CAT 2021: Updated Exam Pattern, Preparation, Notification, Exam Date, Syllabus, Selection Procedure

As per the eligibility criteria of CAT 2021 charted by IIMs, candidates should fulfill the following parameters:

• Candidates should have a Bachelor's Degree in any discipline from a recognized university or institute.
• General and OBC-NC category candidates should obtain at least 50% marks in aggregate or equivalent CGPA. For reserved category candidates, the minimum percentage to secure is 45.
• The duration of the graduation programme should be minimum 3 years.
• Final year graduation students are also eligible to apply for CAT 2021 provided they complete their programme within the stipulated schedule.
• There is no age limit for applying or appearing in CAT 2021.

CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria for Reserved Categories

The CAT 2021 eligibility criteria for reserved categories as decided by IIMs are as follows:

• 15% of seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC);
• 7.5% of seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST);
• 27% of seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC);
• 5% of seats are kept reserved for Persons with Disability (PWD). The categories of disability include:

a) low vision blindness,

b) hearing impairment,

c) locomotor disability/cerebral palsy

• Any candidate who wishes to apply for this category will be eligible if only he/she suffers from any listed disabilities to the extent of less than 40%, as certified by a medical authority.
• Candidates applying for reserved categories are required to score a minimum cut-off score as per the norms of the IIMs.

Based on the previous years' question papers, the subjects for CAT 2021 can be classified under the following categories:

• Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
• Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
• Quantitative Ability

Each of these sections contains different types of questions. A highly-effective CAT preparation strategy includes dense familiarity with all the topics that fall under these categories.

In 2017, IIMs, for the first time released the official CAT 2017 questions and answer key. Based on this continuing trend into 2018 & 2019 as well, the official CAT 2021 question paper can be expected to be released by the first week of December, 2021.

What should be a retaker’s strategy for CAT 2021?

CAT retakers have a generic view when it comes to how to retake CAT. They usually choose to go for conventional offline training programs in place of online training programs. Offline programs, though having a comparatively lesser ROI, can ensure a student’s concentration for 2-3 hours straight and helps get that personalized attention. However, due to the rigid covid-19 safety guidelines introduced in order to encourage social distancing, students taking CAT for the second time are opting for CAT online classes as an alternative. Given below are some techniques you can avail while framing your CAT retaker’s strategy.

• Building a strong foundation:: Strong concept knowledge would help you grasp the basic concepts and understand the exam pattern. If you aren’t aware of the exam pattern and the topics included in the syllabus, you will find it difficult to get through the trickier questions in the exam. Cracking a decent score is possible, but breaking into 98+ percentile can only be achieved once you are up to mark with your basics. As rightly pointed out, well begun is half done!
• Going step by step: At the initial phase of the preparation, interactions with the faculty is a must. Here is when online classes come into action. It enables a candidate to take online mock tests, video lectures, CAT related exercises, online quizzes and convenient study material. Taking offline classes becomes more tiring for someone who travels all the way to attend classes after a long day. The weariness takes a toll on a candidate and makes him/her end in a state of confusion.  You’ve got to consider other elements related to the preparation along with the actual preparation. The expert faculty helps you diversify your solutions and develop a formulaic approach.
• Attending Important lectures by the faculty: The online faculty varies from center to center but one thing that binds each one of them is to develop effective communication with their candidates regarding how to build important test-taking strategies. Students are also given a chance to learn at their own pace and can listen to the lecture again in case the concepts are unclear.
• Highly Interactive Group Learning: CAT Retakers should make it a point to highly interactive webinars, wherein CAT aspirants can share their experiences, discuss and clear their queries and maintain a peer-to-peer relationship with their classmates. This also helps students stay aware of the competition level. The competition for CAT 2021 is going to be more than previous years because of the stay-at-home situation. Hence, candidates can see this as an alternative to study as per their comfort with zero commuting time and charges.
• Engage in multitasking: You need to cross the bridge between basics and practice. During the actual CAT exam, you need to sit through a ton of questions without throwing in the towel. It is advisable to solve online assignments that will help you practice a set of 20-30 questions every day, breaking down datasets, enhance your reading speed, solve puzzle-related questions and have the energy to complete the paper in a given amount of time.
• Do not obsess about the questions: Once you have gained clarity over your concepts, the next phase of your preparation will be to donate less time and fuel in solving a question. Do not spend more and more time over a single question. This will give rise to undue agitation. While preparing for cat through online preparation, try to confront your weaknesses and pick the correct approach in solving a question through mocks. Also, over a period of time, you will find it super easy to solve any kind of questions that are asked in CAT, scaled from easy to difficult.

 Also read: Importance of CAT mocks

CAT 2021 timeline is quite similar to that of CAT 2019 according to the CAT 2021 Notification. The main exam will be held on 29th November 2021, and with the CAT 2021 Notification released on 29th July 2021. Online application for the exam shall remain open from 5th August 2021 to the 23rd September 2021.

How to be ready on CAT 2021 exam date

• Carry a print out of your CAT Admit card to your exam center.
• Ensure that the photograph on CAT 2021 admit card is identical to the one uploaded during the online registration.
• Not that CAT Admit Card is only valid on clear and legible printing of admit card, i.e., the photograph and signature must be neatly visible.
• Carry at least one original and valid photo identification card. This ID needs to be produced for verification at the CAT exam center on the day of the exam.
• Photo IDs that are valid and acceptable are: College ID, Employer ID, Driving License, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID, Aadhar Card, and Identification Affidavit.
• The candidate's photograph and signature on the ID should match the same on Admit Card. The Photo ID card should not be damaged or smudged.
• Locate your allocated CAT exam center and its accessibility a day before the test so there will be no defaults on the exam day.

CAT 2021 Exam Date: Do's and Don'ts

Do's

• Do reach the allocated CAT exam center one and a half hours before the CAT exam is supposed to commence.
• Please carry only your Admit Card & Photo ID Card inside the CAT test hall, nothing else is allowed.
• Do allow candidates with disabilities to get into test center first as they are allowed entry on priority.

Don'ts

• Do not carry your cell phones, electronic gadgets, calculators, stationary items, papers, wallets, or similar things as they are not allowed inside the exam center on CAT exam date.
• Do not wear any jewelry or other metal accessories because you will be asked to remove them before entering the exam hall.
• Do not ask your friends or relatives to accompany you as they will not be permitted inside the test center.

Locating your seat at your CAT exam center

There is Test System Number in your CAT Admit card. This unique number is provided for the purpose of identifying the floor / wing and your designated seat at the exam center.

For any other correspondence with your CAT exam center, you should provide your Registration Number and not the Test System number. Test System number is only needful for seat location/identification during the main exam date.

Inside the CAT exam hall

• Before you enter the exam hall, you should use the washroom as you will not be permitted to go to washroom during the exam.
• You will be given a rough pad and pen for rough work. You should write your name and registration number on the rough pad. This rough pad will have to be returned at the end of the exam.

CAT 2021 Exam Centres

Similar to CAT 2020, CAT 2021 exam centers will be located in over 150 cities across India. The actual number of exam centers may vary depending on the number of participating candidates and the situation at the time.

During the exam registration process, candidates will have to select three CAT exam centers in the order of their preference. The final allotting of exam center is decided by the IIMs which are then reflected on the official CAT Admit Card.

CAT result 2021 is expected to be released in the second week of January, 2021. The official CAT 2021 score card will be available for download online by entering your unique CAT ID and password on the official website (www.iimcat.ac.in). The CAT score card will include your detailed sectional and overall scaled scores and percentiles. The score cards are available online alone, hence, take a print out for further admission processes

Past CAT Trends

The table below contains past exam-result trends as an attempt to lay down the past exam mechanism of CAT.

Steps to Check CAT Results 2021

When the CAT 2021 Results are declared, the candidates will be able to check it and download the score card by following the given steps:

• Step 1

  Go to the official CAT website www.iimcat.ac.in.

• Step 2

  Enter User Id and Password and login to your account

• Step 3

  Click on 'score card for CAT 2021'.

• Step 4

  Take print out of your CAT Result 2021 for reference/record keeping.

Predict CAT 2021 Percentile with Career Launcher

Although the official CAT result is after almost two months, it is an added advantage and a peace of mind to have an insight on the performance. Keeping this in mind, Career Launcher experts have created a percentile calculator for the purpose of score assessment. The link below is to help you predict/calculate your CAT percentile, so you can begin your college picking plan ahead of time.

CAT cut-off is an indication of the minimum percentile score that is expected of a candidate to achieve for getting shortlisted by the participating institutes. While top B-schools are known to have a higher CAT cut-off range, the minimum cut-off varies from institute to institute.

CAT cut-off is generally dependent on certain factors like difficulty level of the exam, number of test-takers, number of seats, etc.

Find the below the tabulated 2021 CAT cut-off of top-tier IIMs for reference:

Apart from CAT, the other MBA exams are XAT, IIFT, SNAP, NMAT, MICAT, TISSNET and a few others.

This diagram gives you a representation of all the important MBA exams and the timeline.

Read in detail : MBA Entrance Exams Notifications 2021