CAT 2023

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CAT 2023 Exam Date: 26th November 2023

CAT 2023 Results: 1st week January 2024 (Expected)

EXAM INTRODUCTION

What is the CAT exam, and who conducts it?

Common Admission Test or CAT is a national test conducted in India for admissions to different IIMs and other top management colleges. The examination is conducted by one of the IIMs every year.
The test is conducted across the country in almost 156 cities and used by 20 IIMs and several other reputed colleges like S.P. Jain, FMS, MDI, etc., for admission to their MBA programs. 
 

EXAM ELIGIBLITY

Who can take the CAT Exam?

The complex criteria for appearing in CAT have become less rigorous than before due to the recent changes caused by the pandemic. The aspirants must go through CAT eligibility criteria to avoid any last-minute hustle. Eligibility Criteria of CAT 2023 in different aspects are given below:
 
Qualification
  • Candidates with a bachelor’s degree from a recognised institution in any field are eligible for the CAT exam.
  • The final year students of graduation are also eligible for CAT 2023.
  • The minimum percentage criteria (45% and 50% for Gen. and reserved categories, respectively) were removed from CAT eligibility.
Age Limit

There are no age limits for CAT Exam.

Experience

There are no specifications about work experience in the CAT eligibility criteria. There are no limitations in the case of experience. Therefore both the freshers and experienced candidates can take the exam. However, some of the B-schools do consider work experience during admission.

No. of Attempts

There is no limit on attempting the CAT exam. You can appear as many times as you want.

Reservation:

CAT EXAM PATTERN

Over the past two years (due to the covid pandemic), the CAT exam pattern has changed. Earlier CAT was conducted in a 3-hour pattern with 1-hour for each section. But, Since 2020, the exam has moved to a 2-hour format. The exam pattern is expected to remain the same (2-hrs) for the CAT 2023 examination. The expected exam pattern for CAT 2023 is as follows.

There will be three sections:

  1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
  2. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI)
  3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

Each correct answer is awarded 3 marks, and each wrong answer carries a penalty of -1 mark. Some questions are Type-in-the-answer (TITA) questions. The marking scheme for TITA questions is +3 marks for the correct answer and NO negative marks for the wrong answer. Also, there is no negative marking for Unattempted questions.

Each section has a sectional time limit of 40 minutes, and candidates are not allowed to switch between the sections. Candidates are expected to perform well in all the sections, and most of the institutes accepting CAT scores for admission have sectional cut-offs in addition to overall cut-offs.

The below table shows the exam pattern for CAT 2022 (the following pattern is based on the previous year’s exam pattern):

Sectional-Division

CAT EXAM SYLLABUS

How CAT syllabus looks like?

CAT does not have a defined syllabus. Two sections (VARC & LRDI) out of the three do not require you to memorise even basic formulae. VARC and LRDI are the sections entirely based on the candidate’s logical reasoning ability, reading comprehension skills, language skills etc.

Coming to the third section (Quantitative Ability): This section deals with mathematics based on the concepts learned in high school. The weightage for each section is represented in the below pie chart. (You can also download the PDF of the detailed CAT syllabus, which is given under this pie chart)

CAT 23 IMPORTANT DATES

The CAT exam is an annual management entrance test, so it will be conducted only once a year, in November. Each year, the CAT exam is conducted by any one of the top six IIMs in India. The CAT 2023 exam is expected to be conducted by IIM Lucknow. Check out the important dates of CAT 2023, including the examination date.

 

Here are some Tentative dates for CAT 2023:

REGISTRATION PROCESS

The CAT 2023 exam registration is expected to start in the 1st week of August 2023. Check out the steps given below to register for the CAT 2023 exam.

 

  1. Visit the Official website of CAT 2023 (in August 2023).
  2. Click on the “Register Now” button.
  3. Now enter the required details like Name, Email Id, DOB, etc., and submit.
  4. Your login credentials will be generated and sent to your registered mail id.
  5. Log in to the official website using your login ID and Password.
  6. Fill out your CAT application form and upload the scanned copies of the required documents.
  7. Click on save & continue.
  8. Now enter the required details like your academic background, and previous work experience (if applicable), and select the programs you prefer, and the cities for the interview.
  9. Finally, make the payment of the CAT exam through Net Banking/Credit/Debit Card/ or other and download the receipt.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION

Ans: The difficulty level of the CAT exam for MBA admissions is generally moderate to difficult. The difficulty is a subjective topic and differs based on the preparation level of the candidates. Candidates can refer to the CAT previous year’s CAT papers to have a better understanding of the level of questions. 

Ans: There is no such limit set for the number of attempts for the CAT exam. Candidates can take CAT for as long as they want, provided they fulfil eligibility criteria.

Watch Conceptual Videos of the Syllabus, Complete the basics and the most Essential is to don’t underlook PRACTICE+CONSISTENCY

Ans: Yes, every IIM releases sectional CAT cutoffs. Candidates have to mandatorily secure the minimum CAT percentile in each section along with the overall cut off to get an interview call from the respective IIM.