The old CAT returns
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Notification for Cusat's Common Admission Test will come in the last week of February. The examination will take place on May 21 and 22. Unlike last year, there will be examination centres across the country.
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The Cochin University for Science and Technology is shedding its traditional format for the common admission test.
Students seeking admission to the graduate and postgraduate programmes of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) this year must take a Common Admission Test (CAT) to be conducted by the university in May. Though the notification for the entrance test will come only towards the end of next month, the university has already begun to remind prospective candidates of the necessity of taking the CAT.
The reason: this year's admission procedure will be different from that of 2004. Last year, Cusat had to fill 50 per cent of its seats from a separate merit list based on the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE). Admission to the remaining 50 per cent seats was made through an entrance test conducted by Cusat at 32 centres in Kerala. But only Keralites were allowed to take that test.
Court directive
The revised Cusat admission process was put in place in 2004 following a Supreme Court directive to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to facilitate a centralised admission module for graduate and postgraduate engineering programmes.
Hence, students need not have written the entrance test of Cusat to get admission to the university; instead, they could get admission to either any National Institute of Technology (NIT) or any engineering college or university, including Cusat, based on their rank in the AIEEE conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
In fact, this saved students from taking several entrance examinations conducted by different agencies.
Test dates
But the regulation no longer binds Cusat's graduate and postgraduate courses. Applicants for academic programmes other than certificate or diploma, BCA, M.Tech., M.Phil. and Ph.D. have to appear for the university's CAT to be held on May 21 and 22. The test for postgraduate courses will be held on May 21 and for graduate courses on May 22.
Reservation
Though there will be no separate quota for Keralites, the community reservation rules stipulated by the State Government will apply for Cusat admission. For non-professional programmes, 20 per cent of the seats will be reserved for SC/ST and 10 per cent for Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC).
For professional programmes, 10 per cent of the seats will be reserved for SC/ST and 25 per cent for SEBC. Among the SEBC, Ezhava or Thiyya or Billava (ETB) community gets nine per cent reservation. Muslims(MSM) get eight per cent, Other Backward Hindus (OBH) five per cent, Latin Catholics other than Anglo-Indians (LCC) two per cent, and Other Backward Christians (OBX) one per cent.
Besides communal reservation, Cusat has set apart a few seats under special reservation category. This includes one seat each for the physically challenged in all academic programmes except M.Sc. (Industrial Fisheries); one seat each in M.A. Hindi and LL.M. programmes for visually challenged; one seat in MBA programme for officers recommended by the Army; a combined quota of one seat (alternate years) for Anglo-Indians and Jews; 12 seats for Naval candidates in B.Tech. Naval Architecture and Ship Building and three seats for Naval candidates in M.Sc. (OR&CA).
Apart from these, there is reservation in different courses for experienced candidates, sponsored candidates, sports quota, children of Cusat staff, children of Ex-servicemen, foreign students, non-resident Indians and people of Indian origin.
Test centres
According to K.P.S. Nair, director of the Unit for International Relations and Academic Admissions, the number of examination centres this year will depend on the number of candidates for the CAT. Last year, there were 32 centres in Kerala, apart from a centre in Dubai.
This year the university will have 11 centres outside the State. They will be in Kolkota, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal, Ranchi, Varanasi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Bhopal and Lucknow. The CAT will have centres at all district headquarters in the State.
Extra care
Once a candidate has opted a centre, he or she will not be allowed to change it, said Mr. Nair. He underscored the need for taking extra care while filling the application form. "Data entered once will never be altered; and therefore, candidates must take extreme care while filling the form," he said.
Separate tests
There will be separate tests for different courses and subjects. While there will be one test for degree programmes in engineering and technology, individual aptitude tests will be held for LLB, MBA-MBE-MIB and MCA.
There will be separate tests for MA Hindi, M.Sc. biotechnology, botany, chemical engineering, chemistry, computer science, electronic science, engineering science, fisheries, geology, life sciences, mathematics, physics, statistics and zoology.
Multiple-choice
Candidates will have multiple choice of subjects - a candidate with a B.Sc. degree in physics can opt for the test in physics and choose to be considered for admission to M.Sc. physics, electronic science, oceanography, meteorology and marine geophysics.
Candidates taking the test in zoology can opt for M.Sc. biotechnology, environmental technology, industrial fisheries or marine biology. Those taking the test in mathematics can opt for M.Sc. meteorology, oceanography, statistics or marine geography. Those taking the test in chemistry can choose M.Sc. applied chemistry, biotechnology, environmental technology, hydrochemistry or industrial fisheries.
The test for engineering and technology degree programmes will have two papers of mathematics and physics and chemistry, each of which will consist of 125 objective-type questions. The test for postgraduate programmes comprises 150 objective-type questions.
Negative marks will be given for wrong answers, and credits for maximum number of correct answers will go into reckoning in case of a tie.
The CAT score will be calculated as per the formula, S = 3R - 1W, where S is the CAT score, R is the number of right answers and W is the number of wrong answers.
Results
Applicants for LLB, LLM, MBA, MBE, MIB and MSc Industrial Fisheries will be short-listed on the basis of their performance at the CAT and will be required to attend a group discussion and interview.
The results of the CAT will be published by June 15. The results can be had through an interactive voice response system over dedicated telephone numbers and also on the website of the university: www.Cusat.ac.in.
Advantage
The university authorities said that single-channel admission through CAT would help the institution get better quality students and also maintain its pan-India nature. Getting more students from different parts of the country will be helpful for the university.
It is pointed out that the presence of North Indian students at Cusat has been a crucial factor in attracting job-recruiters to the campus.
Even though the university is upbeat about the CAT, its MBA and MCA programmes are still limited to Kerala. Last year, the entrance tests for MBA and MCA were held in Kerala only for Keralites.
But there was flexibility in the definition of Keralite: even a non-Malayali could be considered a Keralite if his or her father or mother had been born in Kerala; or if he or she had been a resident of Kerala for more than five years within a period of 12 years.
This year, non-Keralites too can take the test for MBA and MCA. But the examination centres will only be in Kerala.
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
Photo: H. Vibhu
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