An aggregate score of 80% in engineering is impossible if you are at Mumbai University
For the past few years, IIM aspirants knew that the Common
Admission Test (CAT) is no longer the lifeline to the country’s top B-schools. But
for some students, no matter what they do or how much they score, the college they
go to, the university they attend and the school board they passed out from, suddenly
matter more than ever.
Take the case of Santa Cruz resident and computer science engineer Arpit (name changed)
who attends Fr C Rodrigues Institute of Technology. He scored 99.83 percentile in
CAT, but neither has he received a call from IIM-A or IIM-B. Reason: His academic
record does not match with the two premiers of B-schools require. Arpit scored 94.17%
in class X and 86% in class XII; he is among the toppers in the engineering programme
too.
On the other hand, Amish Saxena who just completed his B.Sc and scored a 99.69 percentile
in the CAT is flaunting call letters from all IIMs. He too has been a bright student.
But what went against Arpit and worked for Amish Arpit went to an engineering college
affiliated to Mumbai University, where the marking system is austere, thus working
against fresh engineering graduates wanting to make it to the top IIMs. An
aggregate score of 80% in engineering is impossible if you are at Mumbai University,said
Arpit.
Skim though the list of those who have made it to older IIMs and the topper in one
of Delhi’s best commerce college are missing. His BBM status showing a confused
look. The first ranker of a Matunga-based top engineering college has not made it
to Ahmedabad, Bangalore or Lucknow. Venayak Gupta, an economics student of Shri
Ram College of Commerce scored 99.89 percentile in
CAT, but did not get a call from
IIM-A or IIM-B. Had I got one more answer correct in
CAT, I would have made it to
IIM-A. Obviously what I scored was not enough, he said. In class X he secured 95.5%
and did better in class XII scoring 96.7%. But at the graduation level he scored
71%, a bit less than the college topper.
Controller of examinations at the University of Mumbai Vilas Shinde said that of
the 37,000 engineering students who took the final year exam, 100 crossed the 80%
bar. There were fewer students whose aggregate touched 80%, something that the IIMs
demand. What is a good
CAT score what is the importance of IIMs attach to their
exam asked Parag Chitale, owner of a coaching class. He echoed several students
when he said; the technological universities in southern India are lenient in their
marking compared to those like Mumbai University. The IIMs must find a way to normalize
graduation scores. Till management schools do that, many factors may work against
scores of candidates like Arpit.
Courtesy: Times of India
