CAT Exam, Common Admission Test: Registration, Eligibility, Syllabus, Pattern, Admit Card, Results

CAT Exam or Common Admission Test is a computer based MBA Entrance Test for admission into IIM and several other prestigious Business Schools in India. CAT Exam is conducted every year by IIM’s on rotational basis. Hundreds of B-Schools accept the score for more than 4000 seats in the management program. Graduated from various streams aspire to pursue MBA from top management schools. This test is usually held in the third week of November each year.

 CAT Eligibility

·   The student 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], awarded by any University or educational institution.

·   In case of grades/CGPA, the conversion to percentage of marks would be based on the procedure as certified by the respective University/Institution

·   Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting    results can also apply. 

·    However, the student will have to submit a certificate from the principal or dean of their institute, if selected, to join the program provisionally. Details are given in the prospectus. 

 Reservation Rules for CAT

·     15% of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates

·     7.5% are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates, 

·     27% seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes candidates belonging to the “Non-Creamy” layer (NC-OBC), 

·      0 to 10% seats are reserved for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) candidates

·      5% seats are reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwD). 

Registration Dates for CAT

1.   Registration for CAT usually opens in first or second week of August

2.  Registration usually closes at 5:00 p.m. on a date in the third week of September.

3.  At the time of registration, the candidates has to select any four test cities, as per their preference.

4.  Candidate is allotted one among the four preferred cities subject to availability. 

5.  Admit cards are usually available for download from third week of October.

Test Centre for CAT Exam

·    List of test centres is given in the prospectus or information brochure

·    CAT is conducted in approximately 156 test cities of India. 

·    Name of the test centre allotted is indicated in the Admit Card. 

·    IIMs reserve the right to change or cancel any test centre/city 

Result and Score of CAT

The CAT results are usually declared by the second week of January. 

Candidates' CAT scorecards are accessible on the CAT website. 

Candidates may also be intimated individually by SMS. 

The CAT scores are valid only till December 31, of each year.

 Admission Process after CAT Exam Result 

·    Each IIM is independent to have their own eligibility criteria (including academic cut-offs and relative weights) and each follow different selection processes. 

·    CAT score is an important component for consideration in the selection process. 

·    IIMs have the authority to give credit for and use the previous academic performance of the candidates, relevant work experience and other similar inputs in short-listing of candidates at various stages of the selection process.

·    It is recommended to refer to the admissions policies of IIM one is interested to join; IIMs display the admission criteria’s on their respective websites. 

 Courses and programs for which CAT exam is held each year for Post Graduate Programmes in Management (PGP)

        
 
 List of Institutes and courses/Programs for Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) [Doctoral]