CAT 2018 Notification

Common Admission Test (CAT) is a popular MBA entrance exam conducted for admission into top B-schools across India, including 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) and more than 100 reputed B-schools. IIM Calcutta released the CAT 2018 notification on 29th July 2018. Keeping with the trend in previous years, CAT 2018 will be held on November 25. The CAT 2018 registration process will begin from the 8th August 2018.

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CAT is conducted by IIMs on a rotational basis and is a computer-based test. More than two lakh candidates appear for CAT every year. CAT 2018 score card is valid only for one year. This implies that the CAT 2018 score card shall be valid until December 31, 2019. The intake capacity of the 20 IIMs is close to 4,000. In this article, you’ll find all the details you need to know regarding CAT 2018 notification, registration, online application, important dates, eligibility criteria, exam pattern, result, cutoff, etc.

For the first time in CAT 2017, IIMs released the official CAT Question Paper and Answer Key to ensure transparency. IIM Lucknow, the conducting institution also permitted students to challenge wrong answers or questions, none of which were found valid. Last year, the Singapore Management University also declared that it will accept CAT scores for admission into their management courses, making it the first international B-school to accept CAT scores.

CAT 2018 Important Dates

Event

Date

Registration starts

8th August 2018

Registration Ends

26th September, 2018 at 5pm

Admit Card Download

24th October 2018
CAT Exam Date

Nov 25, 2018

Result Declaration

Second Week of January

Changes in CAT 2018

  • The paper pattern will be similar to last year.
  • The duration of the test will be 180 minutes.
  • The paper will comprise three sections Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) in that order.
  • Each of the three sections will be of 60 minutes.
  • Movement across sections will not be permitted and use of basic on screen calculator will be allowed.
  • The paper will comprise of MCQ questions and some TITA, Type in The Answer, type questions.
  • The marking scheme for MCQ type questions will be +3 for every correct attempt and -1 for every incorrect attempt.
  • There will be no negative marking for TITA type questions.

Test Fees

The test fee for the exam is Rs 1900 for General Category students and Rs 950 for Reserved Category students. The test will be conducted across 147 cities in two slots. Candidates can select any 4 cities in order of their preference.

Mode of Payment

The application form can be filled in online mode only. The application fee can be submitted using any of the payment modes, including Credit/Debit Card, and Net Banking.

CAT 2018 Exam Pattern

The CAT 2018 exam pattern will follow the CAT 2017 pattern. The test duration will be 180 minutes with 60 minutes allotted to each section. No movement will be allowed across sections. The order of sections will remain the same that is Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Aptitude (QA). The use of basic on screen calculator for computations is allowed.

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CAT 2018 Registration Process

CAT 2018 registration is expected to begin from the 2nd week of August 2018, a fortnight after the official CAT notification is released. The CAT 2018 registration process will be completely online. All aspirants will have to visit the official website of CAT and click on the ‘Registration’ tab to apply online. After completing the CAT 2018 registration form with your profile details like name, email address and mobile number, you’d get a unique CAT 2018 User ID and password via email and SMS.

 

Once you have received the CAT 2018 User ID and Password, you can complete the CAT registration process by filling up the CAT 2018 Application form on the official CAT website.

CAT 2018 Online Application

The CAT 2018 online application form is usually divided into the following sections:

  • Personal Details
  • Contact Details
  • Academic Details
  • Work Experience
  • Choosing IIMs you want to apply for
  • Choose Test Centre and Interview City

Once you have filled up all the required information in a section, you should click on the ‘Save & Next’ option. As the next step, you will be required to upload your photograph and signature in the respective sections. The last step of the CAT 2018 registration process is the payment of the application fee via Credit/Debit Card or Net Banking.

CAT 2018 Eligibility Criteria

As per the eligibility criteria of CAT 2018 charted by IIMs, candidates should fulfil the following parameters:

  • Candidates should have a Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline from a recognised 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 2018 provided they complete their programme within the stipulated schedule.
  • There is no age limit for applying or appearing in CAT 2018.

CAT 2018 Eligibility Criteria for Reserved Categories

The CAT 2018 eligibility criteria for reserved categories as decided by IIMs are as follows:

  • 15% of seats are kept reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC);
  • 7.5% of seats are kept reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST);
  • 27% of seats are kept reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC);
  • 3% of seats are kept reserved for Persons with Disability (PWD). The categories of disability include:
  • a) low vision blindness,
  • b) hearing impairment,
  • c) loco-motor 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 would be decided by the IIMs.

CAT 2018 Cutoff

The official cutoff of CAT indicates the minimum percentile required by a candidate to get shortlisted by the participating institutes. While top B-schools have the higher range of CAT cutoff, it varies from institute to institute.

CAT cutoff is generally dependent on certain factors like difficulty level of the exam, number of test-takers, number of seats among others.

You may like to check out the official CAT 2017 cutoff for IIMs, tabulated below.

Read more

CAT 2017 Analysis

Take a look at the CAT'17 paper analysis by CL experts.

Read more

 

Last update - Jul 29, 2018

Author - CL CAT-MBA Admin


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