Common Admission Test (CAT) And Its Top 13 Interesting Facts | Eligibility, History, Syllabus, Pattern, Selection Process, Recommended Books

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Introduction

The common Admission Test is a computer-based test for admission to graduate Management programs. India’s most prestigious national level entrance examination permits aspirants to get into top management institutes. The test consists of three sections:-

Verbal Ability And Reading Comprehension,
Data Interpretation And Logical Reasoning, And
Quantitative Ability.

Apart from the IIMs, the CAT is also a prerequisite for admission into numerous other management colleges across India which includes institutes like S. P. Jain institute of management and research, Faculty of management studies, management development institute (Gurgaon), institute of management technology, Jamnalal Bajaj institute of management studies, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, and several others. About 2.4 lakh candidates register for the CAT exam every year. CAT 2020 was conducted by IIM INDORE on November 29, 2020, and the result was announced on January 2, 2021. CAT was likely to be conducted on November 27^th this year (2022). It is the gateway for those wishing to study at the IIMs and 150 other B- schools.

Eligibility Criteria For The Exam

According to CAT eligibility criteria candidates who have completed any bachelor’s degree from a recognized University with 50% marks in the aggregate and 45% required for SC/ST/ PWD are eligible to apply.
An entry to the world of MBA world requires the candidates to appear for entrance exams of which the most popular is the CAT. The CAT scores allow the candidates to be eligible for most of the B-schools in India.

Candidates need a degree to be counted, and the University that has awarded the degree has to be recognized by the MHRD.
If the University awards grades or CGPA instead of marks, the conversion factor given by the University must be used. If there is no conversion factor specified by the University the CGPA must be converted into % by direct conversion. It means the candidate should divide the achieved CGPA by the highest CGPA possible and multiply the result by 100.
Candidates who have completed their professional degrees with over 50% in the general category and 45% for SC/ST/ PWD are eligible for CAT.
For candidates who are appearing for their final year in 2022 (graduating in 2022 or 2023, a promotion/pass certificate in the previous year will make them eligible to appear for CAT 2022.

If selected for further stages these students are required to clear their bachelor’s degree with the required % and should provide proof for the same at the time of selection. since they do not have a final degree certificate with the grade obtained. The document must have the sign by the Principal/ Head of Department/ Registrar/ a director of the institute verifying that the candidate has over 50% marks in the course on the date the certificate is issued.

Does not require prior work experience though it has a section for work experience in the forms.
No age limit for the entrance exam as per eligibility criteria.
The degree should be awarded by any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an act of parliament or declaration to be deemed as a University under section 3 of the UGC ACT, 1956, or possesses an equivalent Qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.

History Of Cat Exam

Before 2009, CAT was a paper-based test conducted on a single day for all candidates. The pattern, number of questions, and duration have been considerable variations over the years on May 2009, it was announced that CAT would be a computer-based test starting from 2009. Since the common Admission Test had allowed Prometric India private limited for the online testing as their partner, designed the software for the first CAT examination. The examination witnessed lots of technical glitches which finally resulted in re-examination. Based firm Prometric lost to TCS as the next 5years testing agency of CAT conducted by IIMs for entrance to their management programs. The obvious reason for Prometric losing to TCS apart from the contract period getting over and the financial aspect was their past performance. There have been reports of malfunctioning of the system, technical problems in the testing rooms, and problems in score inflation the issues were so serious that they prompted the government of India to seek a report from the conveyor. The trouble was ‘Conficker’ and ‘W32 Nimda’ viruses that attacked the system Display causing it to slow down. CAT which used to be a paper pencil-based test till 2008, got the idea of going green in 2009. A lot of controversy over the scoring and normalization process broke loose after the declaration of the CAT 2013 results. Many candidates not satisfied with the system preferred to take the legal route for addressing their grievances. According to the reports, 95k candidates scored zero or negative score. This led to a filing plea to the Indore High court since IIM INDORE convened CAT 2013, since then the test was conducted under TCS after the failure of Prometric.

Exam Syllabus

The syllabus is mostly limited to the Mathematics and English topics learned in school. Thus, the syllabus is generalized, and candidates must aim to cover as many topics as possible. Based on previous papers and analyses they can learn more. The CAT exam syllabus is divided into 3 sections:-

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC): It consists of para jumbles, para summary, and inferences as well as reading comprehension passages. The verbal ability has summary questions that have a small passage with 4 options and the objective is to find the best fit for the summary of the passage, in these types of questions, the key is usually to find the options that do not contradict the passage in any manner. Jumbled paragraph questions are usually TITA which means that there is no margin for error, in these questions, there are 4-5 sentences given out of order following this the first sentence should lead to the second sentence, and so on.
It consists of the odd sentence in paragraph jumbles and the objective is to identify the sentence which does not match the theme established in the rest of the paragraph.
The reading comprehension section includes more inferential questions which made the section slightly more complex in terms of the level of difficulty, which is accepted in the 2022 CAT exam The fact-based questions as the name suggests demand answers based on facts mentioned in the passage.

Mainly these topics consist of VARC:

Grammar
Reading comprehension
Inferences
Verbal reasoning
Para Jumbles and para summary
Phrases modifiers
Types of clauses
Preposition
Pronoun
Error in Tense
Parts of speech
Odd sentence in paragraph jumbles

Data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR): The second section of the CAT exam is the DILR section is the most undefined as compared to the other section it is based on the forms of visualization and on the interpretation of data through the data provided. It consists of;

Bar Graphs
Line Charts
Column Graphs
Venn Diagrams
Pie charts
Calendars
Number and letter series
Clocks
Cubes
Seating Arrangement
Blood relations
Syllogism
Direction
Logical connectives and sequence
Set theory variables
Coding-decoding series
Approximation and conversion technology

Quantitative Aptitude (QA): It consists of;

Geometry
Trigonometry
Average
Percentage
Number system
Arithmetic
Mensuration
Speed, time, and distance
Linear equations
Logarithm
Surds and indices
Set theory and Function
Mixtures and Allegations
Ratio and proportion
Quadratic
Probability
Coordinate geometry
Square root and cube root
Permutation and combination
Mean, median, mode
Binomial theorem

It has commercial maths which is reasonably easy to prepare since the number of questions is limited and the formula to be learned is simple. Most of the topics in Arithmetic are of class X level.
Given the vastness of the CAT exam syllabus, aspirants need to understand how to maximize the scores in each section. Therefore, picking up the right Questions and ensuring to score well is necessary.

Exam Pattern

Each correct response carries 3marks while each incorrect response carries a -1 mark. Non – MCQ questions will not be negatively marked. VARC consists of a total of 24 questions earlier it used to have 26 questions. DILR will have 20 questions instead of 24 as earlier. QA will have 22 questions in the exam for 2022. CAT exam will have 66 questions to be attempted in 2 hours. The total number of questions was reduced from 100 to 76 and the duration was reduced from 180 minutes to 120 minutes. The CAT pattern was revised again in 2021, the number of questions was reduced from 76 to 66, duration was unchanged at 120minutes. Along with MCQs, CAT paper also comprises non-MCQ or TITA questions, however MCQs makeup up more than 70% of the paper. The exam pattern was changed in 2022 due to Covid 19 pandemic.

Total number of questions: 66
Number of questions: VARC: 24, DILR: 20, QA: 22
Time allotted per section: 40 minutes for each section total of 120 minutes allotted
Mode of exam: computer-based test
Medium of language: English
Total Marks: 198
Number of answer choices: 4
Exam slots: Morning: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM, Afternoon: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM , Evening: 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
For PWD candidates the total time to complete each section of the CAT exam is 53minutes and 20 seconds.
The raw scores are then adjusted through a process called equating. Equated raw scores are then placed on a common scale or metric to ensure appropriate interpretation of the scores. This process is called scaling.

Exam Selection Process

Stage 1: shortlisting of candidates based on CAT exam score, past academic scores, and work experience, mainly shortlisted based on a written ability test.
Stage 2: Group Discussion and personal interview
Stage 3: Final shortlisted candidates based on stages 1 and 2.

Notification About The Exam

CAT 2022, the exam will be conducted on November 27, 2022, and the online registration process for the same will commence most likely by August 3, 2022.

Conducting the exam: IIMs Bangalore
Exam level: National
Number of test cities: 156
Exam frequency: Annual
Exam fees: INR 2,200 (General category), INR 1,100(Reserved Category)
Exam helpline: 1-800-210-1088(toll-free)
Exam website: https://iimcat.ac.in
Notification realized on: 31^st July 2022
Start registration: 03 August 2022
Ending date of registration: 23^rd September 2022
Form correction: First week of September 2022
Mock test release: first week of October 2022
Admit Card: 26^th October 2022
CAT result declaration: First week of January 2023
CAT final answer key: last week of November 2022

Application Process

CAT 2022 registration cum application process is a mandatory step for appearing in CAT as well as for admission to IIMs. The CAT registration cum application process is online and the candidates must submit the forms at www.iimcat.ac.in Website;

Go to www.iimcat.ac.in the website
Click on New User
Enter name, date of birth, nationality, email ID, and mobile Phone number
Enter the captcha code and click on submit.
An OTP will be received on the email ID and mobile phone number
Use the OTP to validate the registration
Next, fill in personal details in the CAT application
Upload passport size photo and signature
Fill in academic details of class 10, 12 marks and UG, PG, or professional degrees marks
Select IIM course, campuses, and test city preference
Make fee payment via debit/credit card, net banking, or e-wallet

Download CAT Admit Card

The admit card for CAT 2022 exam will be issued to registered candidates only, it will be issued online and will be available for download from the IIMCAT website. CAT 2022 admit card will be issued in the fourth week of October. The admit card is a mandatory document to be carried to the exam center:

Open the IIMCAT website
Click on CAT 2022 admit card
Enter CAT ID and password
Go to admit card tab
Open the CAT 2022 admit card and download it as a PDF

Recommended Books

For verbal ability and reading comprehension, Wren and Martin is good for the initial days, Word Power made easy by Norman Lewis, VARC for CAT by Nishit Sinha, and IMS RC 500 passages these books are good for the verbal ability and reading comprehension section, it will give conceptual clarity and provide fundamental with formula in each part.
For DILR books like logical reasoning and data interpretation by Arun Sharma and Logical reasoning and data interpretation by Nishit.K. Sinha are recommended also an online portal iQaunta is very helpful for this part.
For Quantitative Aptitude NCERT books are needed for basics, Quantum CAT for Quantitative Aptitude by Sarvesh Verma, Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Arun Sharma, and Arihant reasoning books are best for the preparation.

Preparation Tips

Candidates must develop their fundamentals well; they should practice daily with the correct material and give mocks regularly. CAT preparation is not easy but can be achieved by mastering the skills be it self-study or guidance.
It would be advisable to devote around 25-30hours per week towards preparation for the CAT exam.
Focus on enhancing the basics of mathematics.
Learn topics like profit and loss, number system, and geometry as they will form the key questions in CAT 2022 in Quantitative Aptitude.
Reading as much as possible is the best way to crack the VARC section. Should go through newspapers, journals, blogs, and articles to enhance reading skills.
Make a month-wise CAT preparation plan and a day-wise plan and allot one topic each from each section.

Reasons To Give The Cat Exam

Entry ticket to top Management Schools.
Learning for a lifetime as it improves the skills and overall problem-solving ability.
Opens many career opportunities, as they are picked by companies on hands with lucrative salaries.

Different Exams Like CAT

As far as India is concerned the biggest fish is CAT for management studies but for International MBAs, it is GMAT, almost all Universities in the US, UK, Australia, and Europe select GMAT. MAT, on the other hand, is another management Aptitude test under the All-India Management Association which allows candidates to appear in the exam even if they do not excel in graduation, all candidates can apply for MAT.

CAT Exam/Test Cities

CAT exam is conducted at multiple exam centers across India. Candidates will be given the option to choose up to four cities in the application form for CAT 2022 test center. Name of the cities are as follows:

Port Blair	Hamirpur	Mumbai
Guntur	Jammu	Nashik
Nellore	Bokaro	Satara
Vijayawada	Dhanbad	Palghar
Kakinada	Hazaribagh	Prayagraj
Rajahmundry	Jamshedpur	Shillong
Visakhapatnam	Ranchi	Aizawl
Kurnool	Belagavi	Kohima
Tirupati	Bengaluru	Balasore
Vizianagaram	Hubballi	Cuttack
Itanagar	Mysore	Sambalpur
Dibrugarh	Gulbarga	Berhampur
Silchar	Shivamogga	Dhenkanal
Guwahati	Dharwad	Bhubaneswar
Tezpur	Mangalore	Rourkela
Jorhat	Udupi	Puducherry
Aurangabad	Kannur	Pathankot
Darbhanga	Ernakulam	Ludhiana
Arrah	Kollam	Amritsar
Muzaffarpur	Kottayam	Bhatinda
Bhagalpur	Kozhikode	Patiala
Patna	Thrissur	Jalandhar
Mohali	Trivandrum	Sangrur
Chandigarh	Bhopal	Ajmer
Bhilai Nagar	Jabalpur	Jaipur
Bilaspur	Ujjain	Sikar
Raipur	Gwalior	Alwar
Delhi	Sagar	Jodhpur
Faridabad	Indore	Udaipur
Gurugram	Satna	Bikaner
Ghaziabad	Amravati	Kota
New Delhi	Jalgaon	Madurai
Greater Noida	Nagpur	Chennai
Noida	Pune	Salem
Meerut	Solapur	Trichy
Panaji	Navi Mumbai	Coimbatore
Ahmedabad	Ahmednagar	Vellore
Mehsana	Kolhapur	Tirunelveli
Vadodara	Nanded	Hyderabad
Gandhinagar	Raigad	Karimnagar
Rajkot	Thane	Warangal
Anand	Vasai	Allahabad
Surat	Aurangabad	Bareilly
Ambala	Moradabad	Kanpur
Hisar	Roorkee	Agra
Karnal	Bankura	Gorakhpur
Kurukshetra	Hooghly	Lucknow
Panipat	Srinagar	Varanasi
Rohtak	Siliguri	Aligarh
Shimla	Haldwani	Dehradun
Jhansi	Durgapur	Asansol
Kolkata	Burdwan	Kalyani

Top 13 Interesting Facts About CAT Exam

It is always recommended to work on spoken English skills which can play a major role in Group discussions and personal interviews, but it is not necessary for the written exam.
Only scoring a good percentile is not enough it is only the first step to securing admission to a top management school.
CAT is not an exam of knowledge but of skills and aptitude and practice can lead to perfection those who fail in their first attempt with hard work and dedication can pass in the next attempt.
CAT is designed in such a manner that any aspirant can crack CAT irrespective of his/her educational background.
In wake of the prevailing situation that is caused by COVID-19 candidates must follow certain guidelines and are expected to reach the CAT test center a time before the commencement of the exam so that the authorities have adequate time to check their documents and their temperature.
As per GOI guidelines, a gap between two seats has been maintained.
All processes are touch free to ensure social distancing norms.
Candidates are allowed to carry a transparent personal water bottle, hand sanitizer, ballpoint pen, admit card, ID card, and self-declaration form.
CAT admit card should be signed by the candidate in presence of the invigilator only, otherwise, it will be considered invalid, and it should match with the registered signature.
Do not apply Mehendi/Henna it should create issues during the biometric test.
The invigilator will provide a writing pad/rough sheet to the candidates which they have to submit back once the exam is over.
Ulhasnagar was removed from the CAT exam centers list and Madgaon, and Prayagraj were added to the list.
Instead of 4 options to choose the exam centers, candidates will be now given 6 options for the allotment of exam centers according to their 6 preferences.