CAT is conducted for admission in Post Graduate Management Programs. Common Admission Test is abbreviated as CAT. It is accepted by Universities and Institutions all over India. It is conducted on arotational basis by IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). This year it will be conducted by IIM Lucknow. The exam is conducted online and the scores obtained by students in CAT are accepted in top management institutions. Every year around 2.3 lack applications of CAT are filled and around 2.1 Lack students appear in CAT. Last year a total of 2, 32,424 students registered for CAT. CAT’s exam pattern changes very frequently.
The application process for the exam starts in the first week of August when the notifications for the registrations for the exam are declared open in local dailies. CAT registration process ends in Mid-September. The admit cards are made available to registered candidates in late October. The exam is usually held in last week of November or first week of December. The result for the aptitude exam is declared in the month of January.
All those students who have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent can apply to appear in the exam. The candidate must have scored a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA. The candidates of belonging to SC (Scheduled Caste)/ ST (Scheduled Tribe)/ PWD (Person with Disability) / DA (Differently Able) must have scored at least 45% Marks. The candidates who are in final year of Graduation or those who have completed graduation and results are awaited can also apply for the exam. The graduation must be from a UGC (Under-Graduate Course) Recognized University.
CAT forms can be filled online only by only those students who qualify the eligibility criteria. The candidates can register online on the official site of IIM by creating their Ids and entering passwords. The candidates then have to fill in the basic information and educational qualifications in the online application form. After this, the candidates have to pay the application fees online through debit card or credit card. Fees for General and OBC students in Rs. 1700 whereas the fees for SC/ST/PWD students is Rs. 850. The candidates then have to fill the examination center of their choice. The students can choose any four examination center. The admit cards will be issued online only and no posts will be sent to the students. Students can download they’re admit cards from the official online portal of CAT 2017.
The results of the exam will be announced in the second week of January after which individual colleges will declare a cut-off on basis of which students will be called for admissions or next round. Top MBA institutions like IIMs, FMS (Faculty of Management Studies), MDI (Management Development Institute) conduct I rounds of Interviews and Group Discussions before admitting students These Institutions release the Interview Schedule after the CAT result is released and then call the students who have qualified their individual Cut-offs. There is also a written ability test which is conducted by IIMs for the students qualifying the Cut Offs for further judging the students.