061209

6th December, the C-Day. While filling up the form 88 days back, there were so many doubts about the conduct of online CAT in mind which only increased when I faced the Prometric interface for the registration. With a few technical glitches, unexpected from an international testing company, it was just an optimistic hope that the CAT will be conducted properly this year.

I reached the centre, RVIM by 1:20 pm, 10 minutes before we were expected to reach. But we were made to stand in the sun (Thanks God its Bangalore and Winter season) and the gate was opened only @ around 1:50. Then our photo-id, cat voucher and admit card were checked and we were let inside. After depositing our belongings in a separate security desks we proceeded towards the testing lab. There we had Biometric tests where in they took our photograph and finger Print scan.

We have had enough time to relax and get used to the testing environment (and the system). The process started before time and it really took more time than it should have. Disobeying the rule, I had to look into the screens of others to check whether its just me or everyone else. After a few steps of logins and clicks, we finally got to the screen where the buttons of staring the exam and the tutorial was there.

I started my tutorial and though I knew what all are there in that tutorial, I looked at it properly for any changes. None were there. I pressed the 'End Tutorial' button to end it. It asked a confirmation and got back to the page from where I went to the tutorial.

I started relaxing as my next step was to start the test. After about a couple of minutes, I looked at my screen which showed a button called 'Resume Test' and below it 'Time Left 0:00:00'. Though it was mentioned in the instructions not to look at others' screen, I looked at the screen of the two guys sitting next to me in both directions. Both had buttons called 'Start Test'.

I could find no other way out than to call the invigilator. Thank God that he knew the solution of that particular problem and he re-logged and restarted the entire process. By the time I started mine, almost everyone in my room were 15 minutes into their test. I knew that I was going to be tested psychologically in the last 15 minutes.

The rest of the test went on smoothly and when I finished, I saw that I still had 14 minutes and a few seconds left for my test to b over. I started to revise my weakest section - Verbal. Just then, the others finished their tests and were told to remain seated in their seats until everybody finished. After about 7 minutes, they were asked to leave and only one guy apart from me was left in the room.

I finished mine and came out with a broad smile on my face. The test went f9 and attempting all questions was surely going to boost my confidence.

I enjoyed the rest of the day.