UPES-MET 2014 dates out; apply now

The University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES) has declared the dates for Management Entrance Test (MET). UPES MET is conducted for admission to 10 specialised programmes by the College of Management & Economics Studies (CoMES). The MBA programme specialisations are Oil & Gas Management, Energy Trading, Power Management, Aviation Management, Port & Shipping Management, Infrastructure Management, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, International Business, Business Analytics, and Master in Energy Economics. The last date to apply is February 7, 2014. The exam will be held on February 22, 2014.
Important dates

Details	Dates
Last date for registrations	February 7, 2014
UPESMET entrance at 24 locations across the country	February 22, 2014 (10:00 am to 12:30 pm)
Results to be declared on or before	March 10, 2014

Selection

• Candidates can also apply through Competitive Exam Pathway on the basis of CAT/MAT/XAT/CMAT/GMAT scores.
• At least 50% marks in secondary (10^th), senior secondary level (12^th) and graduation (from a recognized university).
• Admission merit list will be generated on the basis of candidate’s performance in competitive exams, academic records, work experience and performance in GD PI.
• A minimum of 50 % of seats in UPES MBA programs will be done through UPESMET.

How to Apply
The application fee is Rs 1850 via Demand Draft / Online and Rs 1750 via cash for all programs.
To apply now, click here.
Test Pattern

Sections	No. of Questions
General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability	40
Quantitative: Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency	40
General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario	40
Analytical & Logical Reasoning	40
Total no. of Questions	160

Test centres

Ahmedabad	11	Indore	23
Bangalore	12	Jaipur	24
Bhopal	13	Kolkata	25
Bhubaneswar	14	Ludhiana	26
Chandigarh	15	Lucknow	27
Chennai	16	Mumbai	28
Cochin	17	Noida	29
Dehradun	18	Patna	30
Delhi	19	Ranchi	31
Guwahati	20	Shillong	32
Haldwani	21	Varanasi	33
Hyderabad	22	Vishakhapatnam	34

'XAT 2014 scores will not be re-evaluated'

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This year again, XAT candidates claim there is an issue with the evaluation of their XAT scores. Most allege that Set D has not been evaluated properly, while some have issues with Set C.
Candidates have been urging for a re-evaluation since the XAT results were announced earlier this week. It may be recalled that a similar cry last year led to a re-evaluation call of all XAT scores.
This year however, the ending is expected to be different. XLRI officials told PaGaLGuY that before the results were announced a thorough re-check was conducted with a different process just to make sure that there is no lapse in either of the processes. "And after the results were announced, we did another investigation since we received a few complaints," said an official. "Since we found no problems, we have decided not to re-evaluate of XAT 2014 results," the same official added.
Some candidates apparently wrote in to XLRI about their scores but they received individual replies which read like: The results have been checked again and no discrepancies found."
It is difficult at this point, to know which direction this movement will head, though in all likelihood this chapter will close. A point to be noted is that unlike the CAT exam, there is no normalisation process in XAT and hence less chance for a candidate to find his score way off his expectations. And considering that XLRI did re-evaluate its results once, it is quite capable of doing so again, had it found any loopholes in the complaints received so far.
While some candidates may have a genuine point, it could be that some others are simply hoping for a re-check given their not very impressive marks and so the push for a re-evaluation looks huge.

New IIMs to release shortlist for PI-WAT on January 26

The six newer Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are expected to release the shortlist of candidates for the Personal Interview (PI) and Written Ability Test (WAT) on Sunday, January 26, 2014, as per a notification from IIM Tiruchirappalli. The list, which was originally meant to be released on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, could have been delayed due to alleged discrepancies in the Results of the Common Admission Test 2013 (CAT 2013), as per sources.

As per the IIM Tiruchirappalli notification, individual IIMs need to draw a shortlist on the basis of their own shortlisting criteria. IIM Tiruchirappalli will combine these shortlists for further processing. The names of candidates being called for interviews by IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Bangalore and IIM Kozhikode will be segregated from the combined list, after which the remaining candidates will be invited for a common PI and WAT.

The six new IIMs have already released an updated list of percentile cutoffs to shortlist candidates for PI and WAT. The new IIMs are expected to invite applications from 10,000 candidates to take part in the combined PI and WAT process termed “Common Admission Process” (CAP), as per officials of IIM Tiruchirappalli. Altogether, there are 800 seats available in the new IIMs. IIM Tiruchirappalli is expected to conduct CAP 2014 for the six newer IIMs of Kashipur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur, Rohtak, Raipur and Ranchi.

The Results of CAT 2013, which is one of the most prestigious examinations in India for admission into the IIMs as well as other premier management institutes, were declared on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. CAT 2013 was conducted from Wednesday, October 16 to Monday, November 11, 2013.

Around 3,000 test takers have submitted written complaints to the IIMs stating that there are discrepancies in the CAT 2013 Results. Re-evaluation of CAT examinations/results is not permitted. However, in the face of the multitude of complaints, which threaten to disrupt the admission process of management institutes that accept candidates based on their CAT scores, the IIMs are working with their test administration partner Prometric to address student grievances. This year, the IIMs had appointed the services of the government run agency - National Informatics Center (NIC) to ensure fairness in CAT Results. It is to be noted that last year the scores of 80 candidates of CAT 2012 were found to be tampered with, leading to score-inflation, as per a probe.

B-schools conducting counseling session ahead of placement season

Just ahead of their final placements, management institutes across the country are on a counseling drive to tell their students on unrealistic expectations in terms of job offers and salary packages. These days with heightened attention on the salary packages at the summer placements and expectations from family and friends, the students entering placement season have pressure like never before.

It was reported that even for institutes, given their large batch sizes, it had become imperative to counsel students. Now there is an increased need for counseling the students since much of the expectations are based on the top rung of job offers bagged by others which is not possible for the entire batch. The institutes said students were extremely selective about the companies they wished to join. This selectivity drives companies away from the campus, despite the fact that they have jobs to offer.

It was reported that Last year, engineering and management institutes, including the top ones, faced difficulties in achieving 100 per cent placements. While many students refused to accept job offers, which were below their expectations, others ended up without jobs.

The institutes do not want a repeat of the same this year. Reports state that an IIM has in fact for the first time hired a third party professional to introduce counseling sessions for its students. Ahead of their final placements, institutes across the country are on a counseling drive to tell their students not to have unrealistic expectations in terms of job offers and salary packages. Several B-schools and engineering institutes have also added counseling as part of the placement committee jobs.

Maharashtra to stick with online exam for MBA/MMS CET this year

Maharashtra Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) which had decided to conduct the MBA/MMS CET through online will go ahead with the plan despite concerns from several quarters. Maharashtra DTE had decided to reintroduce MBA/MMS CET from this year. In 2013-14, admissions to B-schools in the state were done on the basis of the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT), conducted by the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

But the vacancy in B-schools then increased from 25% to 39% as several institutes complained that students, especially those from the rural areas, were finding it difficult to adjust with the CMAT syllabus which is comparatively tougher. Now, it has been decided to go back to the CET as before 2013-14, admissions were based on the state CET alone.

One of the major complaints against online exams is that the students from the interiors of the state might be discouraged with the online mode of the exam. While DTE experts say that the aspirants are well-versed with computer-based exams by now with most of the important management entrance exams like CAT, and even CMAT, are conducted online.

The registration process, which is also online, will commence from January 27. The entrance test will be conducted through online mode on March 15 and 16, according to the initial schedule of activities released by the DTE on January 21. The admission to all management courses-MBA, MMS, PGDM and PGDBM-will be done by way of a centralized seat allotment process.

PGDM application deadline at TAPMI extended till February 10

The last date of applications for Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programs for the academic session of 2014-16 at the T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) in Manipal has been extended from Monday, January 20 to Monday, February 10, 2014.

As per a notification from the institute, the applications deadline has been extended to honor the multiple requests from candidate regarding the same. Group Discussions (GDs) and Personal Interviews (PIs) are expected to be conducted from Saturday, March 1 to Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at the nine centers which are mentioned in the official website, the notification added.

TAPMI as an institute is committed to excellence in post graduate (PG) management education, research and practice. Apart from the flagship PGDM program, the institute offers PGDM-Banking and Financial Services as well as PGDM-Healthcare. The total number of seats for the PGDM program is 420 and PGDM-Healthcare is 60.

Candidates will be selected on the basis of their scores in the Common Admission Test (CAT)/Management Aptitude Test (MAT)/Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT)/Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) as well as academic records, interview and group discussions held by TAPMI. MAT scores are accepted to grant admission to the PGDM-Healthcare program.

Admissions at TAPMI is a two-step process. First, candidates need to score 86 percentile in CAT/XAT or score 650 in GMAT. Secondly, they need to crack GDs, PIs, case analysis, etc. Candidates will also be assessed on previous academic performance, professional experience, extra-curricular activities, clarity of their purpose, etc.  The final list will be drawn on the basis of all these factors.

Students can download application forms from TAPMI’s official website. Online payment vouchers are available at Rs 1500 in select Axis Bank branches as well as T.I.M.E. and IMS Coaching centers throughout India.

GVSAT 2014: Exam dates declared

Suresh Gyan Vihar University (SGVU) at Jaipur has issued a formal notification announcing the GVSAT 2014 exam dates which the university is going to conduct in April 2014. GVSAT 2014 will be conducted by SGVU between a period of nine days, that is, April 21, 2014 to April 29, 2014, to offer admissions for the academic session commencing in 2014.
SGVU conducts GVSAT, an online entrance exam, to admit interested candidates in programmes such as B.Tech (various disciplines), B.Tech-M.Tech (dual degree), BBA, MBA, BCA, B.Com, MCA, M.Tech (various disciplines), M.Pharm, B.Pharm, BHMCT, BHMTT, Microbiology and Biochemistry among other programmes.
The eligibility criterions are different for B.Tech and MBA programmes. Candidates are eligible to apply for the B.Tech programmes if they have passed their 10+2 with an aggregate of 60% along with subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and English. For the MBA programmes the eligibility criteria is that the applicant should be a graduate from any stream with 50% aggregate.
Important Dates

Date	Event
Last date to submit application form	April 12, 2014
Generation of admit cards	April 16, 2014
Exam date	April 21, 2014-April 29, 2014
Declaration of result	May 3, 2014
Counselling	May 10, 2014-May 15, 2014