Know the CMAT exam pattern and importance

CMAT for PGDM/MBA admission 2015 is proposed to be held in September 2014. The CMAT first test 2015 will provide a good opportunity before CAT 2014 for the aspirants to test themselves and explore admission opportunities in AICTE approved B schools. Although more than 2 months are still at aspirants’ disposal and the topics according to CMAT exam pattern are more or less same, preparation for General Awareness along with other subject topics is a necessity.  

CMAT is a computer based test (CBT) conducted twice a year. Each candidate is eligible to appear in both the exams and the better of the two scores will be used for the admission for each academic year. The registration window for CMAT Sep 2014 is open and will close on August 25, 2014.  It’s better to apply well in time to get the preferred examination centre.

One of the most sought after exam

CMAT is one of the most preferred exams after CAT with more than 1 lakh registrations expected for CMAT Sep 2014. Since the scores of first CMAT 2015 will remain valid during the admission 2015 aspirants also prefer the first test to second test. The reason is by the time results of second CMAT are announced number of good B schools close their registration process. CMAT is widely accepted among the students’ community.

Importance of First CMAT 2015

Apart from B schools that accept CAT/XAT scores, there are other leading B schools who accept CMAT scores. Good marks in CMAT Sep 2014 exam will offer participants ample scope to get admitted into some of the highly ranked university and private B schools in the country.
 
CMAT has been designed to rank all the candidates who appear in the test, based on their aptitude towards the management education in order of merit. The objective of the test is not to eliminate the candidates from the process of seeking admission in the AICTE approved management programmes, rather to facilitate the institutions to select the suitable candidates as per their merit.

In 2012, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the government appointed regulator for technical education in India started conducting Combined Management Admission Test ( CMAT).  AICTE recommends all institutes offering MBA and PGDM courses to use CMAT for their admissions.

Other important exams  

There are more than 10 prominent management entrance exams in India like CAT, XAT,  NMAT, SNAP, MAT, ATMA. CMAT can be ranked as the second most important management entrance test.
 
The biggest beneficiaries of CMAT currently are those students who intend to take admissions into MBA programs falling under State Universities as they don’t need to take any other test to apply to MBA programs in these states. 

Admission Process:

Thirteen states have been accepting CMAT scores as the only gateway to MBA admissions under the government quota, instead of the State-administered Post graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET). The states which are likely to accept CMAT Sep 2014 scores are: Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh

B schools likely to accept CMAT Sep 2014 scores:

Instead of the state-administered Post Graduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET), many private universities also accept CMAT. Below is the list of some of the B schools who are expected to accept CMAT scores for admissions 2015-17.

List of leading B Schools accepting CMAT- 2014 scores

Institutes                                                                         Location

JBIMS                                                                                Mumbai
SIMSREE                                                                           Mumbai
Balaji Institute of Modern Management (BIMM)                      Pune
MITSOB                                                                             Pune
Asia Pacific Institute of Management                                     New Delhi
AIMS                                                                                  Bangalore
IFIM Business School                                                          Bangalore
Alliance School of Business (Alliance University)                    Bangalore
IPE                                                                                     Hyderabad
KIIT School of Rural Management                                          Bhubaneswar
VIT University                                                                       Vellore
UPES                                                                                   Dehradun
Jaipuria Institute of Management                                             Noida

CMAT Sep 2014: Test Duration and Exam Pattern

Like CAT, CMAT is on line computer based test (CBT). Talking about the computer based pattern of the test, AICTE mentions, “Each candidate will be seated at a desk with a computer terminal and scratch paper for rough work. After the test, candidates must leave the scratch paper at the desk.” The test comprises multiple choice questions.

According to AICTE, the test is divided in 4 sections. There will be 25 questions in each section. The total duration is 3 hrs (180 mins).

CMAT Sep 2014 Exam Pattern 
 

Type of Questions	Maximum marks	Number of Questions
Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation	100	25
Logical Reasoning	100	25
Language Comprehension	100	25
General Awareness	100	25

 
While 4 marks would be awarded for each correct answer, there shall be negative marking for wrong answers. For each wrong answer 1 mark shall be deducted.

As per the AICTE notification graduates in any discipline or final year students of graduate courses (10+2+3) whose result will be declared before commencement of admission for 2015, can apply for the CMAT online.

CMAT - Scoring & Ranking

The result of candidates appearing for computer based test CMAT Sep 14 will be displayed with Raw Scores and Rank secured in the All India merit list.

Raw Score:

• The raw score will be calculated by assigning:

1.  + 4 points for the correct answer

2. - 1 point for incorrect answer

3. 0 point for no answer

• Candidates will be provided with raw scores for each section.

Ranking:

• A national merit ranking will be prepared based on the raw scores. In case raw scores are identical for more than one candidate, the ranking will be based on sectional scores considered in the order of Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension and General Awareness

• In case more than one candidate secures same ranking as per the above criteria, the same Rank will be assigned to all of them but will be displayed by sorting their names alphabetically.

• Admission authorities and institutions, however, will be free to take their own decision at the time of admission as to what weightage they wish to give to a particular section.

• The National merit list will be prepared and displayed in the public domain indicating Roll Number, Rank and the Raw Scores.

CMAT Sep 2014 Results:

CMAT Sep 2014 results are expected to be declared on October 30, 2014. According to AICTE, CMAT results have been designed to rank all the candidates who appear in the test based on their aptitude towards the management education in the order of their merit.

The CMAT Sep 2014 exam score will be valid for the admissions to academic year 2015-16.

AICTE CMAT: Ups and downs- finally settled

The controversy on AICTE conducted CMAT first arose when on December 29, 2010 AICTE issued a press notification that CMAT will be the only and exclusive test for MBA admissions across the country. Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), and many other bodies and B-schools, objected to this notification. EPSI and Jaipuria Group of B-schools took the matter to Delhi High Court where the Court struck down AICTE’s claim that CMAT will be the only test. Court allowed B-schools to use any of the six national tests: CAT, XAT, MAT, ATMA, GMAT and CMAT.

On April 25, 2013 the Honorable Supreme Court of India ordered that management education is no longer a part of AICTE’s domain. Subsequently, on December 3, UGC issued a notification which attempted to bring PGDM B-schools into its ambit.

In the back drop of the UGC’s announcement of a new “draft guidelines” to regulate thousands of technical colleges including engineering and management schools, on December 28, 2013, EPSI, with support from MBAUniverse.com, organized a National Meet in New Delhi, which was attended by nearly 100 Chairmen, Directors & Deans from leading B-schools. Based on the discussions in the meeting EPSI had written a letter to the then Union HRD Minister Pallam Raju on December 31, 2013 asking his ministry’s intervention on this matter. On persuasion from EPSI and PGDM institutions, PGDM was excluded by UGC from its ambit.

Given the regulatory vacuum, EPSI moved Honorable Supreme Court in January 2014 to seek advice who will regulate PGDM. Honorable Court asked AICTE if it had any objections to regulating PGDM. Upon AICTE’s consent, Court ruled that AICTE be the regulator for Admissions 2014-15 academic year.  

The development came after a Supreme Court of India order dated January 16, 2014, that stated that AICTE will be regulating the PGDM institutions for the year 2014-15. Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) had filed an interim application in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India requesting it to direct AICTE to take necessary steps to initiate the process of granting extension of approval for the year 2014-15 in compliance of the order dated 28/08/2013 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. 

It has now been made clear by the Apex court of India that University Grants’ Commission has no role in technical education and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) will be the regulatory authority for technical education.
 
Quickly moving forward upon the honorable Supreme Court Order dated May 9, 2014 on SLP(Civil) no. 7277/2014  restoring the regulatory powers to AICTE for MBA/PGDM and other technical as well as Engineering programmes, AICTE  has already initiated the process of approvals and invited applications from the prospective institutes a day after the judgment.

Getting the regulatory powers back AICTE has decided to continue conducting its widely accepted management exam CMAT for admission 2015.

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