MBA – CAT

CAT is the Common Admission Test for admission to MBA/PGDM programmes in 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top MBA colleges like FMS Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, IMI New Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad and hundreds of other top MBA colleges in India. More than two lakh candidates appear in CAT every year and this number is rising consistently, to explore admission opportunity in MBA programmes offered by IIMs and other top B-schools.

IIMs will offer admission on the basis of CAT 2020 only and will not accept any other test score. There are more than 150 cities and more than 400 venues where CAT 2020 will be conducted in India.

Apart from being the most important entrance test for the 2 years full time post graduate management program (MBA/PGDM), CAT 2020 is the gateway for one year MBA programmes in IIMs and other prominent management institutes.

A candidate with minimum 50% marks in graduation can appear in CAT 2020. A final year student in graduation can also appear in CAT conducted by IIMs. However, there is no age limit to apply and appear in CAT 2020.

CAT exam details and exam structure since 2015 have remained on similar pattern with time duration, number of questions and sections as under:

• 180 Minutes Exam: CAT is a computer delivered test of 3 hours duration but it is not an Online Exam
• 100 Questions: CAT will have 100 questions divided in 3 sections of VARC, DILR and Quantitative Ability. Earlier CAT used to have 60 questions divided in two sections and had only MCQ type questions with negative marking.
• 25% No Penalty Questions: Out of 100 questions in CAT 2020, more than 25 questions will not have negative marking. CAT 2020 is divided into MCQ and Non-MCQ type of questions and the Non-MCQs do not carry negative marking. In case any non-MCQ has negative marking, a few MCQs are changed to no negative marking questions.
• 70-75% CAT Questions with Negative Marking: More than 70% questions in CAT 2020 are of MCQ type and will carry penalty of 1/3 negative marking
• Minimum CAT Score Requirement by IIMs: A Minimum qualifying score between 70 and 90 percentile in CAT 2020 is required by IIMs in each of the 3 sections to shortlist candidates for final admission round
• Other Criteria with CAT score: Apart from High score in each of the 3 sections in CAT 2020 exam, you need to have good academic profile, diversity, to get into IIMs.