CAT 2018 - Exam Date, Registration, Syllabus, Eligibility

CAT 2018 - On 28 July, IIM Calcutta released a press release providing details about CAT 2018 exam. This year, CAT registration will start from 8 August while the last date to apply is 19 September 2018. CAT 2018 is a computer-based test held every year for admission to more than 4000 seats offered by the 20 IIMs. Apart from the IIMs, CAT score will also be accepted by more than 100 management institutes. CAT exam will be held on 25 November 2018 across 147 Indian cities.

It is expected that IIM Calcutta will be introducing some new changes in CAT 2018. In the past year, each IIMs were introducing new elements in CAT, for e.g. releasing of CAT answer keys last year by IIM Bangalore. This year, CAT convenor is Prof. Sumanta Basu of IIM C. CAT application form will be available online. After the conclusion of the registration process, a CAT application correction window will be available.

As mentioned earlier, CAT exam will be held in a CBT and will contain 100 questions (both MCQs and non-MCQs). CAT result 2018 will be available in the first week of January 2019 and it will remain valid for a year only. Go through this page for more details on CAT 2018, date. registration, notification, admit card, syllabus, cut off, etc. here.

Latest Update: CAT Registration to end on 19 September

CAT 2018 - Dates

It is important for aspirants to be familiar with the list of CAT important dates. With the help of CAT 2018 schedule, candidates won’t miss any deadline. After the announcement of the notification, the complete list of CAT dates will be available –

For Free SMS Alerts Related to CAT 2018 - Click Here

CAT Exam Overview

Management aspirants can check the list of CAT 2018 important points provided on the table below -

CAT Registration 2018

To apply for CAT 2018, test takers must make sure that they fill the application form within the provided time period. CAT application process can be divided into two stages, which are 

• CAT Registration – Here, candidates are required to enter the necessary details to obtain their login ID and password
• CAT Application Form – Now candidates can log in through the provided credentials and fill in the application details and pay the fee

Note: After completion of the application process, print the completed CAT application form 2018. Also, during CAT Registration process, candidates must make sure that the provided phone number and email ID must remain valid until the conclusion of the admission process.

CAT Application Fee

The application fee for CAT 2018 is Rs. 1900 for the candidates applying under General category while Rs. 950 is for the aspirants applying under SC/ST/PwD category. The CAT application fee can be paid only through online mode i.e. Credit/Debit card/Net Banking.

Note: Fees of IIMs are to be paid during the counselling rounds.

CAT Application Correction Window

After the completion of CAT application process 2018, candidates will be given the opportunity to make a few limited corrections (if any). The CAT correction window will be available for three days only and after which candidates won’t be able to make any changes.

Before applying for CAT 2018, applicants must make sure that they fulfil the eligibility norms of the test. If candidates fail to meet any of the CAT eligibility criteria, then they will be disqualified on or before the counselling rounds. However, the CAT exam eligibility criteria will vary with the category of candidates. Check the table below to check the CAT 2018 eligibility criteria. 

CAT 2018 Academic Eligibility Criteria

CAT Age Limit -  There is no age limit and only Indians are eligible to apply for CAT Exam.

Since 2009, IIMs are conducting Common Admission Test in a computer-based mode. It is necessary for candidates to be familiar with CAT exam pattern 2018 so that they can understand the test structure. The test contains 100 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and long questions, and the total marks are 300. The duration of CAT 2018 is 3 hours and test takers must note that they will be allotted a limited time period to deal with each section. To know more about IIM-CAT 2018 test structure, check the previous year’s pattern from the table below

Know more about CAT Question Paper Pattern 2018

 Note: For each section, 60 minutes were allotted.

CAT Marking Scheme 2018

For every correct answer, three marks will be allotted while 1 mark will be deducted for each wrong attempt. However, negative marking is only applicable to MCQs or TITA (Type In The Answer) questions.

CAT Syllabus 2018

The conducting body of CAT exam never discloses the list of important topics that will cover the exam syllabus. However, after analysing the previous year question papers, a list of important topics is prepared and provided below.

The various sections of CAT 2018 syllabus are as follows 

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning: The Data Interpretation part will be having questions based on provided data and the topics on reasoning. Some of CAT syllabus for DILR section are Seating Arrangement, Venn Diagrams, Binary Logic, Blood Relations, Cubes & Clocks, Logical Matching, Calendars, Syllogism, Logical Sequence

CAT Syllabus Quantitative Ability – The quant section in CAT 2018 is vast as compared to the other sections. Questions in this section will be based on Mathematics. It is expected that the difficulty level of this section will be less as compared to previous years. To prepare for this section, test takers must have a good command over Maths. Questions in this section will be based on topics like Percentages, LCM and HCF, Trigonometry, Probability, Simple & Compound Interest, Time & Distance, Ratio & Proportion, Analogies, Speed, Mensuration

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehensive – This section is dominated by Reading Comprehension, which is around 70% of the section. To prepare for this section, students must have a good vocabulary and a better understanding of the English language. Apart from the comprehension phase, questions will be based on the following topics English Usage and Grammar, Verbal Reasoning, Jumbled Paragraph, Analogies and Reverse, Synonyms & Antonyms, Meaning Usage Match, Fill in the Blanks, Reading Comprehension

 Note: With the help of these topics and sub-topics, aspirants will be able to prepare accordingly and avoid wasting time on unnecessary topics.

• CAT Syllabus Complete Details

CAT 2018 Mock Test

Mock test for CAT 2018 will be available online on its official website. Through CAT mock test, aspirants will become familiar with the structure of the computer-based test. Also, candidates will be able to access the online calculator and the timer. Appearing for the CAT mock test will help to improve the preparation level and analyse their strengths and weaknesses. The CAT 2018 mock test will contain questions similar to that of the test.

CAT Admit Card 2018

Only the candidates who have successfully applied for the test will be issued CAT admit card 2018. Candidates will be able to download CAT 2018 admit card hard online only. The admit card of CAT 2018 will contain details about candidates such as their name, date of birth, CAT registration number, etc. Aspirants must note that the exam officials won’t be sending CAT Admit card 2018 via courier or post to the registered addresses of candidates. CAT hall ticket is an important document and candidates must carry the same to the exam hall on the day of the test. Also, they are advised to keep it safe even till the conclusion of the admission rounds.

CAT Exam Centres

It is expected that more than 140 cities across the nation. While filling the application form, candidates will be able to select up to 4 CAT test cities. Based on the candidate’s choice, a CAT exam centre will be allotted. Candidates must make sure that they reach the CAT 2018 exam centres as per the mentioned time along with the required documents. Detailed address of CAT exam centre along with the timings will be available on the admit card of the test.

CAT Exam Day guidelines

Few guidelines that aspirants must keep in mind on the day of the exam are –

CAT 2018 Question Paper

Until last year, the question paper for CAT exam was not available. Last year, for the first time, IIM Bangalore released the CAT question paper and the answer key. However, for the convenience of candidates, Mota Chashma will be providing CAT sample papers based on the latest exam trend and syllabus.

CAT 2018 Answer Key

As mentioned earlier, last year, for the first time CAT answer key was released. The CAT 2018 answer key will contain the responses of candidates along with the correct keys. On downloading CAT answer key, test takers are required to match their responses against the keys and calculate the marks. Also, candidates can challenge the CAT answer keys 2018 within the deadline and are required to pay a fee of Rs. 1000 only.

CAT 2018 Result

The organizing body will be releasing CAT result 2018 online and test takers are required to log in to their accounts to check the same. CAT 2018 scorecard will provide details about the candidate’s score and percentile. Test takers are required to print their CAT 2018 result and keep the same safe until the conclusion of the admission rounds of the IIMs and other Business Schools. Based on CAT percentile of candidates’, they will be shortlisted for the counselling rounds i.e. Group Discussion, Personal Interview and Written Ability Test of the participating institutes.

CAT 2018 Participating Colleges

Apart from the 20 IIMs, there are more than 100 non-IIM institutes that will be accepting CAT scores. Each CAT participating institute will have their own selection procedure and other criteria for admission. Candidates must note that, once they have successfully applied for CAT 2018, then they don’t require to apply separately for the IIMs. However, they do require to apply for the non-IIM participating institutes. Aspirants can check details about the various IIMs from the table provided below. The candidates can check Seats offered by IIMs and also check IIM Fees

CAT 2018 Cutoff

After the announcement of the result, various participating institutes including the IIMs will start their admission process. Candidates obtaining the minimum CAT cutoff percentile will be shortlisted for the counselling rounds. The CAT cut off 2018 will vary with the category of candidates and institute-wise. The CAT 2018 cut off will depend on the following factors –

• Difficulty level of the test
• Total number of candidates who appeared for the test
• Total number of seats of the institute/s

To get shortlisted for the top-ranked IIMs, candidates must know that their CAT Cut off percentile for admission hardly dips below 95. However, the qualifying CAT percentile i.e. to get shortlisted for the GD and PI rounds are way not that high. Check the table below to know more about CAT Cut Off 2018 of the various IIMs –

IIM Ahmedabad CAT Cutoff 2017

IIM Bangalore CAT Cutoff 2017

IIM Calcutta CAT Cutoff 2017

CAT 2018 Selection Procedure

After the announcement of the result, both the IIMs and non-IIMs will be releasing their CAT 2018 cut off scores. Candidates will be shortlisted for the admission rounds to these institutes. Most IIMs will be conducting the pre-admission rounds, which are Written Ability Test (WAT), Personal Interview (PI) and Group Discussion (GD).

The final admission into the IIMs will be based on the following factors –

• CAT 2018 score
• Performance in the pre-admission rounds
• Academic profile
• Extra-curricular activities

About CAT Exam

Common Admission Test, popularly known as CAT is one of the toughest entrance exams conducted by one of the IIMs. The test is being held in a computer-based mode for admission to the management programmes of various IIMs and non-IIMs. Every year, lakhs of candidates appear for the test. Almost every year, the conducting IIMs surprises aspirants by introducing new changes. Last year, IIM Lucknow introduced Answer Keys for the first time. Candidates are advised to be prepared for the introduction of new changes.

CAT Registration Trends

The table below provides the number of management aspirants applied for IIM CAT exam over the past years

CAT 2018 Helpline Number: 18002663549