CAT 2009 second phase: Students face another disaster
The last day for Prometric to notify
affected students about their retest slots on January 30 and 31, 2010 was six
days back on January 10 and still, confusion prevails among many candidates
about their schedule or about whether they even have to take the test at all.
On January 1, the CAT authorities
had announced that any candidate who qualified in any one of the seven criteria
would be eligible for a retest in the second phase of CAT 2009 and that
Prometric would send such candidates notifications containing their test date
and venue through both email and SMS. However there are many candidates who
claim to not having received any notification from Prometric despite being
eligible for the retest according to the seven criteria. On the contrary, some
candidates have received retest appointments even though they had not faced any
problems in CAT 2009 first phase. The candidate-care service has not been
helpful, adding to problems. There are broadly three categories of candidates
facing problems:
- Candidates who faced problems of the seven types listed
by the IIMs in CAT 2009 first phase but haven’t been notified for a
retest.
- Candidates who successfully took the test in the first
phase but have been notified for a retest.
- Candidates who have been asked to appear for a retest
because their answers were not saved.
According to CAT convener Professor
Satish Deodhar of IIM Ahmedabad, approximately 10,000 candidates, who fit in
one of the seven eligibility criterion listed on catiim.in for a retest,
have been identified and all have been informed about their retest slots.
Professor Deodhar said, “All the candidates have been notified. Any candidate
who believes that he or she is eligible for a retest but has not received any
information yet should call or email Prometric stating the specific eligibility
criterion for the retest.”
Is the retest optional or
compulsory?
Only those candidates who could not
attempt the test because of accidently pressing the ‘end’ button or those who
faced problems due to computer disruptions (criterion 4 and 6) have a choice of
not taking the retest, in which case the scores from their previous test will
be retained. The email by Prometric regarding test schedule will specifically
state if the test is optional or not. In all other cases, the candidate will
have to appear for CAT 2009 second phase examination if he has been notified by
Prometric.
Professor Deodhar denied that
candidates had been asked to reappear for CAT because their answers were not
saved in the first phase of the test. Such candidates can write to Professor
Deodhar at admission@iimahd.ernet.in with details such as
when and how (through phone or email) they were informed about their answers
not being saved. According to him, if the information is proved correct then he
would take the matter up with Prometric.
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