Error in online CAT form may close IIM doors for thousands

“We never envisaged that lakhs of applicants would forget to fill in these fields,” said IIM-A professor Satish Deodhar,who is in-charge of the online admission process.

The mistake was first pointed out on a website— http://www.pagalguy.com. The post on the website had received over 300 comments in less than 24 hours,with many expressing concern that they had forgotten to fill in the fields. Some were worried that they would have to buy the Rs 1,400 voucher necessary to fill the form again.

Professor Deodhar told The Indian Express that he would address the problem by making a mark on the form showing what date the forms can be edited. The form was designed by Prometric.

“We are working on how to provide an option where the applicants can edit their profiles. We will have to change the computer code for that,which will take at least 10 days. However,a sign showing the date (to edit the form) will be uploaded by Thursday evening,” he said,adding,“We certainly don’t want to make the applicants buy vouchers again.”

Deodhar said,though the exact number of students who had not filled the two fields was not known,“we assume it to be around three lakh candidates”. “So,even one per cent means a lot of people,” he added.