CAT Entrance Exam

OVERVIEW CAT Entrance Exam

Common Admission Test (CAT) is national-level management entrance examination conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM). Apart from 20 IIMs, CAT scores are used for admission to various management institutes across the country. CAT 2019 was conducted sucessfully on November 26, 2017 (Sunday). The exam was conducted by IIM Lucknow.

EXAM LEVEL	Post Graduate
CATEGORY	NATIONAL LEVEL EXAM
CONDUCTING BODY	IIM (Indian Institute of Management)
FREQUENCY OF EXAM	1 Year
VALIDITY SCORE	1 Year
Website	https://iimcat.ac.in/
CONTACT	1-800-266-3549 (Toll Free)

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Anyone can take the CAT entrance test. But there are some of the prerequisites which must be fulfilled by the aspirant which are provided below :

CATEGORY	MINIMUM PERCENTAGE OF MARKS
GENERAL	50% or equivalent CGPA
Schedule Caste (SC)	45% or equivalent CGPA
Schedule Tribe (ST)	45% or equivalent CGPA
Person with Disability(PWD) Differently Abled (DA)	45 % or equivalent CGPA

• The minimum educational qualification for the candidate who is attempting CAT is bachelor degree.
• The final year students or the students waiting for their final results can also fill this form.
• There is no age limit for the Common Admission Test

APPLICATION PROCESS

Though the filling of any entrance exam form is not difficult, all you must take some of the precautions while filling the application form. Filling of the CAT application form is not as difficult to climb the Himalaya! All you need to do is:

• Visit the official IIM website and look for the CAT registration link to fill all your name, address, date of birth, country and all the other necessary details.
• After filling all the details correctly click on “I Agree” and fill the correct CAPTCHA.
• As soon as you submit the necessary details you will get the login credentials (login Id and Password) through SMS and Email on your registered mobile number and mail ID respectively.
• By Clicking on the “Existing User” tab login on the website with the help of your login credentials.
• As soon as you login, fill up the application form by providing the correct personal details, educational qualification, work experience, programmes, Academics and all other which are essential.
• Upload your latest passport size colored photograph and your valid signature as per the given dimensions on the website.
• Upload all the necessary documents
• Select the desired IIM and desired program

CAT Entrance Exam Dates

Event	Important Dates
Notification Release	28th July 2019
Online Registration Starts	7th August 2019
Last date for Registration	25th September 2019
Image Correction	28th – 30th September 2019
Admit Card Downloading Starts	23rd October 2019
Mock Test	17th October 2019
CAT Aptitude Test	24th November 2019
Responses released	1st December 2019
Answer Key Release	10th December 2019
Result Announcement	5th January 2020

(The dates are proposed and may vary. Kindly check the IIM official website for the update.) The proposed entrance exam application fees for the CAT 2018 (Kindly check the official website for the update)

The students will not be able to make any changes in the application form once the final payment is done. However, the conducting authority provides the provision of changes in some of the details.

CAT Correction provision

Details which can be corrected	Work Experience, percentage of marks scored, program selected
Details Which cannot be corrected	Academic session, exam center preference, personal details

EXAM SYLLABUS

As it is one of the most popular tests to get admission in one of the most prestigious colleges of management, there is no as such syllabus for this exam. Yet, the analysis of the last 5 years question papers will help the candidate to know about the exam and its pattern. Here, in this table, we try to summarize the topics based on the last year’s questions asked.

QUANTITATIVE SECTION

Logarithms	Inequalities	Surd and Indices
Time speed distance	Trigonometry	Number System
Partnership(Accounts)	Algebra	Geometric Progression
Averages	Mensuration	percentage
HCF- LCM	Profit and Loss	Work and Time
Geometry	In equations quadric and linear equations	Ratio and Proportions
Calculus	Geometry	Permutation and combination
Sequence series	Age Calculation	Number system, simplification, Average

The above mentioned are the core subjects. Questions may be asked apart from these.

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (English)

Grammar and usages	Fill in the blanks	Para completion and inference
Reading comprehension	Verbal Logic	Para jumbles
Antonyms	syllogisms	Sentence Correction
Different uses of the same word	Verbal reasoning	Foreign language word used in English
Analogies	One word Substitution	Jumbled paragraphs
Contextual usages	Idioms	Sentence completion
Binary Logics	Line Graph	Combination of Graphs
Sets	Logical matching	Seat arrangement

The above mentioned are some of the important topics

DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL REASONING

Tables	Bars	Line Graphs
Caselets	Data Sufficiency	Blood  Relations
Direction Sense	Series	Venn Diagram
Puzzles	Coding -Decoding	proposition
Data Arrangements	Clocks and Calendar	Assumption
Data Structures	Family Tree	Statements

SELECTION PROCEDURE

The candidates who passed the CAT exam will be selected for the next level by the IIM. The candidates are selected by the different IIMs and the B schools based on their CAT cut off Score. The shortlisted candidate will send the call letters directly to appear for the written Ability test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), group Activity (GA) and personal interview rounds. Each IIM have the different admission criteria. There is a certain weightage to the Academics and the other factors, but these may vary from college to college and from year to year.

Rating	Level (Approx. CAT cut-off Percentiles for General)	Institutes
A+	I (CAT Percentile 98.5+)	IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C, IIM-L, IIM-I, IIM-K, IIM-S, FMS, MDI-PGPM, IIT- B, JBIMS
II (CAT Percentile 96.5+)	SPJIMR, IIT-D, NITIE-PGDIM, MDI-PGP HR/IM, IIM-RH, IIM-RN, IIM-RP, IIM-KS, IIM-UP, IIM-T
III (CAT Percentile 94.5+)	IIT-KH, IIT-KN, IIT-M, IIT-R, IISc-B, IIM-BG, IIM-N, IIM-V, IIM-Asr, IIM-Sam, IIM-Srm, MDI-M, IIM-A (ABM), IIM-L (ABM)
A	I (CAT Percentile 90+)	MICA, IMT-G/N, IMI-D, FSM, IRMA, TAPMI, KJSIMSR, UBS-CHD, SPJAIN-D/S, BIM, NIRMA, PUMBA
II (CAT Percentile 87+)	WIMDR-M, LBSIM, LIBA, IMI-K/B, GLIM, BIMTECH-PGDM/IB, IBS-ICFAI, MFC-DU, IFMR, MIB-DU, MHROD-DU, IMT-H
III(CAT Percentile 85+)	MISB, ISBM-P, AJKMCRC, WIMDR-B, BIMTECH-Retail/Insurance, IIFM, MBE-DU

COURSES UNDER CAT

CAT is the national level entrance exam to which opens the door to the MBA or the PGPM courses in the IIMs or the top B schools. These are the courses offered by the IIMs:

PGDM	Post Graduate Diploma in Management
PGPEX	Post Graduate Programme for Executives
PGPWE	PGP for Working Executive
PGDHRM	Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management
PGP-UAE	Post Graduate Programme at UAE
PGPBM	Post Graduate Programme in Business Management
PGPSM	Post Graduate Programme in Securities Markets
PGP	Post Graduate Programme
EPGPM	Executive Post Graduate Programme
PGPEM	Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management
PGP-FABM	Post Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management
PGPPM	Post Graduate Progamme in Public Policy and Management

STUDY MATERIAL

Domain	BOOKS
Quantitative Ability	Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha and Published by Tata McGraw-Hill
Quantitative Ability	How to Prepare for the CAT Common Admissions Test by Muhamed Muneer, published by Om Books.
Quantitative Ability	Arun Sharma’s The Complete CAT Digest, by Tata McGraw-Hill.
Quantitative Ability	Arun Sharma’s ‘How to prepare for Quantitative Ability for CAT Published by Tata McGraw Hill.
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	Arun Sharma’s How to Prepare for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning for CAT
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	Trishna’s Verbal Ability And Logical Reasoning For The CAT And Other MBA
Verbal and Reading Comprehension	Barron’s Pocket Guide to Vocabulary
Verbal and Reading Comprehension	How to Prepare for the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
Verbal and Reading Comprehension	Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis
Verbal and Reading Comprehension	Nishit Sinha’s The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

TOP COLLEGES

Based on the previous results and placements here we are trying to mention some of the top management colleges.

• IIM, Bangalore
• IIM, Gujarat
• IIM, West Bengal
• IIM, Kozhikode
• Faculty of Management Studies (FMS Delhi)
• National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai