Common Aptitude Test (CAT) Exam-Know everything: Exam dates, Syllabus, Cut-OFFs, Pattern
Common Admission Test (CAT Exam) is an entrance examination to secure admission in the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) across the country and many other colleges for Masters in Business Administration (MBA) or Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses. It is taken once every year, on the last Sunday of November. Go through this article to know more about CAT. What is CAT? Common Admission Test (CAT) is a national level entrance examination which is given by nearly 2 lakh aspirants every year. All the 20 IIMs and other 90+ Business schools consider the score of CAT for their admission process. Each year, one of the top IIMs takes the responsibility of conducting and administering the CAT exam. For example, This year, i.e. in 2022, IIM Bangalore conducted the CAT exam. CAT is a computer-based examination with Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Type In The Answer (TITA). The MCQs carry +3 for a correct answer and -1 for an incorrect answer. The TITA questions don’t carry any negative marking. CAT Exam Overview: CAT website https://iimcat.ac.in/ Exam duration 2 hours (3 sections of 40 minutes each) Exam date Last Sunday of November month Conducting body Any one of the IIMs Exam sections 3 sections:Verbal Ability and Reading ComprehensionData Interpretation and Logical ReasoningQuantitative Ability Question types Multiple Choice Questions and Type In The Answer (TITA) Exam mode Computer-based (in a desginated exam center) Exam centres 150 cities approx, all over India Exam Fees INR 2200 (For general Category), INR 1100 (For reserved category) Exam results First week of January (subject to change) Why should you appear for CAT? CAT is a gateway to the top management institutes of the country, some of which have an average placement of around 30 lakhs per annum. Following are a few reasons why you should appear for CAT : Important dates related to CAT-23 (tentative) Events Dates Online Application starts First week of August, 2023 CAT 2023 Exam 26th November, 2023 (expected) CAT 2023 Exam result First week of January 2024 (expected) CAT 2023 Exam Syllabus CAT Exam Syllabus Topic Names Quantitative Aptitude Arithmetic, Algebra, Number Systems, Modern Math, Geometry Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning Puzzles, Graph and table related sets, Arrangement, Tournaments, Relations, etc Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension based questions, Para-jumbled, Odd sentences, Fill in the blanks CAT Exam eligibility: All the CAT aspirants are required to have at least a Bachelor’s degree of 3 years with an aggregate score of 50% (at least). The students in their final year of bachelor’s degree are also eligible to appear in the CAT exam. Students passed out from a few universities that were offering (previously) a bachelor’s degree of 2 years are also eligible, provided their university is recognised by UGC India. CAT Exam pattern: The CAT exam used to be a 3 hour long exam before 2020. Exam duration has been reduced from three hours to two hours since 2020. CAT consists of 3 sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude. Each section is 40 minutes long. Refer the table below to get information on the marking scheme and no of questions in CAT 2022 Exam Section Question numbers Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) MCQs: 19, TITA: 5 Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) MCQs: 15, TITA: 5 Quantitative Ability (QA) MCQs: 14, TITA: 8 Total 66 Top colleges accepting CAT scores and their cut-offs: College Name Cut-off Percentile (%ile) (approx.) IIM Ahmedabad 99+ IIM Bangalore 99+ IIM Calcutta 99+ FMS Delhi 99+ IIM Lucknow 98+ IIM Indore 98+ IIM Kozhikode 98+ MDI Gurgaon 97+ SPJIMR 96+ Baby IIMs 92+ To know more about other exams, click on the links below: SNAP, NMAT, CMAT, IIFT, GMAT, XAT.
Top MBA Entrance Exams 2023 other than CAT
Top MBA Entrance exams other than CAT include: CMAT, XAT, SNAP, IIFT, NMAT, MICAT, IBSAT, MHCET, MAT, etc. Of all these exams, CAT is the most popular with around 1200 MBA colleges accepting its score for their admission process. CMAT is the second most popular exam with around 1000 MBA colleges accepting its score and XAT is the third most popular with around 700 MBA colleges accepting its score. Aspirants should be aware of the numerous options they have other than CAT, as there are various top colleges that have their own exams. Go through this article to know more. MBA exams at different levels: International: GMAT National: CAT, CMAT, MAT State: MAHCET, TSICET, APICET, KMAT and TANCET University: IIFT, XAT, SNAP, MICAT, etc MBA entrance exams for 2023 intake: Entrance Exam Exam Date CAT 2022 27 Nov, 2022 NMAT 2022 10 Oct–19 Dec 2022; 11 to 15 Jan 2023 XAT 2023 8 Jan, 2023 IIFT 2022 8 Dec, 2022 MICAT 2022-23 MICAT-I: 3 Dec, 2022; MICAT-II: 28 Jan, 2023 TISSNET 2023 Between 28 Jan to 28 Feb 2023 SNAP 2022 10, 18, 23 Dec 2022 IBSAT 2022 24, 25 Dec 2022 CMAT 2023 26 Mar 2023 Top MBA Entrance Exams you should definitely appear for, other than CAT: XAT: Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT) is a computer-based test conducted by Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur. Around one lakh aspirants register for this exam and around 700 MBA colleges accept its score for their admission process. It is usually conducted in the month of January and is generally the last exam of Management entrance exam season. Following are the top colleges to target using your XAT scores: XLRI Jamshedpur XIM University MICA, Ahmedabad IMT, Ghaziabad IMI, New Delhi SNAP Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) is a national level management entrance exam primarily for 16 institutes under the Symbiosis International University. All the candidates have an option of 3 attempts and the best of the three (score) is considered for the final admission cycle. Following are the top colleges to target using your SNAP scores: Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune (SIBM, Pune) Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune (SCMHRD, Pune) Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bangalore (SIBM, Bangalore) CMAT Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is taken by around 1.5 lakh candidates and is conducted by National Testing Agency. Around 1000 management institutes accept CMAT’s score for their admission cycle. This exam is generally conducted late somewhere in between the months of January to March. Click here to know more about the CMAT examination NMAT by GMAC NMIMS Management Aptitude Test (NMAT) is one of the popular exams, which is a computer based adaptive exam. This exam can be given at home or at any designated exam centre. The time slot for this exam can be booked as per your convenience, in a 75 day long testing window. Top colleges you can target with NMAT: SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, (All campuses) XIM University Indian School of Business (ISB) (Advanced Management Programme in Business Analytics (AMPBA) SDA Bocconi Asia Center (formerly MISB Bocconi) SPJIMR (For PGMPW) IIFT IIFT exam is an institute specific exam for securing an admission to the prestigious Indian International Foreign Trade (IIFT) Delhi and Kolkata campus. This exam is conducted in the month of December by the National Testing Agency (NTA). It is a computer based exam and is 2 hours long with 110 questions. This exam consists of 4 sections: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Ability, and General Awareness.
