Great thoughts but I surely feel that Indian education has become a subject of vote bank politics. All these days we had temples, terrorists that were subject to politics but the way in which Arjun Singh has created  in what many would describe is a shame to democracy. It is painfully ironic that a few centuries ago "Arjun" used to be the brightest student of his teacher " Dronacharya".

Overview

Domestic candidates are admitted through the regular admission channel that is based on the applications received through the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Domestic candidates are Indian nationals or foreigners normally resident in India who are in a position to take the CAT, which will be conducted on the third Sunday of November every year, at various centers in India. These candidates are required to take the CAT, and if short-listed attend a group discussion and interview, and provide three letters of reference from persons who know them closely in terms of their academic/professional performance. Final selection is based on performance in CAT, scholastic achievement, work experience, performance in the group discussions, written summary of group discussion, and interview, and three letters of reference.

Important Dates for Session beginning June-July 2007

Eligibility

The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA [45% in case of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) or Persons with Disability (PWD) category], of any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India. The Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent qualification obtained by the candidate must entail a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling (10+2) or equivalent. The basis of computing the percentage obtained by the candidate in the bachelor’s degree would be based on the practice followed by the university/ institution from where the candidate has obtained the degree. In case of the candidates being awarded grades/CGPA instead of marks, the equivalence would be based on the equivalence certified by the university/ institution from where they have obtained bachelor's degree. In case the university/ institution does not have any scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by the IIMs by dividing obtained CGPA with the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the resultant with 100.

Candidates appearing for the final bachelor's degree / equivalent qualification examination can also apply. Such candidates must produce a certificate from the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar/Director of the university/ institution certifying that the candidate has obtained 50% marks or equivalent (45% in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST/PWD category) based on latest available grades/marks. Such candidates, if selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally only if they submit a certificate latest by June 30, 2007 from the Principal/Registrar of their college/institute (issued on or before June 30, 2007) stating that they have completed all the requirements (the results may, however, be awaited) for obtaining the bachelor's degree/ equivalent qualification on the date of issue of the certificate. Their admission will be confirmed only when they submit the mark sheet and a certificate of having passed the bachelor's degree / equivalent qualification referred to in the certificate issued by the Principal/Registrar with at least 50% marks (45% in case of candidates belonging to SC/ST/PWD category). The deadline for submission of the mark sheet and the certificate is December 31, 2007. Non-fulfillment of this condition will automatically result in the cancellation of the provisional admission. IIMB would not allow any candidate to join their programme in case the candidate is unable to complete all the requirements for a bachelor degree on or before June 30, 2007. 

All domestic candidates are required to take the CAT.

Application Procedure & Selection

The CAT advertisement usually appears in daily national newspapers across the country in middle of July. Applying for CAT is the first step in the process for seeking admission to the Post-Graduate in Management at IIMB. CAT bulletins are available at several branches of the UTI Bank. The bulletin contains, among other information, the CAT Application Form. Carefully complete all items relevant to you in the form with a pen and mail it to the relevant IIM by the required date, with necessary attachments such as caste certificates or disability certificates, if required.

The candidates can purchase application forms alternatively online, the details of which is mentioned in the advertisement.

Candidates who buy application from UTI branch are also eligible to fill out their application online; subsequently the candidates is required to take print outs and attach necessary documents and submit it to relevant IIM.

An interactive voice recorder system is expected to be operational from late July 2006 to answer any queries regarding application as well as admission status. The details including phone numbers is available in advertisement. 

The Common Admission Test (CAT-2006) will be held on November 19^th, 2006. 

Candidates are short listed for the interview on the basis of their performance in the CAT, scholastic achievement and relevant work experience. At this stage, the short listed candidates are sent application forms to formally apply to the Post Graduate Program (PGP). Once the formal applications are received, candidates are informed of the interview schedule. Interviews are conducted at Bangalore, Calcutta, Mumbai, and New Delhi during the second half of March. 

Final selection is based on performance in CAT, scholastic achievement, work experience, and performance in the group discussion, summary of group discussion and interview, and three letters of reference. 

The CAT score is but one of the inputs at every stage of the selection process. It is possible for a candidate with a lower CAT score to be selected for interview and group discussion, and to be offered admission in preference to a candidate with a higher CAT score on account of better performance in other criteria mentioned above.

If a candidate, or someone else on his/her behalf, attempts to influence the selection process by any means at any stage of the process, he/she will be barred from the selection process. Further, if a candidate produces false information at any stage in the application process, he/she will be barred from the rest of the process. Every claim made in the application, at the time of taking the CAT and in the subsequent formal application to IIMB, will have to be supported by formal documentation at the interview and registration stages. IIMB retains the right to verify the authenticity of any document that a candidate might provide. If information submitted is found to be false, at any time even after a student is admitted to the programme, he/she will be asked to withdraw from the programme. 

All disputes, if any, emerging out decisions related to the post graduate programmes of IIMB during the admission process and the duration of studentship will be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts in Bangalore. 

Fee and Expenses

Fee for tuition, room, boarding, teaching material, computer facilities, and other fees for a single student living on the campus for the batch 2007-2009 is likely to be Rs.1,75,000 per year. Personal expenses on travel, clothes, laundry, etc. are extra. 

Financial Aid

IIM Bangalore is committed to ensure that no PGP student faces any difficulty in pursuing education at IIMB for want of financial resources. In pursuance of this policy, the Institute will provide financial aid to all needy students in the form of tuition waivers. All students whose annual household income is below Rs 2,00,000 will be eligible to apply. Students belonging to SC/ST categories will be given special consideration for financial support. Additional support to cover living expenses may also be provided, in exceptional cases. 

Educational loans are also available from leading banks. Students applying for bank loan are also eligible to apply for financial aid. 

Some Second-Year students are selected by instructors to provide tutorial assistance to First-Year students in selected subjects. Such selected tutors are paid an honorarium.

In addition, a limited number of merit-based awards are available from some sponsors to partially or fully support student expenses. Awards are currently available from the Ratan Tata Trust and the Aditya Birla Group. A merit-cum-means scholarship from Bharti Enterprises is also available.