Why one shouldn't book seats in advance!

The following article has been borrowed from the original source for educational purpose and not with any monetary intention. The article first appeared in The New Indian Express and is authored by Rashmi Belur.

This year, colleges have started a new practice — students can pay an advance and book MBA seats even before they write their admission tests.

The authorities say this is improper, and the managements are cashing in on the students’ anxiety. Hundreds of seats went without takers last year. Many colleges are asking aspirants to pay an advance for the 2015-16 courses, beginning mid-September. If a candidate gets a good rank in PGET (Post Graduate Entrance Test), conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), the college refunds the advance.

If the rank is low, the candidate tops up the advance by paying management quota fees, and keeps the seat. After being provided information by several students and parents, Express contacted some colleges and confirmed the new trend.

CMR Institute of Technology, Acharya Institute of Technology, M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, and BMS Institute of Technology are among those collecting advances. “Yes, we are blocking MBA seats and the advance varies from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh,” a CMRIT official said.

Some colleges are even going to the extent of saying they will not reimburse the amount or allot a seat under the government quota. BMS is following this strategy. “We are blocking seats for MBA courses, but that is only for the management quota. The advance is Rs 1 lakh and the rest is collected at the time of admission,” a college official said.

RNS also follows this policy. When Express called, a staffer said, “The fees for a management quota seat is Rs 3.7 lakh and it can be blocked with Rs 50,000. Whatever the rank of the student, the seat will remain management quota.”

Acharya Institute Technology, which runs Acharya School of Management, charges Rs 6 lakh for an MBA seat, and is asking for Rs 2 lakh as advance. A student who reserved his seat there told Express, “I got to know about the booking through one of my lecturers and paid Rs 2 lakh.”

KMAT, the entrance test for management quota seats, was conducted on August 2 and PGET, the test for government seats, is slated for August 8 and 9.  

The KEA says about 24,000 MBA seats are available, with half the number coming under the concessional government quota. “It is a fact that everyone who writes PGET gets a government quota seat as the number of aspirants has come down. In 2014, 40 per cent of management quota seats went unclaimed,” said a KMAT official. About 220 colleges offer MBA in the state. Some are affiliated to the Bangalore and Mysore University and Rani Chennamma University, and the rest to Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi.

It is Wrong, says vtu v-c maheshappa

H Maheshappa, Vice-Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), said, “Colleges should not admit students without PGET and KMAT ranks. If we receive complaints, we will initiate action.” He also said the fee fixed for a government quota seat was just Rs 50,000, and colleges ought not collect the amount ahead of other procedures. “Everything should be done after counselling,” Maheshappa said.