MUMBAI: After all the hullabaloo over the Common Admission Test (CAT) going online, some of the Indian Institutes of Management have decided to rework the formula for selecting candidates, reducing the weightage for the CAT score.

For instance, IIM-Kozhikode which placed the highest weightage on CAT scores all these years, 90 points has proposed reducing it to 50 points for this academic year's admission. "This year, we plan to consider candidates' performance in Class-X and XII examinations, too, apart from their work experience," said a senior IIM-Kozhikode faculty.

He, however, added that the decision had nothing to do with the technical glitches that marred the conduct of the entrance exam this year. "We wanted to bring in this change for the past two-three years. We've finally decided to bring down the CAT weightage from 90 points to 50 points this year."

IIM-Bangalore, meanwhile, has gone the Ahmedabad way. The Bangalore B-school has done away with group discussion and expects candidates to be prepared for essay writing, something that IIM-A started in 2007. Students will be given 30 minutes to write on a topic that will "typically reflect current political, economic and business affairs, though other topics such as sports and those that require more creative thinking can also be included", said an IIM-B official.

IIM-A didn't divulge detailed information regarding the selection process last year. This time around, too, it's unlikely that the points it gives for the CAT score would be made public. But officials confirmed that like last year, the highest weightage would be given to a candidate's performance in the personal interview.

Himanshu Rai, chairman (admissions) at IIM-Lucknow, said the institute would place 30 points on CAT scores and the remaining 70% would depend on a host of other areas like group discussion, personal interview, Class-X and XII marks and work experience. "We want to bring in more diversity on the campus, in terms of fewer engineers and more women students," Rai added. Sources in IIM-Calcutta said the selection process was likely to remain unchanged.

The new IIMs expected to start this academic year -- Trichy, Ranchi, Rohtak and in Rajasthan -- are yet to take any decision on the selection procedure. Admissions to these institutes will be conducted by the existing IIMs.

CAT TILE

* IIM-Ahmedabad: CAT score will get less weightage than personal interview like last year, also to be factored in are essay writing, Class X and XII scores
* IIM-Bangalore: No GD and case study discussion this year. Instead, candidates will be given 30 minutes to write an essay. Merely 20 points for CAT
* IIM-Kozhikode: Weightage for CAT down to 50 points from 90 points, the institute will consider scores of Classes X and XII, apart from work experience. Last year, 10 points were set aside for work experience
* IIM-Lucknow: CAT weightage to remain constant at 30 points. But the institute plans to slightly tweak weightage for Class X/ XII marks as well as work experience.

source: TOI