Last year, the online CAT reduced the available slots
drastically – from 40 slots over 20 days in 2013, to 4 slots over 2 days in
2014. Students had to select centres at the city level, and could not select
the slot they wanted to appear in. What the people organizing CAT forgot was
that in major metros, places extremely far from each other would still come under
the same city. This led to issues for students, who were allocated centres they
would need to commute for at least 2-3 hours on test day. Mumbai and Chennai were two of the cities with maximum issues. For example, students in Vasai
on the outskirts of Mumbai got a centre in Vidyavihar – 56 km away. Or a
student in Malad getting a centre in Thane – 30 km away.

However, last year’s issues pale in comparison with what has
taken place this year. CAT 2015 will be held only 1 day with two slots. While registering, students
were forced to add three options for the venue they wanted to give the exam in.
Unable to move ahead, some students added the names of cities closer to their
home city. Now, the CAT management decided to allot them centres at the city
they chose for the 3rd option. Hence, students in Mumbai have been allotted cities
like Surat and Nashik as exam venues.

Most metros have millions of students across different colleges
and fields, and the city has to have infrastructure to match. Students participating
in CAT study in the same city, and if the infrastructure here is enough that
students are able to study here for years, then the same infrastructure should easily
suffice for a day’s testing for a small percentage of students.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.