The Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national-level entrance test for admission to the various post-graduate/MBA/Fellow (PhD) programmes at the Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs). The computer-based test for admissions to the 2022-23 academic year will be held in three sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening on 27 November.
Usually, the scores of these three sessions are normalised to prepare the rank list. Each IIM centre has their own unique selection method. Besides the CAT score, the selection may be based on separate written exams, group discussion, interview and the academic history of the candidates.
The state-wise list of the business schools, apart from the IIMs, that use the CAT scores for admission has been published on the website iimcat.co.in. In Kerala, there is only one such institute, while Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have 5 and 9 institutes respectively.
Interested candidates can register from 3 August until 5 pm on 14 September on the website. The registration fee is Rs 2,300. Applicants from the Scheduled Caste/Tribe categories and persons with disabilities need to pay only Rs 1,150.
The registration fee could be paid using credit/debit cards or internet banking. The candidates need to pay just this amount even if they apply to more than one institute.
20 IIMs
The IIMs are in 20 Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Bodhgaya, Kolkata, Indore, Kasipur (Uttarakhand), Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Ranchi, Rohtak (Haryana), Sambalpur (Odisha), Shillong, Sirmaur (Himachal Pradesh), Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam.
Exam centres
There are around 150 CAT centres in India. In Kerala, the centres are at Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur Kozhikode and Kannur. The candidates have to choose at least six centres, in the order of preference, in the application form.
Eligibility
Those who passed graduation in any subject with at least 50% marks can apply. The applications of final-year students too would be considered. Applicants of Scheduled Caste/Tribe categories and persons with disabilities need 45% marks.
The grade point average will be converted into marks using specific criteria. The candidates could also have a professional qualification that is equivalent to graduation. Those who are qualified chartered accountants, compamy secretaries, cost accountants and have membership at the Actuaries Institute too can apply.
There is no age bar to write CAT. Candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classees, Economically Weaker Sections and persons with disabilities would get reservation of 15, 7.5, 27, 10 and 5%, respectively.
Other details
Proper training and taking the test with confidence is the key to grab good scores in CAT. Just as in the written test, the candidates could train in group discussion and interview too. However, the training centres often charge high amount as fees.
To know more about the test and other details, the candidates can refer the ‘FAQ’ section on the website or contact the help desk at 1800 210 1088, cathelpdesk@iimcat.co.in.
Test pattern
Even though CAT is a computer-based test the 120-minute exam isn’t conducted online.
There are verbal ability and reading comprehension, data interpretation and logical reasoning and quantitative ability sections in the test.
The candidates would get 40 minutes to complete each section.
The multiple-choice questions carry 3 marks each. Meanwhile, 1 mark would be reduced for each wrong answer.
For the descriptive type questions, the candidates have to type in the answers. There won’t be negative marking for this section.
A calculator will be shown on the computer screen for calculations.
Admit cards, mock tests, results
The admit cards would be uploaded on the website on 27 October. Meanwhile, the mock tests would be available on the website by the last week of October.
The results are likely to get published by the second week of January. This CAT score could be used until 31 December, 2023.