CAT

Common Enterance Test

This is a management examination in India for candidates who want to study management courses in any of the Indian institutions belonging to the Indian Institute of Management Association. This is an exam for postgraduate courses, so the applicants are usually fewer than those applying for undergraduate courses. The test consists of a written examination followed by a group discussion, where the candidates are evaluated according to the performance in the test.

CAT does not have a specific subject, but challenges the managerial skills that the candidates claims to have. They will answer questions to test their English knowledge and logical reasoning among others, all which will test their managerial skills.

There is no definite pattern for the examination, so those who want to sit this exam are advised to liaise with the administration of the exam to get the current dates. The exam lasts two hours and 45 minutes with the first fifteen minutes being a tutorial of what to expect in the examination. This is a relatively unpredictable exam, since it does not have a definite pattern. To ensure that only the best candidates are selected, this examination changes for every single year.

Some of the skills that will be tested by CAT are verbal abilities of the candidate, which will expect the candidate to have an excellent command of the English language, especially written English. Reading comprehension tests the spoken English of the candidate, and his understanding of the basic rules of English. You should expect some logical reasoning and data interpretation questions as well as problem solving. Your mathematical skills will also be put to the test since you will be asked to solve some mathematical questions. Most of the questions in the above subjects have multiple answers with a negative marking for every wrong answer.

Those who want to sit this examination must have 50% aggregate scores in their bachelor’s degree final examinations. Those who are classified as belonging to scheduled castes or tribes are not expected to maintain this 50% score but at least a 45% pass in their respective bachelor’s degrees. The 50% score will depend on what the respective universities consider as a score and therefore their scheme of conversions will be used. Candidates who are almost doing their final undergraduate examinations can apply to sit the CAT.

The exam dates will be communicated as soon as they are released and notifications will be placed in newspapers. Those who are interested in sitting the examinations are supposed to follow up on these announcements. An alternative would be to look at the official sites of the universities they want to apply to. You will only sit the exam if the university you are applying to is part of the Indian Institute of Management Association and since the examination is conducted between October and November you should expect to see some announcements in the official sites of these institutions.  As a candidate, you are expected to fulfill all the other conditions required by the specific institutions to be admitted after sitting the CAT exam. Some institutions will take a while longer to look through their lists of qualified candidates and will take them through several other selection procedures. One is advised to keep this in mind as being shortlisted as having passed the CAT examination is not a guarantee that one has passed and will be admitted to the university he wants. It is also upon you to follow the admission process of the specific institution and submit your application within the time set by your institution of choice. There are more than 50 institutions that accept the standards of CAT as good enough for their admissions, so you have many options.

Last modified: 2011-04-30 08:41:12