troublesome for them to prepare for a common management exams. More exams invite more troubles, more confusion, and more judgments.

All my sympathies are with you AICTE. May your dream come true one day.