CAT Exam
Introduction to CAT
Of all the people aged between 20 and 34 who hold a post-graduate management education degree, 15.6% are Indians. India is among the top 10 nations when it comes to students pursuing MBA and equivalent courses. Globally, of the over 6.1 crore students believed to have obtained a master’s degree, approximately 24% had them in management. CAT, which stands for Common Admission Test, is a national-level examination for admission in post-graduate management programs in the 20 IIMs [Indian Institute of Management] and multiple other business schools all across India. It is the conducted annually with more than 2 Lakh registered candidates every year. BE/BTech graduates make up the majority of these candidates.
Importance of the CAT Exam
The CAT score allows the candidates to be eligible for most of the best business schools in India, including IIMs. There are over 20 IIMs all across India: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam The full time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programmes, are the flagship programmes across all IIMs. The full time MBA degree is offered as a two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) or the one-year global MBA (EPGP, PGPX, PGPEX, PGP-BL & IPMX). Six leading IIMs [IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Lucknow and Kozhikode] offer the one -year MBA as a full-time programme that follows the global MBA norms. Some IIMs also offer a two-year part time (executive) MBA for graduates with more work experience. Other top business schools in India that accept CAT scores include: 1. SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai 2. Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad 3. IIT BOMBAY: Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, Mumbai 4. Symbiosis Centre For Management And Human Resource Development,Pune.
Roadmap to CAT preparation
Eligibility Criteria
IIMs conduct CAT on a rotational basis. It is conducted in three sessions every year, on the last Sunday of November. To be an eligible candidate for CAT, the following criterion need to be met: • There is no age limit for CAT candidates • The candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA [45% in case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PwD) categories] • The final year students of all Bachelor's degrees are allowed to give CAT with the condition that they will clear their Bachelor's with the required percentage (45% or 50%). If the candidate is unable to clear their Bachelor's with the required percentage, their results in the further admission processes will be rendered null and void. NOTE: For further admission processes in IIMs, the candidate should maintain a unique and valid email ID as well as a phone number for official communication
CAT Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme
CAT’s paper pattern is ever-evolving and is subject to minor changes each year. . The time duration for the exam used to be 180 minutes for 100 questions, but in 2020, the time duration was reduced to 120 minutes and the number of questions was reduced to 76. In 2021, the number of questions were further reduced to 66. The exam consists of mostly MCQ type questions, with some TITA-type questions [Type In The Answer]. For every correct answer in a MCQ type question, 3 marks will be awarded and for every wrong answer 1 mark is deducted. There is no negative marking for TITA type questions. The exam consists of three sections, each with a sectional time limit: • Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension • Quantitative Aptitude • Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning The weightage and time limit of each section is subject to change. Each section has to be completed in a specified time limit. After the time limit is over, the screen will move onto the next-section automatically and no further changes can be made at a later stage. The official syllabus of CAT is not released by the IIMs. On analysis of previous year papers, the following can be concluded to be section-wise main topics: • VARC: Para-Jumbles, Sentence Completion, Para-Summary and Reading Comprehension • QA: Profit and Loss, Simple and Compound Interest, Logarithms, Mensuration, Functions and Graphs, Indices and Surds, Statistics, Quadratic Equations, etc. • DILR: Tables, Graphs, Venn Diagram, Blood Relation, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Data Caselets,etc.
Tips to prepare for the VARC Section:
1. Dedicating 1-2 hours to reading daily helps to increase your reading speed and improving your vocabulary 2. Reading from a diverse set of sources (newspapers, websites, etc.) helps to widen your horizon
Tips to prepare for the QA Section:
1. Make a conscious effort to learn theory from basic ideas. Don’t rush through topics, even if they seem familiar to you. 2. Do lots of practice. Intuition is important, but the ability to power through lots of questions is extremely vital
Tips to prepare for the DILR Section
1. Analyze past papers’ patterns 2. Solve different types of data caselets 3. Practice previous year questions to improve time management skills 4. Since DILR questions tend to be lengthy and tedious, learn to identify when a question is worth tackling
Useful Resource Links for CAT
Conclusion
Being a CAT aspirant can be overwhelming as it is one of most challenging exams to crack in India. But with its many challenges, CAT also brings a lot of learning opportunities with it. So enjoy the journey and give it your best! Best of luck to all future CAT aspirants!