CAT– Common Admission Test
Indian Institutes of Management accept only CAT exam scores for admission to their flagship PGP programmes which are the 2 years Post Graduate programmes in management. Each of the 20 IIMs announces its admission policy and CAT percentile score cut offs for the PGP Programmes before the CAT exam is held. PGP is the short from of IIMs’ Post Graduate Programme in Management which in fact has become the MBA programme as per the IIM Act 2017. Now, the students of PGP programmes at IIMs are awarded MBA degree instead of diploma, although many IIMs have not changed their programme name from PGP to MBA.
CAT 2019 Eligibility
If you have completed Bachelor’s degree with 50% marks or completed professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA), or are in the final year of Bachelor’s degree you can appear in CAT exam. There is no Age bar to apply and appear for CAT exam.
CAT 2019 Exam: Pattern
• 180 Minutes Exam: CAT exam is a computer delivered test of 3 hours duration but it is not an Online Exam
• 100 Questions: CAT exam will have 100 questions divided in 3 sections of VARC, DILR and Quantitative Ability.
• 25% No Penalty Questions: Out of 100 questions in CAT 2019, more than 25 questions will not have negative marking. CAT 2019 is divided into MCQ and Non-MCQ type of questions and the Non-MCQs do not carry negative marking. In case any non-MCQ has negative marking, a few MCQs are changed to no negative marking questions.
• 70-75% CAT Questions with Negative Marking: More than 70% questions in CAT 2019 are of MCQ type and will carry penalty of 1/3 negative marking
• Minimum CAT Score Requirement by IIMs: A Minimum qualifying score between 70 and 90 percentile in CAT 2019 is required by IIMs in each of the 3 sections to shortlist candidates for final admission round
• Other Criteria with CAT score: Apart from High score in each of the 3 sections in CAT exam, you need to have good academic profile, diversity, to get into IIMs.
CAT 2019 Exam Syllabus
During the last 3 years, CAT exam syllabus has substantially changed. The biggest change is in type of questions some of which are no penalty questions now. Most of the changes in CAT syllabus have taken place in the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension Section. The topics and number of questions in VARC section have changed. Similarly a few changes in CAT syllabus have been introduced in Quantitative Ability section also.
Although CAT exam Syllabus is not pre-defined by IIMs, it overall tests the candidate on Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension; Quantitative Aptitude; Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning