3,500 students clear written round of CAT 2007

The country's prestigious business schools, Indian Institutes of Management, on Tuesday declared the results of the written exam of the Common Admission Test, with close to 3,500 students getting through it.

The results were declared on the CAT website as well as through other platforms like mobile phones and the six IIMs are likely to start the next round of selection -- group discussions and personal interviews by next month.

"Results of all the candidates are available on the website. We have made the list of students to be invited for group discussion and personal interviews," IIM Lucknow Director Prof Devi Singh said.

Over 2.3 lakh students are estimated to have appeared in the written test on November 19, out of which barely about 1.5 per cent have managed to move to the next level. However, the student intake would be more this year with the seventh IIM - Shillong - starting to function from the coming academic session.

"The selected candidates, estimated at about 3,500, would start getting calls for interviews and GDs by February. Few of them may get multiple offers from various IIMs," IIM-C (IIM Calcutta) Admission Chairman Ashish Bhattacharya said.

The IIMs declared the CAT written examination percentiles today, based on which the various institutes prepare their selection lists.

Percentile is defined as a relative position or rank and a student to have scored a certain percentile, say x, means that his or her score is higher than x per cent of students.

Experts said that interviews and group discussions are likely to begin in February itself and could continue till April.