One Lakh Management Seats Will Go Empty, 65 B schools May Shut Down

Management studies MBA as an option of higher education is on a downside. Business Standard has reported that around 1,00,000 seats may be left vacant this year in management colleges. 

“There are apprehensions that nearly 1,00,00 seats will go vacant this year. In tier-2 and tier-3 B-schools, the vacancy is nearly 50 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh alone, for 24,000 seats, only 12,000 students have appeared for the entrance examination. The situation is quite grim,” H Chaturvedi, director, Birla Institute of Management and Technology, Noida, told Business Standard.

There is  a general decline in management education as a choice of career in this gloomy unpredictable employment environment around the world. The decline in three preceding years of empty seats in management colleges can be analysed by these declining figures of 15%, 17% and 18% respectively. Around 65 management colleges are on the verge of shutdown.

MBA Entrance Exams India (Updated 2012)

Every year students from the field of engineering, commerce, arts & science appear for MBA entrance exams in India. They aspire to create a mark in the field of management. B-Schools such as the IIMs, XLRI, FMS, IIFT, S.P.Jain, Jbims, Nitie, Tiss ,Symbiosis ,MDI etc are the best in the class.  The pre-requisite to get into a prestigious B-School is to clear and score well in an entrance exam. In recent years B-Schools have come up with different entrance exams. These entrance exams are somewhat similar to each other however they are different when it comes to the quality of questions and the number of questions. Here is a brief on these entrance exams

MBA Entrance Exams

CAT: Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) every year in the month of Oct-November.Over 2, 00,000 students took CAT in the year 2010 and about 1,80,000 in 2011. Only 1% of this made it to the IIMs. The rest settled for other B-Schools. The exam consists of 3 sections i.e Verbal & English language skills, Quants and Arithmetic problems, Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning. There were a total of 60 questions and total time was 2.15 hrs. CAT 2011 was a computer based test and had multiple answer choices. The questions carried differential marking thus one had to be judicious while attempting a question. CAT is the most reputed MBA entrance exam in India and it is continually evolved during the last decade.


CAT 2011 Format Structure Analysis
CAT 2011 was an computer based test. Total allotted time was 165 minutes(2 hours and 35 minutes) to a candidate in which 140 minutes were for the CAT test  and 15 minutes for demonstration of how to give CAT. You can skip these 15 minutes whenever you want and directly start the test by clicking start tab. However we advise our students to get familiarization with computer based CAT before they go further. There were 2 sections:

1. Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning
2. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

You were given 70 minutes for each section. Once the first 70 minutes were over you cannot go back to section 1 and make changes in your answers. Each section had 30 question i.e. total 60.


CAT 2011 Eligibility Criteria

• For general candidates: 50% marks or equivalent CGPA in Graduation.
• For SC/ST candidates: 45% marks or equivalent CGPA in Graduation.
• Final year candidates students in their final year are also eligible to apply

CAT 2012 

It is a computer based test. Applications for CAT 2012 will start from the month of August 2012. You can buy CAT application form from a branch of Axis Bank authorized to sell the forms. I suggest you read the following post CAT application forms 2012. It contains the process regarding from how to apply for CAT 2012 till CAT result.

How to prepare for CAT 2012?

CAT has come a long way from being a speed based test to a quality test. 60 questions in 140 minutes is not very much but the standard of questions has gone higher with time. Therefore you should focus on higher level of difficulty in questions. But first get your basics right. This goes for every section. We advise you purchase Arun Sharma CAT book of quantitative ability, data interpretation and logical reasoning, and verbal ability. They have different level of difficulty and they have explained all types of questions which come in CAT.

Quantitative Aptitude by TIME coaching institute for CAT 2012

For XAT and MICAT Please use the Book Mentioned Above for English and Vocabulary. This will also help you in CAT.

XAT: Xavier’s Aptitude Test is conducted by the Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (Jamshedpur). The test in recent years has gained popularity for its quality of questions. XAT 2010 was of 2 hours duration followed by an essay for 20 minutes. The topic for the essay was “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.”

XAT 2010

Section	Number of questions
Verbal and Logical Ability	31
Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability	40
Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making	30

*The negative marking scheme changed compared to XAT 2009. In each section, 0.2 marks deducted for the first six incorrect answers and for every wrong answer after that, 0.25 marks were deducted.


We suggest you also read XAT 2012 analysis and pattern.

Recommendation: XAT is a tough paper & one should keep his nerves calm while .XAT usually is the last entrance exam and thus many students leave studies before it. One should rather continue to prepare well. XAT is not a speed based test thus one should have good accuracy. Colleges accepting XAT score are in this link:  http://catiim2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/list-of-associate-colleges-for-xat.html

FMS: Faculty of Management Studies Delhi University conducts its own independent exam. FMS is one the best B-School in the country. The different sections of the exam are: Quantitative ability, Verbal ability, English comprehension, Analytical ability & Logical Reasoning. The questions need to be attempted within two hour duration. FMS 2011 had 200 questions with 50 questions in each section. It was a test of speed and accuracy.

IIFT: Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is one of the most prestigious B-school in India. It conducts its own exam usually in the month of November. IIFT is a paper pencil based test of two hours duration. It covers the sections of Verbal Ability, General Knowledge & Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis. The IIFT 2010 test was of 2 hrs and had 135 questions in all.

SNAP: Symbiosis National Aptitude Test is conducted by Symbiosis International University. In 2010 the test had a total of 150 questions with no sectional cut off. Negative marking of 1/4^th was there. The paper consists of 4 sections i.e. English, Quant, G.K and Logical Reasoning. The paper in 2010 was as follows.

• English: It consisted of 40 questions with 1 mark each. The questions were of Reading Comprehension, Verbal Ability, Verbal reasoning, Idioms and Phrases. Questions varied from easy to difficult.
• Quantitative Ability and Data: This section consisted of 40 questions of 1 mark each.
• G.K: There were total of 40 questions of a mark each. Questions were moderate and were tricky. It consisted of current affairs and G.K questions.
• Analytical & Logical Reasoning: There were 30 questions in this section with two marks each. The topics of the questions were: Quant based Reasoning, Missing Numbers, Linear & Circular Arrangements, Deductions, Data Interpretation, and Critical Reasoning etc.
• Colleges under SNAP.

NMAT: It is the entrance exam for SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai. This time it was a computer based test. NMAT 2010 gave every candidate 3 chances to give NMAT. The best of the score of any one was chosen as the candidate’s NMAT score. The first online computer based NMAT exam held from 30th January 2010 to 8th February 2010, had 120 questions compared to 150 in the paper pencil version.
However, NMAT maintained its 3 section format.
The three sections were:


-    Language Skills
-    Quantitative Skills, Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency

-    Logical Reasoning


MICAT : MICAT is held by Mudra Institute of Communication & Advertising (MICA) . MICA is the best B-School in India to offer courses in Marketing, Branding and Advertising management. The pre-requisite for MICAT is CAT. However in 2011 only its was only MICAT that one has to pass through and not CAT. The paper checks your command on English. Its a mix of quality and speed. The paper comprises of English,Quants, Reasoning ,G.K, Psychological Test ,Picture Story writing and Essay writing.


The paper is divided into 3 sections. English,Quants, Reasoning in section 1. Picture Story and Essay writing in section 2. There were 4 essays in 2011 paper. These two sections were of 2.15 Hrs and half hour section for physiological section. One has to complete each question in the physiological test section otherwise the paper will not be checked.


We suggest you read MICAT analysis 2011 for more information.


IBSAT : ICFAI Hyderabad organizes IBSAT every year for its intake. Its a speed based paper and comparatively easy one.


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